Bikepacking in Mexico: Chucho Estrada - Cycle Shorts

Ever wanted to go bikepacking in Mexico? Adventurer Chucho Estrada did exactly that on a trip of more than 200 days. In this mini episode he shares what it was like during one day of that trip for this week's episode in our Cycle Shorts series.

You Can follow Chucho via his instagram account -@aveinteporhora and keep your eyes peeled for a full length feature episode to come.

Have you taken a bike adventure and what to share your story on the podcast? Then get in touch - send me an email and let me know all about it. 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Hello everyone, it's Bella Malloy here, host of Seek Travel Ride. Welcome to another episode in our Cycle Shorts midweek series where I'm sharing what it was like for you, one of our listeners, during one day of your trip. So far in this midweek series, we have gone right around the world, and this week we will be showcasing Mexico. Before we get into today's episode, I was wondering if you could do me a real quick favor. If you've gotten any value out of listening to these episodes on Seek Travel Ride, please go into your podcast player app and give the show a five-star rating and if possible a review. The reason this will make a difference is it acts as social proof so that new listeners who are scrolling through their podcast recommendations, they see the show, they see that so many people love it, and they give the show a listen. It also acts as further social proof for potential guests who they themselves go, Wow, this is a show worth being on. So if you could take some time out now to do that for me, that would be mega. Now for today's episode, I am featuring listener Chucho Estrada, who is going to be sharing one day of his trip cycling along the Mexican coastline. Without any further ado, let's listen to Chucho tell us all about that day.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Hi, how are you? Thanks for inviting me to your show. I want to tell you I like your show very much. When I was starting to planning my trip, I never before do something like a bike tour, so I learned a lot from other people's experiences in your show. Thank you for that. So, how is it a day bike touring across Mexico? Well, I choose a day at the beach in the state of Michoacan, and I choose that day because, well, first it's interesting that you ask for how is it a day? Because as we know, every day is an empty page, and you do the screenwriting with all the experiences that you live, and can be like so suppressive, and you didn't expect, so it's it's it's uh I like very much the share one day. So, as I say, I was in Michoacan. I woke up in a beach called La Tikla, which is a surf spot. As soon as I wake up, I go to the beach and saw the guys and the girls surfing in the morning, you know, the first waves with the sun just coming up, and it was beautiful the colors at the beach at that moment. And then I breakfast, I prepare my stuff, you know. You have to do all and prepare your bike again. I breakfast with some friends that I met there at the camping site, and then we'll I said goodbye to them. You know, I stay there for a couple nights, so I create a little bit of bonding with them. And when I go and I hitch the highway because it was a highway, I go my my route that day was from La Ticla to La Mantu Maruata, which is a beach uh like 30 miles, was a 30-mile bike that day, and it was really hot. You know, you don't have signal on the highway on the beaches around Michoacan. I love that because well, when I went biking, I didn't I didn't care about the phone, but when you don't have signal, you don't have no choice. So I was enjoying so much the ride. There is mountains, so you go up, you go down, you turn left, you turn right. I mean, it's uh a lot of movement, you know. And then between La Ticla and Maruata, there is two beaches that I went there like probably 12 or 15 years ago, La Manzanillera and La Llorona. And I stopped there and I stopped by, there was nothing, nobody there. It was just, you know, like the palapas for put your camping, and and it's beautiful because it's been like 12 to 15 years that I didn't go there, so memories start uh coming by, you know, good memories with friends there, you know, with playing our music, camping, eating fish. And we were we were too much younger than now, so it was beautiful to go back in the time to that moment. Actually, I took a picture and sent them to them to say, hey guys, look where I'm up. Do you remember those days? Oh, it's still kind of the same, it didn't change so much, and oh we have a great time there. So it's beautiful to go back to those memories, and that's something that happened across the road. So I go back and I start cycling again. I I don't remember, probably 10 miles, more, 15 miles, and uh finally I get to Marwata, which I was there also in those trips with my friend like 15 years ago, but on holidays, and now these times look so different, you know. I mean, there was palapas as well, or enramadas, but uh probably the same families, the same locals there, but there was not too many tourists, so the place looks completely different, and also, you know, traveling on bike, everything is different. It was so beautiful to go back to this place and discover it again, like it was the first time there. I stop and uh just eat some food, and and then I met a couple who was there for that afternoon. They asked me, Have you ever seen the finger of God? And I say, What is the finger of God? And they told me it's like a rock inside the sea, very close to the beach. You can saw it. Uh we can go, I think it's over there, and I say, Okay, let's go. I never that last time when I was there, I didn't know the this place, uh, this rock. So I was we were walking together, talking meet each other. Hey, where are you? Where are you from? What you're doing, ha ha ha he he he. And suddenly, after like a rocky mountain, a small rocky mountain, there was kind of a finger of God made of stone inside the sea, very close to the beach, you know, like it's really impressive. I just stand there and look at for at least 30 minutes, almost an hour, you know, and because it's so close to the beach, the waves smash this uh finger with so much power because you know