# Bicycle riding in Mexico



## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

Have the plan to stuff my bike in with my stuff when i drive to mexico. Its a bit of a clutter to keep in there but i love to get on it and go for 20 mile rides on mild sunny days.
But then i am thinking it would be too much trouble to bring it and not feel safe riding on mexican streets and i expect sidewalks and bike paths to be off the options. 
I drive my bike to safe riding areas as it is in the US. I take it to bike paths or large parks with no or slow car traffic. 
So if i won't even ride on non bike path streets in the USA where the streets are wide and well organized, i am starting to think i shouldn't burden myself with a bike that i may not be safe riding. And worry about it being stolen or storing it in a cramped hotel room or studio apartment while never using it.
I know how to get exercise on the beach to make up for no bike riding, so i think i can do without it. But if i can ride it safely, its worth it to bring it.

Any opinions or experience with bicycle riding in Mexico? I plan to be along the Pacific coast and outside of the main cities from Mazatlan down to Oaxaca.

I have a helmet and bike lock but....
Bring it or leave it?


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Particularly on weekend mornings you see people riding bikes. Sometimes a single rider. Sometimes packs of 30 or more. Almost always the riders are followed by 1 to many trailing autos with their hazard lights flashing. They even ride on the autopista - taking up one of the two lanes for themselves. I suspect, depending on where you settle, you could hook up with a group like that...

Edit : I believe they even close off Reforma in Mexico City on weekends for bikes. And people bring them on the executive buses in the cargo area.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Gatos said:


> Edit : I believe they even close off Reforma in Mexico City on weekends for bikes.


Part of Reforma is closed off on Sundays from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for bicycles, the central lanes only. The "laterales" are kept open for vehicular traffic.


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*depends...*

At first I would have said a definite NO...! But then, Gatos reminded me that there has been a lot of progress for bike riders in Mexico over the years. As an LDS missionary back in the late 70s, there was no way in _HELL_ we could ride bikes because of safety concerns... and consistent road conditions that would have permitted it. Back then we walked everywhere or took public transportation.

I only remember seeing kids with bikes in very localized situations, like immediately outside their homes in the streets of their colonias... hardly any long(er) distance riding and not something I saw many adults do (except for panaderos y vendedores). I remember the collective horror nearly 20 yrs ago when an Olympic rider (or contender) was killed on the streets of DF in traffic... maybe that started more of a backlash & reformation in favor of bikers.

Now when I go down there, I do see more riders but it depends on where you live - and the prevailing road conditions. It seems a _"damned if you do, damned if you don't"_ kinda thing - bigger cities have the streets, but a lot of traffic; yet the smaller & rural areas have the open spaces with less traffic - and horribly maintained roads (usually). I have yet to see bike trails set up like here in the US; but I have seen more adults & biking groups out in force these days. Again, it would depend where you decide to live.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

If you are outside the main cities, you probably won't find any group rides, bike paths or closed streets on weekends. All of these exist in the bigger cities, but not likely in small towns.

However, there are lots of lightly used roads. Some have almost no shoulder and some have a wide shoulder used by bikes, small motorcycles, and even cars pulling over to let people pass. Depending on where you end up, you may find nearby highways that would provide an enjoyable route for a long ride.

Bring it.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Gatos said:


> Particularly on weekend mornings you see people riding bikes. Sometimes a single rider. Sometimes packs of 30 or more. Almost always the riders are followed by 1 to many trailing autos with their hazard lights flashing. They even ride on the autopista - taking up one of the two lanes for themselves. I suspect, depending on where you settle, you could hook up with a group like that...
> 
> Edit : I believe they even close off Reforma in Mexico City on weekends for bikes. And people bring them on the executive buses in the cargo area.


That is, if you want to ride a bike on a highly contaminated city
You may as well smoke some cigars instead


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Orfin said:


> Have the plan to stuff my bike in with my stuff when i drive to mexico. Its a bit of a clutter to keep in there but i love to get on it and go for 20 mile rides on mild sunny days.
> But then i am thinking it would be too much trouble to bring it and not feel safe riding on mexican streets and i expect sidewalks and bike paths to be off the options.
> I drive my bike to safe riding areas as it is in the US. I take it to bike paths or large parks with no or slow car traffic.
> So if i won't even ride on non bike path streets in the USA where the streets are wide and well organized, i am starting to think i shouldn't burden myself with a bike that i may not be safe riding. And worry about it being stolen or storing it in a cramped hotel room or studio apartment while never using it.
> ...



Funny, first sentence starts with a plan and in 1 paragraph you talked yourself out of this plan,LOL..are you just thinking out loud on paper?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

chicois8 said:


> Funny, first sentence starts with a plan and in 1 paragraph you talked yourself out of this plan,LOL..are you just thinking out loud on paper?


I think she did exactly that, as she imagined the sound........whizzz.....splat.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

@Orfin

I have no idea how old you are or what sort of shape you are in - but you could do a lot of interesting things with a bike in our neck of the woods. Google does a good job in finding biking opportunities in Mexico.

Here is one example (shouldn't be all that contaminated - mostly rural) :
Circuito Morelos Course - 140.7 mi mapped course on MapMyRide

Here is a nice link to the Mexico City Reforma experience :
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/11/viva-la-revolucion-mexico-city-cyclists-fight-right-safety

Personally - we live on the edge of a huge forest which has trails throughout. We have never taken bikes on those trails - but people do. We take horses.

I'm sure everyone on this forum means well - but - I think there is a broad range of demographics...


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## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

Sounds like an uncertain thing. I know i won't care to go to the big cities -so thats out of the question.
I never thought seriously about the issues with bike riding in Mexico until yesterday. 
I made the plan to bring the bike and ride like i do every where i go in the US. I even took it to Canada back in July(but never rode it up there).

