Author: ajgaines

The last 100 miles to La Paz went flawlessly. Just a couple cows crossing the road here and there, something I’m pretty used to now. But since I was cruising at only 45 mph all I had to do was smoothly drop the throttle to comfortable cruise by them.

Upon arrival in La Paz it felt like the first place I had seen since Ensenada that really had amenities. There was a motorcycle repair shop and 1000 sushi restaurants. I was pretty happy to be back in society again for a little bit after feeling like I was hanging on to a thread out in the middle of nowhere the last week.

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I got into town and checked into my hostel. “Nomadas Hostel.” The owner was a really nice girl but it was the first hostel I had been at for a while. There were some kind of weird characters there and the room smelled like straight bootyhole.

I dropped my stuff off and met up with the couchsurfer who had messaged me saying I could keep my motorcycle at his place while I traveled back to work. His name is Oswaldo and him and his girlfriend Wendy were incredibly sweet and have their own little kombucha business. Their Kombucha is the tastiest kombucha I have ever tasted in my life.

I dropped off the motorcycle and headed back to the hostel to explore around the town a little and start to prepare to go back to work.

Oswaldo recommended a place called Taco Fish which I then promptly went to to try out. It was absolutely delicious and I would now recommend it to anyone. The shrimp quesadilla has flavors I never knew existed.

Today could only be described as tense… I woke up and started going and could feel the dread of 300 miles ahead of me on a worn to shit sprocket. After just 10 miles down the road I felt the dreaded slip. I knew I could only tighten the chain a tiny bit more before it would snap and leave me totally stranded somewhere.

I had made a deal with myself that the second I felt a slip I would pull over and tighten the chain ever so slightly instead of going forward, ignoring it, and running the sprocket down more. I had saved 3 bike shops along the way to stop at to see if they had a Kawasaki sprocket. My plan was to stop at each one and change it out if I could.

I was terrified when I heard the first slip. I was so sure I would make it 20 miles outside of town before the sprocket wore down to a circle. I kept seeing the mechanic’s face in my head saying, “esto no sirve,” and thinking dammit he was right! But after tightening it once I cheered on as I passed mile after mile and began to relax a little. She was going up and down mountains with just a light tug. I don’t think I once passed 45 mph and I just didn’t care. There were a couple of lines of cars behind me and I pulled over as best I could. Once I relaxed a little I sat back and took in the scenery. It was absolutely beautiful. Without a doubt the most gorgeous day of riding I have ever done. There was almost NOTHING between Loreto and Ciudad Insurgentes. Just beautiful nature. It feels a lot like Arizona or New Mexico. Very similar plants. Huge cactus and funny Dr Suess plants.

I got into Ciudad Consitucion right around 3pm and figured it would be best to stop here for the night. It leaves me about 100 miles left to La Paz tomorrow and I feel pretty confident that both me and the bike will make it. I messaged a guy from couchsurfing and he says he has some property there and that I can leave the bike with him. I will then travel by bus to Cabo for a day, get my covid test and then travel back to the US. I just read that we now need covid tests withing 1 day of travel! What the hell. The rules have gotten so strict.

I am staying in Hotel Paraiso Del Valle and it costs $28 per night. It really reminds me of some of the hotels I stayed in in Laos. Not great, but also super comfy after a long day of riding. I’m itching for a massage in La Paz or Cabo.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

After one of the worst nights of sleep of my life I drove today from San Luis Gonzaga all the way down to Santa Rosalia. I was super happy after being able to change the chain tensioners out last night but was bummed to find that towards the end of the ride today I needed to tighten the chain tension yet again. While I was doing so I saw just how worn down the sprocket and chain were. This spells impending disaster! This made me suuuuuper nervous and I drove slow the rest of the day dreading feeling the chain tug again.

I am now 550 km from La Paz, where I hope to keep the motorcycle for a couple weeks while I go back to work. I am dreading the next 550 km. It will take 2 days and I know I will be fighting the chain the entire way. I know it could snap at any moment. I tried to find someone here that could change out the sprocket but found no one. I know the risk I am taking by going and I reeeeeeally hope I make it there. If I do I can maybe find a sprocket in the US or order one and have someone put it on when I head back to Mexico. I should have ordered one before but I thought they would be plentiful here. There isn’t close to the convenience here as Vietnam had when driving around. I thought with all of the bikers in Baja that there would be lots of mechanics and parts around.

The mechanic I did talk to said the next part of the trip is hilly as well. I think my plan will be to go to sleep very early and get up very early so that I at least have the road to myself. I was spoiled today with long easy straight roads.

It really was a gorgeous ride today and I ended up finding a rather nice hotel for 1200 MXN that has a wonderful view of the ocean. I am utterly exhausted after the terrible sleep last night and the long day of riding today.

But I’m grateful having met a few nice travelers today. There was a guy named Doug who drove all the way down from Alaska with his wife and a couple from Oregon that were enjoying some tacos next to me.