La Paz -> Topolobampo -> Hermsosillo

The day after meeting up with Craig and Rodney, I packed my things and headed out to where I'd board the ferry. It was a short 24km ride along the boardwalk through La Paz and along the shoreline. It was a great day and I was excited to start another chapter of the tour. As soon as I got there I purchased tickets for myself and also my bicycle. After an hour or so of waiting, they started allowing folks to board. The military guys waived me through and let me on, without a problem. Instead of checking my bike with the luggage lady, they let me store my it, myself, in an employee lounge aboard the ferry. Pretty nice not having to worry about a stranger man-handling my bike.

I thought it would be an overnight ride across the Sea, but eight hours later we were docking into Topolabampo. It was around 9 or 10 o'clock and pitch black. I try to avoid riding at night, as much as possible out here. I found a nice hotel and had an amazing night of rest.

The next morning I rode about 20km into Los Mochis, where I got on a bus to bring me here, Hermosillo. The stretch of road headed north from Los Mochis, is a toll road and doesn't allow bicycles. It was a tough choice, having to skip so much of mainland, but my other option wasn't entirely realistic. I would have had to ride east, crossing a mountain range that makes what I crossed in Baja look like a pancake. Not just that, but they are quite cold this time of year. I didn't bring cold-weather gear and the gearing on my bike would have just made that route, well, not too enjoyable.

From here, Hermosillo, I'll be riding north to the border crossing at Aqua Prieta/Douglas, AZ. After crossing into the US, I'll start trekking northwest through Bisbee and Tombstone to Tuscon. From Tuscon I'm not quite sure where I'll go, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Just a few pictures, sorry.

La Paz

After a short, two hour bus ride, I made it into La Paz a few nights ago. I'm getting ready to head out to where I'll board the ferry, which will take me to mainland Mexico! Pretty excited.

I've been having a great time here. Yesterday, I ran into Rodney for the third on this tour. Rodney is the motorcycle tourist, riding around the world. We hung out and went into downtown La Paz to do some sight-seeing and to get some info on the ferry from the tourist center.

In central La Paz, we ran into Craig, from New York... Craig is the guy who lives in a van with four Baja dogs he's adopted. Super cool dude. I was planning on meeting up with him in La Ventana, but my plans changed. I was bummed we wouldn't cross paths again, then bam, there he was in La Paz. It's super cool running into friends Ive met on the road.

Anyway, gotta get packed up and get out of La Paz... The ferry leaves at 2:30, but i need to be there a good bit earlier.

Here are some pictures.

Loreto -> Ciudad Insurgento -> Ciudad Constitucion

After a week of rest in Loreto I left feeling healthy and ready to roll. From Loreto I was within striking distance of La Paz, my final destination in Baja. It would be a 117km ride to get into Ciudad Insurgento. After Loreto, the road was somewhat flat for ~20km, but I ran straight into some intense mountains and brutal climbs. I had to hike my bike roughly 4km because the road was way too steep for the way my bike is set up. I'm loving the single-speed, but these hills weren't possible with the only gear I have. When I stopped to eat some lunch, I heard a bell behind me. I turned around and saw a heard of goats chomping down on the grass and leaves around the area. Pretty cool. Those guys know how to eat.

While hiking up this mountain, I had to jump off to the side of the road because of traffic. I took an awkward step and tweaked the hell out my groin. It's been killing me ever since and has made it near impossible to pedal with my left leg. After getting through the big climb, I was lucky to have a mostly downhill stretch of highway. I ended up riding 92km on this day and found a nice little stealth camp close to the road. I hobbled around camp that night, hoping I'd wake up with a groin that wasn't hurting. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and the next morning the pain was still there. I broke camp and, very slowly, rode into Ciudad Insurgento, 25km away. When I got there, all I wanted to do was find a place to sleep and take the rest of the day off. 80% of the power going into the drivetrain of my bike was coming from my right leg. It was a struggle to push forward. After lunch I decided to keep riding. I made it into Ciudad Constitucion and called it quits. Only a 50km day. My groin was getting worse and by using only my right leg to pedal, I felt helpless. I called my folks to let them know the story and to also have somebody tell me I wouldn't be a big wussy for taking a bus to La Paz. I'm tired of sitting around waiting for my body to heal... I was going mad in Loreto with Cabin Fever. I just want to keep moving forward however possible.

I'm still upset with myself for making this decision, but logic always prevails. Wasting time and money to sit around, waiting to feel better, just isn't something I'm interested in doing at this point. I have another month of riding left in mainland Mexico and I want to be healthy enough to do it.

