Getting to Mazatlán

December 23, 2021

I’m always a nervous wreck when I begin one of these bicycle tours, and this time was no different. My last class was Tuesday and there was plenty of knucklehead late work to grade. I finally got all of my grades posted yesterday. The bike breakdown and packing was straightforward. I used the same boxes that returned with me from San Francisco last summer. Shari and Rick picked up Blanka, and my house was suddenly empty.

I hadn’t been sleeping well the past few nights. In addition to the end of semester stress, I was worried about the Omicron variant now raging through New York. What was the chance I’d catch it or bring it with me to Mexico? Would it effect my tour? Would it effect my return? In addition to Omicron, Day #2 - tomorrow, sounded difficult. It took Jeff 6-1/2 hours to go just 30 miles. He said he'd ‘hit the wall’ several times. Finally, I'd heard two rather vague murmurs of Cartel activity between Durango and Zacatecas. For the past month I’d been following others on the route, Russians Alex & Marina @athome_outdoors and Americans Josh & Austin @austingallant8 In terms of preparedness and research, I’d never been more ‘listo’ to begin a bike tour.

My alarm was set for 4am but I woke up at 3am. I enjoyed my last homemade cappuccino as I completed an online Mexican COVID form. Über driver Amandeep picked me up in his Toyota Highlander and dropped me off at LaGuardia at 4:35am. I was wearing a blue short-sleeve buttoned shirt, a pair of gray convertible pants in the long mode, a bright blue down sweater, Crocs, socks, and my yellow helmet. My non-cycling wardrobe needed a serious makeover. The large boxes each weighed 46lbs, and I would carry my handlebar bag and Rack Pack on board. The lines for security were endless, and I was glad that I got to the airport two hours early. The flight had started boarding when I reached the gate. The cost to ship the bike and gear was $170. That was on top of the $694 one-way ticket. When I first started shopping for fares, I found a ticket for $220. Overnight it shot to $1200. I got scared and locked myself in midway. When there’s a good deal, jump on it! Dealing with airlines sucks.

Onboard, seat E turned out to be a middle seat. I’m a big guy and I’ve got longer legs than anybody I know. In addition, I’m getting old. When am I going to start treating myself to better airline seats? I was wearing two masks, cloth over paper. There was engine trouble and the plane had to return to the gate. It’s like threading a needle people. Finally we were in flight. After my complimentary cookie and Coke, I fell asleep for over an hour. The crying baby behind me woke me. One of the flight attendants was wearing a necklace made from Christmas tree lights. The pilot was able to get us to Dallas Ft. Worth early, which would help guarantee that my bike would make it onto the next flight.

I gained an hour in Texas, and would gain one more in Mazatlan. This would be my first bicycle tour traveling west to east. The Dallas Ft Worth airport was huge and I had to take a train to a different terminal. Fingers crossed my bike and gear would make the second flight. I grabbed a foul tasting egg & bacon sandwich and used the bathroom. The flight was boarding when I got to the gate. Once on board I scored! The friendly flight attendant gave me an emergency aisle seat with an empty seat besides me. Yes!

It was a 2-1/2 hour flight to Mazatlan. My only inflight task was to swap SIM cards, which took less than a minute. I napped for a little bit. The rugged desert stretched out below. The mountain range just to the west of Mazatlan was formidable to say the least. I could see the modern toll highway that I would be criss-crossing.

The plane landed and I went through immigration and then on to baggage claim, where I waited. Finally the large box containing my gear appeared on the conveyer belt. Where was my bicycle? I waited. There was a K-9 officer with an eager pup sniffing my stuff. I wasn't sure if the raisins, nuts, cheese, and sausage that I had brought was allowed. My bike never arrived. A representative from American Airlines filled out a form and took photos of my phone images of the bike box. I gave her my Mexican phone #. Ostensibly my bike would arrive on the same flight tomorrow. She believed it had something to do with TSA. They had opened my other box.

I withdrew some pesos from the ATM and searched Yelp for a hotel. Mazatlan has many resorts and I wanted a small place in centro. I chose Raices del Mar and later realized that I made a good choice. I took a taxi into centro and passed a ginormous Norwegian cruise ship off the coast.

The original plan was to hit the ground running from the airport, which would save me 16km. Assuming that my bicycle arrived tomorrow, I would now be starting the route from the beginning. Up in my room I unpacked my gear, organized, and took a nap. I later took a walk around the gorgeous town, passing palm-filled plazas, porticos, and narrow colonial streets. I really love dMexico. This would probably be the most touristed and expensive town I visited until I got to San Miguel Allende.

I returned to the hotel for dinner where I enjoyed the seafood Gorditas and a Pacifico. Everyone in Mazatlan was wearing a mask. This pandemic has upended so many people's lives.