I've lived in Latin America before, but I've never been to Mexico in my life. The first thing you notice about Latin America is the volume is turned up on everything. The cars are more clamorous. The people are more boisterous. The smells are more numerous and more intense. The streets have more character, the artwork is more colorful. The food has more flavor. EVERYTHING has the volume turned up.
My first time in Mexico was to get my motorcycle officially imported. After I came to my first stop in Tecate, the border city, I saw a car bouncing on hydraulics blasting Snoop Dogg. People were in the streets at a pop-up market in the central square. Pedestrians everywhere. People hanging in the streets waving down friends driving by as they pull over to talk.
Latin American life is so much more fluid. Everyone interacts on a much more personal level. Driving in their streets seems like anarchy but everyone moves with a purpose. The only way I can describe an equivalent in the states is driving in a dirt parking lot. There are no rules, people can come in from many directions, and road rage is low because we're all just trying to get to where we're going.
I've never ridden a motorcycle in Latin America, but I've driven a car in Costa Rica quite a bit. I felt a little more confident in my ability to manouver their streets but after watching my fellow motorcyclists I was reminded: I'm on a motorcycle and I can kind of go wherever the fuck I want.
I can lane split, filter, pull left-hand U-turns on red, sneak sideways through stagnant traffic, ride down the opposing lane in backups, drive on sidewalks to find parking, go the wrong way down 1-way streets without even a glance, and slither through this world anywhere I like. It's like having the ultimate access. I look at how far away something Google Maps tells me it is and I can actually cut it down by 10% or more because of my manouverability.
At first, the smells stand out more than anything. It's an upside of riding a motorcycle, your senses aren't muted to your surroundings like they are in a car. The street vendors and brick and mortar restaurants waft the smell of cooked meat and garlic downwind. Roadside catch basins belch out the stench of human waste from neighboring sewage lines. Cars bellow out non-catalytically converted exhaust. The smoggy haze of commuters and human activity hangs in the air over cities. Trucks carrying meat or seafood hit particularly hard. Bakeries and coffee factories are much easier on the nostrils.
I'm heading as far south down Baja as I can, so I exit Tecate on the highway system to get my first taste of the Mexican countryside. As it is in all of Mexico I've been in so far, you have 2 options when doing long-distance commuting between major cities. La Carraterra Libre (The Free Highway) or La Carreterra Cueta (The Toll Highway).
There are typically 2 highways between each city, or 2 Highway systems on top of each other across the entire country.
TOLL ROADS
They're more direct routes where the roads are in a little better shape (but not by much) and the speed limits are much higher. I've seen them get up to 110KPH (~70MPH) in some remote flat desert reaches. They're free of stoplights and speed bumps. The toll rates have been anywhere from $0.50 USD to $5.00 USD and it's not clear on how much it costs until you reach the end. Cash only, and have it ready. These highways bypass major cities much like the American Interstate system does but don't bet on them having the nice onramps.
Because these toll roads bypass major towns, some cities have been losing out on the revenue so they've taken to INVADING the toll road by setting up makeshift street vendor shacks along the road made of local trees and shrubs. They lay down ropes used for large boats across the road as temporary speed-bumps forcing people to slow down and consider their potential roadside shopping options. When the toll authorities come they can pull the ropes away.
If I want to make it far, I take the toll roads. I've mostly taken them, actually. The free ones take a lot longer but you'll get a more personal view of the countryside.
FREE ROADS
These roads snake through and under the toll roads. They typically have only 2 lanes, are in much worse shape, have a lot more local and poorer traffic. You'll see families of 4 or more piled onto 1 motorcycle on their way to market or church. Small time contractors like plumbers or electricians will dart between cities on them. Bicyclists flank the shoulders (if there are any shoulders to speak of).
Free highways will take you directly through towns between the major cities. When they do, they'll take you right through the center of town where people can just hop on the road wherever they like. The roadside is typically flanked with large dirt lots so people can drive right onto the road anywhere.
