Puerto Vallarta to Acapulco

Today I am in Melaque on the Costalegre south of PV. I am camping on the beach with a bunch of snowbirds from Canada. I took a bus from PV to get me through a bunch of road construction on MX200. The road was not too bad, yes, dangerous like all of them are but it was rideable. The construction area was a few kilometers long and was mostly a sand detour. Tough to ride a heavy bike in sand.

Once I arrived here in Melaque I set up camp on the beach and went out exploring the town. Federales in town told me I could not ride my bike going south of here. I pretended to not understand them. After asking around the consensus is that it is just not safe to ride in this area. A month ago a guy disappeared and it is assumed that he was kidnapped or killed by any of the thieves, vigilantes, police or drug gangs that operate in this area. All of the people I talked to that drove through the area said it was very scarey with the various road blocks and everything. Tension was in the air they all said. So I am going by bus in a few days to Acapulco. The snowbirds all told me that Acapulco is not a good place these days either. I hope it all works out safely for me there cause that is what I am doing. No pics till I get better wifi.

Ride Day 172 Rosario to Puerto Vallarta

I don’t even know where to start today’s blog other than to say the Grinch’s heart may have grown by 10 times its size but today my balls shrunk by 10 times their size.

After my rest in the hotel, I started the day off thinking that I was recovered from yesterday’s health problems. I felt good in the morning and my balls were still as big as ever. Then I jumped on my bike and hit the road. After a couple hours of riding where I was making very good time and distance, I stopped at a small roadside café for breakfast. They had the best coffee I have had yet in Mexico. The food was also perfect. It was from an almost unmarked café in the middle of nowhere. After breakfast and two cups of the great coffee I hit the road again. This time traffic was picking up and the road was getting a bit tougher with bigger hills, more hills and the roadway was getting smaller with no shoulder for me to ride on.

I dealt with the narrow road quite well by just jumping off the road when there was traffic coming from both directions. That has worked well for me so far in Mexico. But then as the day wore on traffic got heavier and heavier. I was pulling off the road often to let traffic pass and it was slowing me down. I came to the top of a grade and there was an accident at the crest. It looked like a bus and a tractor trailer had side swiped with the bus off the road on one side still upright and the truck on the other side tipped over and pretty much totaled. There were lots of people stopped and sitting or standing around watching. The road was closed so that they could clear the damage and get the injured people to help. I was able to weave my bike through it all and keep going.
It was nice having the road to myself since it was closed behind me, there were no vehicles coming up from behind. I made good time and distance for a couple more hours. Then again near the top of a long grade a car was being passed by a crazy driver in a full sized pick-up. The pick-up was heading right at me and the driver was looking at the car he was passing. He was only lucky that there was not a big truck in my place or he would have been dead. I panicked and jumped off my bike to the left trying to pull my bike over with me as the truck sped past. I did a couple of summersaults and then rolled and hopped to my feet. I was uninjured. After checking my bike over carefully and fixing a few items on it I just climbed back on and rode off. My balls were starting to shrink.

The road block must have been cleared because a long string of trucks, buses and cars came streaming past and I had to wait about 15 minutes on the side of the road while they went by. When I started riding again the shoulder completely disappeared and traffic got heavier. I was having a hard time making progress and my balls continued to shrink. Then I was near Tepic so I knew I had ridden 100 miles already and I came to a section of road that had a guard rail right up to the lane. On the other side was a hillside like a cliff. Two narrow lanes and heavy traffic. I was afraid to try to get past the guard rail. My balls shrunk a little more. I waited and waited then I got a break in traffic and I pedaled as hard and fast as I could to get past the narrow death trap. I made it and kept going.

I came to Tepic and the road was two then three lanes sometimes with a shoulder and sometimes without. Then I came to another guard rail area. I could not see how far it went because it curved. No shoulder for me to ride on no place to jump free if there was a problem and heavy traffic was present. It looked like a sure death trap to me. My balls shrunk a little more.

I looked for a way around it but there was not one. SO I waited until there was a big break in traffic and I went for it. I made it but a big tractor trailer went past me just inches away. All those weeks of playing a game of trying to stay riding on the white line in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas paid off for me here. In the game I played, I pretended to die if I went off the white line but here if I went off the white line I really would die. I made it past but my spirit was waning. My balls shrunk some more.

