Day 52: A rough day one on the Baja divide!
Ok, the first day of the divide. How hard can it really be? Pretty hard as it turns out.
First 5-10 km out of Tecate was surprisingly hard. Lots of hills but in built up areas. Guess I just wasn’t warmed up. I had a group of 4 dogs chase me for a few hundred meters. This was pretty scary. And it wouldn’t be the last time this happens. Wasn’t even the last time today… So I need to develop some strategy for dealing with aggressive dogs. Option 1: Cycle away as fast as my tired legs can carry me. This was what I did this morning. It works but is scary. Option 2: Stop, get off the bike and walk calmly past them. I laughed when I saw this recommendation online but it is worth a try..
And then I entered the wilderness of Baja. Lots and lots of hills and rugged terrain and lots of sand. If you have never cycled through sand before, it is… interesting. Honestly, it was kind of fun for about 3 mins. And then it got old really quick. My back bike tire is thinner and supports much more weight so will sink into the sand. This isn’t that big of a problem as I can still pedal. When the front wheel gets stuck tho, then you lose all balance. Only had 1 fall tho. Was at low speed and wasn’t bad.
The first car I saw in many hours on some dirt track stopped and rolled down the windows. They had perfect English. Apparently it was on an Indian reservation and the 2 guys were part of some native tribe. They told me the name but I forgot. They threw some shit test at me about mini leprechauns that live in the area and steal your shit when you sleep. “Maybe they are related to the leprechauns we have back in Ireland” I responded. Shit test passed, they share a little bit about some of the mountains around us that are sacred to their tribe. Then they gave me a half bottle of water and a boretto!
Speaking of water… I decided this morning to way over pack on water just to see what it is like. Packed about 7 liters. But I was sweating way more than usual and was down to maybe 2 liters. Def glad I overpacked on water. Will be sure to bring at least this from now on, even if it does weigh the bike down.
The cycling was really, really slow today. The terrain was really rough. Was an awful lot of walking or hiking on my bike today. Sometimes even pushing the bike was a struggle. One such hill was so steep and sandy that it was near impossible to push my bike up it as my feet kept slipping on the gravel/sand. So, yes, lots of pushing the bike today. Def more of a core and upper body day than usual.
Given that this is only day 1 on the Baja divide and how much I struggled, it makes me doubt if I am capable of it. But if the body isn’t capable, then maybe the mind is? I think the mind needs to force the body through a few days of this for it to adapt. So we continue.
This all probably sound like I am bitching and complaining, but it is definitely great. It is proper wilderness that I haven’t experienced yet in this tour. When I take the time to stop pedaling for a sec and let my breath come back to normal, it is suddenly so quiet. No sounds at all. Nothing. Just stunning remote wilderness landscapes as far as the eye can see.
Did run into a few more groups of dogs and adopted strategy 2 of getting off the bike and walking past them. This works way better.
Have also learned, when in a dessert, if you see shade, then take advantage of it and rest for a few mins. The sun can be relentless out here. Once today, I saw a tree casting a beautiful shadow across the road. But I was feeling strong so decided to just continue cycling. Not 10 mins later, I was really struggling, the sun was beating down and was wishing I had taken the rest in the shade while I had it. Had to cycle for hours more before I had such shade opertunity again. So the lesson is to take shade when it is available.
On the next such shade break, I was resting and taking advantage of the 1 bar of coverage as I had absolutely no coverage for most of the day. On this stop, another bike tourer called Blake caught up to me. Apparently he was following my tire tracks all day!
We struggle with the last hill of the day together and then pull into the place that Kerry told me about called Pete’s ranch. We were welcomed by the ranch’s namespake with coffee and good chats and shown a place to camp.
Made friends with the horse here, and then made the mistake of making friends with the cats. Problem is the cats are too curious about my tent and keep going and putting their paws on it and playing with it. Damn cats. Seems I am struggling with both Mexican cats and dogs! But still better than racoons.
Is 6.30pm now and it is pretty dark so guess it is time for bed! Before bed I notice on strava that today was my biggest climb so far which makes me feel a little better about struggling so much today. Tomorrow I will cycle to the town whose name I forget. No wifi to check it. Sorry!
