Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2017 from La Paz, Baja, Mexico!

Had a nice relaxing two days with the Connors in Los Barriles. It is a neat little community with a surprising amount of restaurants, shops and other places. Quite a few gringos around so a fair amount of English is spoken and even saw a shop of two with prices in US$ instead of Mexican pesos. Mike Connor gave me a ride back to La Paz today, for which I’m grateful.

Found and patched a hole in the thermarest…well at least hope so since after finding what I thought was a hole it somehow didn’t want to emit bubbles again. That will be the fun surprise next night of camping. After going to sleep will I wake up in middle of the night on the flat ground or will it remain inflated through the night?

Also caught up on multiple blogs to plan out some of the next phase. The first ~500km cycling to Guadalajara should be fairly straightforward and after that still a few options. However, general idea will be to climb into highlands after Tepic. In general there seems to be a tradeoff between using the “cuota” or toll roads that are reported to have good surfaces and good shoulders but not many services to stop – vs the libres or free roads that are sometimes very busy and of varying condition.

I’ve also been sorting out getting a working cell phone. Initially went to the customer service center. After standing in line for an hour, the service person essentially came to conclusion that since the phone wasn’t a Mexican phone, he couldn’t determine what was needed to make things work. I didn’t fully believe him, so when got into La Paz, went to a local distributor and local guy was able to make things work perfectly well.

I’ll be in La Paz for a few days before taking the ferry to Mazatlan on the mainland. Nice to have some days of quiet down time, though I’ll also be excited to get back on the road again.

What a difference the wind makes. Two days cycling, first one averaging 17.2 km/h and second 13.9 km/h. Neither real fast, but definitely had more favorable winds on the first than the second day.

The goal was simple: make it to La Paz in two days. I had cycled 3km when I came to sign outside Ciudad Constitution, so plan was to ride to El Cien (cien == 100) the first day and the remainder on second day. Road started out flat and straight with a shoulder.

At the 8km mark, there was suddenly 7km of construction. My speed slowed as I picked my way along the dusty and sometimes sandy bypass road. It was nice to be through that construction.

Soon I was out cycling through more desolate regions. Seems like some of these shrines have been getting more elaborate. Also seems like a cross between simple memorials for those along the road and some more extensive shrines.

The shoulder went away but not too much traffic. Also nice to have a light tailwind in this section.

Without too much trouble, I had ridden 50km and was at Santa Rita. This small market had yogurt and water and all I needed to get replenished. After this the road turned to have more of a cross-wind and also some slight rolling hills.

Another more elaborate shrine.

Settlement of Las Pocitas was big enough to have an OXXO and also this small fruit seller. Had a late lunch and relaxed for a bit.

El Cien! Made it to 100. There was small loncheria here. Also found the local church and camped behind it.

Overall, a not too tough day and pretty ride. Camping behind the church was peaceful and great place to see the stars.

Church even had an outhouse. OK, well the “house” portion was missing, but otherwise seemed to be in use. Next morning got ready to ride remaining 100km.

Several of the loncheria in this part have the km marker as part of their name. This road had a few more hills. It went roughly downwind to the 77km mark where I stopped at a loncheria to refuel. After this point the road turned and it became more difficult cycling.

This area has many small mesas and buttes. Pretty country overall, but also more climbing than the first day. At 50km, also came to several kilometers of road construction. This was tougher than yesterday, since the temporary road went up and down some steep sandy hills. I ended up walking a few. Also after initial construction, the road turned much more into the wind. Hence, had a tougher riding.

Nice to see kilometers count down. At 70km mark turned more sharply into the wind but also down hill. Went through an agricultural control point and then this Pemex station.

At this point at 82km, the area already seemed a bit more urban, with two lanes of traffic each way.

Met this cyclist from Korea who had started his ride in Vancouver, BC and was headed to Cancun.

The last kilometers were busy. At 92km, I came past a sequence of big box stores, e.g. Walmart, Home Depot. From this point I decided to take a bypass road to head around La Paz instead of straight into the center. Even had a guy in a convertible stop and offer unsolicited advice, “Going to Cabo? Take a right at next light and then 96 miles further”. While, I’m not headed all the way to Cabo, I did cycle a few kilometers south of town so am now 7km from town center. Plan is to ride to Los Borriles.

Overall, second day was more exhausting than first, mostly because of the winds, though construction (both days) and hills (more second day) also played some role. Nice to be close to La Paz.

Two days cycling brought me to Loreto. This town has more of a touristy and “gringo” feel to it than Mulege. For example, more English signs, menus and other things. However, still enough Spanish to keep me on my toes.

The first day was a short ride of only 42km ending up on the Bahai Conception. The bay is off the power grid and without cell service and is a bit of an out of the way oasis. I took my time leaving Mulege since I knew I wasn’t riding far. There are many palm trees growing wild here.

After a short while, I met some of the first northbound cyclists I’ve stopped and talked with. I gave them my “Baja Norte” map since I wouldn’t need it anymore.

The road ducked away from the coast where I got a photo of these vultures each perched on a different cactus top.

At 17km, the road descended for my first view of Bahai Conception.

