Memoirs of Mexico and Motorcycling

In February of 2003 my friend Dave and I entered Mexico through the port of Nuevo Progreso from South Texas. We were eager and hopeful it could be as good as our earlier rides. Just a few blocks into Progreso the bumps, smells, sights, and sounds assured us it was all there "Viva La Mexico!"

We pressed along the Emerald Coast riding to the Gulf of Mexico. We were lounging in the lap of a bygone era. We rode south to the bottom of the gulf and then north up the western shore of the Yucatan Peninsula. Then we rode east across the haunting Yucatan Peninsula to the Caribbean Sea. The ancient temples of the Mayan ruins pushed all the way through forest that was part of the great biosphere to our south flank that went deep into Guatemala. To our north flank vast miles of empty arid land undulated over many miles of underground rivers connecting the beautiful cenotes.

We entered Belize from the north riding through savannahs back to the sea then west entering Guatemala on its eastern border near Tikal. I had big hopes, but limited knowledge of Guatemala. I was swallowed whole by it on day one. We rode through its beauty and its struggles all the way to its eastern border with Mexico along the Pacific Ocean.

In Mexico we rode along the beautiful Pacific capes and north up into the mountains that are the bastion of Oaxaca. We rode a mountainous route all the way back to the U.S.A. Not before these images had dried and cured in my mind did I begin to understand how much I enjoyed this adventure. Awesome!

-- Clifton Melby