Days 82 Through 85: Durango To Zacatecas

After nearly a week in Durango, it was time for us to tear ourselves away from the wonderful hospitality of Victor and Vanessa.  We were on a mission to try to meet up with Emmanuel in Zacatecas.  On the way out of town, we treated ourselves to a "fancy" breakfast at a "fancy" hotel, complete with valet parking for our bicycles.  Despite the abundance of cheap fresh produce in Mexico, most restaurants seem to regard vegetables as a condiment rather than a food group, so I was overjoyed to find an omelet chock full of spinach, squash flowers, and cheese and smothered in the tomato/onion/jalapeño-laden ranchero sauce.

We took Highway 45 the whole way... our first real leg of the trip that felt like we were on a major highway.  For the most part, there is a great shoulder about half a lane wide, so even though trucks whiz by, there is plenty of space so you don't have to keep constant vigilance.

The shoulder is designed allow slow moving traffic to move over so that others may pass safely.  This is far superior than actually having an extra lane because then there would be no shoulder and folks would just zoom by in both lanes.  Here, a tractor passes us.

The rains have arrived... we spent all night in our tents, generally being flooded in our little corner of the Sierra de Organos just across the state border between Durango and Zacatecas.

It turns out that our lovely little campsite the first night was not ideal.  Up until now, rains had been short and sweet, primarily in the afternoon, and rarely lasted more than a couple hours.  So we pitched our tents at the bottom of a little hill assuming that the rain would stop.  Oops.  Gonzalo barely slept because his tent flooded and my things weren't much more dry in the morning either.  We got a late start dealing with all our wet gear and biked 25 km to the town of Sombrerete where we intended to have a nice hot breakfast to fuel our day.  It turns out that Sombrerete is a pueblo mágico, which means it has been identified as a well-preserved historic town.  We decided to find a hotel to air out our gear and see what Sombrerete had to offer.

Gonzalo had skipped dinner the night before and compensated by ordering eggs smothered in creamy cheese and roasted jalapeños, molletes (toasted bread topped with refried beans, cheese, and pico de gallo), a fruit cocktail, orange juice, and cafe de olla.

Airing out the tent!

We have yet to turn on a TV at a hotel... but I did find this one useful for drying out my gear.

Sombrerete is also big enough to have its own bike hospital.

Apparently, it is not just the U.S. that suffers from cell phone use in inappropriate places.  "God is going to talk to you today, but not on your cell phone.  Turn it off!"

We were pleasantly surprised to find the city museum open after 6 pm... it was small but well done and although neither of us had heard of Sombrerete before, it was an important city in the mining heydays.

The lovely plaza.

Local elections are just around the corner... here, a local candidate is holding a big last minute rally. 

A bike tourist sized bag of cheesy puffs?

Fortified by a full nights sleep, dry camping gear, and a wonderful time in Sombrerete, we continued on.  While the views weren't anything remarkable in terms of the countryside, the clouds were spectacular and the riding was enjoyable with gentle climbs and descents.

Lil mountains shrouded in clouds.

The clouds consumed the sky... Gonzalo is the tiny spec in the lower righthand corner.

We crossed the Tropic of Cancer!

We contemplated taking a detour into Fresnillo to spend a dry night at a hotel, but the sky didn't look quite as menacing, and the logistics of cycling into Fresnillo would have required us to ride a long section of highly trafficked road.  Luckily, Gonzalo spotted a perfect wild camping spot just past Fresnillo and despite a few curious looks from folks passing by on a footpath nearby, we passed the night peacefully.

Perfectly flat and nestled in a cove of trees...

Ahh, the Corona factory...

Best barbacoa I've eaten so far in Mexico!

Also, the best corn tortillas I've eaten in Mexico so far... I've noticed on this trip that more and more little restaurants get their tortillas from the local tortillería.  While those are certainly fresh, there is nothing better than a señora patting out by hand fresh corn tortillas.

At long last, we made it to Zacatecas.  We had our priorities set.  Our first stop was at the local fruit cart where you can get a huge cup of fruit for next to nothing.  Then off to get settled into our hostal, shower, and wait for Emmanuel to arrive.

Patiently awaiting our fruit cups.

Massive fruit cup joy!

The view from our "penthouse" at the hostal.

Reunited at last with Emmanuel... this calls for a bottle of mescal, guayaba, and potato chips.  

Catching up over drinks and a gorgeous sunset.

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• While there are plenty of towns along this section of Highway 45, they require you to detour off the highway, sometimes several kilometers.  

• We encountered our first "bad vibe" from the owner of a tienda at the entrance of Vicente Guerrero next to the gas station... we had purchased some snacks and water and asked where the grocery store was.  The owner lied and said it was all the way in the center of town off the highway.  Just half a kilometer down the road, we realized that we could see the supermarket from the highway... it would have been a tiny detour and easy for us to get back on the highway.

• The Hotel Posada del Real de Minas was a wonderful little find.  A little more expensive than we wanted to pay at 300 pesos, but the service was impeccable.  The girl working the front desk moved my tent to dry on the roof and kindly brought it down when it started to rain.  

• As you get closer to Zacatecas, Highway 45 divides into a quota or toll road and the libre or free road.  Here, it is worth getting onto the toll road because it maintains the wonderful shoulder while the free road is more trafficked and has no shoulder at all.  We were able to hop off our bikes and walk them on the sidewalk past the toll booth with no problems.  If they kick you off, there is almost always a way to cut back to the toll road via a dirt road or just to hop a fence.

• The road into Zacatecas is a bit of a holy terror, with no shoulder, lots of traffic, and tons of climbing... but it's worth it!  The Hostal Villa Colonial in Zacatecas is conveniently located just a block from the cathedral.  They accommodated our bikes (though we did have to schlep them up some stairs) and it's worth it if you want to splurge a bit to get room 11, which actually resides above the very awesome rooftop terrace.  Otherwise, dorm beds are just 100 pesos.