Riding Out Of Town

March 5th to 8th

After being escorted out of town by friends of the big strong cowboy I propositioned.... 

The land settles down to being huge and flat. It's big sky country and it's the first genuinely flat bit of Mexico we've found..... 

Miles pass in that lazy hazy way that happenes when you don't have to try too hard....

Occasional, and by now very familiar, military checkpoints break up the routine....

Before settling back to more scenes of arcadian expanse.... 

After 2 days riding, there's a hill. Not that exciting, but it's definitely something new....

The road suddenly splits in 2, one fork the free road the other a new toll road. We decide to play dumb foreigners and "not see" the no bicycles sign. It's a game I'm particularly good at when needed. Toll roads have the advantage of being direct, they also have wide shoulders designed to keep cyclists alive. They are also hideously expensive, which means they are slightly less conjested. Cyclists always confuse the toll booth operators and I have yet to be asked to pay. This is the main route, Durango to Mexico City....

 

It's 320kms (200 miles) and 4 days of riding to Zacatecas, our next destination and like most flat rides, it passes in an enjoyable, if not terribly remarkable way. Zacatecas is a UNESCO world heritage site. Anything that gets on a list alongside the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal has got to be worth checking out....

Durango

March 1st to 4th

Durango is a little visited cowboy town in the Sierra Occidental range built on iron, gold, silver and later on it's cowboy film industry. We arrive back here by coach after the detour to Mazatlan for the Carnival - it's not breaking the rules as we already cycled the road between Durango and Mazatlan. Sue says so. 

The journey is a nightmare as the bus grinds up the 2500m incline, bucking and swaying as the road meanders along it's drunken course. An overheating engine turns the interior to a sweating sauna and passengers begin to wilt in the estimated 100 degrees. The bike ride was definitely more pleasant except it takes 4 days longer!

As usual we manage to arrive in a town just as the party is starting and Durango is no exception. It's a "family weekend" with live bands, carnival floats, marching military bands and odes to the life of Pancho Villa all staged throughout the day all round the city centre...

Sure, the place is packed with locals, but why does nobody visit here from elsewhere? it's noticeable people staring at the gringos, not in an offensive way, just with surprise and interest; white faces are rare here. No it's actually really friendly and the city is lovely. The central plaza has beautiful fountains, a well used band stand and a cathedral....

The Palacio de Gobierno (government palace, or town hall) has amazing murals depicting by gone days in the city and other images of industry and commerce....

The theatre has attracted an international Russian dance troop to perform. It's an amazing show....

There's a high quality archeological museum of local finds, complete with grisly idigenous indian skulls, their teeth filed to sharp castellations and deformed using head binding. That's fashion for you!!

The art museum is similarly excellent, with a range of fabulous murals, and dark gothic oil painting by Durango's own Guillermo Ceniceros for whom the museum is named. There are contemporary artist's studios with current work on display all set in a gorgeous old colonial style building with fountains in the courtyard.

On the bright side, the lack of tourism does keep prices down. We pay just $4 US for front row tickets at the theatre and the $22 for a king size air conditioned room with private balcony is a steal....

A short bike ride out of town you can visit the actual film sets used by Big John W himself amongst others like Dean Martin. On weekends there are gun-slinger and horse shows, but we arrive midweek and are the only patrons. We get the place to ourself and it really adds to the atmosphere as you walk creaking boards in to the old saloon, jail and hotel. Taking time to rehearse, some of the actors put on a private show for us....

OK - learning a foreign language.

You see the problem with Spanish is that just a small change to a word can really make a big difference to a sentence. As the place is deserted, I get to ride the horse for a bit. Now I don't like horses very much and am pretty glad to get down when the photo has been taken, whereupon I tell the man with the gun....

"I'd rather ride a bicycle than a horse - horses are just too big and strong".

 

Now the word for horse is "Caballo". 

And the word for cowboy is "Caballero". 

Quite similar, but very different.

