01/14/24 Jala

January 14, 2024

Real climb today. But the air! So delicious!

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After 3 full days off my bike I had a Christmas Eve anticipation feel when I went bed, and it took a long time falling asleep. When I did, I had such weird dreams… might have been the bottle of cough syrup. Anyway, the point was that I was feeling less than chipper when I got up and had anxiety about today’s ride and its steep grades. I needn’t have worried. While it was indeed steep, it took me above 4000 feet and that’s where the air and the views gets good. The temperature was sweet, and it felt great to be riding again.

It took over an hour to get out of Tepic, I’m glad it was Sunday morning and traffic was light

Passing the heavily eroded Volcán Sangangüey. The middle part looks like the throat, a future Shiprock. But I’m only guessing

A small town which I missed because I was taking the toll road. The disadvantage of the toll road is there are longer distances between services, but the road is much saner in terms of grades, distance, and shoulder

Today was nothing like the climb up to Tepic, with the thick, humid air and lush tropical feel. Starting out at 3000 feet helped

The views kept getting better and better

I stopped for lunch after the big climb was done

Avocados and crackers with a cucumber thrown in for crunch

Change in vegetation on the other side. Not as many trees

A very effective decoy. Lots of high speed carnage on this stretch, judging by the number of roadside memorials

My intended destination was Ixtlán del Río but I thought I’d check out the “Pueblo Mágico” of Jala first

I was glad to see a pedestrian/bike path going down the middle of the picturesque but hell to cycle cobblestone road

The path ended but the cobblestone did not

I decided I’d stay here and delay the ride back to the highway, and one remaining hill, until tomorrow

Google sent me here, where I found Roberto leaning on the buzzer but no one answering. He was here to see his daughter who ran the place, and had no phone. I called the number on the sign and his daughter came over. She’d gone to the plaza and we’d nodded to each other while I was there having a popsicle and looking for a hotel

A beautiful spot, I had to wait while my room was prepped. A mere 300 MN ($20 at the current rate) this was a bargain. Lots of hot, hot water!

Meanwhile Roberto brought out a six-pack for us to share while he told me of the days when it was a three-day burro trek to Tepic, before the highway

Christian the grandson, Marie the daughter and Roberto. We had a nice chat while finishing the beer

I went over to the plaza for dinner, found lots of choices

The line was for elotes (corn) which I’m glad I tried. Very tasty

A nice little town, and everyone so friendly

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 1,231 miles (1,981 km)

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