Day 80: Durango Part II (aka Scorpion Ride!)

After biking thousands of kilometers, what better way to rest than to sign up for Durango's signature mountain bike race, El Alacrán (aptly named for the scorpions which are common to this region)?  My year o' triathlons and century rides was enough racing for me so I decided to take it easy and do the shorter 40 km route and not worry at all about finishing with a good time.  I was a little worried that racing my touring bike with no suspension was asking for some epic crashes.  So I decided to treat the race like any other day of bike touring, chat with other riders, and take lots of pictures.  In retrospect, I should have just done the 60 km route as I forget that the months of riding have turned my legs into little climbing machines... ah well.

The race start at the cathedral on the main plaza.

Hermanos at the start!  Armando, Victor, and José, in age order apparently.

Because Victor seems to know just about everyone, I met a lot of the key players in the Durango cycling community, including the race director, and became an accidental minor celebrity in the process.  I had jokingly asked the race director if I was the first Korean to enter the race in its six or seven-year history (the answer was "yes")... much to my surprise, the governor of Durango state gave me a shout out before the race start, and I got a lot of recognition from cyclists on the course.  Even a couple of the volunteers recognized that I was the mysterious Korean cyclist and took pictures of me.

The guys in pink were impressed I was the one from Korea and gave me quick fist bumps before the start.

Chasing dirt.

The course was a nice mix of dirt road (60%), and smooth clean singletrack and rocky descents (40%) and it felt really good to just ride.  I surprised myself by only having to walk two parts (one by choice, and one because the person in front of me ignored my yells of "pista" to let me run the course), even with no suspension.  And the short steep climbs?  Bike touring has definitely turned those into child's play.  One great thing about participating in the race is that they clean the course for the race, so you get the best that Durango has to offer.  I also appreciated having the traffic control and well-marked course as someone who generally gets lost easily and has never mountain biked in the area.

My first race with a cow hazard.

The first half of the course is one long easy climb... I say easy because after cycling the Copper Canyons fully loaded, I wasn't even winded at all on this climb.  That said, the other racers were incredibly supportive, each giving me kind words of encouragement as we spun up the hill.  I made a few people laugh by honking my dino horn in response.

Gorgeous morning views.

My not-so-artsy shot of folks coming up from behind.

I contemplated switching to the 60 km for a couple minutes as I chatted with the guys manning this post... naaaah, keepin' it easy going.

The loaner tires from the kind mechanics at the downtown Durango Specialized store were pretty awesome... no flats!  They also did an overhaul on my hubs for almost nothing.

The dirt road finally turns into some nice singletrack.

The nopales are pretty, but the thorns are the bane of all the local mountain bikers.

Starting the rocky descent.  I was surprised at how well my Troll handled this part.  Everyone else was surprised I had no suspension... and that I was stopping to take pictures.

Lots of folks walking this section... I rode about halfway down before I almost hit someone walking their bike.

My favorite kind of riding... fast swoopy clean singletrack.

A small group comes barreling through on the wrong track and cuts over to the track I am on to correct their error.

Gonzalo had a bit of a problem with his number staying on his bike... clearly putting the bib and chip in his teeth was the best solution.

Random group shots at the finish while waiting for Armando to come in (photo credit: Victor).

We have a rather large cheering section (photo credit: Victor).

This is how you fit 5 bikes into the bike of a pickup truck.

Days 77 Through 79: Durango Part I

Durango has been a whirlwind of Gonzalo's family... there are about 16 of us all staying in his cousin Victor's house in the Durango suburbs.  The days have been filled with huge family meals, from tacos duranguenses to seafood feasts.  I ventured out with Gonzalo's cousins and all their kids to the Durango state fair while Gonzalo took advantage of the empty house to nap and get some work done.  It was a surreal experience because the Durango state fair looked almost exactly like a county fair in the United States, only a bit bigger with much better food.

Gonzalo's aunt, cousin, and a few of the gals wait for the rest of the "kids" to play in the big floaty balls.

Emiliano clearly enjoys his plastic home.

Victor getting his floaty ball filled.

Ready to go!

Trying to run in the ball is not as easy as it looks.

Second attempt to run in the ball also ended in much laughter.

Paulina comes in after her fun on the lake.

My turn!

Trying my hand at running in the ball... this is a lot harder than it looks.... but check out dem leg muscles!

Nope!

Victor and I roll along the water.

My big success... I can stand on the water at least.

The petting zoo... what a funny looking animal!

Emiliano has a new friend!  Emiliano thinks I'm pretty awesome because I was teaching him some Japanese ... he's pretty awesome because he was practicing his English with me.

Sofi clearly loves her elote.

All the kiddos and their corn on a stick.

Paulina in her lil car.

I think Victor is having more fun in the bumper cars than all the kids!

Emiliano just smashed into Victor!

I'm not quite sure Paulina can see from under her hat...

Awwww.

Uncle Victor crashes into all his nieces and nephews.

