Day 10 - Mayan Monkey, Cabo San Lucas

The plan was to travel back to La Paz today as we have arranged to get the ferry from Pichilingue to Mazatlan, which is an overnight ferry. Jorik’s sister and her fella have very kindly offered to pay for a nice hotel in La Paz for the night, so we have all day to travel back up towards La Paz. We wanted to hug the south and eastern coast on the way up, and whilst there is a road that runs that route, the more direct route along the highway is ultimately what we opted for as it is hot as balls whilst on the bikes. So with our plan in place, we packed up our stuff, collected the bikes and headed out of Cabo San Lucas. The ride was only expected to be around 4-hours so it should have been an easy day. Getting out of Cabo and heading north wasn’t the most spectacular ride, a lot of highways so parts of it were pretty boring. We planned a little detour from the main highway to a place called Cabo Pulmo. However, once we turned off Highway 1, the road and landscape was not that appealing so we pulled up in a town called La Ribera. We wanted to head for the beach, where we assumed we would find a little beach bar, or a restaurant to grab and drink and take in the scenery. The sat nav kept pushing us south, but along sand tracks, rather than actual roads. After debating the sense in riding in the soft stuff again, particularly following Jorik’s off whilst riding down to Papa Fernadez. As it happened, Jorik had another off in the sand, not too bad and no damage to him or the bike, but that is 2 – 0 for Jorik on the trip so far.

Having picked himself and the bike up, we decided that it was just too hot and we were too knackered to push on for Cabo Pulmo, specially as we simply have to turn around and ride the same road back to Highway 1 before turning north again towards La Paz. So, we stopped at a gas station, grabbed a couple of cokes and cooled off for a bit and then made our way back to the more direct route. It turned out to be a long ride and really took it out of us. We were longing for a cold beer, a swim in the hotel pool and the opportunity to get off the bikes. As we were riding into La Paz, less than 20 minutes from the hotel and with the cold beers calling us, Jorik’s bike got a puncture from a large nail that pierced his tire and shredded the inner tube. Properly screwed it up. No amount of Air-Seal would help the situation. Whilst it was not an ideal situation, particularly on the side of a major highway after a full day’s riding when we were hot and sweaty, but we pulled the tools out, took the rear wheel off and got busy sorting the problem. It didn’t take us more than about 30 minutes to get the tube swapped out for a brand new spare tube that we had with us, but once we had got everything sorted, we put the portable pump we have on and set it to the correct PSI reading, 34 for the rear tire with a pillion, which is about right for the extra weight and the fact that we are not expecting any soft sand for a while. However, the tire wouldn’t inflate beyond around 5PSI, no matter what we tried. Whilst we were frustrated by the lack of response from the pump, which could have been because we had pinched the new tube whilst levering the tire back on to the rim, or the pump was just not working properly, an Irish chap on a F800 BMW pulled over to check on us. Fergus was his name and he was very friendly and wanted to check if he could help with anything. We had a brief chat but were still hoping the pump would kick in and the tire would inflate. There wasn’t much he could do, so he jumped back on his bike and continued his journey back down to Cabo San Lucas, where he worked. The police stopped a couple of times to check on us, but again, there wasn’t much they could do. After about 30 more minutes, we decided that we re-fit the tire and slowly, very slowly, ride down to the next gas station where we could use their compressor to pump the tire up. It wasn’t far, only about 5 minutes, but not an ideal situation as there is every chance the tire could completely collapse, screw the tube up (even if it did get pinched), but more of a worry would be if the tire came off the rim and the rim hit the tarmac, which could drastically damage it. We made it, and immediately realised that the tube wasn’t holding pressure. So, whilst we were feeling positive about getting to our hotel and a cold beer a little over an hour before hand, we set about taking the rear wheel off again and changing out the tube for the 2nd time. Having done it once already, and now in the shade of the gas station with a full-strength compressor, it took us about 30 minutes to sort out the problem and then head for the hotel.

The sat nav took us right up to the beachfront where we pulled up outside the Baja Club, a very swanky hotel and again, a massive thanks to Dorit and Jeff for sorting us old boys out, particularly after a long day. Whilst it was a very generous offer, we thought that were joking when they told us it was a room with a single king bed. But sure enough, we must have scored the fucking honeymoon suite or some shit. It was a massive suite with a separate lounge, seating area, but only 1 massive king size bed. We asked if they could sort us a room with 2 beds, but the hotel was fully booked for a wedding the next day so we would have to bunk in together. Not ideal, but after sleeping in a tiny little tent in Papa Fernandez, I’d rather sleep in a massive bed.

We headed into the town for some dinner and a beer and took in the evening sights along the beachfront. The hotel is on the main drag, and it must be a thing that on Friday night’s everyone comes down with their tricked-out cars. There are loads of beetles around, many of which have been converted to the Baja Bug style which are super cool. There were a few bikes, but generally the people watching was pretty good.