Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Monday, November 15, 2021
Sunday, November 14, 2021
Saturday, November 13, 2021
Friday, November 12, 2021
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Day 12 - Divisadero Barrancas, MX to Batopillas, MX
Monday, November 8, 2021
Sunday, November 7, 2021
Saturday, November 6, 2021
Friday, November 5, 2021
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Monday, November 1, 2021
Day 4 - Durango, MX to Mazatlan, MX
This was one of the days that we were very much looking forward to, as we would be spending most of the time riding the Road 40 and meet the Devil´s Backbone (Espinazo del Diablo).
Found at the western side of the Sierra Madre mountain range, road 40 links Durango with Mazatlan, the road ascends and descends across spectacular spectacular landscapes, sharp bends and bottomless cliffs.
The Devil´s Backbone is just 10 km of road 40, at about 100 miles (168 kilometres) from Durango, MX. We stopped at the lookout point to take a photo. At about 8,000 feet (2,400m) high and flanked by two deep ravines it offered a panoramic views of the Sierra Madre mountain range that left us speechless.
We also stopped on one of the bends to interact with the locals, give some gifts and also offer a soccer ball. This is always a great opportunity to feel the local culture and see how people live. in this specific house, we mainly saw women and kids that were running around always follwed by many small dogs.
We then stopped at a local store to have something to drink and learned how the population of this road has been so adversely affected by the new toll road. Businesses have closed and the ones that are open are struggling because there are just not enough traffic coming through. The influence of the drug cartels is also quite strong and we learned about stories of violence in the area.
Our next stop was to marvel at man's engineering capability as we looked at the highest bridge in America. Called the Baluarte Bridge is a four lane roadway that crosses a gorge in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains with a clearance of 1,280 feet (390 metres) below the deck, which is substantially taller than the Eiffel Tower. The bridge's central span, 1,710 feet (520 metres) long, is also the longest cable-stayed span in North America.
It is a sight to behold and Bo sent up the drone and did an incredible video (check it out in another post on the group).
We then made our way towards the coast and entered Mazatlan, MX through the south-east and were surprised at how poor this part of town looked. For a while a felt like I was in Africa as there was clearly no running water and no electricity in most of the houses.
Quite fast though that was left behind and we arrived at the Pacific Ocean and hugged the coastline going north on a road that is jut by the water and passed the centre of the city towards our resort hotel which we arrived before sunset.
We still had the opportunity of quickly run down to the beach and enjoy the sunset, dip our toes and legs in the water (which surprised us by how warm it was).
We stayed in the resort for the evening and had dinner at the local restaurant and were treated to some amazing prawns and fish. If there was any doubt, now we knew we were at the water´s edge.
We also took the opportunity to walk a mile or so to drop our laundry that would be ready next day at a very attractive cost.
It was a long and very fulfilling day. In my opinion the best so far.
Make Life a Ride !
Click HERE to learn more about the Baluarte Bridge
Drone photo of the Baluarte Bridge
Drone Video of Soccer Ball Give away and Tunnels and Bridges
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