Baja day 22

Santa Rosalillita to Rosarito 22 miles

I started out of town with too much food, as usual. Lots of fishing stuff right at the shore, also a young horse in a corral made of lobster traps. A black dog ran with me for a few blocks, not barking, more like we were in a herd. Right at the edge of town, there was a surfing spot, all the wetsuits bobbing in the waves like seals. Then the route wandered along the shore on a rocky track. It was overcast with spurts of cold wind. I could hear the waves on the other side of a rocky beach.

I ate some panditos as I pedaled. The route turned away from the coast, followed tracks through the desert. I wish I knew the names of more plants. There were tiny cirio trees and the super pokey cactus and something I think we used to call elephant trees. Sometimes the path went through bits so packed full of interesting plants it was like a botanical garden.

But then it changed, and the road turned into, I don’t know how to describe it. Just rocks, big sharp cobblestone things that I could sometimes ride over and sometimes around but it sucked. Sometimes I walked just because it was so unpleasant and bumpy. Same as yesterday on all the washboarded roads. It went on for miles. Except today seemed like I should be able to ride. I could see tracks, where presumably those guys ahead of me rode. Maybe real mountain bikers enjoy riding this sort of thing.

I was pretty happy when I saw the highway. Nice big shoulder on the side and light traffic. In no time, I was at Rosarito and the turn off for San Borja. I found the hotel. The guys working there were all really dirty. Later I realized that they were mechanics. That’s handy, having a garage at the hotel. I bet they could fix something on my bike better than I could.