January 5, 2022
La Ventana to San Felipe
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I slept amazingly well. My new(er) down quilt keeps me toasty warm. Almost too warm, but it beats being cold and being a cold sleeper, I was almost always cold. Those days are behind me! The other thing worth nothing is that I have a Nemo Tensor insulated sleeping bad that goes on top of my cot, making sleep oh so much better. The problem was, my old mattress had a very slow leak in it which I could not find. I had called Nemo a few weeks ago and even though I already had it warranted, they didn't blink an eye to send me out a new one which was waiting for me in Yuma. Super impressed with this company and their customer service.
As I was packing up this morning two cyclists pulled in looking for water. Landon and Hannah did their first major bike trip. I chatted with them a bit and that lead to me getting later start than I wanted. They had cycled from Seattle down the Pacific coast and a short loop through the Baja of Mexico. They made a comment about the scenery was really boring and how it’s just depressing and I said, "Oh my gosh! I thought it was just me." They acknowledged it would be harder solo because at least they had each other to commiserate with.
They warned me the up ahead there was basically 30 miles of nothingness.
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2 years ago
I actually the scenery was a bit better than yesterday so wondered how they fared with the mud flats. My seat was having issues again I don’t know what’s wrong or how to fix it so it kept slipping down a little bit as I was riding it’s gonna drive me crazy if I can’t get it figured out about 20 miles in was the military checkpoint but they just waved me on through. Future cyclists, there is a small restaurant and some junk food snacks but most importantly, water that a man operates out of his house. That was where I should’ve taken a break as he had a picnic table out front. sin However, since I only bought water and I was confused I went a little bit further and then I saw another place to pull over, but then I ended up eating on the curb.
Now I was heading into a vast of very flat looking scenery on either side of the road.
I put my music back on and tried to distract myself but I was already getting hot and tired and I still had a long ways to go. When that happens sometimes I don’t really hear the music anymore because my mind is thinking too much. I needed to pee and finally found just the spot. After I parked my bike with the click stand I see a coyote trotting by and looking at me. Animals and I haven't always had the best luck so I’m like, Oh great, now I’m gonna have a coyote bother me while I’m trying to pee." Ha ha. I never saw him again.
I did use this chance to take a break and have some snacks and refill my water. I saw a motorcycle go by and he slow down and wave to me then up ahead I I suspected he was slowing down again and sure enough he was. I see him turn around and come back towards me and I’m nervous then he goes by me and kind of waits on the other side of the street for a car to go by then turned around again to come up to me. At this point, there’s not another car for miles and I am feeling very vulnerable. He spoke to me in Spanish initially and I told him I speak English and then he says, "Do you need help? I explained I was just taking a break and thank you for checking with a big smile (and sigh of relief) and just like that, he was on his way. He did carry a backpack and it look like a sleeping pad so maybe he’s traveling too.
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I resumed riding and it felt hot out even though I knew it actually wasn’t. It was barely going to reach 70 today. I saw billboards advertising San Felipe, but knew I still had a ways to go and I desperately needed a break. I kept looking for somewhere and finally I pulled over in front of an entrance to a resort area entrance that wasn’t being used. There was shade and I took at least 15 minutes there. Murphy’s Law: not a half mile further down the road I see my first gas station and so I had to stop again. I got some chocolate milk milk and took a longer break even though I had just had one. I only have about 8 miles left to go but I was drained. The rest break and chocolate milk revived me and I did better the rest of the way into San Felipe.
Good thing because out of nowhere three dogs gave chase at once. They looked like friendly dogs but they were persistent. I just slow down my bike until I was sure they weren't coming closer and kept screaming NO at them as I pedaled. I had a hotel picked out from research on another biking website so I headed straight to it. It was a little more expensive than I wanted ($900 pesos) but the room was big and cute.
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I’m taking rest a couple of rest days here which I’m pretty sure I have earned at this point. I went right away to the Malecon to see the beach before it got dark and on my way back back grabbed my first two street tacos.
They were delicious. I eventually got showered and then went back down to the Malecon and was surprised that basically nobody being out there I don’t know if it’s because the weather is cold or this isn’t the right time of year but it was a bit disappointing.
Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 1,194 miles (1,922 km)
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2 years ago
2 years ago