Baja Divide 2018: Catavina to San Jose de Commondu,10-14Jan.

I think I met more bikepackers during my rest day at Catavina than anywhere else on the route. As well as Max and Willow, with whom I had only a brief conversation, there was Mike the photographer from UK; the Dutch couple; and a group of 5 or 6 riding together. I think they were from the Mexican mainland but they looked like Americans. Apparently they ran into mud after Nuevo Odisea and had to turn back and ride down the highway.

I was feeling rested after my stay at Mission Santa Maria in Catavina but still looking at skipping further south on the route. The weather looked better further south and it would put me within riding distance of La Paz in the the time that I had. The next morning I hitched a ride with a semi heading south on Mex1. It was the Dutch couple that arranged the ride with the truck driver as their spanish was much better than mine. I happily tagged along. Raúl, the driver, took me all the way to Vizcaino.

I had heard that the section that dipped down to the coast after Vizcaino was very sandy so I rode straight down to San Ignacio on the road and stayed at the Rice'n'Beans Motel. Great hospitality, WiFi, and they take Visa.
The next morning Friday, January the 12th, I rode through the San Ignacio oasis. I visited the Mission, got my supplies, hung out in the Plaza for awhile then rode south towards the San Ignacio Laguna where the Grey Whales calve. There was a store about 15k up the road and three bikepackers were there. I stopped. This is where I met Tony, Tony and Mark. We rode on together and camped about 10k out of El Datil.

From El Datil we headed south past La Ballena onto the alternate route as the web page indicated the road to Mulegé was very strenuous and storm damaged.  We stopped for lunch at The Scorpion Motel in a fishing village and from there were on paved road heading south along the coast. Once we reached the track that cuts east to La Purisma the sun was setting so we rode up the hill and camped.
The next day we got back on the route at San Isidro and rode to San Jose de Commondu. This was double track mountainous terrain and lots of coyotes at night so I was happy to be riding with Tony, Tony and Mark.

Baja Divide 2018: Santo Tomas to Catavina, 7-9Jan.

Having spent the night at a room in the El Palomar I had a chance to cleanup and recharge my gear. When the grocery store opened  at 7am I got my supplies. I had loaded the wrong track into my eTrex and so went off course coming out of Santo Tomas but it didn't take me long to get back on track and find the road climbing steeply out of town towards the Pacific coast.

My first view of the wild Pacific coast was a special moment and I was tempted to descend to the beach and go in the water but was satisfied with stopping to eat and take a photograph. I rode on to the Mercado in Erindeara where I met a bikepacker couple but they did not seem too interested in conversation or perhaps did not speak english. By the way, there is a big chainlink fence across the route just after Erindeara. I went down to the beach to get around it and then continued on the route as marked toward Punta Colonet. At this point I was thinking I would have to make up some time in order to get to La Paz by the 20th of January so when I got to Punta Colonet I rode south on Mex1 to Vincente Guerrero and checked into the Posada San Martin Hotel which was very nice for 600 pessos, about $30 US.

The next day did not look like a hard day on paper but from San Quinton to Nuevo Odisea there was lots of deep rutted sand sections and my left knee was starting to hurt so I started an advil regime. As I got close to Nuevo Odisea it looked like the route got wiped out by a high tide so I detoured and came into town through the Ejido, got some street tacos for 18 pesos each, then rode up into the hills and camped hoping tomorrow would be a better day.
The next day January 8th was another long day but my knee had responded to rest which was good because the first 30k had some steep, eroded, unrideable climbs. After the route turned south again I got onto some nice dirt road with long decents and made it to the roadhouse at El Sacrificio by 4:30pm for a hot meal and resupply costing a grand total of 220 pesos. Once again rode on up into the hills until after dark then glad to lie down and sleep. That night it started to rain at about 3am and got very windy and cold. It rained off and on most of the morning and I was wearing all of my clothes to stay warm. By the time I got to Catavina I decided I needed a rest day so I booked two nights at The Mission Santa Maria Hotel. I met Max and Willow just outside the Roadhouse across the street. I had been following their tracks for awhile. They were staying the night just up the road.

