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Old 11-29-22, 10:17 AM
  #28  
djb
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Originally Posted by mev
Otherwise following some of the national roads and being careful with where you are at night seems like a reasonable plan. Before I went on my trip, I read most every blog/book I could of people who had crossed Latin America and also took note of where there had been issues. I didn't have any problems in my riding and most other cyclists had similar experiences. In the few cases there were problems were more spread out (except for northern Peru) and sometimes being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being on a national road can be a bit noisy but is otherwise well traveled.
Denis, have you done some research on the areas you plan to go? You are leaving soon, so I hope you have looked at some blog or trip journals of others who have biked in that part of Mexico.
You will have easily found Cancun reports, but have you had any luck with the coastal area down from the border, have others ridden there and what sort of impressions have you gotten?

Those of us here with travel experience in Mexico can give you good general tips, but it would be good if you can find actual trip reports in those states. Trip blogs can at least give you a heads up of some aspects of things, although do be aware that opinions of danger or sketchy situations can vary quite a bit from person to person, and of course situations can change with time.

One example of changing situations- somewhere north of Oaxaca where I was riding through, a specific town was mentioned in a trip journal. The couple were there not long after a violent police/civilian interaction with protestors burning vehicles in the road and resulting in a number of shooting deaths of demonstrators. The couple clearly said the atmosphere was very tense and everything seemed dangerous. When I was there in the same town, maybe 6 months later (I forget how long exactly) the burnt out cars, buses and trucks were still in the road (apparently the police did not want to risk moving them) but I found the town to be very friendly. I even chatted with some policemen and policewomen on a street and they were relaxed and friendly. Regular people were just plain friendly and helpful, in fact we spent two days there because of a very cold snap that was happening, and chance of rain, so I didnt feel like riding in under 10c weather and wet.

So in this case, if I had believed the place was super dangerous, I would have avoided the town, but in the end, it was fine----timing I guess.

It cannot be stressed more about how a "wrong place, wrong time" thing could happen. There are no guarantees in life, but it is super important to sense a vibe in a place, from observing people etc, BUT, and a big BUT--depending on one persons experience and perception of a situation, one person could find a place threatening , especially if new to a culture, not knowing the language, or their personal traveling experiences outside of their culture and society.

I hope that you have read up on as much as you can about bicycle touring in Mexico, just so it helps you be prepared and adapt to a different reality than perhaps you have only seen in "tourist" places in Mexico.
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