13.12.08
Mazatlán El Rosario
77,8 km, 4:30 h, Ø 17,2 km/h, 370 hm, total 6070,9
Last night it was very hot in our room and I didn‘ t sleep much. When I got up in the morning it was already hot again.
Around 9:30am (29 degrees C) we left the hotel and tried to find our way out of Mazatlán onto Mex 15. It was our first day cycling on the mainland of Mexico and I didn‘ t hear many good things about it. There‘ s supposed to be a lot of traffic, the dogs shouldn‘ t be as friendly as in Baja and the car- and truck-drivers more aggressive. Within the next days and weeks I‘ ll find out whether that‘ s true or not.
We didn‘ t have any problems cycling through the small roads of Mazatlán. There was a lot of traffic, but noone honked at us. Even when we crossed a bridge, right before Villa Union, with no shoulder, the truck behind us just slowed down and waited.
In Villa Union we stopped at a roadside taqueria for lunch. The city was very busy, there were many people, eating, walking, on bicycles or selling food like corn on the cob on the side of the road.
After lunch we had to decide if we wanted to take the Cuota (the toll road) or the Libre (the toll free road) to El Rosarito. There is supposed to be less traffic on the Cuota, because many people avoid paying toll and drive on the libre. Moreover there should be a shoulder on the Cuota. Nevertheless, after a look on my map we decided to take the Libre ‚cause it seemed as if there would be more climbs on the Cuota. After a while we stopped because we saw that the Libre was actually going closer to the mountains. Since there was a path we cycled up there and kept going on the Cuota. There actually wasn‘ t much traffic, a nice shoulder and some drivers honked and waved at us, showed thumbs up or the peace-sign, just as we knew it from Baja.
The scenery definitely changed, there were a lot more trees along the road, everything is very green. We still saw some cactusses and palmtrees, but there was farmland as well.
I saw many cows but they all looked pretty thin. Two donkeys were standing on the side of the road and just after I took a picture of them a truck of the road maintenance stopped and a man chased the donkeys away from the road.
In El Rosarito we got off the Cuota. At the paystation bicycles are not supposed to stay in the same lane as the cars because they don‘ t have to pay and the account wouldn‘ t be correct at the end of the day. The people who work there opened a gate for us so we could get off.
The first Hotel we saw had a price list and they had prices for 4 hours. Well, I guess that wasn‘ t the kind of hotel we were looking for. Then we passed a very very poor neighborbood before we came into town. We weren‘ t on the main road anymore and on our bikes the three of us were quite the attraction in the non-touristy area. There where many people out in the streets, just living their lives.
After a while we got back on the main road and saw a few hotels. We checked the prices and finally anded up in the Hotel d‘ Lola where we paid 350 Pesos for 3 people. The room was very clean , looked and had wi-fi.
After a beer and a warm (not hot) shower, we walked up the street to a Taqueria where we had a very cheap and good dinner. I‘ m surprised that I still like to eat Tacos after 4 weeks in Mexico!!!