Baja Divide 2018: San Diego to Santo Tomas, 3-6Jan.

Made it to San Diego on the 2nd of January but my bike was still at Pearson in Toronto. Bummer. So much for The Grande Depart. The next flight out was tomorrow at noon, hopefully my bike would be on it. Oh well, nothing to do but see a little of San Diego so took a long walk and ended up at Super8 Seaworld. I would be well rested to start my ride.

My bike arrived the next day around noon. I had it togethor in about half an hour and headed for Tecate. I made good time without incident but since I hadn't started until around 1pm I had only a few hours of daylight. Met Jesse at the campground at the foot of Mt. Otay and then continued onto the climb in the dark. Legs started cramping and was reduced to walking but the view of the city lights and the stars at the summit was magnificent. I rode on for awhile more or less descending in the mountains and when sufficiently spent crawled up onto water tank 3-5 and slept.
January 4th there was a fair bit of climbing before making it to the border crossing at Tecate. Paid my $28 visa, resupplied in the Plaza, had a large meal at Subway then carried on towards Ojos Negros. More big climbs and some sandy sections. Rode until dark and camped.

This was my first experience in Baja California backcountry. Rugged terrain, beautiful weather, no water. Coming into Ojos Negros I was passed by several groups of offroad motorcycles and dessert buggies. Some kind of organized event, I think I was on the Baja 1000 route at that point. Not much more than a restaurant at Ojos Negros. Looks like whatever industry was here is now gone so I kept riding out to the highway where I had to pass a military security checkpoint to get over to the Hacienda by the PeMex. I had to ride off pavement for a bit to avoid traffic and when I pulled into the Hacienda I noticed dozens of little burr like thorns in both tires, yikes! I pulled a couple out and the sealant started coming out so I left the rest in and rode on. The tires sealed and I didn't even have to air up. Yay!
Crazy long decent on jeep road and then passing vineyards coming into Uruapan. Another long decent on pavement into Santo Tomas as the sun was going down. Took a motel room at El Palomar.

Baja Divide 2018: Preparation, December 2017.

A year after TATR I was looking for a new bikepacking experience. After reading through the info on bajadivide.com it was clear this would be a big challenge. Desert terrain, a different language and culture and longer than anything I'd done so far. It was easier for me to schedule time off in January and it would be an escape from mid winter weather in Ottawa.

All I had to do was build a plus sized dyno wheelset, figure out how to carry ten litres of water on my El Mariachi, and get started on duolingo. Thanks Lael Wilcox and Nicholas Carman for doing what you do which has made this experience a possibility for me. 

Project Bike: Jury's in.

I've been commuting on The Cowan Commuter for an entire season now and I'm very happy to say it's everything I hoped it would be and more. I commute rain or shine, daytime and at night. My commute involved paved road, rough road, gravel road, and sometimes rec. trail. I also did short tours involving pavement, unpaved roads and some unmaintained roads. This machine is now my goto bike for this type of riding and hands down the best commuter of anything I've put together so far.

Fitted with 35mm Panaracer Pasela tires which I usually run around 50psi it feels smooth and inspires confidence on gravel roads and fast downhills. With a generator hub powered automatic lighting system it's not  featherweight but I have light whenever I need it with no intervention and there is no noticeable power consumption.  The powdercoat finish is not showing any marks after a season of use and the bikes shifting is flawless.

I put a lot of time into this project. It has been educational and inspired a sense of accomplishment. My confidence is up and I'm sourcing parts for the next build. It will be utilitarian and economical like this one but not built to a specific price point which I feel is liberating in terms of specing parts. Stay tuned for previews of The Sparrow...njc

Bikepacking The CT: Retrospective

I guess I've really been writing this for myself so I can come back here,  relive this, and refresh my memories of this stuff once they start to fade. However, on the chance that somebody else is reading this and considering The CT ride here's my advice for what it's worth. Do it - BUT - this one should not be your first bikepacking trek. Even if you are in touring mode and know what you're doing, this can be a monster ride physically and mentally. I would schedule extra time, a rest day, know where you'll be able to get a motel room and keep a couple thousand calories of food on hand at all times. Do not even think about putting yourself on a 4 or 5 day schedule unless you've done this before and/or are an elite rider with extensive experience and are willing to accept the risk of riding extreme exposure at night when weak and hallucinating a long way from any kind of help.