The big kids go for a ride!

We tried to watch this cowboy show, but high winds and rain chased us to the cars.

Days 73 Through 76: Parral To Durango (aka Much Love For Highway 45)

After asking around about which road to take between Parral and Durango, we opted for the lesser trafficked Highway 45, which runs directly between the two cities.  Our other option was to take Highway 49/490 through the metropolis Torreón, which not only would add several hundred kilometers to our route, but would have a lot more truck traffic.  Both, we were told, had about the same reputation for safety... that is, we got extremely mixed feedback on both.  In some ways, these four days of riding were my favorite of the trip, with gorgeous elongated rolling hills, views of farmland and mountains, refreshing afternoon showers, relatively easy climbs, the regular appearance of the ubiquitous señora serving delicious antojitos out of rustic stands signaling our approach into central Mexico, and as always, the amazing people.

Did I mention... no more crazy mountains or canyons to climb (at least for now)?

Finally back to camping!  After spending so much time in hotels since Creel, camping felt like a luxury...  

The next campsite was tucked away in a corner of a farm, maybe a bit too close to town.  We had a couple close calls of being discovered by some curious cows and tractors coming down a dirt road.  No golden sunsets, but I enjoyed watching the silvery gray spectrum of the clouds.

The best part about this section of road is that there are nice views of little mountains, but you weave through them in a way that gives you the views with minimal torture.  We were received with kindness everywhere we went, from friendly construction workers to a fellow female cyclist who stopped to see if we needed anything.  We were even considered a source of the most important information... a gentleman asked Gonzalo when we were stopped for breakfast if it had rained on us yet.  Initially, Gonzalo thought the gentleman was concerned for us, but it turns out he was a farmer who was anxiously awaiting the rains, and was overjoyed that yes, indeed, we had ridden through rain.

A spot of lush green farmland.

Ominous clouds signal the coming of an afternoon thunderstorm.

I really wanted to know where that dirt road went... another time.

We bumped into this awesome crew of road workers twice in the same day.  The first time they were hard at work and stopped to give us some water and the second time they were on their way towards Durango after finishing up for the day.  Once again, they stopped to offer us water and if we wanted, a ride into town.  The riding was so good we declined, but stopped for some nice conversation (and to pose for pictures that are surely circulating on their Facebooks somewhere). I was impressed by the generosity of this group... here, they had stopped to give water and leftover lunch to an old man who lives in a shack next to the highway.

Only one big climb and it wasn't too crazy of a gradient... and then you come up and see this!

We found an old acueduct to shield our campsite.

On the last stretch to Durango, we found ourselves on a fancy road with an actual shoulder, and fast flat riding for miles on end.  As we neared Chupaderos, the town that has slowly moved into Ville del Oeste, an old-timey set that was once home to John Wayne, Clark Gable, and Steve McQueen movies, we were greeted on the side of the road by Gonzalo's cousin Victor.  After dumping our panniers into Victor's car, we were escorted in fine style the rest of the way to Chupaderos where Victor's wife Vanessa greeted us with cold Gatorades.

I managed to snap one quick picture of the set before the skies opened up and started pouring rain... it's been three years since Durango got rain!

Victor and Vanessa offered us a ride into town, which we gladly accepted.  The idea of riding into the relatively large city of Durango, full of traffic and strange right-of-way traffic laws, in the rain wasn't appealing.  The rest of the day was spent enjoying their hospitality, from a luxurious shower to being plied with smoked salmon rolls, sparkling peach juice, homemade enchiladas verdes (followed up by some delicious candied guayava and membrillo with locally-produced Mennonite cheese that Gonzalo lugged in his panniers as a gift), visits to various bike shops to have my hubs checked out and to get supplies, a whirlwind tour of downtown Durango, and a late night light dinner of duranguense specialties.

A few travel notes for cycle tourists:

• The road between Parral and Durango marks the beginning of civilization, in the sense that you don't have to worry too much about knowing where stores and restaurants will pop up.  There are a few sections as you cross between valleys that are still remote, that is, there are no amenities for about 40 km, so just be aware that if you see the road is going up and over into the next valley, stock up on water.  The best bet for supplies is not always the little towns, but rather junctures with other paved roads. 

• Wild camping is still pretty easy along this route, although sections are open farmland making it a bit more difficult.  We had luck taking dirt roads down a bit to find a grove of trees.  As you get within 70 km of Durango, it does get a bit more difficult as there is more traffic to see where you pull off and more open land.  I was surprised to see a few little hotels along the way as well.

• We averaged about 105 km a day for four days to make it to Durango.  Folks traveling super light or with strong legs could make this trip in three days if they wanted to. 

• Durango is a relatively large city with over half a million inhabitants.  While normally I would skip a city this big, a chance to stay with friends and family (be it mine or Gonzalo's) is always welcome, and with a thriving cycling community, Durango is a good place for bike repairs and to purchase bike gear.