[Riding South] Sick and Well Again.

[Eric]

Buenas!

 

After a tumultuous introduction, I have fully begun my ride into Mexico. I am spending a day in San Felipe. It is a fast growing tourist and port town on the Sea of Cortez.

 

About two weeks ago, I left San Diego. I was glad to leave behind the constant loud party that was my hostel. I rode east out of the city, up into the desert hills and to the border crossing of Tecate. Instead of the gigantic mess that is Tijuna, my introduction was much more relaxed. Still, many changes were apparent in the first fifty feet across the border. The streets felt more cramped and crowded with people. Noise and music came from all sides. And not a gringo in sight, only Mexicans.

 

I headed south from Tecate through the rocky desert. The highway roads are much narrower here. The white line runs right along the edge of the pavement. The sides are also covered in trash and the smell of burning trash greets the nose each morning. I can also see a covering of smog that drifts over the valley towns each morning.

 

Now that the prices are cheaper, I stop to eat often at restaurants along the way. Lots of fried food - quesadillas, tacos, burritos - served by the mostly friendly families that own them. The idea of chain stores seem foreign to this place and every small business is independently owned.

 

Language has been, in some ways, very difficult and in other ways easy. It is easy to master the language of shopping. But for any kind of conversation about things that matter, I am lost. I can generally make myself understood but only after long pauses while I search through my tattered dictionary. And after a day of riding through the hot sun, communication is difficult.

 

After a few days along the cramped highways, I begun to choose the unpaved secondary roads. Cars are rare but the riding more difficult. Many of the roads are paved in sand and trying to ride through these parts is an excercise in frustration. The tires are jerked left and right and then the bike falls over into the sand. But being able to spend all day riding next to the beach and with only the mountains and the ocean for company is well worth a few falls.

 

I quickly realized that my tires weren't even close to correct for riding in these conditions. The thin tires were difficult to control and the tubes kept popping. So rather than continue south I hitched a conveniently appearing ride from several surfers. Unfortunately, sometime during the hitch Montezuma took his revenge. Upon reaching San Diego again, I spent the next several days curled up in bed. I was left week and demoralized.

 

Once I regained my strength, I made the necessary changes to my bike - wide tires with thorn-resistant tubes - and headed back into Mexico via Teacte. The border passed quickly and I decided to take a more remote route down the east side of Baja. Lots of long empty distances between towns huddled together against the desert. And in the hills, when the sun disappears temperatures drop below freezing. It was a welcome change to wake to a layer of frost and have what seem like snow drift down when I shook open the tent door. But freezing quickly turns to burning once the sun moves over the horizon.

 

Con carino,

 

Eric

 

 

 

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Eric Apt-Dudfield
e.apt.d...@gmail.com

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Posted by Eric to Riding South at 11/03/2006 04:12:20 PM