The Baja

Cycling through the Baja desert has been such a remarkable experience.  Some days the only thing to make you feel like your on the same planet is a Loncheria or a cactus farm just off the dusty road.  I absolutely love traveling through this whole new culture and environment.  However, I feel that in order to experience it in full and to reflect on my past 5 months on the road I need to separate from the large group I have been so comfortable with in Mexico.  The last 600 kilometers of my adventure I will experience on my own and with different cyclists along the way.

Here is a glimpse of what had been happening since I left Orange County.

Ryan and I awoke the morning after our farewell dinner at Dave and Maria’s to the sound of Joost, Michiel, and our new companion Jocelyn arriving at the house.  Jocelyn lives in Santa Cruz and was going to ride with us for a few days to do a follow up article on Joost and Michiel’s foundation.  We decided to make the 100 mile ride to the border in three days so that Jocelyn’s trip wouldn’t be over in one night on the road.  The push to San Diego was absolutely beautiful, everyday we road through little beach towns like Del Mar and Carlsbad.  When we arrived in San Diego Ryan and I once again split up from Joost and Michiel to find different housing arrangements.  Ryan and I stayed with Brian an old friend of Ryan’s from Connecticut and his girlfriend Kristen.  The four of us stayed for three nights in Pacific Beach relaxing and picking up supplies for Mexico.  On the 7th of November we made our way to a KOA campground just 10 miles from the border and on the morning of the 8th after staying up late the night before to register for classes back home we crossed into Tijuana.  We had planned to be in Rosarito that evening where we wanted to stay with a couch-surfer host.  The town was 60 kilometers away for bicycles because we were not allowed on the main highway.  However, we decided to bypassed the authorities through a neighborhood and sneak onto the highway.  This made our journey about 30 Ks shorter.   We made it into Rosarito in good time to meet our host Angelica.  Angelica greeted us with open arms and table full of food for our hungry bellies.  We stayed up late telling stories and drinking cold beer.  The next morning after and amazing breakfast we decided to wait in Rosarito another day for Devon and Jessica to arrive.  When they arrived Angelica was gracious enough to host them as well.  So, we all hopped in a taxi bus and headed for Puerto Nuevo for a delicious lobster dinner at sunset.   The following morning we said farewell to Angie and headed for Ensenada where we stayed in Casa de Bicicleta.  This is a house that is owned by a gentleman who doesn’t live there, he just owns the residence to house touring cyclists as they pass through.  As we were making dinner two more cyclists, Jason and Jules, showed up to spend the night too!  I think we hold the record with 8 tourists and bikes in the house for one night.  After our night in Casa de Bicicleta we had the urge to see the ocean again, so after 60 kilometers we cycled another 20 off the highway to Puente la Bufadora.  Here there was a huge blowhole that shoots water 30 meters in the air when the tide comes in.  We spent the evening enjoying fish tacos and enjoying life! The following morning we cycled south down the highway to a small cheese factory in the middle of the Baja desert.  Here the owner allowed us to camp behind the store and even gave us some delicious fresh cheese to ease our hunger as we set up camp and prepared dinner.  We had an amazing dinner under a gazebo with oil burning torches  and warm weather.  We headed for San Quintin the next day where we planned for a rest day after our first days cycling in the desert and getting used to the heat in the Baja.  After San Quintin we headed into the desert for 6 days and 6 nights.  Our first day, as we were going over a small hill, a milk truck TRIED to pass us.  Of course he could not see anything on the other side, and right next to Ryan and me he slammed head on into a van.   If either vehicle would have swerved it would have been detrimental to my goal of reaching Cabo San Lucas.  After the accident our first  few days in the desert were grueling with strong headwinds, steep grades and insane temperatures.  In the desert the sun rises at about 6 and sets around 5.  This made our sleep schedule very strange as we would go to bed around 5:30 since it was dark and wake up at around 6.  The days went like this until we found our self in a small town called Catavena where man named Sylvester  who let us stay on his property.  Sylvester has no access to clean drinking water, he only has a well that is about 8 feet deep in his front yard and of course no plumbing.  He also has a cemetery on his property and there was a burial the afternoon we were there.  It was so amazing  to see first hand how people live in the desert, thank you so much Sylvester for everything, it was a true privilege to meet you.  We left Sylvester’s for a few more nights in the desert until we crossed into a new time zone in Guerrero Negro. In Guerrero Negro we took a rest day after cycling through the dusty desert to take care of some much needed to-dos, like washing our clothes which were saturated with our sweat and salt.  Rest days are much more luxurious these days because hotels are so cheap in Mexico, the six of us are able to have two nights in a hotel for under $20 a night per person.  After Guerrero Negro we headed back into desert where we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere but off in the distance we could see what looked to be an oasis.  San Ignacio, and small town nestled in the center of the dry and dusty Baja Peninsula, was an unmistakable desert oasis.  We stayed in the oasis for one night only to get what seemed to be the entire Mexican military called on us for having a campfire. After some talking we weren’t in any trouble and we just had to grease the water guy for coming out to make sure our fire was no more.  The next morning we had a beautiful push  with headwinds that forced us to go 6 miles an hour to Santa Rosalia on the Sea of Cortez. We finally got to ride on the other side of the peninsula!  We stayed just outside of the town in a gorgeous hotel on the shoreline.  The owner was nice enough to give us one room for free because he liked our story.  We didn’t leave the following day until 2 because Joost and Michiel had a skype interview on CNN.  We arrived that afternoon in Mulege where we found ourselves at another hotel where three other cyclists were staying.  Siska from Belgium, Brendan from Yukon, and Rob from B.C. had already all been in Mulege since the night before.  Siska and Rob decided to join our group and the next morning the eight of us set out just 20 K’s to a beautiful beach cove.  We swam in the clear, blue water all day and had a delicious meal made with fresh yellow tail that was caught that day by local fisherman.  We awoke with a nice tail wind and set out  down the hilly coast for a campsite just a few kilometers outside Loreto.  Rob decided to separate from us and head into town to catch up with Brendan.  After the short ride into Loreto the next morning we found ourselves in another cheap hotel with 5 other cyclists; Megs and Jules, who I met on the coast of Oregon, Russell and Lorely, and Adian.  A few days before arriving in Loreto I decided that I would not take a rest day in Loreto like the others I have been cycling with, so, I will separate from Joost, Michiel, Ryan, Siska, Devon and Jessica and head off on my own…

Sorry for no pictures, check out facebook, www.flickr.com/cycleforwater , www.thescrimshawproject.com and www.ryanprizio.com