March 19th, 2016
We’re pulling the plug on cycling the coast for now, as there are two weeks of holidays scheduled and everyone seems to be driving to the beach, taking up the best spots, partying, raising rates at hotels, and generally making life miserable for hobo-bicycle tourists.).
Cycling Stats
Start Point: La Saladita, Guerrero, Mexico
Destination: Ciudad de Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico
46.6 km trip, 3:05 time, 52 km/h maximum speed, 15.1 km/h average speed
Route Description:
Since Hwy#200 only really goes to Ixtapa or Zihuatanejo at this point, we followed it. There is a big climb to a mirador overlooking Ixtapa, which only stands out in contrast to the flatness of the rest of the day. And then, the bus ride was something else.
Accommodations:
We took the night-bus, so our accommodations were inside the autos as it lurched, rattled, and reeled it’s way from Zihuatanejo to Mexico City.
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What happened…
Andrew writes: We rose early on the beach and took our time getting ready to leave. A quick decision was made to check out the buses in Zihuatanejo and see if there was a big price difference in taking the bus to Mexico City from there, as opposed to riding for another 4 days in the crazy traffic and taking a bus from Acapulco. There was a bit of adventure involved in getting out of La Saladita, as we ended up in the middle of a mango orchard, behind a fence. Hurray for adventure!
I decided to forego podcasts today in favour of musicals. The sky was less overcast than it has been, and with the sun shining down on me from above, I gaily rode along singing my favourites from Phantom of the Opera and Evita. Amanda kept her distance to avoid bleeding in her ears. There were a couple of road-weenie cyclists today, and I even imagined that I was racing one of them. He caught me eventually, but only because I had slowed to wait for Amanda. Then again, when I’m the only one “racing”, is it still a race?
I remember coming around a corner as we were nearing Ixtapa and up ahead, climbing 3/4 of the way around a mountain, the road rose. “Oh shit!”, Amanda and I exclaimed at the same time. Of course, like all of the hills here, it was an easy 6%, so it was just a matter of time before we got to the top. We took a few pictures at the Mirador (lookout), and then cycled down in Zihuatanejo (“Ziwa” by the local gringos).
So Ziwa sits in a crater, and most of the houses are built up on three sides all around it. The fourth side is the small bay that leads to the ocean. We had picked up a tourist map that showed a couple of “surf” and “boogie board” beaches, but there was no surf in the bay/harbour. We sat and ate lunch in the Plaza del Artistes, and listened to a man playing classical guitar. It was really nice and serene. The layout of the town is really nice too, and the streets were mostly clean. We found the bus station, bought our tickets for the night bus and then settled down at the local big-box grocery store cafeteria for 5 hours until it was time to go.
I had a really positive experience with Sherman, one of the workers at the Estrella del Oro terminal. He practiced his English with us, and then helped us load and secure all of our stuff on the bus when it arrives. Amanda and I have a fear that we have too much stuff for the bus to hold and that we’ll end up not getting on (like what happened in Baja), but it was unfounded. The bus itself, one of the “Pluss” class, was really nice. The seats had loads of room, the air conditioning was cranked just right, and we got a free drink, snacks, and headphones to use too.
Amanda writes:While the bus ride was effective in getting us to Mexico City safely, it was terrible from the perspective of someone who gets car sick. The first two hours were the windy, hilly roads that we had been riding for the last week. I took a motion sickness pill and still felt like I was going to lose my lunch, breakfast, dinner and anything left in my stomach. I put my head between my knees and managed to keep it all down. As I couldn’t sleep too much being in that position I also quickly realized we were climbing some serious elevation. I didn’t realize how high Mexico City is until my ears were popping. We climbed 2500 meters! Yay for missing it on the bike.