I camped just outside of Ciudad Constitucion last night and as of now I'm waiting for a bus to take me to La Paz, where I'll board a ferry to mainland. With the bus and the ferry, I'll get three days of rest without riding and I'm really hoping in that time my body will recover.
I'm no stranger to this type of pain, especially getting through it. In High School, all four years, I played hundreds of baseball games with injuries similar to this. Osgood Slaughter in my right knee, a bruised sternum, an impingement in my right shoulder and a strained achilles. None of which I ever had taken care of. Looking back, I should've stopped playing through it all. With that said, I'm not making the same mistakes again. I'm not going to push my body further than it can go right now. Pride swallowed.

Pictures! The last one is of a pipe that Tall Bike Bobby gave to me on January 1st, to celebrate the law change in Colorado that allows the legal, recreation use of Marijuana. The pipe is a real shell, that Bobby found outside of Mulege. It works perfectly and, although I'm not in Colorado, was an amazing way to celebrate a huge day in the best state of the US!

Mulege -> Bay of Concepcion -> Lorreto

Again, not quite sure where to start. It doesn't seem like I'd forget the smaller details of this tour, seeing as how my days aren't bogged down with work or anything too busy. However, the less I do and the more I ride, the less I remember and the more I forget. Anyway, I woke up on Christmas with no plans other than to share some breakfast with Rich and Melodi, two motorcycle tourists. They made some French toast, eggs and fruit salad. It was quite delicious and felt like something I'd have to eat back home. Rich and Melodi are great people! If you'd like to know about their journey, visit 2 Wheels 2 Live on Facebook. They're still in Mulege and let me tell you, they know how to relax.

After eating I packed up my rig, said farewell to Rich and Melodi and hit the road toward Coyote Beach, in the Bay of Concepcion. Short ride, just under 30km, but I knew that Bobby and Alix were staying there so I figured it'd be fun to share Christmas night with them. My stomach was still acting up, so the short ride felt much longer. After an hour and a half of riding I found the exit to the beach and soon after, Bobby and Alix's site. They were off having dinner with folks they befriended, so I just hung out and napped on the beach.

Later that night we were reunited once again. I met Cameron, Michelle and Deadra, Bobby and Alix's friends from Oakland, who drove down to say hi and to bring Bobby a replacement front wheel. We all hung out next to a fire with another couple, Brandy and Trevor until it was time for bed. Good times. I love falling asleep with the sound of waves crashing just yards from my tent. My stomach pain still was not settled and again woke me up several times throughout the night.

The next day was as lazy as it could be. I napped, ate a little bit and napped some more. Later in the afternoon, three more bicycle tourists showed up. We all ate some shrimp tacos together. Cameron, bought a bag of shrimp from a guy on the beach and like an assembly line, we de-shelled and de-pooped them. First time I've done that... Sushi chef is definitely cut from the list of occupations I'd enjoy having. The tacos were very tasty, though. Again, my stomach made me uncomfortable all day and I just couldn't sleep well at all.

The next morning led to a day I'll never forget. My stomach pain grew worse. I decided to make a break for Lorreto, the next town, 107km away. After riding for 30 minutes, I threw up the meal I ate for breakfast and with it all of the water I drank. I kept riding... I just wanted to get to Lorreto and to a clinic to help me diagnose the stomach issue. After throwing up my breakfast, I knew I wouldn't make it without nutrition and energy in my body. I stopped riding and prepared some lunch for myself. After eating and before getting back on my bike again, I threw up every bit of my lunch and once more, the water I drank. At this point I was in the middle of nowhere. My options were to set up camp without much water or to attempt making it into Lorreto. I realized it would be very, very stupid for me to camp without a good amount water, especially if I would just throw it all up. I decided to use what little energy I had to keep pushing. In between lunch and getting into Lorreto, I was startled by a car horn and the feeling of the wind as it zoomed passed me. I was in the middle of the road when it passed and I realized that the car horn had woke me up and that while on my bike, my eyes had closed and I was falling asleep. I was seriously dehydrated and exhausted. The sun was blistering with no clouds in the sky. My body was shutting down, however it soon surprised me. I was hungry and dehydrated, but the last 20km just flew by. My legs kicked into another gear and I was zooming. I felt brain dead and like I was on a small dose of acid, but my legs felt like an engine. I was telling my dad on the phone that I think it was my body going into survival mode, putting all of its energy into the muscles that were being used to get me to a safe place. Really bizarre feeling. After 6 hours on the saddle, I coasted into Lorreto and called my folks. I didn't have service until this point. It was a struggle putting sentences together. I was completely shot.

Unfortunately, this day just couldn't end on a good note. I went to an ATM to withdraw cash for a hotel, so I could use the cash I had to pay for a visit to a clinic. "Your card cannot be read." Worst feeling in the world. The magnetic strip on my card was scratched and couldn't be swiped. I can't withdraw cash. Awesome, right? No, not awesome at all. Sadly, the cheap hotels in Mexico only take cash, which I needed for the clinic. I found a ritzy hotel that was able to manually enter my card number, so fortunately I did get a room. This whole thing would've been easier to deal with if I hadn't been on the verge of collapsing due to dehydration and complete exhaustion.

