If there was one leg of the Baja Divide that was concerning us, it was the Cataviña leg. It is the longest stretch of the route without water or resupply - 100 miles minimum between water - and I'm happy to report that it's now behind us. It was tough, as we expected, but we made it through, and now have a bag full of memories and experiences to show for it. As I indicated we would in my last…
Since arriving in Cataviña, I've done little more than try to recuperate from the previous days' tough riding. We are staying in a beautiful hotel, unusual considering its extremely remote location in a highway town with nothing more than a small shop and a family restaurant. There isn't even cell service here! While pricey by Mexican standards, at least as far as what we've experienced so far, this hotel has been a much-needed oasis for me. It has truly taken…
There's an expression used by some cycling tourers, shortened down to EFI. EFI stands for Every F^#%ing Inch. I had hoped that some day Rebecca and I would be able to boast that we rode EFI of the Baja Divide but yesterday, after becoming increasingly frustrated by an unrideable section, we created our own detour to the highway, and rode the last 10 miles into Cataviña on asphalt. We've covered a lot of miles since our last update, riding from…
When we picked up our new Tumbleweed Prospectors from Daniel in Oakland, he suggested that we have them checked over by a pro after we had put a hundred or so miles on them. We never really had the chance to do that before leaving the States, but now, 300 miles into the Baja Divide, we were fortunate to find ourselves at a well-stocked bike shop right on the route. Of course, we didn't locate FASS Bikes by accident; we…
Since we crossed the Mexican border at Tecate, we've been compiling a bunch of video footage from our Baja Divide trek. Although it takes some time and effort to shoot it all, we know that it'll be a great reminder for us when we've completed the section. And to be completely honest, it also gives us a nice excuse for a rest. :) Although our intent was not to publish any of the footage until we had completed the entire…
People that we meet are often curious about why we're choosing to ride the track that we are, especially when there are easier or sometimes shorter routes to get to the same destination. As I've noted before, we're following a bikepacking track that was formally established in 2015-2016, and one that a number of riders have already tackled. It was not plotted to be easy, nor the most direct route from point A to point B. On the contrary, the…