Trans-Mexico Day #9 Zacatecas to Potrero de los López

Trans-Mexico Day #9

January 5, 2022
Zacatecas ZA to Potrero de los López, AG 110Km
Start 8:48am Finish 6:42pm
Ride Time: 7:59
Ascent: 1308m
Descent: 1545m
Tour Total Km: 891

Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/81189031

I slept well in room 202 at the Hotel Casa Faroles. Last evening I walked over to Garufa for a hamburger and a few Victorias and mezcal margaritas. When I got back to my room I noticed my front tire was soft. Another chore I’d have to do before departure. For breakfast this morning I enjoyed huevos rancheros, bread, orange juice, and coffee at the hotel.

I rode west out of town taking the same route that I had taken yesterday to go to the bike shops. I was wearing my short-sleeve jersey, cycling shorts, leg covers, short-sleeve sweater, socks, and short finger gloves. It was 48°F and was forecast to go up to 72°F later today.

The route took a weird twisty way out of the city, and after about 10 km I was riding through the industrial part of town. I was heading south, and passed four day cyclists coming towards me, and we waved. Shortly afterwards two other day cyclists passed me going in my direction. I could spot a wind farm to the south, and then I left the highway for a dirt track.

I was riding through fields and the route aligned with a railroad track which seem to be active. I had heard and seen freight trains in Zacatecas. The dirt track was mostly smooth and I could make good time. I crossed under the train track and entered the small village of San Jeronimo. I had to cross through a stream just as a freight train came through. There were a few open tiendas and I was briefly re-joined with asphalt. I was still following the train tracks which were now to the east of me. The asphalt turned to chunky garbage smelling gravel and rock. Locals dumped their waste here, and then burned it alongside the train tracks. I was getting hot so I pulled over to remove my leg warmers, sweater, and socks. I lathered myself in sunscreen and put on my helmet brim. I then continued following the train tracks on dirt. The dirt turned to nice gravel and I could make good time. I then left the railroad tracks and took a right on a state highway heading south. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I had amber colored grass to both sides of the road along with a few scraggly bushes.

The highway was flat and uninteresting for about 15km. I took a right towards Genaro Codina, and just as I passed through the new fancy entrance gate my front tire once again went flat. I couldn’t find the leak, and probably had another small puncture. I was unable to figure it out. I swapped in a brand new tube that I had brought from home. After I removed the tube from the box I realized that it had been incorrectly labeled, and was smaller 1-1/8” - 1-1/4” size , and not a 1-3/8” - 1-1/2”. I hoped that it would hold. I was almost halfway through my patches, and had now had five flat tires. After the fix, I rode down into a canyon that opened up to the south. There was a small mountain range to the southwest.

Down in the canyon, at the bottom of the downhill in Genaro Codina, I stopped at a tienda for a large del Valle Néctar de Mango. I then crossed a small stream and had to climb this ginormous hill on the other side of town. The road was unfinished and unridable. It was ridiculously steep. Workers were busy created a retaining wall and new sidewalk. I was able to walk my bike along the sidewalk and then ride once the grade had leveled off.

After a little bit of gravel I was back on asphalt, which was short-lived. On the other side of town, back up on the ridge, I crossed over a cattle guard and left town. I was once again on dirt. I had a nice long stretch of gravel which was relatively flat. There were a lot of horses and cows along the track. I stopped at a pond to find the hole in the inner tube that had punctured earlier. I marked the hole and rode on. There was strong wind coming mostly from the southwest. Sometimes it crossed me and gave me a little boost. Other times it was in my face. At a certain point I encountered a concrete double track which was made my ride easier.

I was climbing up towards a ridge on the cement double track and spotted a bright red object in the distance. I got my hopes up for a snack stand. It turned out to be an ATV. A mom and her three kids were sitting on the side of the track. I hollered, “Buenas tardes!”, and they looked at me like I was from Mars. I took a left at the top of the ridge on another dirt track heading east.

This track was much chunkier, and I had to do some hike-a-bike. It finally smoothed out and I could see that it continued across the landscape for kilometers. I came to a crossroad and went through an unlocked gate. I came to another gate and went through it. After that there was a long sandy stretch.

I could see somebody on the hill far in the distance and was hoping it was another cyclist. When I got there I met a man with his wheelbarrow who was out fixing the road. It was a really bad stretch and I had to hike-a-bike up to the next gate. I was starting to get concerned about sunburn on my arms so I stopped to put on my arm covers. There was a beautiful steep canyon to my right with rock faces and bluffs.

At one point I saw a blue pick-up truck pulling a trailer ahead of me but I couldn’t catch up to it. This had been the loneliest stretch of road yet on the tour. I’d hardly seen anybody today. There was the occasional scraggly palm tree and cactus. It was mostly just grass and barbwire fences.

I came to another gate and used the stop as an opportunity to apply sunscreen, drink warm water, and plug in my iPod. From the top of the ridge it seemed like I could see some sort of human settlement far in the distance. I’d crossed dozens of cattle guards today, all in the familiar cross traffic orientation. My lips were severely chapped and I was applying lip balm.

As I was approaching Las Camas, I noticed a family having a picnic in the bed of a red pick-up truck on the side of the track. There were numerous cacti growing here. I took a left and headed down into a narrow canyon. I noticed a dozen houses but no services. I then climbed my way back up to the plateau. I finally reached asphalt and a main road, but then the route took me back on to gravel towards Potrerillo. The symbol on the highway sign looked different and I assumed that I was now in Aguascalientes, my fourth Mexican state. I stopped to put air in my tires. My rear tire was down to 40psi and my front was soft. I probably had another puncture.

The Tienda in Potrerillos was closed, but two girls told me to knock on the door, which I did. I got two small del Valle Néctar de Mangos. It was 4:13 PM. The other end of town had pavement which made it easier to climb out of the valley. I passed a basketball court and saw some government signs that indicated I was now definitely in the state of Aguascalientes. At the top of the climb I lost the pavement and was back on gravel.

I rode onto an asphalt highway and found myself on Aguascalientes State Highway 123 towards Tortugas. I could see a large lake in the distance and wondered if it was the lake at San Jose de Garcia where the notorious dam was. I would be going off-route to avoid the treacherous hike-a-bike at the dam. I would be riding west around the lake on gravel roads. I still had a few hours of daylight and hoped to get some of the detour covered today. Jeff had told me that there was good food in San Jose de Garcia, which I’d unfortunately miss.

After 3 km I rode through Tortugas. There were a few houses and I didn’t stop for services. After Tortugas I began to notice an abundance of cactus. I left the route and took Highway 38 west towards Paredes. There were many tienda‘s and depositos in town, but I didn’t see any commodores or gordita stands, so I kept going. I was navigating with Google Maps on my iPhone and would have never been able to do this detour with my GPS or with the maps that I had put on my phone or my paper maps. The detour was off-road gravel and the sun was setting. I was riding west and south through wide open country.

I rode down into and out the other side of a beautiful canyon. By this point the sun was over the horizon. I came to an intersection in the small pueblo of Potrero de los López. I knew I’d soon be setting up camp, and decided to ride through town in search of beer. I scored! A nice woman opened up her tienda and sold me a few cans of Victoria and a couple bags of nuts. I rode a few more kilometers and found a camping spot behind some prickly cactus. I would need to be very careful when I got up in the middle of the night. My front tire was once again soft.