Back in G on Tuesday the 28th - of course it felt like coming home!
How serious were we to leave on our trip south? We had plenty to do for a few days and planned to leave by the weekend when our friendly couple Marina and Ernesto showed up Wednesday night (really! It was 10 pm!) and invited us to come on "The Routa Ecotouristica" from Mascota to Porto Vallarta on off roads, in other words: In the dirt.
YES - we didn't think too much about it.....the beach is calling and the couple had more to offer besides their sweet presents: A little house in Chacala near the beach and a bus ride back, because our bikes would be transported back to G by the truck who will follow us on the trail.
We left the next day to the town of Mascota - ready at 2pm, but we didn't leave G until 6pm......Mexico, the culture, the people, a never ending lesson in patience, especially when one has very little to begin with.....
If I would have known about the ride more in detail, I would have bailed....
Very humbling, because judgement seems to be out front, before I can really get there I had made up my mind, that this ride can't be too hard looking at who is present and what kind of bicycles are involved....couldn't be that hard.........I told myself. The road part was easy and up hill, the dirt pass was missed by Marina and me, because we were way ahead of everybody (who knows what they were doing?) and we are talking about 8 people all together.
We were lost for about an hour waiting for the truck to find us, pick us up and take us to the beginning of the dirt road. And when we got there it started raining and then pouring and by the time (and we are talking about hours later....) we descended to Mascota on a whopping 4000f descend on slippery cobble stones and all, I had labeled this experience the mountain bike ride from hell on touring bikes! I was cussing in any kind of language that came to mind (I think it was mostly German, but my brain was shook up and foggy/soggy like the hills around me). The mountain village of San Sebastian was a reward though and after dinner, James and I decided to continue on the dirt, though we had the option to take the road to P. Vallarta.
Well, we took the road after all - spend some time in a muddy river....and the rest of the crew that took the dirt didn't reach P.V. until 9:30pm.
