Day 8: Catavina to Laguna Chapala

December 5, 2014

In the evening I pulled off the old patches from my tube and re-patched the puncture before going to bed, but it didn't hold the air overnight. In the morning I added two more patches and let the tire sit while we went off for breakfast. It was still inflated when we returned, so rolled it up and called it my spare.

We said our good-byes and Alex and Daniel resumed pedaling north on their adventure. I am abashed by the differences in our gear and traveling styles. Those guys are riding what are essentially department store bicycles, carrying wool blankets for warmth and spending nothing on accommodations while I am riding a bike whose only original component is the seat clamp, and sleeping outside only when there isn't a hotel available. But, they are young and broke and I am neither.

I puttered around for a while longer, repacking my gear once again (I'm still iterating on the best way to shove everything into the bags). I wasn't in a hurry because thanks to Alex's crib sheet I knew where I was headed and had plenty of time.

I left about 10 am. Happy to still be riding, but humbled by the whole experience of the previous evening and more than a little anxious to be traveling with only one spare tube which I didn't even trust. As the miles rolled on without incident I relaxed more and more.

It was another day of breathtaking scenery. Traffic was so light as to be non-existent. Many times I found myself in the midst of grand vistas, completely alone and in total silence.

Not long after leaving Catavina I crossed the highest point on the trans-peninsular highway and, while not completely downhill, the trend was one of descent, with no climbs of any significance that I can recall. Which was good, because I've been battling a bit of a cold since Santo Tomas. More like a bad case of allergies (I keep telling myself), but I've been having the sniffles and a sucking on throat lozenges for days. When I got to Laguna Chapala, it was cool, overcast and windy. I stumbled into the loncheria and bundled up and almost dozed off while waiting for my food.

I asked about spending the night and the owner said I could pitch a tent wherever I liked. I opted for the patio because rain looked possible and I had no wish to deal with that. I was lying inside reading when the owner came by to warn me to not leave my shoes outside because the dogs might take them. I climbed out to make my gear dog-proof when I noticed that my flip-flops were covered with thorns. Goat-head thorns, these multipronged beasts that can render a tire flat in no time, to say nothing of an inflatable air mattress. In a mild state of panic I felt around the floor of the tent and indeed there were several thorns poking through. I checked the tires and they were full of air but the front one had a thorn stuck in it, just waiting for me to ride away in the morning. I spent the next 30 minutes clearing the area of thorns, marveling at how differently things could have turned out had it not been for all the luck that is floating around me.

I slept like shit. Traffic was coming and going constantly, and when the big trucks would stop they'd leave their engines running. And the ones that didn't stop roared by about 100 feet away. That is my only complaint of the trip. Sleeping next to Mexico 1 is not my cup of tea.

I woke up at 6 am and saw this through the window

Dahlia shared her knowledge of facilities down the road while I sipped a cold soda pop at one of the loncherias. She used to live at 30th & Broadway in San Diego.

This may look like a big pile of rocks in the middle of the valley, but it is really a miles deep piece of granite that is a little rough around the edges where it pokes up through the surface.

Laguna Chapala in the distance. It looks like it might be bigger at times than it was today.

This is definitely NOT what I thought I ordered, and I didn't like it. I ate it anyway.

I camped in a pile of goat heads and didn't get a flat. Quick, somebody sell me a lottery ticket!

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 375 miles (604 km)

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