January 20, 2016
Navigating out of Hermosillo was straight-forward, and we connected with SON Hwy#110 (?) on the outskirts of town. The road stays straight and flat forever; turning south on Hwy#61 near El Choloy. Again the road is flat, but it turns to shit near Colorado and stays shitty until it re-joins Hwy#15D again many miles later.
Cycling Stats
Start: Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Destination: Under a Bridge, Sonora, Mexico
121 km travelled, 6:26 hours in the saddle
27.1 maximum speed, 18.7 km/h average speed
What happened…
Andrew writes:We weren’t too hurried in the morning, as Daniel didn’t have to get to work, so we were able to make breakfast and sit and talk with him while we did so.
There was a Walmart along our route today before we left Hermosillo which allowed us to stock up on some foods we don’t normally get to enjoy like Kraft dinner. I have been suffering from sunburn on my lips and the pharmacist at Walmart went all-out to try and help me find a product that would soothe and protect me. We settled on chapstick. I also found a small alcohol gel stove for super cheap which I thought would be a great test for cooking. It also came with a nice stand. It’s always fun to come out of the store and see Amanda pinned down by locals who are curious about our travels. For all the times Amanda makes me speak in Spanish, I know that secretly she is an ace when it comes to talking to complete strangers in any language.
We knew a nice, safe, easy route out of Hermosillo and before we knew it we were coasting down the mostly vacant farm back roads towards San Carlos. We had tried to drive this route last year but had to turn back because the road was in such poor condition. It appears that the powers that be repaired the road and it was a really nice ride. We stopped for lunch on the side of the road before El Consejo and I try not be too judge mental but it was a trash heap. Still, it was about the only shade we could find, and to be honest it is hard to find someplace beside the road that isn’t a garbage dump. That’s just the way it is in Mexico I guess.
El Consejo was like an oasis as it had a general store and even a Tecate beer store. Population 15 people?? A lot of these small villages have a Tecate store or a Modelorama which just goes to show that Mexicans love their cervezas!
The road surface appeared to be new asphalt on the road from El Consejo to Playa Colorado although we had heard we should be prepared for it to deteriorate eventually. When it did, our average speed dropped by half as the road closely resembled the moon surface, all covered in craters and whatnot. What little traffic there was either used a washboard gravel road to the side, or had to drive about as fast as we were. One truck driver actually pulled over up ahead and offered us a gallon of water, some oranges and even cigarettes. Such unexpected kindness!
As the afternoon wore on we started to keep our eye open for a place to camp. In typical Sonoran fashion though, everywhere we looked there was a fence up; all the gates were locked too! I asked a man who was walking through a gate if we could camp on his land, but he said he had no authority and we would need to ask “El Patron”. We kept rolling on until finally, just as the sun dipped below the horizon I happened to look down as we were crossing a bridge. There was a concrete pad that I could see which I figured we could put the tent on. Then as we looked closer, we saw that the whole area under the bridge was cool, clean concrete.
After 18 months of being homeless we were finally going to sleep under a bridge – like trolls.
It ended up being a really swell spot and we enjoyed supper on our new alcohol burner as the cows in the adjoining field began their walk home in the dusky night. The stars came out and all was right with the world. The moon has been awfully bright the last few nights and it was nice and cozy in our troll-home under the bridge.
Amanda writes:Andrew almost makes it sounds glamorous. His description of the day is spot on. It was nice to carry such a great average speed and see the miles add up. As the sun was nearing the end of it’s day I was getting a bit nervous with not yet finding a break in the fence to pitch our tent. We had talked about it over the last week that if we couldn’t find a safe place to pitch our tent we are prepared to get a hotel when necessary. The challenge here was no hotels, no people and just fences. Fortunately we quickly agreed on the cement pad and were lucky that the bridge was clearly quite new because it was the only area devoid of garbage and clearly hadn’t been used before. So while I certainly hope we don’t make a habit out of sleeping under a bridge, this wasn’t too bad at all.