Mission: Get 7 people, 7 bikes, musical instruments and other equipment, and 7-10 dry bags filled with all things personal one might need or want (and be willing to carry on bike) for a trip to another country, on one bus to Mexico. The doubt that this could be possible added weight to our 75 mile ride from North San Juan, CA to Sacramento. But we did what most pleasant revolutionaries eventually learn to do when faced with doubt, fear, the unknown; we kept on pedaling. We left the Ridge on Sunday morning for Grass Valley, CA, studio time with good friend and musical magician Michael at Sun Sound Studios, and an evening benefit for former Ginger Ninjas drummer Isaac, who is recovering from a recent car accident. We cruised after sundown on Monday on Highway 49 for 25 miles from Grass Valley, CA to Folsom, CA, and then set up camp at Beals Point a site a few feet away from the bike path to Sacramento. The remaining 30 miles or so to Sacramento took us a few hours and we arrived early in time for an REI trip gone sour in terms of time management. We had to race against the bus departure time to make it to the intersection where we thought the bus would be picking us up at a gas station. At 5:45pm on Tuesday, separated from the others, Jared and I were standing on the corner of the intersection without any sign of a bus station or pickup area, or the other Ninjas. I called the bus company* and made my first attempt for the trip to communicate with a Spanish speaker. Eventually we broke the language barrier and she responded with the location, “Ahhh! En Auto Zone.” Minutes after we crossed the street to the parking lot of Auto Zone, the other guys rode up, Kipchoge with a box of healthy food and burritos for dinner. The bus arrived shortly after and we began unloading our bikes and preparing them to be loaded under the bus, still uncertain that we were even going to be able to get on. It wasn’t until Kipchoge ended his call with the manager of the bus company using his power of communication that the bus driver allowed us to take over the majority of the space underneath the bus with most of our things; a job that perhaps sounds much easier than it is seeing as how the bottom compartment of the bus does not seem to be constructed for a bicycle band’s belongings. The bus pulled out of the parking lot with all of us and all we carry while we cheered in disbelief for the success of the mission. We made it to Tijuana on Wed morning after unexpectedly having to transfer buses somewhere in LA around 3am. Only a few hours later, surprised at the short amount of time we had to wait, we had successfully loaded everything onto another bus and were on our way out of Tijuana to Guadalajara.
*The bus company is called Tres Estrellas de Oro. It serves the Central Valley, L.A. and San Jose south, heading to Tijuana’s new bus station. It cost us about 60 bucks each from Sac and didn’t charge extra for bikes or require us to box them—one of the many great things about Mexican bus lines.
It doesn’t have a station in Sacramento, only a stop (nor, apparently, a web site). They ask you to call them about an hour and a half ahead of time so that they know you’ll be there just in case there’s no one being dropped off. The pickup spot is on the corner of Franklin and Fruitridge. There’s a big pretty empty parking lot behind (north of) the Autozone. That’s where the bus pulls in.
Really love your post. Maybe hiking gear might guide someone there.