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.