How two Irish boys took on a Mexican cycling adventure — and what they found when they got here

A neighbour of excavation is simply a subordinate of Warmshowers, an planetary enactment that provides long-distance cyclists with a spot to remainder and wash, escaped of charge. The different day, helium invited maine to conscionable 2 Irish lads from Cork who were bicycling their mode from Vancouver, Canada, to Ushuaia, Argentina, a region of 12,641 kilometers.

The cyclists, Jack Kenny and Oisin Dennehy, had arrived successful Guadalajara aft 51 days of hard pedaling, covering arsenic galore arsenic 165 kilometers successful 1 day.

Long-distance cyclists Jack Kenny (left) and Oisín Dennehy instrumentality a interruption astatine a Warmshowers location successful Zapopan, Jalisco. (John Pint)

A blistery clip successful Baja

I asked Oisin however Mexico was treating them.

“The archetypal days were rough,” helium said. “But it was our fault, not Mexico’s. We entered done Mexicali and headed down Baja California successful May. It was the worst vigor acquisition we ever had.” The BikePack Boys, arsenic they telephone themselves connected Instagram, were soon enduring temperatures of 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit), truthful blistery that precise fewer businesses were unfastened during daylight hours on their route. On assorted occasions, the brace were saved by motortruck drivers who saw them and stopped to springiness them water.

“To marque matters worse,” continued Oisin, “we had a 15-mile-an-hour headwind the full time. It was similar pitting yourself against 10,000 hairsbreadth dryers. Honestly, we came adjacent to hallucinating.” 

Eventually, the hikers reached Santa Rosalia, halfway down the peninsula.

“At this point,” recalls Oisin, “I was truthful dehydrated and suffering from vigor changeable that I went into the godforsaken and tried to make a spot of shadiness by tying my structure up against a cactus. However, my effort to make shadiness failed due to the fact that the upwind blew down immoderate I tried to enactment up. So, aft 2 hours of fundamentally lying successful the sun, I had to get backmost connected the motorcycle due to the fact that I was moving retired of water. That was our astir miserable day.”

The 2 cyclists told maine they had been deed by the question bug astatine property 20 and had started  by “tripping astir Europe.” Jack past did a agelong motorcycle thrust from Cork to Istanbul, which led to 2 years of readying a travel done the Americas.

Cycling the Baja California peninsula. (Jack Kenny)

“Ultimately,” said Jack, “we wanted an adventure, to transverse borders and conscionable people, to get beyond preconceptions. We are going to instrumentality a fewer days disconnected present successful Guadalajara and effort to immerse ourselves successful the culture, conscionable caller people, and effort caller food.”

The logging way from Hell

“Was your thrust down Baja the toughest portion of the trip?” I asked the pair.

“Perhaps adjacent worse,” said Oisin, “was a definite logging way successful Oregon. We had been enduring nonstop, aggravated rainfall for 2 days erstwhile we got onto that trail. It was precise remote. There wasn’t adjacent a road, conscionable rock, gravel and steep gradients.”

“After lifting our bikes implicit aggregate landslides successful the pouring rain,” continued Jack, “our tegument was puckered arsenic if we had been swimming for hours. I emerged from the logging way possibly fractional an hr earlier Oisin, and I said to myself: ‘We are going to dainty ourselves and get a motel. This is excessively atrocious an acquisition not to instrumentality a lukewarm shower.’”

“Then, 2 minutes aft emerging from this non-road, a 4×4 motortruck came up to me. The operator enactment down his model and shouted, ‘Where are you coming from?’ And I said, ‘From the logging trail,’ and helium got this precise amazed look. Then helium said, ‘Do you request anything? Do you request nutrient oregon drink?’”

“So we ended up staying 3 days with this antheral and his wife, portion we dried out.”

The BikePack Boys experienced plentifulness of hospitality, but besides enjoyed a fewer camping adventures. (Jack Kenny)

A Mexican welcome

The nighttime earlier reaching their Warmshowers big successful the Guadalajara area, the 2 Irish cyclists slept successful Ixlán del Río, Nayarit. 

“Let maine archer you astir that,” said Jack, “because I deliberation it volition springiness you an inkling of the invited we person been receiving from Mexicans.”

“I had been suffering for days from gastroenteritis. So I recovered a small infirmary successful Ixtlán wherever I saw a doctor.  They asked maine to travel backmost to get my humor enactment done. When I showed up successful the morning, they smiled and said ‘Oh, Mr Kenny!’ arsenic if I were a acquainted look and they greeted maine warmly, gave maine a vessel of h2o and sat maine down and erstwhile I was astir to leave, a mates of the nurses hugged maine and wished maine luck connected my adventure. Now I’ll archer you: You volition get a bully acquisition successful an Irish hospital, but you won’t get a hug!”

Jack and Oisin reached Mexico City successful June, and determination their trans-American circuit came to a halt.

“My gastrointestinal problems had gone from atrocious to worse,” Jack lamented, “and nary magnitude of investigating could find the cause. So, we’ve had to enactment our travel connected pause. But we’ll beryllium back!”

Danger ahead

“After cycling halfway down Mexico, however harmless person you felt successful this country?” I asked the BikePack Boys.

The boys took a fewer breathers to bask the scenery and promised to sojourn Mexico again. (Jack Kenny)

“It’s funny,” replied Oisin. “In the U.S., we were told to hole for the worst erstwhile we got into Baja.”

“‘It’s afloat of unsafe two-legged creatures,’ we were told.”

“When we got to Baja, we were treated royally, but everybody said, ‘Watch retired for the unsafe radical successful Mazatlán.’”

“In Mazatlán, they told america the aforesaid communicative astir Sinaloa, and successful Sinaloa, they told america however unsafe it is successful Guadalajara. When we got there, they said, ‘Beware of Michoacán,’ and past it was ‘God assistance you successful Mexico City.’”

“Well, present we are successful Mexico City, and I archer you, we’re conscionable hoping to get robbed, truthful it volition crook retired that each those radical were telling the truth.” 

On June 11, the BikePack Boys returned to Ireland, unharmed. Except, that is, for the bane of galore a overseas traveler: Montezuma’s Revenge.

John Pint has lived adjacent Guadalajara, Jalisco, for much than 30 years and is the writer of “A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area” and co-author of “Outdoors successful Western Mexico.” More of his penning tin beryllium found on his website.