TransMexico Part 1

  ¡Hola amigos! Para esta excursión mi nombre es Manivela Oxidado. This tour came about because I needed to stay in top form for my 2022 spring and summer tours. I was looking for somewhere south of the border to ride over winter break. I heard from fellow cyclist Jeff , whom I had met last summer at a gas station on the ACA Western Express route in Colorado. He had been riding the ACA Great Divide Mountain Biking Route and we had stayed in touch. He told me about the Trans-Mexico Bikepacking Route (Norte)  featured on Bikepacking.com and contributed by Mark Watson and Hana Black. I was immediately infatuated with the route and had hoped to do it together with Jeff. Unfortunately our schedules didn’t align. Jeff would be starting a week ahead of me and would hopefully provide valuable reconnaissance. The route was 1,469 miles miles long with 173,049 feet of climbing. It was suggested to do in 40 days. Because of my teaching break I was only giving it 26 days, and there was a good cha

Introduction Getting to Mazatlán Stuck in Mazatlán Trans-Mexico Day #1 Mazatlán to Copala Trans-Mexico Day #2 Copala to El Palmito Trans-Mexico Day #3 El Palmito to El Salto Trans-Mexico Day #4 El Salto To Durango Trans-Mexico Day #5 Durango to Mezquital Municipality Trans-Mexico Day #6 Mezquital Municipality to Sùchil Trans-Mexico Day #7 Sùchil to Francisco I. Madero Trans-Mexico Day #8 Francisco I. Madera to Zacatecas Off-Day in Zacatecas Trans-Mexico Day #9 Zacatecas to Potrero de los López Trans-Mexico Day #10 Potrero de los López to Lagos de Moreno Trans-Mexico Day #11 Lagos de Moreno to  Rincon Grande Trans-Mexico Day #12 Rincon Grande to Guanajuato Off Day in Guanajuato Trans-Mexico Day #13 Guanajuato to San Miguel Allende Trans-Mexico Day #14 San Miguel Allende to La Cuevita Trans-Mexico Day #15 La Cuevita to Zitacuaro Trans-Mexico Day #16 Zitacuaro to Valle de Bravo Trans-Mexico Day #17 Valle de Bravo to Raices Trans-Mexico Day #18 Raices to Toluca Epilogue Stats Gear Review O

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 th

Stuck in Mazatlán December 24, 2021 Long story short, never use an eBike box to ship your touring bike. They’re large roomy boxes which allow the front fork and headset to remain attached. But the AA baggage people LaGuardia only consider what’s printed on the outside of the box. For some reason my box had an image of a big screen TV. Ostensibly the reasoning is that American couriers are more considerate with large expensive electronics than with bicycles . Yesterday morning after boarding I was asked by the flight attendant if I was traveling with a television, and I replied no, it was a bicycle. Ostensibly it was then assumed that I was traveling with an eBike packed with lithium-ion batteries. Not to mention that an eBike would have been over the weight limit. Why didn't anyone open the box and take a look? Again, this was the same box that I traveled back from San Francisco with last summer. Good boxes are hard to come by. I had never really given the exterior printing much co

Trans-Mexico Day #1 December 27, 2021 Mazatlán, SI to Copala, SI Start 1:56pm, Finish 5:42pm Ride Time: 3:24 Ascent: 788M Descent: 284M Tour Total Km: 57.9 Details at:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/80542985 I had a nice few days in Mazatlán. I enjoyed my Christmas dinner at the beautiful Hotel Raices de Mar. I had several wonderful bike rides on a rental. I worked American Airlines around the clock on Skype, their website, and on Twitter. Rather than negatively focus on the knucklehead(s) who cost me four days, I preferred to concentrate my appreciation to Christina at the LaGuardia baggage office as well as Viridiana and the wonderful ground crew in Mazatlán. Who knows? Maybe it was better to take a few days rest, rather than to hit the ground running. This way I was able to adjust to the Mexican Buena Onda. Hell, I got to bathe in the Pacific! The last time was some twenty years ago. I’d learned several lessons, and hope that my readers will additionally benefit from what I overlook

Trans-Mexico Day #2 December 28, 2021 Copala, SI    to El Palmito, SI 51.7Km Start 7:05am, Finish 1:27pm Ride Time: 5:26 Ascent: 1979M Descent: 588M Tour Total Km: 107 Details at:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/80585348 I believe I slept reasonably well last night, right besides the beautiful old colonial San Jose de Copala church, built in 1748. I’m sure that I slept because I remembered two dreams. But the cacophonous noise from the roosters and the barking dogs seemed like a constant throughout the night. At first light I decided to insert my earplugs, but couldn’t fall back asleep. I slowly packed up, ate my three bananas, and pedaled back out of town towards the libre. There had been condensation in the tent, and I was wearing my rain jacket as a shell over a short sleeve jersey and cycling shorts. My feet were comfortable without socks. The libre was quiet, and I was expecting a long day of continuous climbing, which began immediately. My rear radar sensor was working today.  I w

Trans-Mexico Day #3 El Palmito to El Salto Trans-Mexico Day #3 December 29, 2021 El Palmito, SI to El Salto DG 100Km Start 7:45am Mountain, Finish 4:59 pm Central Ride Time: 7:09 Ascent: 1950m Descent: 1333m Tour Total Km: 206 Details at:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/80647649 I slept well in room number 4 at the unnamed green painted hotel in El Palmito. Last evening I was able to post my report, fix my front tire, and enjoy a six-pack of Tecate in warm comfort.  There had been a small hole in my front inner tube where yesterday my wheel had hit a large rock. Both sides of the rim had serious dings and I was concerned about the nearby joint. I taped slivers of tire boots over the joint to prevent any pinching on the tube. The fix would need to get me to Durango.  The hotel windows had insulated me from the barking dogs. Once again I had weird dreams. I was freshly shaven and showered, and back at level one. All my devices were charged and I had a decent night’s sleep. I woke up with

Trans-Mexico Day #4 El Salto to Durango  Trans-Mexico Day #4 December 30, 2021 El Salto DG to Durango DG 99Km Start 7:48am Finish 1:18pm Ride Time: 5:04 Ascent: 971m Descent: 1592m Tour Total Km: 302 Details at:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/80690847 I slept great in room 102 of los Piños hotel in El Salto. Last night the power returned around 11pm. I tried to upload yesterday’s report, but there was still no Internet service and I went to sleep. Once again, I had weird dreams. I stayed warm in my long underwear with the heater cranked. I woke up at about 7am, and it was still dark outside. The outside temperature was 36°F, and it was a slow pack up. I was wearing my long underwear top and bottoms, long sleeve jersey, short sleeve wool sweater, rain jacket as shell, cycling shorts, leg covers, heavy wool socks, waterproof socks, shoe covers, balaclava, and long finger gloves. I was prepared for this kind of weather. The sun had come up by the time I got on the road. I had a nice big c