Big Bend on Three Wheels

I have always loved Big Bend. After I visited it the first time, my next eight vacations were there. I've done it in beat up old jalopies and 4x4s and dirt bikes and street bikes but never by bicycle until now. I planned a four day outing with all the gear and the extrawheel trailer, saddled up and headed out. I had no idea what it would be like but after reading about Mike Mcelveen's continental divide ride I had to take my shot at it. There is something very special about Big Bend. As soon as you leave the paved roads you leave the people behind as well. I would be out on a 43 mile ride and see four people. That's about average. In the old days you might go two days and see no one else at all. This is wonderful and also leads to the knowledge that you better know how to solve your own problems and try not to create any. I have been here for a week now as of this writing and have seen four planes. I think that equals the total for my previous 20 visits to the park. The solitude is definitely worth the risk to me and this seemed the best way to experience the back roads.

When ever the road gets near the Rio Grand, the vegetation gets lush. The road is rough and has quite a few sections with very deep sand and gravel. I seldom got pictures of the rough sections as I was always anxious to get through them. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the bike and trailer did and I soon forgot about the trailer and just rode it like it was a heavy and awkward mountain bike. 

After 43 hard miles I reached my first campsite with plenty of daylight. These sites have no amenities. Since I'm traveling light I was happy to have a tree to lean against and I dug a shallow butt shaped hole to sit in. That's the best I could do for a chair. The one man tent is light but very limited for space so the gear had to hang from the trees rather than join me inside. Hope it doesn't rain.

The Mule ears off in the distance and the river just a short walk away.
 

 

 I awoke to a nice sunrise and had an early camp visitor. There are wild horses living along the river along with trespass cows from Mexico that come across for the greener grass on the other side.

So much for not raining. Here in the desert I experienced the most rain of the whole trip. It started raining as soon as I had the camp put away and the deep sand became deep mud. It rained for 21 hours, only stopping at sundown for long enough to pitch the tent in a back up camp ground. My original plan was on a road that got closed due to flooding. I spent a good part of the day in the tiny Castalon store by the river at the west end of the river road. No pictures once it really started to rain. I just stowed the iPhone in a bag and hoped for the best. 

The one man tent is spare for room but kept me dry and snug while it rained all night. Right at daybreak as I needed to get up the rain quit and that was the end of that. All in all I was blessed by the weather. If it had to rain all day at least it did it in a forgiving way.

 

The third morning was cool and mostly cloudy or should I say cloudy most of the time. It promised to be the hardest day of the four with a tremendous amount of climbing. I started at the river and ended up in the mountains up in Pine Canyon. In the last shot, I later saw that my eyes were totally blood shot and my last 2 1/2 miles were rough loose gravel with 1000 feet of climbing. My track was weaving all over as if I was drunk. It was only 47 miles but was easily harder than the 200 mile rides that I've done on the road bike. Somehow I had a great time along the way. Ive learned the amount of suffering doesn't keep the ride from being fun but often enhances it.

Time to make the final climb.

Finally made it. At least this campsite had a bear box that I could use as a table and a log to sit on. Woo hoo luxury.

Sunset on the Sierra del Carmen.
 

 

Sunrise of the fourth day. Knowing I was 2500 feet above my destination helped me feel good about the days ride. I was also excited to see the black gap road for the first time. It is a 4x4 road with a nasty reputation and I was up for the challenge.

 

Ready for Black Gap Road.
 

Is this a road or a gully. Some of the roughest stuff didn't get documented as it was busy being survived. This was definitely the best part of the whole ride and the trailer did great. I never had to stop for an obstacle except to plan my path and take a picture from time to time.

Apparently, not everyone survives the Black Gap Road!

This is the notorious Black Gap and many 4x4s have met their match here. The Yeti and trailer did great. The shelf is three feet tall and I had no expectation of making it but the bike leaped up it and the trailer followed. At the top I couldn't stop laughing at the surprise that we had made it. The picture does not do it justice.
 

We survived.

Along the road there were these groups of butterflies that flew off as I approached leaving us riding through a cloud of yellow butterflies. Fun stuff.
 

More wild horses on a beautiful day.
 

This was a four day ride that I'll never forget. I covered 163 miles and it was easily harder than four back to back 100 mile days. I wish there was a way to share this with all my riding buddies but the prep and the remoteness leave that a distant (pun intended) possibility. Now it's time for a rest and lots of food.