Any construction on these highways causes major backups, so you better be prepared to do some extra maneuvering on a motorcycle when you can. The best way to get people to slow down are the "Sleeping Policemen" or "Reductores de Velocidad." I'm talking:
SPEED BUMPS
Latin America loves these things. I really don't know where the autobahn gets its stats because even though speed limits are posted in Latin America, no one follows them. In fact, the postings can get ridiculous. With no warning they'll have a 100 KPH (60 MPH) zone come down to a 40 KPH (30MPH) for only a about a 10 meter / yard stretch right in front of the exit of an affluent housing development, then bump it back up to 100. It's nonsense and no one follows it, even in front of police.
In order to slow people down, and to take the responsibility of monitoring the speed of traffic off of police, speed bumps are everywhere. On the free highways they're typically right in the middle of the downtown stretch around the crosswalks. In countryside highways, they silently guard the entrances of sleepy bedroom communities that clump together amongst the acres of farmland around them.
As a motorcyclist, you can sometimes slip between them when they're divided, or go around them if they don't reach the curb. No one cares. In fact, it's encouraged to keep traffic moving.
What sucks is nighttime driving. If you don't know the area you're in and you're riding at night (which is me. Always, wherever I go down here), you run the risk of ramming into one of these at high speed. If you do, your gear will get tossed around in your panniers like a game of Boggle.
Many are painted yellow for this purpose, but +80% of them aren't. Just keep an eye out for them at night.
AMERICAN JOBS COMING TO MEXICO
As I pass by Mexicali, one of the biggest industrial centers of Mexico right on the US border, I see smokestack after smokestack after factory after warehouse. Mexicali is the capitol of the Mexican state of "Baja California" and it's where many Mexicans move to get into the higher-paying blue-collar manufacturing sector.
In the US, we hear from politicians that "other countries are taking our jobs." While that statement isn't far from the truth, the blame isn't on "the other countries." It's not China's or Mexico's fault. It's the CEO's fault for shipping them there. If a CEO doesn't, they'll be fired and replaced with someone who WILL ship those jobs abroad. This places blame on shareholders, who want to have higher stock prices.
So, in a nutshell, I personally blame jobs being shipped abroad on politicians that enact "Free Trade Agreements" that bring down tarrifs that protect the American Worker. Both parties are guilty of it, except your leftist Democrats and some old-school Rust Belt Republicans.
In 1996, Bill Clinton signed NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Democratic party shifted to the right on financial issues when this happened. When it did, all of the factories that made microwaves, fridges, and cars in the Steel Belt of the US were closed so they could be opened in Mexico. This turned states like Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and others into "The Rust Belt."
When that happened, companies like GE and Ford had their stock prices go up because the profit margins on goods went way up. Mexico has a lower minimum wage and lower environmental standards.
We could absolutely make these goods in the US and have them as the same price. The companies just can't profit as much, or the C-suites would have to take major pay cuts.
The lack of environmental regulations here is part of the reason so many CEOs decide to send American jobs here to Mexico. Factories can spew out hazardous pollutants directly into the air, land, and water without having to pay for filters or clean up by US standards, so many are built outside of town so only the day laborers get hit with the toxic byproducts.
If you're caught downwind you get some very peculiar smells. Some can even be sweet, like a mix between a bakery and the metallic smell you get from a handfull of coins. Some can be intriguing, like the smell of cables or electronics as they come fresh out of the box. Some are downright sour, like soggy rubber and Every time I smell them, good or not, I try not to take a deep breath. It cannot be good for you.
WHAT'S NEXT?
When I finally pointed my wheels south, it was to go deep into the Baja desert. There was no time to waste as the sun started getting low in the sky. I'm wary of being caught on Latin Americans after dark. If it's not for the speed bumps, it's for the dark side of the local flavor.
JT
-11/17/2022