Trans-Mexico Day #11 Lagos de Moreno to Rincon Grande

Trans-Mexico Day #11

January 7, 2022
Lagos de Moreno, JA to Rincon Grande, GU 69Km
Start 8:17am Finish 6:24pm
Ride Time: 6:41
Ascent: 1559m
Descent: 1137m
Tour Total Km: 1,088
Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/81183123

I had a long interesting night in the cow pasture at R MELO ranch outside Lagos Morenos. I was positioned between two sticker bushes and on the only level spot that I could find behind the trees. It got cold last evening as I was editing yesterday‘s report, so I put on my long underwear and socks. When it was time to go to sleep I slipped into my silk liner and mummy bag. I got hot in the middle of the night and removed the long underwear. Throughout the night in the distance, there were coyotes laughing, dogs barking, and roosters crowing. At one point I felt there was something right outside my tent. I shushed it and didn’t hear any more rustling. The next morning I woke up before first light and had to go to the bathroom. I then proceeded to pack up my camp. It was a slow pack, which now included the new morning ritual of repairing my front tire. I should mention that it’s been extremely difficult to get a 45mm tire back onto the rim. I don’t see how anyone without extremely strong hands could do it.

I had the tour’s first outdoor poop. All of these fields are basically cow poop. The patties are obvious. But how many hundreds of years have cattle have been pooping here? This is another example of ghow I’m becoming one with the land. That said, I try to be as clean as possible. Although I’m at a solid level three today.

I wheeled my way back to the barbed wire fence, dropped the bike over, slipped the bags under, and then carefully slid myself under. As I was about to hit the highway, I noticed my front tire was soft again. Up to this point I hadn’t seen a single cow in the pasture, until now. Suddenly they all began to appear to watch me depart. It was uncanny. I decided to pump up the front tire and get myself a few kilometers down the road. The puncture from last evening had been from a staple, and had most likely come from the road.

I had had a frustrating dream last night about building a mini roller coaster for my son’s elementary school science fair. That’s how I knew that I slept. It was one of my earliest departures. The sky was a little hazy but there wasn’t a single cloud visible. I could see Lagos Morena ahead in the distance.

I was still on Jalisco State Highway 213 on a nice tarmac surface. There was plenty of motor traffic, and I was missing my rearview mirror which I pledged to fix in Guanajuato. I was now planning to spend two nights there. Tonight the goal was a hotel in Leon, as I didn’t foresee any stealth camping options.

I was wearing my short-sleeve jersey, short-sleeve sweater, cycling shorts, leg warmers, socks and brim. I was a little chilly. The air was still cold. And then the route took me off-road. I was riding through a field of chopped corn stalks on the right, and freshly cut grass on the left. There was a tractor in the distance reaping the green grass.

I rode into the small pueblo of Loma de Veloces, and passed a small church with a blue circus tent set up in back. There were no services and I crossed over a stream with a small waterfall. I decided to use the water to locate punctures and fix my front tire. The problem was that I had just ridden through thick mud and the tire tread was caked. I took it down to the polluted water and did my best to get all the mud out of the tread. Back up on the small bridge, with all my stuff lined up, massive trucks full of dirt kept passing me. I decided to install the inner tube I had purchased in Zacatecas. There was dirt and debris everywhere, and I was cursing myself for choosing this location. I could have just pumped it back up and delayed the fix. One little grain of sand inside the tire could cause another puncture. I was as fastidious as possible. I then had a an extremely difficult time trying to get the tire back onto the rim. I would get so close and just couldn’t finish it. So I would take it all apart and then try from the other side. Blood was now coming out of my thumbnails. I’ve heard of cyclists using their stoves to heat up the tires to fit them onto the rim. Finally, after what seem like an hour, I got my tire back on the rim. I inflated it to 55psi and then I took the two punctured inner tubes down to the foul smelling stream to locate the holes. At long last I was out of there.

As mentioned, there was a lot of heavy truck traffic on the dirt path and I got stuck behind one of the dump trucks. At times the dirt was three inch thick powder, and the plumes of dust being kicked up were immense. I was breathing the earth, and it was all part of becoming one with the land. I stopped to remove my sweater and leg warmers.

I was almost through my first patch kit and had one kit remaining. My second patch kit was provided by Vaccaro and White, New York City attorneys who advocate for cyclists. There was a liberal amount of small patches in the second kit and I still had a tube and a quarter of glue. That said, I didn’t know if my thumbs could handle another tire installation.

I came to a freeway with four lanes of divided traffic. It was the largest highway I’d seen yet on this tour. I had to run across the eastbound two lanes and then walk my bike down a steep embankment to get to the westbound lanes. It was 10:30am and I had gone 16km. There was no way that I could have made the reservoir last night. I was on the freeway for less than a kilometer. I took a right onto tarmac which soon turned to dirt.

I rode by a stinky poultry operation. A tortilla guy was riding around on his motor scooter blasting his horn and yelling, “Tortillas calientes!”. I crossed another cattle guard with the slats going with traffic. Up ahead was a Nestlé milk tanker truck stopping at farms doing pick ups. I got to a nice flat dirt section. There was a stacked rock wall to my left and open range, cactus, and scraggly bushes to my right. After 23km I came to the reservoir and the place where I had wanted to camp last night. I never would’ve made it. From here I had 77km to today's destination.

