lostCANADIAN in Mexico

Once again we were challenged by small villages, complete with mounds of speed bumps and savagely insane dogs that kept jumping in front of our bikes. One came for my foot and I managed a kick in his direction. Passing through the villages we hit the last gas station for a long way to come, where the gas attendant confirmed we were still at least four hours away. Glancing at the clock, it showed that it was nearly five already.

Up into the mountains again, through the twisties and the challenges they presented, but we were presented with a few new challenges. We not only had to dodge the occasional donkey and oncoming traffic through some of the most difficult twisties this world has to offer, some over 180 degrees, while somehow managing to cling to the highway where a drop of hundreds of feet could spell complete disaster and death... but we were presented with some of the deepest and darkest pot holes that not even Montreal could compete with. Dodging these very numerous potholes, we were also slipping on sand and dirt that covered most of the road, and then we were presented with the very many mudslides that covered half the road... To complete this wonderful scenario, we soon discovered that around these blind bends, there were roads that were missing complete sections that had collapsed and fallen down the mountain.

We had to stop for a minute to catch our breath and relax the stressed muscles that fought to control our bikes at every second. Joking, we laughed that nothing could really make this worse...

Night fell upon us, deep within these mountains, we were alone. Completely enshrouded in darkness, we pressed onward bravely... the challenges of the day got worse in the challenges of the dark as our headlights barely lit up the road ahead. Reducing speed a bit, we hit the thickest of fogs that completely obscured all visibility within five feet. Another pause, do we go on? Was there ever an option to go backwards?

Like brave knights riding our modern steeds, we valiantly pressed forward - side by side to produce the most visibility from our headlights. Ignoring the fact that only a few feet away was a drop of hundreds of feet that would only end in our deaths as we may survive the fall but no one would ever find us as we would lay bleeding and breathing our last breaths.

The new challenges were to dodge the oncoming traffic, that I gladly accepted, while Mihai to the right would have to avoid the edge of the cliff with only a few feet of visibility ahead of us. Slowly, we pressed forward while the damp mist clung to our clothes, soaking us through as our skin shivered underneath. It was either Do or Die, as I screamed at the top of my lungs "Nothing can stop us!" I love the brutal challenge of survival, where death is an almost absolute. Perhaps I'm crazy, but these challenges are what can really define us and bring out the best.

However, a man on a scooter blows by us at such an incredible speed and takes off around a corner. We rise to the challenge to catch up and follow him, but he is quickly gone from sight into the fog. He is our hero!

It seems like ages, but the fog slowly dissipates and we are once again able to press forward at a greater speed, however the constant potholes are a constant reminder that I still have testicles. The bikes are taking an incredible beating, as I've noticed not long earlier that my right fork is starting to leak fluid which means less control. Just another challenge. We had it incredibly bad, but it could have been a whole shitload worse!

Passing through small villages like thieves creeping in the night, we catch attention from everyone. Down here, there are only indigeanous people... and the women are only getting more beautiful the further we travel south!

At last we fly through the final mountain range at dangerous speeds and arrive at last to Puerto Escondido! A seven hour journey over three hundred kilometers.