@lion.samer

Day 81: 5,173 miles (8,275 km) I left La Paz on Monday via a 16 hour cargo ship. I spent the night sleeping on the upper deck of the ship and was excited to finally see land the next afternoon when we arrived to Mazatlan. And so would begin the most challenging and also the most beautiful 2 days of my trip so far. A few hours after leaving Mazatlan, the scenery quickly begins to change as I started climbing into the Sierra Madre Occidental towards Durango. The sweltering heat was replaced with foggy mist and afternoon rain showers but also amazing views of the surrounding mountains and valleys at every turn. Whenever I pass a kid on their bike in a small village I would wave them on to share a couple minutes biking with me and they would oblige. I spent a couple hours sheltering from rain (I still don’t have a rain jacket, it was lost in my bag, see my post from 2 weeks ago) with a friendly Mexican family before continuing the never ending climb. After camping in a a pueblo’s community center, I continued towards the “Espinazo del Diablo” an infamous section of the climb known for its winding switchbacks, open valleys on both sides of the road and the many deaths that have occurred from the sharp turns and adverse weather (Littered along the road you can literally see hundreds of crosses for the victims of this dangerous but epic road). The Mexican government built a $2.2 billion highway to bypass the entire old road from Mazatlan 15 years ago- eliminating almost all car traffic and making it much more enjoyable to cycle! Yesterday I descended to Durango, the largest city I’ve been to since Tijuana and was able to make some minor fixes to my bike before I continue south through the heart of Mexico. I will never stop. Let’s ride!