One of the things I regret not doing on this ride was taking the time to photograph the people we met along the ride. There was our fellow bikepacker Reid from Durango, the three dog girl, the alpaca couple, the horsepacking man from Missouri, the day rider from Denver and others. I also had a momentary encounter with Jesse Jakomait and he gave me words of encouragement as we passed. Wow, a whole new level of respect for the people racing this trail.

Would I do it again? I am undecided about that. There's a lot of hike-a-bike. Maybe in the other direction. The first time Jesse Jakomait rode this route he vowed he would never come back. Then, this year on his 5th attempt he set the course record. I think it's unlikely I'll be back as a thru rider because there are so many other routes out there I have not yet done, and I'm closing on 60.

By the end I was schooled by the CT & mother nature and acutely aware of my own human frailties. I had to fallback on civilization; car rentals, motels and restaurants to get to my goal, but that's OK. I rode and walked hundreds of kilometers of the CT. I ate and slept on the CT. There was a little blood,  lots of sweat, and a few tears. I did it all with my son and we still ride together. I'm proud that I can say that.

Bikepackng The CT: Montrose, Ouray, Silverton, Durango

The morning of Tuesday July 28th we were at the Econolodge Motel in Gunnison Colorado after having pulled the plug on the ride yesterday. Our plan now was to drive to Durango and get some trail riding in before it was time to fly out. After making a few phone calls, I rode over to the airport and rented a Kia Sportage. We checked out Double Shot Cycles and the sporting goods store where James picked up some running shoes (I had my flip flops) and then considered a side trip up to Crested Butte but decided we better just head to Durango.

Main Street Silverton

We stopped in Montrose at the DQ for a snack then drove on to Ouray, a small town nestled between steep mountain slopes which was hosting a jeep jamboree. It was a long, steep, winding road up out of Ouray before we reached the pass and drove down to Silverton. A train runs between Silverton and Durango so a challenging adventure might be to take the train to Silverton then ride the CT back to Durango. We got to Durango with time enough to do some reconnaissance while we had the car. We located The Spanish Trail Motel, our accomodations for Friday and The Mail Print & Copy Centre which we hoped would ship our bikes. Pizza for dinner then we navigated to the Junction Creek camp ground near the CT trailhead and paid $20 to pitch our tents beside an outhouse. It was smelly but convenient for nature breaks  compared to camping wild.

Junction Creek Campground

July 29th - Got up at 7:00am and drove to the Durango Diner for steak-n-eggs. Tried to find  a Hertz office and ended up at the airport seventeen miles south of Durango to return the rental. Put the bikes together and hung out at the airport to drink coffee, use the WiFi, and plot a route back to Durango. We ended up on the Black Canyon Trail System, then after stopping at a coffee shop in town found Velorution Cycles were we reserved bike boxes - cool shop. Picked up some beer then back up the five mile hill to Junction Creek, had a campfire and scoped out trail riding for tomorrow.

Black Canyon Trails Durango

July 30th - From Junction Creek we rode the CT and did the Hoffeheins Dry Gulch loop. Later we rode down to Durango and checked out another bike store, an outdoors store and the Durango Brewing Co. Camped at Junction Creek again this day.

Gudy's Rest

July 31st - after breakfast got the bike boxes at Velorution and walked them over to the shipping office. Breaking down the bikes and packing them for shipping turned into a marathon effort to get the boxes to the optimal size for the best shipping rates. After this we walked from downtown Durango to the Spanish Trails Motel and got some food at the grocery store across the street. I arranged a ride to the airport with the desk clerk.
The next day I left the motel early to catch a flight to Denver, James was flying out later in the day bound for Vancouver. Not the best way to end our trip, so it goes.