If you use the word for Cowboy in the sentence above - you get a slightly different reaction -  especially if you happen to be wearing lycra shorts.

We leave town the next day.

Mazatlan

February 24th to March 1st

After 9 days and 800kms of continuous riding over a couple of mountain ranges it's time to take a couple of days break. Mazatlan "The Pearl of the Pacific" is a great place to do it. John Wayne used to do the same and come here in between filming outside Durango, and if it's good enough for John it's good enough for me.

Much of the resort was popularised around the 50's when the western film industry was huge and the old resort is replete with grand old hotels now sadly decaying. The new money tends to find accommodation 4 miles further North in the newly built Zona Dorada resort and it's a real shame as the old town has real character compared to the cookie cutter, could be anywhere glass fronted sameness.

But you can't argue with the place's appeal - 20 miles of golden sandy beaches, 80 degrees and a coast line dotted with craggy islands. It's a fabulous setting. Sue says "Yes - rather nice"....

The old town is authentically Mexican, with a gorgeous shady plaza and colourful cathedral...

We manage to find time for a bit of bare footed beach strolling...

 

A quick play in the surf....

Before catching a stunning sunset...

Next day is equally tough as we watch the fishermen delivering the catch of the day in colourful wooden boats....

Followed by a stroll along the 4 miles of boardwalk before choosing from an infinite array of equally appealing restaurants serving the freshest of fresh fish...

Fiesta!!

Febraury 22nd to 24th

Party!

The crowds are gathering....

The bands line up....

It' time.....

For Carnival!

True a lot of the floats are glorified beer commercials....

But people are generally more than happy to go along with these less than subtle suggestions. And we are off to a fine start.

And it continues on as the sun sets across the Pacific.

It's a merry affair with marching bands and dancers from all over the region; the parade lasting several hours as it meanders it's way from Mazatlan's old town to the newer purpose built resort in the Zona Dorada some 6kms away. You can see it following the Malecon (beach boulevard) as it curves gently round the bay.

Mexicans come prepared for Fiesta. As the final floats drift by, the road closes behind them like the Red Sea behind Moses as they rush in to set up tables and chairs. Food and copious quantities of alcohol miraculously appear and the streets suddenly vanish under a flood of revelers.

There's singing and dancing in the street, oh - and just a bit of Tequila - it goes on well in to the night. Mexicans party in a tranquilo kind of way but they definitely have staying power.

However, the following night is a much quiter affair as the city recharges with a couple of live bands playing stages along the front. There's a palpable feel of the pause to take breath.

Then the grand finale as the floats retrace their course and the whole process is repeated again...

Apparantly this is a breaded products advert not an annotation...

Once again the streets are packed with song and dance til the last man staggers home. 

Carnivals are cool!

Carnival!!

February 19th to 22nd

Finally we arrive in Durango...
And immediately leave. 

Plans change when you hear the word Carnival!

People are talking about the Carnival happening in Mazatlan - it's one of the biggest of the year - Nationwide! We'd be fools to miss it.

Slight snag, Mazatlan is 400kms away on the coast and we've got 2 days and the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range is in the way. The road from here to there is called "The Spine of the Devil" and is supposed to be one of the most spectacular in Mexico though, and that settles it. We're Going!

Mazatlan is also a beach resort and that sounds like a couple of days off to me! So we bounce off Durango and hit the road again. It's a big beautiful flat road with vistas for eyes set to wide angle...

Of course that all changes and we soon realise we're going to need a bit more than 2 days to tackle this road....

And soon the land narrows, until there's just a thin ribbon left, steep cliffs above, loooong drops below best not thought about.

Our first night we get lucky and find a small town with cabins to rent 80kms out of Durango. After that it's down to pot luck - there are no towns and very few spaces at the road side big enough even for a tent.  Set gear to low and grind it out, visibility drops to 10 metres as there is no room for straight bits now and the road curves and twists, desperately seeking manageable angles of inclines. We reach altitudes of 2500 metres (8300 feet) and finally come to "The Devil's Spine",

and see nothing. The clouds are low and it's hugely disappointing to see valleys shrouded in mist.

