January 8, 2022
To 30 miles south of San Felipe
Left San Felipe this morning and was happy to be back on the road. Lost my shoulder out of San Felipe, but there is such minimal traffic, it’s not an issue at all. A few short, steep little hills just to check out how my leg strength is doing. Passed by a lot of “for sale” signs, but not much else. I was heading back out into the desert. You know what’s more depressing than cycling through a desert on a sunny day? Cycling through a desert on an overcast, foggy day! All of a sudden this fog had rolled in and obscured my view of some of the mountains. It was weird because it does not fit my picture of what a desert looks like.
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Eventually, the sun came back out. I made a turn onto what is still Highway 5, but for some reason the mileposts started over. More weirdness.
Cycling along and started notice my back tire seemed a little bouncy. Sure enough, I was getting a flat, on the more rear tire of course making it more of a pain in the job. butt Uuuugh! Luckily, in my middle of nowhere desert, I was at an area that had a little pullout and a small tiny cinder block building to lean my bike against. I was blocked from the view of southbound traffic until they got close, but northbound traffic could see me. In the 45 minutes I was there, the only car that slowed down or stopped was a car with two young Mexican ladies asking if I needed any help. They even offered that they had an air compressor that they could plug into the cigarette lighter. Wasn’t quite ready for air yet, so let them know I’d be fine. The culprit was a fine wire from a blow out tire. It had worked it’s way through my tire at an angle. Good thing I had pliers because I needed them to pull it out. Was able to find the hole on the tube too so patched it on the spot. That’s what I prefer to do, but in my old age, I can’t always see well enough to find the hole anymore. Being I have newer Schwalbe tires, I was worried it would be hard to get back in the rim. Happy to say it went on way easier than expected. I flipped my bike upside down to out the tire back on. That little move would somehow cause my seat that hadn’t skipped, but once all morning, to start slipping again.
I kept having to stop and adjust that every few miles and was beyond frustrated and near tears. When I got to the only store on today’s route around mile 30 I was worried I wasn’t going to make it to Puertocitos as I was expecting some hills. A lady, Jan, hopped out of her car and said hi and I asked about camping ahead. She said it wasn’t a good idea by myself. I then vented for a minute about my seat issues and a few tears fell. She said I could camp at her house. She did sweeten the deal by saying that they have a hot shower. In the end, I was given the option to have her brother’s empty house next door or they had rooms upstairs. I decided it would be nice to be around people so hung out with them.
Jan was helping out a neighbor who had been in a serious car accident a couple of days ago. He finally decided to go the hospital. If interesting note, when the ambulance came, they used duck tape to strap him to the backboard, across his forehead and everything! Wow!
I hung out with her husband, Mark until she got back. We went back to the little restaurant by the store and had dinner. Shrimp stuffed in a fish. Delicious!
Later that evening she was talking to her granddaughter and explained I was staying with them. The granddaughter listens and then says, “So basically Grandma , you kidnapped this lady.” It was hilarious. I am now “the kidnapped cyclist.”
They have a house they have been building for the last 15 years and it overlooks the Sea of Cortez. When they invited me to stay tomorrow, it was a no brainer to say yes! So peaceful and relaxing!
Today's ride: 32 miles (51 km)
Total: 1,230 miles (1,979 km)
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