The One Where I fight a Cactus...

After successive days at the sea-side towns of Camalú, Vicente Guerrero, and San Quentin, I rode back into the mountains with my companion, Andre, for what would be two days of difficult and slow mountain riding. Leaving San Quentin, back roads adjacent to huge farms eventually led to the beach where we rode for several miles over the damp, compact sand alongside the Pacific Ocean.

After several miles of easy riding on the beach, we returned to the back country roads and continued to Ejido Nueva Odisea where we stopped at an excellent Cocina Michoacana to grab a meal before sojourning into the looming mountains. I admit that I was not terribly excited to go back to the place where my bicycle would struggle the most to traverse but almost a week in the country had given me the confidence I needed to tackle the challenge. Our goal was to spend two nights camping in the mountains and slowly make our way back to Mexico Highway 1 where we would ride the rest of the 78km to Cataviña by paved road.

The dirt roads of the foothills very quickly transformed into nearly unrideable rocky track. Thanks to the recently completed Baja 1000, the track was barely passable especially on 2.1" tires. Progress was frustratingly slow as I rode at my lowest gear and spent several hours intensely concentrating at avoiding the worst of the jagged rocks and narrow dirt sidewalls of the trail. Unfortunately, one lapse in concentration sent me flying of the side of the bike into a cactus with nearly inch long spines. I was able to emerge from the bush, but not unscathed as I picked out hundreds of spines from my arm and leg, and later with Andre's help, my back. The kind of cactus I fell into is pictured below!

I was bleeding from my arms and legs but a quick wipe from an anti-septic cloth from my med kit cleaned me up and we made camp shortly thereafter.

The following day, we experienced an extremely difficult morning and only managed to travel 8 miles in a span of 4.5 hours due to the amount of hiking we were forced to do because of the road conditions. I spent several hours literally lifting the bike over small cliffs that rode with climbing trail we followed. We soon found ourselves in another ancient, dried-up river bed that made for slow riding over sharp gravel rock. I am still shocked that my tires have not been punctured!

After hours of climbing and pushing the bikes up the mountain, we began a glorious descent that still was at times hazardous due to the embedded stone where falling would feel a bit more like flying over the side of a cliff if we weren't careful. We rode into the valley and were amazed by the tens of thousands of cactus and Boojum Trees (pictured below) that dotted the landscape. The Boojum Trees are nearly endemic to Baja California and are some of the slowest growing trees on the planet, growing only 5 feet in 50 years and then 12 inches every 10 years thereafter.

Once more, we made camp for the night and then in the morning made our way out of the valley where we found the highway and a good meal at a family-run roadside restaurant. Strong headwinds marked our turn onto the highway and I was convinced we would be camping again for the night before a pair of Good Samaritans, Hector and his wife Rocio, picked us and our bikes up and drove us all the way to Cataviña where we now rest for a few days before continuing on. What luck!