the devil´s backbone

down from the rooftop of the sierra madres on the devil´s backbone, the 3-day ride from durango to mazatlan was one of the most spectacular (if demanding) pieces of highway of our trip, maybe ever. the devil´s backbone is a road that runs an unforgiving course, wildly twisting its way through a most rugged sierras, lined with fir and pine at the peak, and eventually descending into a dense and humid tropical jungle. no words can accurately describe the vistas around each bend, the aromas within each different forest, or the exertion behind each pedal, so we´ll leave the task to our digital pixels (which in truth also can´t do the job).

day 1

• traded cactus for pine
• climbed in and out of 2 huge gorges (there are no bridges in these parts, that would be cheating...)
• met over 100 athletes on the road, a dozen training for an upcoming marathon and the rest training for a sept bike tour from durango to mazatlan
• climbed 4,500 feet, but gained only 1,500
• abby, a former strict vegetarian for 7 years, devoured 1/2-link of peppered salami
• day 2

traded pine for oak

debated if the stately mexican pines were more like the north woods of minocqua or those in oregon

abby spied familiar pacific flora in the temperate forests: rhododendrum, queen ann´s lace, cedars, and wildflowers

crossed the tropic of cancer, again

bridget was charged by a cow

crossed the continental divide

lost 3,000 feet in 30 miles

bridget cried (not cow-related)

day 3

• traded oak and abby´s temperate forests for palms and papaya trees (a transition which took about 10 min)
• abby´s ¨new and improved¨ back tire ripped only 40km from mazatlan
• abby proposed a tire remedy: another set of ¨new and improved¨ tires
• bridged proposed a tire remedy: no more salami for abby
• took our first ride with the green angels--a type of AAA highway service provided by the government--who took us ALL the way to a bike shop in mazatlan (thanks again, guys!)
• after 5 weeks cycling at over 5,000ft, we finally said goobye to the sierra madres