Biking West 2015 ‐ Ocean-side

2015-11-19

tl;dr: I'm finally off the highway and biking on remote, barely functional ocean-side roads.

Once again I was locked into the hotel come morning. Fortunately there was a man sitting up on a wall (keeping watch?) who retrieved a key and let me out.

I was hoping Burger King would be open and serving breakfast. It was neither. So I biked a few hours before finally stopping at a bus stop shelter to eat some peanut butter sandwiches. Soon two guys show up, and I think one was drunk. He kept trying to talk to me even though we'd long since established I couldn't understand a word he said. Everybody keeps making these strange hand signals in reference to my bike. He did so repeatedly. I can't even offer a guess. Also, I think he wanted me to carry his bag on my bike. I offered him some crackers and he took one and dabbed a tiny bit of peanut butter on it as of it were caviar or something, and he sampled it as if he'd never eaten peanut butter before. That wouldn't surprise me.

For whatever reason there are many horses staked along the road eating grass. So far I have not been able to startle a horse in Mexico. Mexican horses are much more laid back than USA horses.

If you see one restaurant in Mexico you probably see twenty. This is much like convenience stores. I have no idea how the economy supports so many establishments. It's not like you ever see anybody actually eating at most of these restaurants. Maybe if they can sell one meal a day that is good enough.

I saw a bunch of big lizards today (other than the ubiquitous iguana). Unfortunately, they are all way too fast to take pictures of.

I finally was able to leave the highway for the first time in days. The road was still quite busy, but not obnoxiously so. Traffic consists of equal parts buses, taxis, delivery trucks, motor cycles, and personal cars.

I rode by a high school as the students were leaving. They were standing in groups, and I think they had great fun at my expense. The girls were even more vocal than the boys. But I'm back off the highway, and these small town citizens are much more friendly and curious than those in the cities and along the highway.

Eventually the road grew more remote and rough as I made my way along the coast. Parts of the road are gone, and the locals simply created their own road through the sand. There are many abandoned and destroyed buildings. Eventually I passed a break in the road where the detour appeared to go through private land with a guy in a shack next to a rope that was strung across the path. I took the non-tolled motorcycle path. After that there were no more houses or shacks.

The only time I see Mexicans on the beach is when they are collecting clams or sea shells to sell, or otherwise working. There are lots of beach shelters set up, but nobody uses them. Every other place I've been with beaches can't keep people off them.

I decided that I wanted to take another shot at camping by the ocean. The wind is blowing and the waves are more of a continuous rumble than a rhythmic crash. This road has almost no cars. I found a spot where the road runs a hundred yards from the beach.