British Columbia to Sayulita, Mexico

Posted on October 4, 2014 by landm

Packed and Ready to Go!

Have we forgotten anything?

On our way 11 Sept 2014

After a frantic last few days we were able to depart home on Sept 11; two ferry rides later we were in Port Angeles, Washington. The ride down the west coast was great as the weather and scenery cooperated fully. We spent time at Marian’s cousin’s in Los Osos, Calif, where Gerard and Peggy gave us the low down on the Baja, our intended route. We met our traveling companions, Tom and Tracy in La Jolla and a few days were spent trip planning as well as having new tires installed on the bike. As a result of the impact of Hurricane Odile, we were ultimately advised to avoid the Baja.

Camping in the Redwoods, Humboldt State Park

Coastal Ride

La Jolla, connecting with Tom and Tracy

A few days later we were crossing into Mexico at Nogales, south of Tucson Arizona. A fairly direct route was taken south to hit the Sea of Cortes at Guaymas. One of the highlights of any ride through Mexico is the Copper Canyon, which we completed in a few days. By this time we were becoming accustomed to the ever present unannounced debris on the road (from the hurricane), as well as vehicles ignoring all road rules. The route was very hilly and it took a leap of faith to pass several tractor trailers in a row as they waved you by on hills and corners, but we always discovered that the first driver had a good view of the road ahead.

Nogales border crossing

San Carlos (Guaymas)

Copper Canyon

Durango became our next target. We found the road there to be in terrible condition and we put both bikes down in the mud on one 30+ km detour. This resulted in an extra 200 km of riding but it all culminated on the road known as the Devil’s Backbone which was spectacular. As we descended from 2700 metres to sea level our comfortable riding temperature changed from 20 to 30+ with high humidity as we neared Mazatland.

After the wipe out. The clean up.

Using the old rock method for straightening…

Casablanca Cafe Durango

Coffee in Durango

Following the GPS, we took a wrong turn approaching Mazatlan and were riding north instead of south. Our “keen” sense of direction prevailed and we turned south and eventually found a great hotel in Rosario. The following day we enjoyed riding along the back roads of the coast and ended up here, in Sayulita, where we have been staying in bungalows a few steps from the beach. Strong wifi has enabled us to get caught up on our communication.

Motel Yauco, Rosario; one of the views.

Motel Yueco Rosario

The ride has not been without mechanical problems. The new rear tire was going flat over night for the first five days until we were able to identify a leaking spoke which an injection of flat repair compound corrected. Both driving light brackets broke last week but luckily Tom and I were directed down a back alley here in Sayulita where an expert welding repair job was done by Oscar who also straightened Tom’s side stand.

Sayulita beach