Southward Bound en Mexico Lindo y Querido

Road from Tamaulipas to Mexico City in the Mountains

I crossed into Mexico Wednesday, January 27th, into the flat deserts around Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

Its only been a few weeks and a few towns and cities later, and I feel like Mexico is such a bigger country than I ever imagined. If you looked at a map of the United States and thought of it as a big animal, Mexico looks like an appendage hanging off to to the side. I'd zoomed across the whole body of the United states, the length of 7 states including the massive landscapes of Texas so Mexico should be like a pleasure cruise. I should be able to take any route I want and not worry about time and how far I have to go.

It turns I've continued my old habit of underestimating the unknown.

After hassling with the border guards over the importation of my motorcycle, I was given my "Transmigrante" visa which stated I had 30 days to cross Mexico. This seemed like WAY more time than I was considering being here. I'm not starting to make sure I count how many stops I'll have to make before getting to the border so I don't find myself an illegal alien in Mexico.

It seems like I must just be letting time blow by while I take a deep breath after graduating, but really it's just so many memories are stacked on top of each other in such a short time its hard to appreciate the array experiences that have happened in 18 days.

I chased an armored car across the desert at warp speeds (punch it chewy), I actually won playing poker in a country club, I got refused entry into a fancy night club because I have a beard and long hair, I spent a birthday by myself on a scavenger hunt in the muddy rain for motor oil - and enjoyed it, I lost my only pair of glasses, I lost my spare oil - twice - along with my chain oil, and lost my spare tie downs. I thought I was going to die of hypothermia. I thought I was going to die because of sweat dehydration. I've been stung by bees, scratched by cats, chased by dogs, dodged cows, goats, horses, pigs, and birds.

The bird wasn't so lucky.

Roger the Turtle - The start of his own great adventure

I've been pulled over by the police - turning left on red is apparently a crime. I've seen the most incredible sunsets of my life. I've seen baby sea turtles make their first voyage from the beach into the ocean. I've fought with hostel owners over money. I've ran away from hostels without paying their outrages claims of what they think I should pay them - I paid what was fair.

I've finally gotten my first sunburn of the trip on the beach of Corazilillo. I've learned to enjoy the flavor of Mezcal. I've seen snow capped mountains. I've panicked that my motorcycle is dying in the mountains. I've had a young boy save my sanity with a socket wrench.

Emanuel - 100km outside DF

(Si escribe tu nombre incorrecto, escribame a michael.thelen@gmail.com)

I can't even make sense of the list of things that have happened. It's all still a blur in my mind, but thats how it happened in the first place. One event after another, each something I wanted to write down and remember, but often did not have the chance before something else remarkable was happening.

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.