5thNov.

54km with some hills to El Rosario where we camped at the back of a Motel next to Mama Espinoza’s Restaurant and had the best hot shower ever (and first one in a while). My front panniers are now the lowest I can have them on my Surly rack, and the front of the bike feels a lot more stable.

 

6th Nov.

Heraclio gave us a lift up hill (teletransportation) out of El Rosario to El Arenoso and from there we rode 77km through the beautiful scenery of El Valle de Los Cirios: weird trees, cactus, amazing rock formations, nice cool (overcast) weather, pretty, flat (except for some gentle rolling hills), expectacular. We paid 100 pesos for a spot to camp at the Desert Inn where we met Andrea, a very nice german lady who offered us a place to stay in Berlin if/when we get there.

 

7thNov.

56km of desert, hills, heat to free camping at Loncheria La Nueva Chapala, the only place that has survived 50 years strong in the area: best dinner we’ve had in a long time.

 

8thNov.

We managed to start rolling befor 8am! and arrived at Punta Pietra at noon after 64km with some small hills and some headwinds. Free camping at the rear of the local Abarrotes and ice cream before another early night.

 

9thNov.

We get up with the sun and go to bed when the sun goes down. We roll at 7:20am. The road deteriorates after Rosarito but we make good progress. We met Seth and Parker from San Francisco who are riding the Panamerican Higway from Prudho Bay to Ushuaia on Big Dummies (we plan to meet up for some beer in La Paz). Longest day so far with 98km. The last 8km pushing the bikes through sand trying to find the beach. We end up free camping (again! Viva Mexico and the hospitality of its people) at the back of a tiny hotel in Villa Jesus Maria.  

10thNov.

After breakfast we met Ramon, the owner of the Hotel Villa del Mar, and had a very nice chat while we waited for the fog to clear. Arrived to Guerrero Negro. we’re half way into Baja California now.40km of easy straight (a bit boring) road. Stock up on food and water. First shower in 4 days, (slow) wi-fi and camping for 150 Pesos. It’s too early to go see the whales at the Laguna del Ojo de Liebre so we’re leaving tomorrow, heading east.

11thNov.

We didn´t make it to San Ignacio, we were 40km short when Mr. Steve let us stay at his rancho. He bought us a soda and cookies and gave us some awesome grape tomatoes (perfect bicycle snack) from the farm he works at. We had a shower, shared dinner with the farm workers, and slept in our tents. 105 km.

12thNov.

Bryan was way ahead of me when after 70km got a lift uphill with Chui and Sergio, 2 very nice fishermen from San Hipolito who also gave me a can of delicious Caracoles de Mar. Their taste reminded me of my hometown. I waited for Bryan just before La Cuesta del Infierno to ride the downhill to Santa Rosalia. After 95km we managed to find free camping (once again!, speaking spanish definitely helps)  by the (not in use) swimming pool at Hotel El Morro. Nice!

We’ve arrived at El Mar de Cortes, the east coast of Baja. I´m looking forward to seeing the sunrise on the sea tomorrow morning.

Tags: baja, baja california, bicycle, bicycle touring, cities, cycling, cyclist, el mar de cortes, mexico, route, saga, soma fabrications, stuff, things, tour, touring, touring bicycle, touring cyclists, touring the world, Update, we keep going, wekeepgoing

This entry was posted by Jo on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Cities, Uncategorized, Updates. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.