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Published: October 21st 2010
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Total cycled on this adventure = 1962.4 miles..
That's right everyone - We're home. We know it will be a massive shock to you all as it's happened so suddenly and we hadn't given any indication that this is what we'd planned as we hadn't really planned it..
There's a few reasons why we couldn't carry on. The main one is that we couldn't cycle on Highway 1 (the only road through Baja) any longer. Having looked at the route ahead, spoken to locals and researched the internet and books we knew the road wouldn't get any better, if anything, it gets worse with all of the construction going on (see photos).
Our ride from Ensenada to San Vincente was horrendous. It's hard to explain how frightening it is when two 18 wheel juggernauts pass you by with only inches to spare.
The road through Baja is so narrow that there's literally no space for a cyclist. In the USA we had a very small section of road where we could escape. In Baja this was non-existent and there were numerous times we had to jump off our bikes and breathe in until the trucks had passed.
Having cycled the majority of the Pacific Coast with traffic thundering past us by the time we got to Baja we were not enjoying ourselves.
Not wanting to worry anyone back home we never fully reported how vulnerable (and lucky) we felt at the end of each day!
Although the activities in Mexico at the moment with regards to the drugs cartels, armed robberies and kidnappings have to be put into perspective, it was always at the back of our minds.
When we approcahed an army check point, when a truck or car pulled over to the side ahead of us or when it was starting to get dark and we didn't know where we were sleeping it was scarey. We kept telling ourselves to stop being stupid. Then we kept reminding ourselves that the threat is real.
We reached San Vincente on Sunday (which we thought would be a quiet day on the roads) after a 54 mile nightmare ride. We got shown to our room and it was the final straw. We've both realised that we do need, at the least, a clean bed and bathroom at the end of the day.
We talked
about catching the bus to La Paz (a 20 hour bus ride south) so we could get to the mainland. This felt like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire as we know the Pacific Coast Highway on the mainland would be the same.
So, having paid $30 for a room for 10 minutes (which ironically is the most we've ever paid for a hotel) we reversed our bikes out of the room and booked on the next bus back to Ensenada.
Monday 18th was an eventful day. We got a bus from Ensenada to Tijuana, the busiest border crossing in the world. When we got through the border we got a Metro to San Diego, hired a car in San Diego and drove to L.A. We booked into a hotel room at the airport, booked our flight out of L.A. for the next day, went to the airport terminal, bought 2 cases to pack everything in and investigated how we were going to pack our bikes.
Tuesday 19th we flew home at 4.30pm, landed at Heathrow at 12 noon the next day (Wednesday 20th), hired a car and drove home.
We both
love travelling by bicycle and do not for one minute regret anything about our trip or the fact that we've ended it early. There are many, many cycling routes we still want to explore.. We'll keep you posted....
Over and out........................
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Tot: 0.047s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0274s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
René Álvarez
non-member comment
Glad you're home safe
A war zone cannot be enjoyed by any means of conveyance, and any country whose inhabitants respond with bemusement at the mention of a bicycle trek is probably not equipped with the appropriate infrastructure. We admired your plan, but questioned the moral soundness of cheering you through a minefield. Travelers reach a point when the rush fails to come and are left with stark, spin-free reality. Your US Pacific Coast tour was a complete adventure, and from my perspective, hard to beat. Had I been allowed a final two cents, I would have recommended a Tijuana to Grand Canyon revision (Route 66 detours), followed by Monument Valley and a return trip through Nevada via I-80 -- the loneliest highway in America -- where you might have spotted a UFO as you cycled passed Area 51.