Past Tepic on Mexico 200 going toward Puerto Vallarta I was planning on stopping to camp just outside of town. I had ridden about 120 miles already. I was dead from stress and my balls were shrinking rapidly. I tried to get out of town but near the edge of town the road became impossible to ride. Constant streams of heavy traffic in both directions and no room for a bike. I stopped to think over my options. My balls were almost gone and I was tired and sweaty. I saw a bus stop and decided to just jump a bus to Puerto Vallarta. It took stopping three buses to find one that had room for me and my bike but that is how I got to PV. I jumped out of the bus about 15 miles from PV and went looking for a place to camp. I was lucky and found a very nice campsite in an RV park full of snowbirds. I setup camp, ate and went to sleep after the best shower I have had in years. I could not find my balls when I tried to wash down there but such is life maybe they will return by morning.
Oh I could not even think about taking pics today after the first few miles, I was just too stressed trying to stay alive. The bird I tried to catch a pic of but failed miserably at is a black throated magpie jay.

Ride Day 171 Mazatlan to Rosario

I spent a couple of days and nights having fun in the Funky Monkey Hostel in Mazatlan. There was a great group of people staying there from around the world and we sat around drinking beer with shots and talking. At night most of them went out to Mardi Gras but since I can't walk the long distances required to attend events like this I can't really go. Instead I stayed in at the hostel enjoying the company of the others that did not go out on the town. We had a good time.

This morning I packed up my bags and rode south in the direction of Puerto Vallarta about a three day ride away. Today's objective was to just get out of Mazatlan and away from all the booze at night and to position myself to be able to ride to PV in two more long days of riding. PV is still 180 miles away so it will be long hard hot sweaty days of riding to make it in two days,

Tonight I had planned on camping out here but a few miles outside of town I started to get seizure warning signs and my legs started to cramp. I checked into a cheap hotel for the night so I could rest longer to try to get this health issue to go away. I would not be able to rest camping until after the sun went down because my tent would be too hot to be in until then. Here in the hotel I took a shower and am in bed already. I shall see in the morning whether or not it was helpful to get the room.

Ride Day 170 La Paz to Mazatlan

I spent the night in La Paz at a nice bed and breakfast called Posada Colibri near the Gaviota hotel. It was a nice quiet comfortable B&B but I am not used to spending so much for one night. I did and I enjoyed my stay.

The next morning after a big breakfast from the B&B and some pleasant conversation with other guests I headed to the bus station. I caught a bus to the ferry 18 kilometers outside of town. There was some time to kill and I wanted to spend it on the beach near the ferry terminal. I ended up hanging out in a bar restaurant with another biker I met that was from Ohio called Dean. We chatted about our rides for a couple hours. He is riding down to Brasil for the world cup soccer matches.

We ate lunch and went over to buy our tickets. It took forever waiting around to buy the tickets and get on the ferry. Bikes are the last to load so we stood out in the hot sun while they took more than an hour later than the scheduled departure time. But all was well. We met another rider from Mexico getting on the same ferry. We enjoyed talking about our routes and such.

The ferry once underway was not too bad. Some cheap Mexican food was included for dinner and breakfast but that is what I have been eating everyday since I arrived in Mexico. We watched a few macho movies on tv with all the truck drivers and boat workers. They seemed to like the hardcore violence and stuff. I finally went out and got my sleeping pad and slept on the deck for the night. In the morning after coffee and breakfast I stood and watched whales, dolphins, sailfish, other unknown fish and all the birds from the rail of the ferry. We arrived in Mazatlan a little later than the schedule but all was well.

