Im in San Quintin!

Day: 69

Miles: 67

Total Miles: 3274

Money Spent: 16.50

m in San Quintin, Mexico that is. I just really wanted to say that!

At any rate, the ride so far has been pretty dang tough. Thursday was nice, on a four lane highway with a good 4 to 6 foot smooth shoulder with beautiful scenery. The only thing that irked me were all of the Southern California style home developments and American fast food joints and chain superstores (walmart, the home depot, etc.) Granted, there were not a ton of them, but still, it made it feel like I was partly still in America.

I made it to Esenada on Thursday evening, and I had the intention of going further south and camping out but the direction I got to get out of town had me going in circles and I ended up not getting far enough out to camp anywhere before sundown. So, I had to get a hotel and since Ensenada is a very touristy place, the cheapest I could find was $400 pesos. My budget is definitely not off to a good start.

Very Fancy Church. Possibly the finest Ive seen!

A beach just south of Rosarito.

Beautiful views along the entire ride.

Me, happy I did´nt have a heart attack on the way up after two weeks of anti exercising!

Ensenada.

Friday though, was an entirely different experience. As soon as I rode out of Ensenada, the road turned into a two line highway just barely big enough for two big rigs to pass one another. There is no shoulder either. At all. Since this is the only Highway that goes top to bottom in Baja and carries nearly all of the regions traffic, the end result is a very dangerous ride for a cyclist, or for anyone for that matter. I was only able to ride 67 miles yesterday as it was just so physically and mentally draining. For one, it was a very tough ride through the mountains, for two, I had to be constantly on the look out for traffic. Anytime two vehicles passed me from both directions at the same time, I had to get off of the road completely to make room. This really takes it out of you, especially when climbing as you have to get going again from a dead stop going uphill in loose gravel or sand. Add to that the fact that it was very hot and I was sweating buckets and you get an idea of what kind of day it was. I drank three gallons of water throughout the course of the day!

The downhills are even more dangerous as you are flying down a road and if two vehicles pass you at the same time you cant just veer off the road going 30 or more miles per hour. By lunch time i felt totally exhausted, and by 4 pm i had to quit. I found a nice place to conk out and i didn't even bother with my tent, the weather was nice so i just laid out under a tree and was asleep before the sun went down. I didn't wake up until 6:30 either!

These are the moutains I had to climb out of Enseada.

And this was the road I had to climb them on!

The white stuff on my shirt is salt from my sweat after just a half day of riding!

Camp for the night. I slept like a rock.

Sunrise from my camp.

One last item I wanted to note, is that I have noticed that the food prices here are noticeably higher than the last time i was in Baja, two years ago. I remember being able to eat at a taco stand and get up to three tacos for a buck, but not, everywhere I go, its a buck a Taco. At first I thought it was me getting the tourist prices, but it has been universal, and in some places the price is even listed on the wall. It is strange, I have never paid that much. This may sound like a minor grips, but you have to understand, I love fish tacos more than some people love their spouse! I swear i may have even dreamed about them a time or two. So, not being able to gorge myself on tacos left as right is a bit of a downer, but oh well. It is what it is.