There are perhaps a dozen total of these little beaches. Many like this one seem to have a lot of RVs parked semi-permanently as well as some basic huts built as well.

Another photo looking back at one of the beaches. I found one that had small cafe and stopped for a short break. It was over 30C and a hot sunny day.

Another photo looking back the way I had come.

At 42km, I came around the bend and saw Playa Buenaventura. This is the last restaurant along the bay and last place to camp with restrooms. It is a fun place (Facebook Page) owned by American’s with Mexican descent. Owners lived in Wisconsin so the bar has some Green Bay packers paraphernalia.

Relaxed in the cool shade of the bar. Three other cyclists also came by: two were the American couple I had met some days before. The other was a “bikepacker” who was riding some of the off-road (rugged) sections of road in Baja.

Camped out on the beach under an almost full moon. Next morning was treated to a nice sunrise. Nathan fixed a hearty breakfast sandwich and I was on the road early since I planned a longer day.

Otherwise, today would have been “Taco Tuesday”. Nathan said perhaps ~75-100 people came each Tuesday between ~10am to ~3pm for his taco specialties. Some come from Mulege and many come from surrounding beaches. Sounds like an interesting event.

The American couple also were on the road close to the same time.

The first 18km continued along the Bahai Conception to southernmost part of the bay. After this point, there was a solid climb over the next 6km to get up and out of the drainage. Glad it was still somewhat cool for the climb.

At 32km was the first and mostly only place to stop for the day, a small roadside cafe. Took a photo of this stream here since this is the first running water I have seen in Baja. These washes are mostly all dry.

A few kilometers later was one of the turnoffs to these gravel roads. An interesting alternative for mountain biking, though one needs to be prepared for lots of soft sand and also make sure to bring enough water.

The road I followed looked more like this. Still somewhat desolate country but a lot easier road to cycle and more traffic along the way. Had a general gradual descent and tailwind that pushed me along until km 67. After that the next 13km were a fairly consistent climb. Only noticed in retrospect from the profile why that part of the ride seemed to drag on, it was a good climb.

At top of the hill, cycled the last 14km into larger town of Loreto. Had to work through best way to get into town and then find a place to stay. I’ve been seeing a number of the “taller mechanico” type signs, and took me a bit to look the “taller” word up. Apparently, mechanical workshop or garage. This one also does welding. Nice to be in a somewhat larger town. Now sort out the next section of the ride.

Made it to the Sea of Cortez and also passed 1000km mark since I restarted in San Diego.

Today was a pleasant ride and one I rode with another cyclist for a little over half the distance. San Ignacio looks like a nice little town nestled into a valley. It was a few km more riding before I was heading up for the first larger hill to climb. It was steep in a few bits, but nothing too bad. No much further was a small loncheria “Datil” where I stopped for a coke.

Not many kilometers ahead I thought I spotted something on the road. Could it be another cyclist? Not sure and I was actually slowly gaining. I met up with Corine, a US cyclist who had been heading southbound along Baja Peninsula. Nice to ride with someone else for a change and over the next 40+km we cycled together. Over the next 30km, the route slowly climbed from ~250m to over ~500m all the while getting closer to large imposing Volcan las Tres Virgenes. Just before the 40km mark we crested a local summit and had a short descent back and then mostly level again. Fortunately, much less wind today than yesterday.

At the 57km mark we could see the Sea of Cortez below! Told Corine to go ahead since I’m slow on descents and she was planning on riding further. The descent itself had a few steeper sections but within 3km had lost most of the elevation and then over a few hills and to the coast.

There were some large mineral extraction areas here and the road was surprisingly beat up in this section.

Without much difficulty made my way through the town where this railway engine was posted and then found a place to stay a little past the center in the south. Overall, a moderate amount of climbing today but nice to share the long gradual climb with another cyclist and also nice to have reached the Sea of Cortez.

Todays location also seems to have name Vizcaino, though that name also seems to apply to a broader region.

Today turned out to be a nice easy ride, flat and not much wind. I had expected flat terrain but wild card was whether head winds might pick up. I started with good breakfast in the hotel and was on the road shortly thereafter. I had stayed at hotel outside Guerrero Negro so first passed under an arch welcoming to Baja California Sur.

The agricultural station was shortly thereafter.

Here are few houses from Guerrero Negro. Notice how each one has its own water tank on the roof. I’ve seen one or two tank trucks but am surprised there aren’t more. This is very dry region, so I don’t expect them to catch much rainwater.

After Guerrero Negro, the road became very flat and open. This is taken looking backwards with the sun. Felt like a “training ride” as mostly pedaling on flat terrain as the kilometers passed.

I did see a few horses and one cow. There was an occasional house along the way and signs for small roads leading off the main highway.

At 40km was this small store by a few more houses. Nice place to stop and get a quick snack. After this several cyclists passed including the two American cyclists from yesterday. I also cycled for short bit with a German cyclist who started in Anchorage, rode up to Fairbanks and is heading southbound eventually also through Central America and eventually South America. He was riding with a second German cyclist and had met along the way.

At 76km I came to small town of Vizcaino. It was still early but a bit too far to San Ignacio in a single day and so otherwise nice place to stop. I wandered through town after that to get bite to eat and see some shops.