I stopped to wash out my thumbnails with soap and I lathered myself with sunscreen. I was headed towards a small mountain range. I crossed a small stream and then began climbing up towards the ridge. I spotted a type of cactus with long narrow vertical columns that I hadn’t seen before. I climbed a long, steep, chunky, rutted uphill. I couldn’t get into my low gear fast enough and had to hike-a-bike the first part. Eventually I came to a wider dirt road. I took a left and was still climbing. I was paranoid that my rear tire was going flat but it was holding.

I was on a long steep climb in my lowest gear doing slaloms on the road to make it easier. Behind me I could see a fire in the distance, along with the reservoir and a large town ostensibly Lagos de Morenos. At long last I reached the top of the ridge and there were spectacular views. I’d been noticing numerous monarch butterflies. This is where they migrate to in the winter, and if my luck holds I’d be visiting a biosphere reserve next week.

Readers have been asking if I’d be doing a nude photo on this tour. No. It’s not a coast to coast tour. I’d unfortunately not be making it all the way to the Caribbean, so the answer again is no. There was a cool refreshing headwind up on the ridge. By noon I’d only gone 30km. All of a sudden the dirt turned to tarmac and I was still climbing.

I believe that I've finally figured out how to extend my iPhone battery life. I’ve been regularly keeping the device in airplane mode. Then I realized I needed to turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Finally I turned off Siri, and the battery life has increased significantly. I left the tarmac for more dirt and a downhill.

The next section was definitely the most difficult section I’d had yet. The dirt road forked and I couldn’t figure out which direction to go. Finally I realized that I need to go back and slip under a barbed wire gate. I continued and the dirt track came to an end. There was a ditch, ostensibly for a small square reservoir that wasn’t yet complete. I couldn’t figure out which way to go. Nothing was clear and I was trying to line up the little blue dot to the line on my app. After wheeling my bike all over the place and dodging barbed wire, I finally figured out the path forward. It was full on hike-a-bike. I walked down into the valley and passed a few houses. Then I started climbing back up towards the next ridge. There were so many ruts and I had to push my bike. I went by a house with two motorcycles parked out front. I was once again confused. The route wasn’t clear and I was trying to line up the blue dot with the line. There was a lot of hike-a-bike and I wasn't making any time.

I finally reached the top of the ridge and there was a nice long flat section. I enjoyed a nice cool breeze. I hadn’t eaten anything of any substance since my burrito yesterday about twenty four hours ago. I was on a rocky, rough, unridable section with so much hike-a-bike. I finally came to a clearing and passed a house. I was now on a double track and could see the town of Comanja de Corona in the valley below. Thank goodness. I stopped at a tienda and got myself a Fanta and fantastic bun. I sat out front and cut up a Hickory Farms jalapeño cheddar blend to enjoy with the bread.

The town had a nice central square and there were baths available for five pesos. Unfortunately there were no places serving food. There was paved stone up the steep hill and out through the town, and then I was back on dirt. It was 2:30 PM and I had only gone 40km. I passed some nice homes and ranches riding out of town. I had a long uphill and the gravel was pretty good.

I rode through a small collection of houses, one of which was really nice. There were tiendas advertised off the road, but I didn’t detour. I could see that the route up ahead was going to climb up over a saddle. I descended down into a valley and made the turn. The next climb then began. Midway up the hill, I encounter a dude with friendly mutton chops, dark sunglasses, and a cowboy hat. He was sitting in a wheelbarrow taking a break from working on the road. He had a music player hanging from a tree branch blasting Mexican tunes.

After I crossed the saddle I took a left on an asphalt road. I could now see the valley on the other side of the ridge and the road I was on kept climbing. After about 500m I took a right on gravel and descended down along the ridge. There was a beautiful lake and groves of pine trees down in the valley. The picturesque area was cordoned off with modern fencing. I noticed a fancy ranch gate with cameras. The first part of the climb back up was steep and I had to walk. The road eventually leveled off and I was treated to a steep downhill. Then I began another climb. I could see from the map that I had passed into Guanajuato, the tour's sixth state. I passed San Ignacio Parish, a modern impressive religious monument, and then took a left on another dirt road towards Rincon Grande. I passed two weird stuccoed teepees out in the middle of nowhere.

I came to a nice curve and a downhill and could then see that the road would be heading up over another large range. I had been hoping to make it to the next town with services which was now in doubt. It was getting late and my legs were spent. After the first few switchbacks I pulled over for a snickers bar and some water. It was a tough climb with steep grades. I passed by a few houses and dogs were barking. Some of the grades were so steep that I had to walk. I couldn’t go any further and began looking for a place to camp. Unfortunately the land had steep slopes. I came to a place with somewhat level areas to both sides of the road. Neither was very well hidden. I decided to sneak under a barbed wire fence on the uphill side. It was far from perfect. I found a cow path with a narrow somewhat level place to set up my tent. I decided to wait until it got dark. While I was waiting, I cooked myself a Backpackers Pantry Pad Thai dinner with Chicken. I was now down to less than a liter of water. I attempted to edit this report, but was too tired. It was the second night that I had no beer.