I gave the plan serious thought yesterday and then all my experiences with traffic south of Mexico came back to haunt me. The whole pedestrian right of way thing is replaced with "speed up and blare the horn if you see a pedestrian". :faint:

I was run down before on small motor bikes ,on two lane roads with no shoulders. 
I was thinking maybe the Malecon areas, board walk type areas. But then i become a nuinsance to pedestrians and Mexico are people who like to gather and sell stuff in open places and major pedestrian through-ways.
After imagining all that, i started thinking i may have to give up on the plan for safety. Decided to check to see if there just may be safe bike areas all over Mexico.

I read all the replies so far and doesn't sound like a sure thing. I don't risk it. I have been run down by cars while on those small motor bikes. 2 lane with no shoulders other than a narrow gravel area just before the bushes. 
I don't want the hassle of a bicycle cluttering my space if its not safe to ride it.

I may just leave it behind and do more running and romping on the beaches. 
Thanks.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Did you also think about being chased / bitten by dogs while biking?
or 
off on a light traffic country road and bumping into someones herb garden...


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

chicois8 said:


> Did you also think about being chased / bitten by dogs while biking?
> or
> off on a light traffic country road and bumping into someones herb garden...


Geez - have you ever swam in the ocean - or are you afraid of getting eaten by a shark ?


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Well Pussy Cat, 
Actually I swam with sharks at Isla Mujeres in 1976 and although I have a home in a beach town I do not swim in the ocean because I look at the Mexican Gob. web site that measures the ocean ecolli contamination and other pollutants.
During my 2 years as a commercial fisherman collecting sharks for cancer research I was never bitten.

I was just trying to let the OP realize that there are more dangers than vehicles running her /him off the shoulder...A friend of mine was bitten while riding and passed from rabies a few years ago....

[cut]


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## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

chicois8 said:


> Well Pussy Cat,
> Actually I swam with sharks at Isla Mujeres in 1976 and although I have a home in a beach town I do not swim in the ocean because I look at the Mexican Gob. web site that measures the ocean ecolli contamination and other pollutants.
> During my 2 years as a commercial fisherman collecting sharks for cancer research I was never bitten.
> 
> ...


 Dogs also on the bike paths here where people walk em on the same routes set aside for bikers. I have had a few lunges made at me from dogs. But its nothing like getting pummeled by a car.
Chances of a fatal dog bite while biking are not as high as a fatal car collisions. I bike in a park where a wild black bear was sighted and it never stopped me from going back. Not as many problems from the bears as with crazy drivers on bad roads. 

Where i stay now, we had a guy run down by a car where a lot of other bikers bike that same route, but i don't do that route any more because i have been run down before on the same kind of road with no shoulder. So i drive my bike to parks and bike path routes. Driver habits give me a clue. No turn signal use is too common where i live now.
I think Mexico is more of a risk in that sense, so i am backing out because i am not so familiar with Mexico and i can get plenty exercise on the beach sand or running. 

I had a neighbor out in the back road areas of hawaii, he had the cops come tell him to remove the herb patch behind his property because it crossed his property line.
The patch was so huge on the state forest reserve that he was still out there after sun down chopping it down. He got shot at by the grower who didnt know he had put his patch over a private property line. Guy had four young kids living on his 5 acres with him and he looked traumatized telling me why he had his place for sale at a bargain.

Last time i went back to my place there, i found a patch growing in my yard and it secretly extended into the next 3 hectares across my line. Cops came and pulled it all up. The new guy across the street did it and had no idea when i would be back. Luckly the small town cops knew me and knew i had just gotten back in town the day before they showed up. Also the cops had to cross into another guy's property to clear out the illegal herb plants. Luckily they did that because they found the guy hanging dead from a tree in his yard for what seemed like 2 weeks by the time they found him. No one would have looked if not for the herb patch fiasco. 

I know about the herb patch and poppy patch atmosphere in Mexico. I hope to get lucky enough to also not end up living next to anywhere cooking up or mass packing overly powerful synthetics. 
I still remember a day when they were burning a seizure in Managua Nicaragaua. Right in the police station yard in the middle of the main city. I thought i smelled something familiar -but for it to cover the whole Neighborhood? I got second hand effect from it and i bet that entire zip code did too. That night i saw on the news "successful destruction of seized illegal herbs" . :bounce:
Sure enough it was the area police station burning a huge stash of herbs. I travel with an industrial grade filter mask because its always something thick in the air.

All kinds of weirdness wherever one may go. I am glad i made it this far.:fingerscrossed:


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> If you are outside the main cities, you probably won't find any group rides, bike paths or closed streets on weekends. All of these exist in the bigger cities, but not likely in small towns.... you may find nearby highways that would provide an enjoyable route for a long ride.
> 
> Bring it.


I concur with TG. The ciclovía events with the closed off streets can be a lot of fun, and they aren't necessarily limited to big cities. I happened to be in Los Mochis, Sin. and saw such a procession outside my hotel, lasted an hour with several hundred bikes cruising by. Might also be a good chance to socialize. There are an increasing number of Class 1 separated bike paths popping up in many places. Another possibility he also mentioned is the autopistas, with their smooth wide shoulders and reasonably disciplined traffic. OTOH, I wouldn't be riding on city streets other than under the aforementioned protected conditions. I've ridden the commute in L.A., which surprisingly wasn't that bad given the car culture; and tried it in Guadalajara, which was terrifying. Car drivers there just aren't used to cyclists, nor do they have any more respect or courtesy for bikers than they do for pedestrians or fellow motorists, which is to say, none whatsoever. Bring your bike, but plan carefully.


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