March 1st, 2016
Mostly an easy go along the coast, at least as far as Aticama. Then the road climbs up, over, and around a point, and zooms down into Platinitos. It’s mostly flat until Las Varas, and then it’s rolling hills for the rest of the day. There are lots of places to eat, and many dozens of road side stands selling fresh fruit too. We recommend trying “Yakas”!
Cycling Stats
Start Point: San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico
Destination: La Penita de Jaltemba, Nayarit, Mexico
86.4 km trip, 5:51 time, 47.6 km/h maximum speed, 14.7 km/h average speed
Route Description: This ride is along the libre highway. The traffic for the first 70 kilometers is lighter and gives you room. The road is curvy and includes undulating hills through lush green farms and forests. After you leave San Blas and turn toward Puerto Vallarta there are beach camping options at the 5K road marker. Starting at the 6K road marker there is a hotel and many restaurants. Throughout the ride there are numerous small towns and plenty of opportunity to find food and hotels if you choose to. At the 70K mark you will go through the town of Las Varas and then the highway becomes four lanes for a short while and the traffic is heavy. The vehicles starting here are faster and we found them more aggressive. We ended up stopping after 15 kilometers of the heavy traffic.
Accommodations: There are many towns along this route and many hotel options. Wild camping spots are more difficult due to the lush green area you ride through. However we did see a few spots you could make work. We ended up pulling the plug when close to 6 hours of riding in Jaltemba, which is a town with many streets. We took the hotel on the main highway and negotiated a rate of 250 pesos down from the original 400 quoted.
What happened…
Andrew writes:
In the morning we had a brief positive encounter at the hostel, in the communal kitchen, just as we were leaving. We met a couple visiting from Alaska. They seemed nice, and I wish we had summoned up the courage to talk to them last night when we first saw them. Well, no point in harbouring regrets. We left the hostel and “Sunset”, one of the two dogs that had guarded us all night, wouldn’t leave us alone. Neither would the bugs for that matter; it was reminiscent of our first days up in the Canadian Arctic, with us rushing around to pack up and leave so that the bugs would leave us alone. It was cool though, as we rode through the town of San Blas this morning, we were escorted by this friendly golden mutt. Things were just getting started in town, the kids were cycling to school, the adults were driving or walking to work. Stores and restaurants were opening for the day, and everyone had a smile on their face. This put a smile on my face too!
Today was sort of a day of two halves, although not equal ones. After we left San Blas, we cycled through “Nuevo San Blas”, and Aticama. It was a delightful ride, with the ocean on our right, and fields to our left. Just after Aticama, the road got curvy and started to wind up, up, up in the hills on the south side of the bay that we were cycling around. Away went the waters edge, soon to be far below us, and seemingly we climbed into the jungle. The air was fragrant, and the sound of birds was everywhere. It was as though the big, leafy palms moved aside for us as we rode along, and in some sections the canopy covered the entire road. It was absolutely lovely!
All of a sudden, we came down a hill, and around a corner, and we were in the town of Platitinos. I must admit that it came as a bit of a surprise, because I had originally talked with Amanda about stopping for the day in Platitinos. It was just about 12’noon at this point, and the ride so far had been so terrific. The pace was just right, the temperatures weren’t too hot, and it just seemed like we were in the groove. So we decided to keep going, maybe find a shady spot and stop for lunch – which we did.
After lunch began let’s say, the second half, the harder half of the day. We went through a few more towns like Ixtapa, Zacualpan, and Las Palmas. We picked up 2 for 1 chicken in Zacualpan, so that we wouldn’t feel any pressure to keep riding to find food, or have to worry about stores being closed for afternoon siesta. The terrain was mostly flat through this section and there was a nice breeze, although it acted a bit like a headwind. Then we road through Las Varas, near Chacala and the road turned into a nightmare.
First the road up ahead was closed for construction, although maybe we could have still snuck on and cycled it. So we followed traffic for a few blocks on Mexican cobblestones until a woman in a truck had us follow her back to where the pavement was. All of a sudden there were OXXO’s everywhere, the highway was four lanes and cars were whizzing by. Puerto Vallarta is about 100km away, and the seaside town of Chacala is also close, and I guess that makes this town a pretty happening place too. Pretty soon the four lanes were down to two, and the shoulder disappeared too. We were un-nerved when a semi truck behind us began blowing his horn about 500m away which led to us taking evasive action to get off the road. Next, just as we were going up a hill, a legion of cars and a few buses tried to pass us while going uphill with oncoming traffic coming too. This is going from bad to worse!
We spot a hotel up ahead on the left and I try to pull the plug right then and there…except the hotel was $300MX ($25CDN), and that’s not really within our budget. We kept cycling south, and traffic improved a little bit, and we started to calm down. All I wanted was to get back to near the ocean, where for some reason I feel centered and at peace. After a few kilometres, I saw another hotel and yelled for Amanda to turn, but she didn’t hear me because of traffic, and so I yelled again, and we safely made it across the road and I went to the reception.
The place seemed empty, but for a man painting off in a corner. I called out and a woman who was cleaning a room came and spoke with me. She said rooms were $400MX per night, and then $300MX per night after some negotiating. I thanked her for her time and went back to talk with Amanda to tell her the bad news. We shared the fear that the closer we got to Sayulita, or Puerto Vallarta, then the more expensive each hotel would be. I then decided to go back and offer to pay $100MX to put our tent up behind the hotel, and to use the washroom by the pool. The woman said I would need to talk to the owner, who was the man painting. One thing led to another, and for $250MX we found ourselves with a room. Whew! It was a long day, and we’re happy to have a shower, and a refuge from the sun and bugs outside. We’re thankful to have been recipients of kindness from strangers. Most of all, we’re happy because today was a good day.
Amanda writes: This morning started a bit more slowly than it has thus far, and that’s not a bad thing. We used the kitchen facilities which was nice. There were two dogs that slept by us all night and in the morning they helped me tear down the tent. While I do have a new found love for dogs it’s hard because they wanted to play and I wanted to get stuff done. Sleeping on the beach sounds so sexy. It’s not; it’s hot, bug-infested and sandy. Everything we own is covered in sand … we’ll have to deal with that later.
As we left San Blas the couple we met told us Sayulita is more expensive but doesn’t have the bugs that San Blas does – so off we go. We stopped in to see the crocodiles again, there are dozens of them just hanging around! As Canadians it’s super cool to see these animals; they seem so graceful.
Andrew described the day well. The scenery and area was so luscious and beautiful. Fruit farms everywhere and fruit we’ve never seen before. We tried yaka and loved it; they’re massive fruits that can be larger than my head. Banana trees, mango trees, pineapple and watermelon at every turn. Truck loads of watermelon kept passing by and then as we headed through the construction zone one of the trucks dropped a watermelon right in front of us. I guess that means it was meant for me! I picked it up and off we went. Yes the road and traffic deteriorated considerably after the 70k mark, but Andrew was really good at listening to my griping about it and found us a hotel pretty quickly. I too enjoyed this day immensely.