Alaska to Argentina | Episode 7 | The Mountains of Mexico (Trans-Mexico Norte)

The transition from Baja California to mainland Mexico was almost like entering a new country. The long, flat, mostly empty stretches of sand and open desert were replaced with giant mountains and hundreds of cities and towns. I felt like I had entered "true" Mexico. For my route, I decided to follow the Trans-Mexico Norte. I liked the idea of visiting little known parts of Mexico while staying away from the tourist hotspots and highways, while also visiting some of the most culturally important historical cities. The range of climates and experiences I went through while riding central Mexico was unparalleled in any of my past rides. I rode along tropical coast lines and climbed high mountains, I visited massive, cosmopolitan cities, and tiny rural villages, and overcame some challenges I was hoping I wouldn't have to face. By the end I had taken about twice as long as I expected to get from Mazatlán to Oaxaca, partly due to the difficulty of the route, but partly because of how beautiful it was. Not a bad reason, but I should probably pick up the pace. Social Media: Instagram: instagram.com/crankingit Support Me: Patrion: patreon.com/CrankingIt Paypal: paypal.me/AlexvanGelder True's SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/teacher-true About the Ride: My name is Alex van Gelder. I'm from Seattle and I'm just starting my first intercontinental bicycle tour. The goal is to ride from Deadhorse, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina in one go. I also want to ride some bikepacking routes including the Great Divide Route through the Rocky Mountains and the Peru and Ecuador Divides through the Andes. For this trip I built my own bike using a custom frame in order to be able to withstand rough mountain roads as well as power through long distances on pavement. (I had never built a bike before so we'll see if it holds up.)(lol) If you want to learn more about my bike build, I go over it in this video: https://youtu.be/jR_JYCKLM6I I go over my gear in this video: https://youtu.be/Fm3CATcOPPw If you have any other questions you can check out my FAQs video: youtu.be/ykP7gPyYlao Or leave a comment and I'll get to it as soon as I can. I'm editing these videos on the road, so releases my be infrequent as I try to find a quiet place to edit. Music Credits: Theme song created by True. Travel Light by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Unicorn Heads - Lazy Boy Blues Saidbysed - Two of Us Music: bensound.com Diffie Bosman - Sleepless License: VMXWMBBMBV182EL8 Music: bensound.com Benjamin Tissot - The Jazz Piano License code: WTRFEAAQPHBEX7HK Music: bensound.com Benjamin Tissot - Acoustic Breeze License Code: GTIDUC2M4KJNBBPN Music: bensound.com Benjamin Tissot - Tomorrow License Code: WM50VKGCAVPRFGRP