The next day I went to the clinic. Before I go further... IN MEXICO YOU CAN PAY $50 AND GET MEDICAL ATTENTION IN MINUTES. ON TOP OF THAT YOU'LL GET RESULTS IN JUST HOURS. !! IN MEXICO !! WHAT THE HELL AMERICA!!!! GET YOU SHIT TOGETHER! PUT YOUR POLITICAL RIVALRIES AND BULLSHT ASIDE AND HELP THE PEOPLE THAT NEED YOU F****** HELP!!!

Okay, continuing, I got my results and because of eColi, I was suffering from Travelers Diarrhea aka Montezumas Revenge aka the Aztec Two Step aka A PAIN IN MY F****** ASS! Sorry, long week. Anyway, the doctor advised against antibiotics and told me to rest and drink drink drink. Electrolytes. Electrolytes are key!

Now, back to the money issue. My folks have a back-up card of mine, but it's going to take awhile to receive it down here. They wired me some cash via Western Union. I was going through town hitting up the banks that offered WU services. Closed. Closed. Closed. It was Saturday. I asked some military dudes where I could go and within seconds they were helping me load my bike into their truck. We zoomed off, me sitting in the back of the bed, total Mexican style, with four military dudes holding automatic rifles, wearing camo and full face masks. Classic. I was just going with the flow and despite the language barrier I knew they were helping me. Five minutes later we pulled into a small parking lot and there it was, an open Western Union that was closing in ten minutes. Immediately I knew the military guys knew it was closing and got me there in time. It is closed today, so if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been able to get money until tomorrow, which would have left me without money for the weekend. Thank you, Mexican Military, you saved my day!

Now for today, I woke up and am feeling a bit better. Well, much better. I slept all night, uninterrupted. Another good night tonight and I might be ready to hit the road again. Less than 400km to La Paz and a ferry which will take me to mainland Mexico. Crazy. Almost done with the Baja.

All for now. Peeeeeace!

Christmas in Mulege

Well, I'm still in Mulege. Several reasons why. After my last post I came down with a horrible stomach issue. It wasn't painful and certainly didn't make me feel "sick". It was uncomfortable and, well, lets just say I wanted to be close to my room. I didn't eat anything but apples and bananas for two days, sucking down as much water as I could. Although it still lingers, I feel much better as I'm writing this. Another reason, it's beautiful here. The weather has been terrific and has made relaxing and being lazy pretty fun for me. There are also several other hotel guests that are either on a bicycle tour or motorcycle tour. We've all ended up here for the holidays and have really enjoyed each others company.

I haven't taken any pictures since my last post, except for a few of the sky last night. There were thousands of birds flying around and together almost blackened the sky. My iPhones camera couldn't capture it all, but I was able to take a few decent shots. The pictures don't show the whole story... There were soooo many more birds that weren't captured in the pics. Anyway, they're below.

Pretty crazy being away for Christmas. Not only will I miss spending time with my family, but also everybody in my life Ive known longer than a week! Small sacrifice, I suppose... The timing couldn't have been better for this tour.

All for now... Merry Christmas you fine folks! Bye.

More pictures of Mulege

Still hanging out in Mulege... I ran into another couple on a bike tour. They're from Spain and are on the longest trip I've heard of so far. From Spain they rode to Frankfurt, flew to Alaska, rode south along the west coast and just pulled into Mulege. They spoke great English so it was nice to hear about their trip... Started in March and they expect to be done in another 10-12 months.

I went adventuring through town again this morning. I went to the Mision de Santa Rosalia de Mulege, a 300 year old Mision founded in 1706. After that I followed the river that runs through town, which leads to the Sea and a very old, abandoned lighthouse.

Anyway, short post today... Just wanted to throw some pictures up here.

Also, thanks AGAIN to Judy Igoe for donating to my tour a second time. Thanks for the Christmas present, Judy! You rock!

Rest day. Mulege.

Really laid back time in Mulege. Rodney, a motorcycle tourist from New York is staying at the hotel. I met Rodney in Guerrero Negro. He's on an indefinitely long, self-sustained motorcycle tour around the world. Starting in New York about 7 months ago, he's made it here. Cool to run into him again. Two other motorcycle tourists are here also. Rich and Melodi, from Washington. We're all on the second floor of the hotel, which has a great communal kitchen area and deck. It's kind if an adventurists headquarters right now.

In the middle of that last paragraph, the French couple on recumbents were being taken to their room. It's really fun reuniting with folks from the road.

Anyway. Here's a few shots of our headquarters and the view of Mulege it offers.