Luckily 6kms later we come across a space on the outside of a hairpin bend big enough to take the tent. I never feel comfortable on the outside of bends, especially when the gradients are like this and lorries are fighting for grip, but that's the tent bottom right corner....

 

Engine brakes are both a good and a bad things. 

On the plus side they stop 34 wheelers plunging into the abyss off the side of steep gradients....that's the good thing. 

The bad is that they are LOUD! Very, very LOUD!!

Imagine Satan's jack hammer when he gets that maniacal gleam in his eye and sets the dial to 11 on the thump-ometer. Against the silent backdrop of the dead of night they are terrifying, the ground literally shakes beneath the tent, and it's a broken nights sleep as we lie in the dark and feel these bohemoths thundering closer.... then past - 6 feet away.

They all manage to stick to the narrow line of black stuff and the day dawns for us clear and bright. We ride back to the Spine to see whether the macho name departs from reality.

Devil's Spine. So named for where the land narrows, between two massifs of the Sierra Occidental range to the width of just a single lane road. A saddle point between 2 huge rock outcrops, with jaw-dropping chasms to either side.

Looking forward....

Looking left....

Looking right...

I'm blown away. Stand in the middle of the road and you are at the centre of these 2 gargantuan vistas stretching way off in to the distance in both directions, I don't know, maybe 120kms (75miles) and more. Front and back are walls of rock with the road scything away across your line of view. It's more than worth coming back for after last nights blow out - that's certain. An hour passes in awe before we realise we have a carnival to make.

Yes a carnival! Starts in about 5 hours and we're late!

But progress is slow. Only 2 gears are needed - top and bottom. That's 25 wasted gears! After tickling his spine, the devil is in a playful mood and the road surface looks like a bull whip sine curve. A grinning Satan at one end gives it a crack and the road alternates between sheer up and headlong down.

Time to stop again and goggle...

After that the road engineers had to find a way of fitting 200kms (125 miles) of road in to a straight line distance of just 80kms. That's how far we are from the coast as the crow flies, but now the road twists and contorts like a drunk walking a white line on a Saturday night. 

Finally we start the main descent from 2100 metres down to the coast. Thats like dropping over a mile and a quarter...... I've parachuted from a plane lower than that. 30kms without toughing the pedals once... Wagons slow to a crawl, or risk setting fire to overheated brakes. They're spoiling my ride and the temtation to overtake is too much.... Adrenaline pumping stuff on these bends...

See ya!

We cross the Tropic of Cancer, the imaginary line round the Earth that marks the furthest North at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon as the land finally begins to level off. We roll in to town on Sunday - the highlight of Carnival. 

Right - cheap hotel, shower, quick snooze, bottle of Tequila and then we are hitting the town!

Wild West Country

February 15th to 18th

Finally, it seems my healing hands do the trick and Sue rises miraculously from her sick bed. The lurgy is beaten!

We leave Parral heading South in to Cowboy country. Many a John Wayne film was created here and the land really evokes images of 4 legged transport and gun fightin' with them there injuns...

The terrain flattens as well and we begin to make some good time. Riding is a pleasure. We even contemplate stopping for a round of 18.... 

But the road goes ever on....

And we have a table booked for lunch....

The flatness looks like it's going to stop and we're heading back to our more usual style of terrain as we descend 400m or so into Rodeo, a small town set in a fertile valley. Fortunaltely the road veers off and parallels the mountains rather than climbing in to them...

Bemused onlookers - we don't get too many gringos in these parts...

It's true, this part of the world is sparcely populated; tourists extremely thin on the ground and it's a shame as the landscape is beautiful, the towns authentic and the people truly welcoming.

The land does begin to rise and break up in to a series of eroded, round topped hills.

With the ocasional outcrop of hard rock, resistant to weathering and forming characteristic table top mesas...

  

Passing Lake Santiaguillo before we arrive in Durango....