The dangerous curves (curvas peligrosas) to Durango
I got an early start out of Mazatlan with the intention of beating the heat, and hopefully the rain as the sky was full of building cumulus even in the early morning. The Bicimaps GPS map did a great job of routing me out of the city and onto Mex 40 libre (free road.)
Before I picked up Mex 40 I saw a couple, 2 up on a BMW GS with BC Canada plates and figured that when they stopped I would say hello. However, they took the turnoff to the Mex 40 cuota (toll road) while I took the libre (free road). The quota will not be finished for a couple of years though, correct? Along the way you could see that the bridge and tunnel building was in full swing though.
Mex 40 is a very narrow and twisty road that starts at sea level near Mazatlan and winds its way up into the mountains to elevations of over 8000 feet. Its a very dangerous road that has curves so narrow that big trucks will take up both lanes when coming around a corner. You have to go very slow on the road, about 25 mph max, because you never know what dangers are lurking around the next corner. However, I was looking forward to getting into some cool weather for a change and heck, curvy roads are a lot of fun on a motorcycle. Those of us that ride motos in Mexico like to joke that “curvas peligrosas” actually means “really fun road” 🙂
Anyway, I saw some bikes pulled off on the side of the road so I stopped. It turned out it was a group from Mazatlan out for a Sunday ride, waiting for another of their group to catch up. We chatted a bit and Alberto said, “Vicente, vamos. We are going to get some breakfast. So I took off following them for about 20 miles or so. They were passing cars and trucks in the twisties like it was no big deal. Needless to say, I didn’t have the guts, or maybe the stupidity to follow them in some of the passes that they made.
We had breakfast and some good conversation about riding, Baja racing, and they took off back to Mazatlan. Very nice folks.
Adios amigos……..
As I climbed further up Mex 40, it got really fun and twisty, but as you will see in some of the pics, became very crowded with trucks.
Hummm……… this could get interesting………..
Ya think?
Glad I didnt see this as I was coming around the rock, but there was an emergency dirt pull out right where my bike was parked.
As I mentioned, there were a couple of trucks on the road today. I dont know how many accidents are on this road everyday, but if I were a bettin man, I would say they are not uncommon.
At one point I came around a curve to find the ass end of the truck in my lane backing up to make room for another oncoming truck that was occupying both lanes to get his rig through the tight curve. Sorry no pic, I was on the binders hard. Good thing I was only going about 25 mph when I saw it because if I was going any faster I would have hit him. Like I said, curvas peligrosas.
Then of course the clouds socked in everything and it started to rain. At one point the fog was so thick I pulled over since between the fog in the sky and the fogging of my helmet face shield I couldn’t see 20 feet in front of me. I figured that I would wait for a truck to come by, then follow him so he would essentially be running point for me. I do this if I ride Mexican highways at night. You wait for a truck to come by, then you tuck up right behind him and use him as a “cow catcher” 🙂 But this time I was using the truck so I wouldn’t get hit by an oncoming truck taking up both lanes around a tight curve. Turned out to be a good idea. I felt much safer following that big truck in pea soup like fog.
As I crossed to the other side of the mountains the twisties let up and the skies started to clear. I stopped at a tienda (little store) to take a breather and these folks pulled up and started buying beers. They called themselves the Aguilas Negras MC club, or the Black Eagles.
They were pretty rowdy and about half in the bag, but we shot the bull for a good hour or so before they took off. They offered me a beer which I declined, but they would not let me go without drinking a beer with them.
I figured that I might be able to make Zacatecas just a little after dark, but they told me that I should stay in Durango because there were bad people on the road after dark as there is a lot of narco trafficking in the area after dark. They said, “if you go, dont stop for anything but the military and the federales, and even then be very careful. That’s basic common sense when riding at night in Mexico but I appreciated the advice anyway. Actually, they tried to talk me out of riding at night in this area and the guy and his wife on the far left of the pic offered me a room in their house for the night. I declined the offer, but I did heed the warnings not to ride at night in the area and decided to stay in Durango.
I wound up parking my butt in Durango right around dark. Next update will be from Zacatecas, an old Spanish colonial city at 8000 feet in the high desert, where I will park for a while and take some much needed Spanish lessons.
Saludos.