I said goodbye to Mazatlan.
And I set off. At sunrise.
The scenery is spectacular in central Mexico.
And the riding is just as nice. I didn’t want the day to end – sun down on the first day.
Once the sun disappeared I traced the roads behind other vehicles, mostly large trucks. They helped keep my speed under control, and they cleared the road of any livestock I might encounter.
The miles passed by slowly all day because they go through the center of every single town, and the towns are covered in speed bumps of various sizes. I’d often exit one town after 15 minutes of putting through, get up to speed, then immediately enter the next village and hit a series of speed bumps. It was certainly no highway.
Somewhere a little past midnight I turned off, threw down my sleeping bag, and went to sleep. Within 30 minutes or so I was awoken by police who said it would be safer if I went with them. I didn’t really want to since I’d be getting up in a few hours to carry on, but I obliged. I threw my bag back onto the bike and followed them a few miles further down the road and ended up sleeping at the police station. They loaned me a couple blankets for comfort. I stayed on the porch while they all sat inside playing cards.
I was up at sunrise and headed out.
The second day of this marathon was absolutely tremendous riding. I rode continuously all day through mountainous forested regions of Mexico. The scenery was astounding the entire way. The roads were a continuous roller coaster of steep ascents and descents, hairpin turns, and switchbacks. It lasted for hundreds of miles, it was an absolute joy. Tail of the dragon eat your heart out. I wish I had a helmet cam.
When the sun went down it became incredibly cold out. Incredibly cold. Riding was quite difficult, I didn’t have gloves on because of my casts, and it was definitely dipping down into the 30’s (f). I didn’t realize where I was, or that I was well over 10,000 feet at the time. I’m not sure how high I went, but at one point I was hugging the Citlaltepetl volcano which is 18,500 feet at the summit.
I started scouring the roadsides for places to sleep and couldn’t spot much. I figured I’d be too cold anyway so should probably just keep going.
I stopped at a gas station for a coffee and to stand inside for 20 minutes.
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