From Wide Shoulders to No Shoulders

The past 10 days we have spent riding on the coast in the states of Colima and Michoacán. The roads here in Mexico are always changing. Highway 200 runs the entire length of Mexico from our start in Puerto Vallarta until Guatemala. When we crossed the border into Colima from Jalisco we were surprised as the road suddenly improved with a huge shoulder and very nice pavement. A few days later as we crossed into Michoacán, a group of soldiers stopped us to ask us what we were doing and checked our passports before letting us cross the bridge where the shoulder suddenly disappeared and the potholes increased. You never know what your gonna get. We would be riding along and suddenly the pavement would disappear and we would be riding through a work zone on dirt with tractors and dump trucks passing us by. There weren´t any signs letting us know, or workers directing traffic. Two way traffic just seeming to work its way through one lane areas with no problems.

The days are starting to blend together as we form a routine. Each day waking up with the sunrise, making oatmeal and packing up camp. Then onto the bikes for a short while before we are hungry again and need to stop for 2nd breakfast. A little more riding until we come across another town where we can eat lunch. Usually some tacos or plates of chicken or steak with beans and tortillas. Back on the road trying to drink enough water as the heat really picks up in the afternoons. Eventually we are exhausted and find a beach town to put our tent for the night. We usually find a little Enramada (small family run restaurant on the beach, open air right on the sand) and have a second lunch and then ask for places we can camp. A lot of the times we are invited to camp right there or directed somewhere nearby we can go. Set up our tent and eat dinner then hit the sack pretty early before starting all over again the next day.

Now we are in Morelia visiting Andy and Nena Dick and there new born baby son Daniel. Back on the bikes in a few days.

Here are some highlights from the last week.

Paco, Andy, Francisco and Mike
We met a kid named Paco in Santiago who saw our bikes and started chatting with us before eventually inviting us to stay at his house. So we took a rest day and hung out with him.

We were late to the start of a soccer game, but Andy wanted to practice his portero skills.
He ended up playing in a match the next night and impressed the locals with his mad skills and fearlessness

Andy entertaining some of Paco´s friends in Santiago.

We take a lot of breaks in the shade to get out of the heat and to eat snacks throughout the day. This was on a toll road which have much nicer pavement and shoulders.

Our bikes on the beach in Pascuales.
We arrived in a small beach town and found out there wasn´t a direct road connecting two towns 5km apart and thought it would be easy to ride on the hard packed wet sand. Didn´t work out so well and we ended up pushing our bikes the whole way.

Some kite surfers in Pascuales at sunset

Our first night in Michoacán in Boca de Apiza. A super nice family cooked us some great meals and shared some good fishing stories with us.

Fresh fish, fresh salsa, fresh tortillas. Doesn´t get much better.


In the morning the dog milo, the pig cleopatra and the kitten named kitty were playing together

We met some fellow travelers (Ari and Major from Sequoia) in Maruata. This is a fish Major caught with his speer gun.

The fishermen getting after it early at sunrise

We camped at a local families enramada for $5 a day including bathrooms and showers. Here was one of the many lobsters they caught that day.

The baby Kimberly slept most of the day in the hammock

Andy demonstrates how to brush your teeth in La Soledad

Andy looks down the Michoacán coast. Some beautiful views along this road. But some brutal climbing as well.

The Michoacán coast in 5 days