We rode into town and checked into a hostel. I had planned to jump right on a bus but tht proved more difficult than I had imagined. So I will spend a night or two here and buy tickets etc then leave under more controlled conditions. I am kind of used to planning on the fly but sometimes a bit of planning is ok. the hostel is full of nice people from around the world and is clean and comfortable. Mardi Gras is going on now here so it might be loud later tonight, we shall see. more later

Ride Days 168-169 Loreto to La Paz

I was packed up well before light this morning and hit the road out of Loreto right away. I had about 24 kilometers of easy riding then a giant mountain to climb and I wanted to do the mountain before it was too hot. My plan worked out well and I had my first Mexican Century ride today. What made it work out so well is that David stopped right near the base of the mountain and asked me if I wanted to throw my bike in the back of his pickup and get a lift. I hesitated but then did just that. It was almost 30 kilometers before we went over the crest of the mountain. I kept saying ok you can let me out at the next safe spot and he kept saying no, we are not at the top yet. He knew the road so he was right of course.

When I finally jumped out and said thanks I started off with a long downhill glide then a tailwind was pushing me when I hit the bottom and the road straightened out and became flat. I was riding at about 18 miles per hour thanks to the wind pushing me. I have had almost all mountains until now except for one short flat stretch on the road from Mulege to Loreto. I enjoyed the speed I was able to make. I stopped in Constitution for some quick tacos and coffee then was right back out on the road.

I finally melted from the heat and the long ride at Las Pocitas a village with about twenty buildings. I picked out a restaurant and went in to talk to them about where I could camp for the night. I lucked out by meeting Manuel. He immediately told me I could camp in his yard or better yet he would rent me a spare house for 7 dollars. I took the house because he told me it would be much quieter in the house and that trucks make lots of noise at night this close to the road.

I spent the rest of the afternoon talking with Manuel and looking around his compound that he built himself out of local stone, wood and cacti parts with a thatched roof of palmetto leaves. Manuel was quite the innovative builder and had a well thought out design. His family made dinner of beans, mixed vegies, cheese and tortillas that was delicious. We all enjoyed ourselves I think. I was a lucky camper today.

After we ate my body melted from exhaustion from riding 105 miles. I thanked them profusely, paid my rent and went to my house for the night where I plan on writing this then going to bed.

Tomorrow it is off to La Paz 65 miles away ending with a big long grade up over the mountains again.
Not many pics today until I stopped riding and settled down at Manuel’s place.

I left Manuel’s place before dawn and rode hard in overcast conditions. I stopped for breakfast after riding for an hour and the sun rose. Great breakfast from a roadside restaurant. Then I hit the road again. Today it was large rolling hills in a drier desert than I have been riding in. I made it to La Paz by mid day and rode straight out to the ferry to try to get on the ferry that night. They would not sell me a ticket until the next day at 1pm so I rode the 15 miles back to town making it my second century ride in as many days. I started looking for a hotel and ended up in a bed and breakfast place that is really nice but over budget for me. It is the only hotel I need over the last five days which were and will be free so I went for it. I repacked my bags after washing my clothes and checked the bike over and lubed it. Now a good night of rest and tomorrow I should be on the ferry to Mazatlan. A few pics

Weekend off in Loreto

I took the weekend off here in Loreto to take decongestants. My sinus canals to my ears are full of fluid on both sides and I need to clear them. I did not want to ride stoned on meds with the roads so dangerous. I feel better now but there is still a lot of fluid built up that I wish would drain out. I will decide in the morning if I need more time off or not.

I have been enjoying myself here. Yesterday there was a pig roast party here that most of the town and tourists all went to. I got a bit drunk yesterday too. I had a half dozen beers in the morning then 4 margaritas and more beer in the afternoon. Probably did not help my sinus issues but I had fun with all the people. Drank at the Mission Hotel and at Augies Bar for happy hour. Around sunset a large group of motorcycle riders came roaring into town in a big group. It was a Mexican club doing a club ride. I hung out with them for a while and enjoyed their good humor.

Back at camp my neighbor camper, David, was sitting around when I got back and we chatted for a couple of hours before bedtime. He drove down here to surf and his truck blew up so he sold it and this morning he rode up to LA with a returning snowbird going home early. Right now I am sitting at the bar in the Mission Hotel again because it is cooler here and there are a lot of friendly people around to hang with. A lot of them are pilots that flew down here with their friends just for the weekend. Must be a good life being that mobile. I could get used to that lifestyle. Tomorrow is either a day on the road to La Paz or another day off depending on how I feel in the morning.