In March I am going to Sonora to do a bicycle ride in support of several organizations that are involved with our Borderland region. I was lucky enough to go to the Northern Jaguar Reserve a few years ago and am excited to see this new region north of the Sahuaripa region where the Reserve was located.
If you can contribute to these organizations it would be greatly appreciated. Look back here after I do the ride ( looks to be hard! ) and see how it all went.
Thanks so much
Mike
Contribute to Ruta del Jefe here
Update: 27 March
Wow, it was a fun event!
Got up early on Thursday morning, put my bike and camping stuff in the car and off we went. Managed to forget my instant coffee to my chagrin later on, but everything else was there and drove to Naco with an easy Border crossing.
Sarah had provided a GPX file for the drive to Rancho Nuevo, so loaded that into my eTrex and just followed it. Had read about Mexican truckers flashing their lights to tell you that you can pass and yeah that's true ,... did it several times, but one has to be careful on Highway 2 as you can be driving along on great pavement and then find a big city street type pothole!
Got to the ranch and directed to the 4WD parking area that I called "the beach" ,... big sandy area next to a creek. Setup my tent, checked in and then we had an 11 mile social ride.
The social ride went along a stream that we crossed about 20 times in a two mile stretch. Pace was pretty quick I thought and then we turned and went up a pretty steepish climb ... I did ok, walked a couple of places along with a few other people. Hung out for a few minutes atop a ridge that offered wonderful views of the multiple mountain ranges and then rode back to the ranch for a really steep "I'mma gonna walk this" descent back to the event.
We got fed at supper and breakfast every day and the food was great. After Thursday dinner we watched American Scar about the destruction of the borderlands for Trumps fucking wall. You could see miles and miles of the wall on the drive over ... just hideous and it actually makes it easier for people to cross as there is now a road to walk on vs nothing but desert in the past. Dumbass idea.
Bed early ish and it was cold. Don't know the temperature but at about 2 am I could hear the trucks on Hwy 2 that were about 6 miles away. The sound just carried well.
6 am up and met up with some folks to do a little bird walk along the stream. Saw a couple, lots more flowers and some good folding of the rocks on the side of the road. Got back for breakfast and it was great ( loved the food ) ... Played with the bike for a few minutes and then we had another ride at 11;30 . Good sized group that left, rode along the entrance road for a bit, then cut up into the grassland area and close to Hwy 2. One little place where the trail more or less disappeared and two women and I were wandering around trying to find it ... first on one side of the track then on the other side of the track ... so it must be in the middle ... ah ... there it is!
Rode along an electric fence ... saw where some people ducked under it ... wasn't sure if it was energized or not ...remember getting shocked by one that my Dad had to keep our cow out of our garden! Then another super steep switchbacky downhill that was loose and steep and I walked quite a bit of it and back to camp.
I attended a workshop with Cacao tasting ... various beans and types of chocolate produced in Mexico. So good. Then we had a happy hour with some cocktails that we could buy!
Friday night had talks from Cuence los Ojos, Borderlands Restoration, N'Dee/N'Nee/Nde Nation, Frontera de Cristo and Defensa del Rio Casas Grandes. All great organizations and worthy of the donations that folks have raised. Was getting pretty chilly towards the end .... nice and warm during the day but when the sun goes down one needs their layers!
Up on Saturday for the big ride. After Thurs and Fri I decided I was going to do the 27 mile ride vs the 40 I originally signed up for. Group was supposed to leave at 8:30 and 9:00, but didn't go until almost 9:30 as everyone got signed out and then we were off. More of the water crossings including the big one by a beaver dam! and back up the same hill we did on Thursday afternoon. I was a bit slower on it by quite a bit ... but the aide station was frying bacon!!
Turned off onto a grassy two track and then rode pretty much by myself for an hour or so until we got to the second aide station. They had Cokes and Oreo's !!! Lady at second station says those going the 27 mile distance need to turn at a bridge up the road ... got there and two guys were confused .... they went straight ... I turned and was getting further and further from the track ... something is wrong ..... turned around and two other guys ( one doing photos for Revelate ... Leo ?? ) came back down the hill going "that ain;t it" ... turned back to the bridge and went straight. Back on track but with that nagging little feeling of "dude are you sure this is it?"
Finally got to where we could see Hwy 2, followed down hill and south of it for a couple of rough miles, then turned away and up a steep loose hill to aide station 3. More cookies, sat down for a few minutes and then go up and rode the rest of the route .... felt really good to cross over ... Karla and some of the riders who had finished already were cheering everyone who came in, signed the log and I was done. Hung out there at the barn cheering others in, then back to my tent and changed shirts and put long pants on.
Supper was great and we were treated to a spectacular sunset. Talked with Steve and Jenna for a bit, hung out more and they passed out awards for fundraising and I got a cycling cap and a handlebar bag. Sweet! Last 4 riders came in at about 7 pm, three with lights and one riding with them without .... awesome efforts!
Saturday night had some music playing and there was dancing but was tired, so I bailed back to my tent down on the "beach" and went to bed. About 3 am the rain came in and listened to the rain.
Got up at 6:30 or so and finished packing my car. As I started to pack the tent a big gust of wind blew the whole thing about 100 feet or so into some mud so just packed it wet and muddy as something to deal with when I got home. Had breakfast and then left. Easy drive out .... creek crossings much have confused the tire pressure sensors on the car because I get a tire pressure light and a tire pressure system malfunction warning .... get out of the car, look at all of them and they all look aired up so get back in and drive to AP to cross the Border. Had the most pleasant encounter with a CBP guy ever ... he was just really nice, asked about the bike, he rides some, told him there would be others coming from the same place to cross. Yeah, part of that was my privilege as I reflect on it .... I'am an old white guy and he was an old white guy so probably would have been different if I was black or brown.
Drove to Hereford to see some old friends .. Mike and Mimi and then home on Sunday night. Glad to see Whisper and the kitties and many thanks to Paul for watching over them.
So I had a good time, lots of fun interactions with other riders, talking about people we know in common. Sarah and Karla and Daniel put so much hard work into this event and it was wonderfully planned and carried out.
But have to admit that I was really pretty lonely in a lot of ways during the whole thing ... my biggest cheerleader is no longer with me, so I didn't have anyone to call up and chat with for a minute or two at the end of the day like I would always do during any of my other rides. I miss my Susan so very very much and it's a thing that just comes along and weighs on me for a while and then I get up and move along.
Nothing else planned in terms of rides. Going to walk dogs at the shelter tonight .... thinking of crewing with some folks doing Race Across America in June. I don't know, just have to sort my life out now.
