Day 495
La más cálida de las bienvenidas
So this was it, goodbye Uncle Sam and hello Mexico. Many of the good, but non-cycling, folk of the USA had spent the last 6 months warning us to take care in the State next to theirs and as for us cycling in Mexico well, they clearly thought we were mad. Had they been, we asked? No but they’d heard so much bad stuff on TV! Best find out for ourselves!
We had decided to cross into Mexico at Mexicali, mainly because it was the nearest border crossing to where we were and had the benefit of a very flat start! Our UK government advice page likes it too, so sounded the best plan.
Well what can I say? As soon as we crossed we knew this was going to be special. Just about everyone waved, called out greetings, offered us water, or just smiled, it felt a happy place.
No hard shoulder, we were warned. Well we’ve been on the cleanest and best condition hard shoulder for many a mile. People were even sweeping it! Litter? Nope! After we left Mexicali we also left virtually all the traffic. How do I describe cycling on a highway in Mexico? To start it was busy, becoming 3 lanes at times and remaining a dual carriageway pretty much all the way. All I can say is, if only everyone drove like these drivers. I have never felt so safe. They gave us the maximum space they could. At junctions, no matter who’s right of way it was nobody moved until we had crossed. Maybe we just hit it lucky, but it sure was a fantastic ride. We tried out several road side taco stalls and the food has been awesome so far. And can anyone explain why Coca-Cola tastes better here? It really does!
The road was flat, the temperature kind, we even had a tail-wind. On the road for 18 months and the wind is finally behind us! The views were stunning, we knew we would see salt flats in Bolivia but hadn’t expected them here too, endless white miles, breath-taking. On the other side of the road we had awesome cacti with a fantastic range of mountains as a backdrop. The miles flew by and we had cycled 90 miles by 4pm. Tom had to persuade me to stop! He had found a perfect wild camp site, underneath a bridge on the M5! I know it may not sound attractive but take it from me it was near perfect. We couldn’t be seen, had shelter from the sun, space to relax in, at night a brilliant view of the sunset over the mountains, a star-filled night, and a gorgeous sunrise over the salt flats in the morning. Today we have ridden to San Filipe and due to waiting for a fellow tourer to catch us up (he’s kindly bringing Tom a new tyre) have booked a 2 night break. So it’s a weekend at the seaside for us, just like normal folk!