it's the Pacific, and you just feel like I don't know, so it's a lot of energy in that place, was so beautiful, and was sunset almost. But I was shocked, you know, like with a lot of feelings inside. And and well, after that, we go back with them to the restaurant camping site, kind of, you know. They invite me to dinner. So I dinner with them, and when we were dinnering, suddenly like a small turtle start to emerge from the sand, you know, it was incredible. And see these small turtles born and try to figure out where was the sea, because you know the lights confuse them. So I remember that we jumped from the table and we start guiding small little turtles into the sea, and was so uh unexpected, and that was really, really beautiful. There was quite a lot, like probably 50, 60, 70, I don't remember, but we were looking around and there were turtles emerging from the from the sand. That gives you a very beautiful vibe, a very beautiful feeling about life, I guess. And also I saw the mom, you know, this huge turtle putting I don't I don't know if eggs or or what, but there was, you know, like making these movements into the sand and then go back to the sea, also, but you know, without Rush, you know, and and struggling a little bit with the sand. And what's a beautiful thing to watch? I never saw before. I saw small turtles, but never like unexpected, and never never I saw a big turtle, a mom turtle, putting their eggs and hiding into the sand. But it was a beautiful experience to watch. After my friends uh leave, I stayed there, I was the only person there for camping, but at the end I decided not to put my tent, I was uh tired, so I decided to just sleep in a hammock because a lot of people there, the locals, sleep on hammocks nearly to the beach. So I decided to try. You know, there was a they told me if you want to sleep on a hammock, you can use that one. At the end, I decided why I put my tent tomorrow. I want to leave early in the morning, so I just take out my sleeping bag and put it into the hammock, and I just saw how the locals put their body into the hammock, and I followed that and just I sleep so so well that night. So a lot of things happened that day. My trip was uh from Tijuana to Cancun, so imagine I spent like eight months traveling across the country from the western point to the eastern. So this was just one of those days of the almost 280 days. Every day it's a new story, and for me, it was special to share this day with you and with all the people to listen that listened your podcast. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Thank you so much, Chucho, for sharing your day there on this incredible journey through Mexico. I could really feel that incredible sense of nostalgia that you must have had and that you spoke with at the very start there. Revisiting an area you had been to over 10, 15 years ago with your friends. And I love that they were the also the first people you wanted to share that experience with, messaging them, telling them, hey, guess where I am? Because I could just certainly feel that would be something that I would myself look to do. And then to have that incredible encounter with those strangers showing you that incredible rock formation. Listeners, if you follow us on Seek Travel Ride via our Instagram account, which is at SeekTravel Ride, you'll be seeing that I'm going to be posting photos from this day from Chucho's experience, and you will get to see what that incredible rocky outcraw looks like. I can fully understand, Chucho, why you stood there mesmerized for 30 minutes just watching the waves roll in and out. And then to top your experience off with watching those little baby turtles going out to the shore for the first time and the large turtle, the mother. Wow, what an experience. Then kicking back, taking it all in like a local, sleeping in the hammock under the stars. What a day on this journey. I cannot wait to dig in further into your story, and I certainly look forward to one day featuring you as a guest for a full episode of the show. Super fans of Seek Travel Ride will know that this is where I especially love to shout out those of you who have done me an incredible favour and bought me a virtual coffee. Each week I am being thoroughly caffeinated by you, and I love seeing the messages attached to these as well. This week I'd like to give a shout out to Paul DeVitt, who says, Hi Bella, this year I discovered your podcast, and this year I also had my first bike holiday. I always look forward to your podcast. It is always a great source of inspiration. Greetings, Paul. Well, thank you so so much, Paul, for reaching out. And I'm really glad to hear that you have recently discovered the joy which comes with travelling on a bike as well. Nothing comes close to experiencing new places on two wheels, and I'm so glad that you are listening to the episodes to provide inspiration, and I hope that after taking your first adventure, that there will be many more to come. Thank you so much for supporting the show. And I'd also love to give a shout out to Marcelo Pacifici. Marcello, I hope I pronounced your last name correctly there. You said, Hi Bella, I really like your podcast. Your way of hosting feels like listening to a conversation between friends rather than an interview. I'm getting so many inputs and inspiration for my future bike trips, thanks to the wonderful stories your guests share with you and the world. All the best, Marcello. Marcello, thank you so much for your super kind words there. I've got to say, I'm certainly not qualified as an interviewer, and I guess realistically, I often see these more as long-form conversations rather than a QA style interview. I'm really glad that you like that sort of casual approach that I take and that you're enjoying listening to each and every episode. Thank you so so much for supporting what I'm doing here on Seat Travel Ride. Now, listeners, if you would like to do as Marcello and Paul have done and show me some appreciation, you too can buy me some virtual coffee. I've provided a link to my Buy Me a Coffee page in the show notes. Click the link, buy me a coffee, and more importantly, let me know what you love about the show. Until the next episode, I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening.