The grace, beauty, and blow-outs of south Baja

Another East-West crossing of the Baja. We crossed these mountains 4 times to get to La Paz.

While this mishap significantly shaped this portion of our journey, it added more flavor than it took away! A helping hand at the bike shop. Don, Manny and a little logistical work to put JoJo back together again.

Christie: We have had a wild, wild, yes...3 wilds...time since we last said hello...all centered around tire problems that started plaguing us just north of Loreto. If you can (and desire to) follow these crazy details, here they are: 1) We were very much looking forward to a couple days rest in Loreto and had positioned ourselves only ("only"...would come back to haunt us) 35 miles out of town. We woke up just before sun-up for the rest of our climb in the mountains. About 15 miles into it, the front tire sidewall failed (this means tire change). 2) Okay, on the road again, pedaling smooth, envisioning the comfort of a hotel bed and the possibility of seeing the Vikings vs "Packalores" game on tv, but only for about 3 miles, when the rear tire (which we had just changed the PREVIOUS day because of bulging) bulged out again on the side wall (Bulging: a new word for me and I do not like it) after only about 50 miles on this new tire AND the tube was flat. We patched the tube and since we had done 2 tire changes in 2 days had NO spare tires left. So, Mr. Magyver used duct tape to "patch" and reinforce the bulge. 3) With 15 miles into town on duct tape, I was doubtful, but we needed to keep moving forward. Went another 8 miles and didn't want to chance the tire blowing on a hill, so started walking with the bike, arms flailing in the air at each truck passing by. 4) Not 10 minutes roll by before Frank and Francisco came to our rescue, a retired American guy living near Loreto and his Mexican friend who was along for a ride. Loaded up the bike and trailer, took us to the bike shop. 5) (This is an important number...and another that will haunt us) The owner, Manny (a champion mountain biker in Baja), had no good tires in the store, so took used tires off his own bike and gave them to us. Then Frank dropped us off at the hotel. 6) Watched the Vikings beat the Pakalores with Espanol commentators (the best was "Si Senooooor...Touchdown!"). 7) Had a good rest day and were off and rolling, hoping to get to La Paz, a bigger town were we could get better tires, about 4 days away. 8) A gorgeous ride, rugged mountains to our right, over looking the sea on our left with little islands, and a lush green desert....for about 15 miles. 9) Going down a hill at 30 mph, the rear tire exploded, everything locked up, and we were fishtailing, with sparks flyin', on the rim of our bike (yes, scary). 10) We were at a dead stand still and not going ANYWHERE soon. Again at the side of the road. Saw some houses in the distance along the coast, so Eric started walking down the road while I stayed with the bike. 11) The next steps I only found out that evening....Eric gets picked up by a Canadian guy driving down the road, he brings him to a marina area about 7 miles down the road, some lady calls on the marine radio saying "There is a guy and his wife who need a ride north or south to the next town." 12) The guy who answers the call will turn out to be our angle of the week, his name, Don Beck. Don picks Eric up at the marina with his jeep, drives to where I am waiting, load the bike up, and drive BACK to Manny's bike shop. 13) If you're still following...congratulations...this is where it gets even more fun....In need of a brand new rim and GOOD tires, the final solution was the following: call the maker of our tandem (Santana), order a rim. Santana can not send this directly to Mexico, so sends it to a bike shop in San Diego. Manny has a friend in San Diego who's wife is coming to Mexico, so this friend picks up the rim and 6 new tires, gives them to his wife, wife puts them on a bus in Tijuana, bus comes to Loreto, and we pick up all of the parts we need to keep this journey going (Ahhh.) So after about 3-4 hours of talking on the phone and about 12 hours of waiting at the bus station over 2 days, we get the parts! 14) Remember Don? During all this waiting, calling, and rigamaroll, he and his lovely wife Brenda put us up in their "guest camper", treated us to delicious dinners, let us use their kayaks, jeep for transportation, and were our prayer warriors through it all. They were so incredibly gracious and welcoming, day after day. 15) Remember Marcos....no I haven't told you about him yet....just testing you! Marcos, a Swiss biker, pulls into the same little town (Juncalito...pronounced Hunk-a-lito, but it's more fun to say Junk-a-lito) where we were staying. We hit it off with him. He has been on the road for 14 months, started his travels with a friend in Southeast Asia, then went to Canada, biked through Calif, the friend went back to Switzerland, and he's been biking alone through Baja. We met up again at the ferry crossing in La Paz, biked together though Mazatlan, and are currently staying together at a CONDO (yes-condo) for a couple days. 16) Remember Rob and Rebecca (I'd be surprised-we met them in San Felipe about 2.5 weeks ago). They offered their condo in Mazatlan to us for a few nights...this is like magazine beautiful with the pool water flowing over the edge, ocean in the back, golf, palms, crazy luxury kind of place (with air conditioning too). Not too shabby! 17) Then...get this...as we are pedaling though the golf course with Marcos, and a guy in a mini van pulls up, rolls down his window and curiously asks "Where are you guys from?," "Minnesota," we say bluntly, with sweat beating down, just anxious to get to our condo. He says "I'm from Red Wing!" So the story goes, David and his wife Hazel, invite us to their condo that evening. Belly up to their big kitchen bar, Eric, Marcos, and I had endless snacks and drinks, laughed and told stories through the night. Their energy is so much fun. Hazel repeatedly said, ending each sentence with a high inflection in her cute voice, "I just can't Belieeeeve it!...It's just so unbelieeeeeveable... (then she'd change the adjective to be "amaaaaazing"..."incredible!" I AGREE!

Making good use of our downtime. We wanted to go Kayaking while in Baja anyways! One if by land and two if by sea? Two of us, we'll take the ferry! Free-spirited Frenchmen, working and hitchinghiking their way South from Canada. Maybe we'll cross paths again! (Note: we now carry 5, yes 5, spare tires) All aboard! Bicycle parking in the rear. Weaving our way through old Mazatlan with Marcos. Watch for the bus behind! It was tight in a few places. Christie said I hit a car with the side of our bike bag, but I'm not buying it!

Eric: So here we are at the mainland of Mexico....we continue to be in awe of the people we meet and are excited for each next step in this journey. Our plan to go down the Pacific coast is up for debate. We were concerned about the traffic going through Guadalajara and Mexico City, but also have questions about the hilly, curvy coastal road combined with more heat and humidity. We'll see what the road brings, but we are fairly confident we'll keep moving south!