Mexico - July 9th & 10th, 2019

Banámichi to Navojoa (309 miles) 

Navojoa to Mazatlan (351 miles)

It’s hard to leave a comfortable bed, good food, and pleasant conversation, but I must continue south. Pleasant winding roads through mountains and country side until Hermosillo where I mount the long straight ribbon of concrete that will take me to Navojoa and then on to Mazatlan. The drone of the engine, and the search for a shady place to stop and drink some water or juice, is constant. In Los Angeles it seems the world is paved, with patches of honest dirt here and there. In Mexico only a thin ribbon of road conveys me through endless expanses of dust, mud, and burning fields. Strong smells of smoke, cattle, and roadside carrion are ever present. Off the ribbon things change suddenly and often treacherously.

Mexico - July 11th, 2019

Mazatlan in the mid-day heat

The heat forces tranquility on the town. Mid-day the buildings no longer cast shadows on the narrow streets. Everyone has gone indoors, to be still by whirling fans in open windows. In the morning the cafes are full, no one leaving the tables, staying as still as possible until it’s too hot to bear. By noon everyone is gone, the cafes are empty. After sunset, the Malecon is packed and the cafes revive, hardly a table to be found. Everyone has come out to live, and be loud, and see who’s there.

The Hotel Belmar

Mexico - July 12th, 2019

Mazatlan to Tepic (173 miles)

Turned inland to escape the heat. The evening breeze is cool, rain clouds are filling the sky, it’s not raining yet. Plaza Principal is full of old and young. The vibe is good.

Mexico - July 13th, 2019

Tepic to Ajijic (157 miles)

Endless fields of Agave as I pass the town of Tequila. The road winds up into the mountains, the trucks crawl along in the right lane, and on one curve I pass thousands of bottles of Victoria beer shattered all over the road. Near Jocotepec the sky finally opens up on me for the first time, and it pours rain.

The best place to meet other bikers is cowering from the cloudburst under a Pemex roof.

Mexico - July 14th, 2019

Chapala

Reina del Lago de Chapala, La Virgen de Zapopan

Church bells, a brass band, The Virgin, sacred hymns, insistent and never ceasing drums, ecstatic dancing, for hours through the mid-day heat.

Catholicism, indigenous culture remembered. Something between the sacred and profane.

Mexico - July 15th, 2019

Ajijic to Guadalajara (35 miles)

Having paid my respects to the albino burros at Yves's restaurant,  I rode out of Ajijic without crashing on the big loose cobblestones.