Baja California - South

The long and not winding road...

Tarmac and sand.

The one thing I learned while on the Baja peninsula is that if you are riding 70-80 kms per day you are actually going too fast. The problem is that there is only one road. Mex 1. So if you want to cycle through this desert and get to the end, you need to stay on the road. But all the magic happens off the road. Down little lanes - dirt roads - towards the beach. That's where the magical star-filled desert night sky wild camping happens and the beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Unfortunately as a lone rider I always tended to stick to the road... looking for water and, as I mentioned in the last blog, those illusive humans too. 

So I cycled on the highway, camping behind noisy restaurant shacks, only wild camping a couple of times. Three weeks into my Baja cycle I met a beautiful French/Argentinian cyclist couple who taught me the magic of Baja lesson. This pair live on their bikes so are not necessarily going from one place to another in any particular timeframe. They live a really simple life, eating cheap local produce, swimming, fishing, camping on beaches. A lifestyle which costs almost nothing. In 2016 for example they both worked in the US, seven days a week for one month. With the money they earned they could happily travel by bike in Mexico/Central America for the other 11 months. More about them later. 

I always thought that cycle touring was a good pace to see a country, nice and slow yet making some progress each day. But Baja taught me that a bike is sometimes actually too fast. On Baja, the magic happens when you get to a beach 20kms into your day, having planned a 70km day and you change plans entirely and decide to set up camp. One day turns into two and then to four. That's when you spot the whale shark and decide to go for a swim with it. That's when the local fishermen ask you if you want to join on a sunrise excursion to catch shrimp. That's when you can swim late at night under a full moon with phosphorescence everywhere in the water. This was the kind of Baja I was hearing about, but unfortunately not experiencing. Instead I was pedalling along a noisy highway with no hard shoulder constantly looking for water. Hmmm.

Rescued by the Americans... again

John and his wife took me for a ride on the beach on their
dune buggies before I headed off.

Baja Sur was also filled with communities of retired Americans. If I met some at a petrol station or restaurant I was often offered a bed or place to pitch my tent. I always accepted and often headed off the next morning with clean clothes, clean finger nails and full water bottles. 

Sherpa camps out on a shady deck by the beach.

My first dune buggy ride.

Marty had a racing 2 seater buggy. 

In Mexican Spanish the English word 'lunch' has been converted into 'lonch'. Just like you find bread in the 'Panaderia' or tyres in the 'Llanteria' or fruit in the 'Fruiteria' or books in the 'Libreria' ... you obviously find lunch in the 'Loncheria'.

Lunch in the Loncheria.

A beach I would loved to have camped at.
But I was only 20kms into my day.

Sweeny Green camping out with her own solar panel.

Some humans at last

Miguel and Mauricio were the first Mexican cyclists I met.
From Guadalajara.

Dhruv was cycling from Alaska to Patagonia. The first Indian
cycle tourer I have ever met. Also the first Indian cyclist he has ever met.

The Baja Divide

One night a young American mountain bike rider/racer called Cedar Kyes rolled into a restaurant I was camping at, at about 8pm. So a good two hours after sunset, with massive lights on both his handlebars and helmet. If anyone is interested in the 1700 mile off road Baja Divide route (hashtag BajaDivide) I recommend checking him out on Instagram - cedrocosta. He's a US racer and sponsored by about 100 brands. An exaggeration but you get the idea. In return for all the gear he videos parts of the rides on his Go Pro and posts all sort of stuff on social media. This was his Baja Divide bike. 29 inch wheels, 3 inch wide tyres, super light bikepacking set up with the main weight of his gear in the frame bag. The Baja Divide is a new off road route through the Baja desert and is becoming very popular. 

Cedar Kyes' super light-weight bike packing set up.

 Lael Wilcox on the Baja Divide - photos from laelwilcox.com

Heike Pirngruber on the Baja Divide - photo from pushbikegirl.com

New Years Eve Magic

Dark clouds overing over a mountain range I needed to climb.

New years eve was supposed to be a 65km day with an average bit of climbing and finding a camp spot behind the only restaurant on a 150km stretch of highway. However while in a shop drinking a full fat Coke (a treat as it was Christmas and sometimes I just crave a can of Coke) a guy approached me asking if I owned the bike out front. He was Adriano from France. He told me he was also a cyclist but I only half believed him as he was driving a big 4x4 jeep. He told me himself and his Argentinian girlfriend, Anna also a cyclist, were camping 10kms back up the road, that they had been there for three weeks and were having a big party on the beach that night with some local sailors. I invited myself to the party and within 10 minutes my bike was packed into the back of the jeep and we were heading north to a marina called Puerto Escondido.

Adrano and Anna lived on Jeff (from Oregon) and Coya's (the Costa Rican dog)
trimaran boat

Jeff (landscape gardener from Oregon, USA) had bought a trimaran boat (I never knew Catamarans with three legs existed) but didn't know how to sail. Adriano was a sailor with a bike instead of a boat. Anna was a Spanish speaker with not much English. Jeff was learning Spanish. So put the three of them together and you had a fantastic Spanish/sailing learning, dog-loving mini community. They welcomed me with open arms to their new year's party, to sleep on their luxurious boat and to swim in the dark under a full moon playing with the phosphorescence in the water. A magic new year's eve.

Adriano is carrying a small accordion on his bike.

Anna washing her teeth on the boat.

Jeff brushing his long hair.

On new year's day a bunch of us from the campfire party headed into a gorge for a walk. This type of secret gorge walk does not appear in any guidebook so great to be brought along by the locals.

Photo shoot of gym bottle given to me
by my tennis team mates the night before I left Ireland.

Yogi, vegan, amazing Spanish speaker Jackie from Sydney.

Me, Adriano, Anna, Jackie - very sad to leave but the road calls.

Leaving Loreto, climbing up into the Baja hills again.

Bitten by a hornet

48 hours after being bitten by a hornet I woke
up with a swollen forehead and left eye.
Thanks for Dr. Leann's care via Whats App photos.

After 3 days the swelling/pooling moved from left eye to right.
5 days later all the swelling was gone. Phew!

Reaching the end of Baja California

Reaching Tuli's warm showers house after almost five weeks cycling Baja was like an oasis. Access to a kitchen, a bed and chat with other cyclists was such a welcome change. 

Gaye from Melbourne (left) Tuli (right) and her 3 dogs.
A Warm Showers haven in La Paz, Baja, Mexico