New Beginnings in Mexico

Reynosa - Looking for the Highway to Monterrey

The old blog is old news.

This one isn't nearly as fancy or flashy, but it should actually work. When I've sat down a few times to share some views of where I've been and what I've been up to, I spent the whole time tweaking settings and checking to see if everything posted correctly. Unfortuanetly, I spent all my time fighting with the format, and got frustrated and gave up before I could add anything of value.

So - this is not just the beginning of a new blog format, but also the beginning of the heart of my journey.

The 600 mile ride in a Suburban with the bike chained up in a trailer made what came next a sharp contrast to normal pleasant travel. It took me three more days to exit the USA which was comprised of 1,200 miles zooming across Dixie through cold and rain in Tennessee, dark unfamiliar highways in Mississippi, semi-truck clogged industrial routes across the bayou in Louisiana where the minimum speed is no less than 85mph, and finally long empty highways across Texas where the only obstacle to progress was insane cross winds trying to push you into ditches or sign posts.

Lousiana - Crossing the Bayou on Bridges for Miles and Miles

Texas - Heading from Kingsville to 281 South

Once I got out of the USA I figured I'd start traveling much slower and thereby bring the intensity level of the ride down a few notches, but there was no magic transformation once I crossed the border.

I got a slow start in the morning from McAllen, because I wasn't too worried about time saying I figured 135 miles was going to be the easiest ride I'd had yet. So after packing all my stuff up and putting down as much of a free breakfast as I could I headed off to find Sinners & Saints, a local bike accessory shop, in search of a new helmet that would hopefully include a visor that isn't broken and perhaps better aerodynamics.

With my new helmet in hand I headed for Reynosa, crossed the border without incident, and began making my way through the city looking for the highway towards Monterrey (see above photo). Once I made it onto highway 40 I was able to open the throttle up a bit and cover some ground. This lasted for 30 kilometers until I hit the inspection point.

If you've never crossed the border into Mexico, you should try, it's easy. All you do is pay a toll on the bridge and keep right on driving. Seriously, you don't even have to talk to anybody regarding customs or anything - that is until you get to the check point 30km into the country. Here, you have to mass military inspection where they check all your documents. Here, is where they decide to tell you that you need to "Permiso de Importacion Tempora". This mean, you turn around, drive all the way back to the bridge, and waste two hours waiting for bored border clerks to take your money, and then demand a bribe at the end before handing back your paperwork.

Now it's early to mid-afternoon and I've only managed to cross the border, which is about 6 miles from the point I started the morning. A slow relaxing ride it was not, saying I didn't quite know where I was meeting Mario, my friend who's house I was staying in, and I didn't really know where I was going once I got into the city.

Lucky for me, I got passed by a private security truck, the kind that cart millions of dollars around from bank to bank, and this guy wanted to FLY and everybody got out of his way. My reaction is probably part because I played football for so long, following a big hulking mass that blocks for you is natural, and part because I have some canine instincts and feel the need to chase things that pass me.

I made quick progress and smooth highways all way from Reynosa to edge of Monterrey.

Now, all I had on my agenda was to call my friends - and eat tacos - lots and lots of tacos.