Jan 17--Back to the Pacific, and back on the Route

We had another good mileage day of 52 miles. Of course, the first 25 were on the pavement as we continued down Mex 1 to Santa Rosalillita. We got there at about 10:30ish. Time to stop at the aberrotes for a mid-morning snack.

At Santa Rosalillita, we were back on the Baja Divide route, and back to the Pacific. I fired up the Garmin, and we were back to following the purple line. We were very close to the ocean for quite aways. There was a bit of semi-beach riding in very soft sand. I let more air out of MC's tires. Actually, I let a bit too much air out, and the riding, although fine on the sand, was too squishy on the dirt.

We decided we would stop for lunch before we turned inland. In the meantime, we stopped at a place where we could get down to the beach. There were some cool shells. I resisted the urge to take one with me. Instead I just took a photo.

For lunch, we sat on the rocks above the waves. It was very pleasant. There was a slight breeze, but it was nice and warm--the warmest we have been for days!

After lunch, I added more air to my tires. I was really glad I did, because when we turned inland, we had to ride through the land o' rocks. I would have been bouncing all over the place if I hadn't put more air in the tires. Riding the rocks was very tiring. A couple of spots we walked because it was just too much. At one point I said to Brent, "The good news is that we are on the route. The bad news is that this is the route!"

We continued bumping and steering our way through the rocks, stopping now and then to rest our hands. Finally, we had a bit of downhill, and popped out onto Mex 1. We actually turned north to go to Rosarita where we could get water, and turn toward the Mission San Borja. We stopped at one abbarotes and got a soda and three liters of water each (more than we'll need most likely as there is water at the Mission). Then we went to another one so Brent could get a beer. I got a guava empanada. It was pretty good. We also saw Jan (from South Africa) at the first abbarotes. He is done with the dirt for awhile. He's sticking to Mex 1. We may still see him later though.

Refueled with Coke and an empanada, we headed out of town toward the Mission. The road is quite good, sandy in places, but I don't mind the sand, and well-signed (but we were still following the purple line anyway). Mission San Borja is 22 miles from Mex 1. We knew we wouldn't get there tonight, but we wanted to get a few miles in before camping. We found a spot that should get morning sun fairly early to dry out our tents if they are wet from condensation.

Today was a great day. It was really nice to have sun, and actually sweat! Okay, I may not smell so great, but there's only Brent to smell it, and he smells the same!