My stay in the area of Mexico City and Puebla has turned out to be a very extended one. By the time I ride out of Puebla, heading south towards San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas, it is almost two months since I first arrived in Mexico City and I have only ridden the [...]
Also tagged jungle, leaving, mexico, wildlifeAs soon as we reach the highway, after twelve miles of dirt road, we are forced to contemplate the frightening prospect of sharing a narrow highway, with no shoulder, with giant trucks. The constant stream of huge rigs thundering by is terrifying.
We spy a roadside cafe in the distance and retreat indoors to gather courage.
Fortified [...]
Silver City is the last town we will pass through in the USA. We linger a while, spending five nights on the lounge room floor of our hosts, before Jeff and I set off at around 5PM on a cold evening with snow predicted for the next day. Cass opts to spend another night in [...]
Also tagged dirtbag gang, friends, new mexico, wind, winterThe road to Flagstaff winds over 70 miles first through the forest, then across the plains, and finally over a mountain or two. Despite the maps and compass, I get a little lost but it’s a very pleasant two day ride. Once the sun goes down everything freezes instantly. My drinking water is solid ice [...]
Also tagged arizona, snow and ice, winterPeach Springs is one of those names on the map that appeal to me, somehow evoking images of eternal summer evenings in a pretty bucolic town – all green fields and orchards. Darkness falls as I approach the town and I make a fairly dismal camp alongside the highway behind an embankment; mostly out of [...]
Also tagged arizona, canyon country, first nationFully recuperated by a much needed day of rest at the Needles Inn, I set off again following the historical Route 66 north-east from Needles into Arizona, crossing the Black Mountains over the Sitgraves Pass.
Route 66 clearly occupies a significant place in the US collective cultural imagination. Groups of stone-faced men, sometimes with an equally [...]
I emerge from the desert dirt roads onto pavement.
After passing through the small settlement of Goffs, where I spent the morning chatting to a volunteer at the East Mojave Desert Museum, who kindly lets me download my photos there, I find myself on the Route 66, a highway which actually no longer exists, heading towards [...]
By morning the constant stream of cars has been replaced by a constant stream of trucks. It is time to flee. Without having any idea what to expect I head towards the Mojave National Preserve – I haven’t had enough of the desert yet.
The desert, as always contains surprises.
I ride to Kelso where, disappointingly, there [...]
I continue on corrugated gravel track across the desert. The road is being worked on as I ride and the surface is deep and loose. The men working in the graders stare at me, as if I might be a mirage, as I pass.
I’m so glad I chose to struggle across the rough dirt tracks [...]