Vicaino to San Ignacio

January 19, 2022

I left my hotel to be at the grocery store across the street right when they opened at 7:00am. It was a bit chilly out and they didn't open the doors until 7:10am. There were a few clouds in the sky, but blue sky as well. Imagine my surprise when I went to leave and I was greeted by a nothing but fog. I rode through town guy yelled "hello" and then went on to shout a bunch of other phrases to me including telling me he loved me. I may find a husband yet!

This what I get for complaining about the scenery. Now I can’t see anything!

It was kind of cool looking at times though

There wasn't a lot I could see so I was thinking a lot about the hills ahead. I'm not a strong rider when it comes to hills. That's just a fact. However, I make the situation worse with my negative self talk and worry about how hard they are going to be and if I will make it up. I am really trying to work on this so started saying to myself some positive affirmations. The first time I said it out loud it brought tears to my eyes. "I believe in myself. I got this" and "I am strong. I am confident. Go get it." I repeated it a number of times hoping it would sink in a bit. When I finally got to the first steeper hills, I repeated it again and a couple of times on the hill. It really made a huge difference and instead of panicking about the hills, I took each one as a challenge. I did so much better in general and I think my mindset definitely helped.

A couple of wild horses/donkey. Glad to see some alive!

Me, “Please let this be the last hill.” It wasn't.

The scenery was so much better today too and I really appreciated it. Once again, I was in the middle of nowhere all day. No stores, no nothing. Except cactus. Lots of cactus. Next thing I know I hear honking and yelling. It's the first of the three couples I keep crossing paths with. That made my day! Not long after I stopped a huge pullout as I needed a break and some food. One thing about Mexico is that there are numerous roadside memorials, presumably for people that have been killed in accidents. Some of them are beautiful, but it's sad at the same time. There was quite a large one which I sued to rest my bike against. I felt bad, but I also sat on the ledge for a bit. I didn't want to feel like I was disrespecting it, but this weary cyclist appreciated the seat.

A familiar sighting. A roadside memorial.

I finally hit the downhill into San Ignacio, but not before having to pass through one more military checkpoint. They usually wave me right through, but when I worked myself up to the front of the line and asked if it was okay for me to go, the man just looked at me sternly. I waited for a moment until he indicated with his machine gun that I could proceed. My rv friends later told me this was one 0f the most thorough of all the checkpoints.

I knew there was a place that was specifically for touring cyclists so I headed there. Had I not been by myself, it probably would have been fine, but it was a 20 minute walk into town and I also desperately needed to get laundry done so I indicated I would go look for a hotel. After weeks and weeks of desert scenery I was so happy to be arriving in the oasis of a town of San Ignacio. As I was heading down a windy road towards a hotel, my caravan friend drove by and told me what campground they were staying and and to come join them. After stopping in at the Desert Inn hotel at an expensive 1200 pesos, the campground was sealed. In the end, they had little, and I do mean little rooms and I ended up taking one. Although the room was tiny, the bed was super comfortable.

One couple, Val and Dave, offered to cook me dinner. They have a catering business they own and operate so needless to say, dinner was delicious and much appreciated. Earlier in the evening, some of us walked into town. Enjoy the pics!

Stairs outside the church with no railing. They went to the rope for the bell.

After forever in the desert, this was a welcome sunset in this little oasis of a town

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 1,431 miles (2,303 km)

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