Day four and another long ride. I made it way up to halfway between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta and had a really nice day of riding for the effort. I was up with the sun and I included a blurry photo of the sunrise from the road just to show Marie that I do actually prefer to ride early! Marie seems to think I talk about it but never do it, but I say that's just out of politeness to her :)
Anyway, the road between Playa Azul and Colima (just South of Manzanillo) is pure ECSTASY!
The southern part is very "sporting" with lots of very tight and sustained curves through the coastal hills. There is barely any straight pavement and I was flat out leaning the bike hard from one side to the other and then straight back again. My boots were constantly touching down on the pavement and I was transfixed by the black ribbon in front of me as it climbed and swung and dived and twisted. And just to add some spice, there were plenty of little moving obstacles on the road too. There were lots of mid sized (10cm across) red crabs scuttling across the road! Not sure where they were off to but I had to try very hard not to squish the little guys - Figured it out quickly though- they were headed inland, so if I swerved toward the coast, they were happy to scuttle the other way :) I barely got my big heavy machine above 60kmh it was so tight. - BLISS!
Then it starts to open out a bit and becomes more "recreational" with the curves being wider and not as sustained and there were a few straights where I could take a glance at the amazing coastal views - great beaches and coves in this area. The speed got up to about 80kmh here and I was more relaxed but still having a ball.
Then it turns into regular mixed coastal highway with good sections of straight road where I could enjoy the views. And there is barely any traffic coming or going through this entire section of highway - Seriously, it is one of the nicest sections of sustained riding that I have ever done!
After the early work out, I decided to stop for an impromptu breakfast by the side of the road. Ive become quite used to having pineapples and mangoes for breakfast while staying at Lake Atitlan, and I have been driving past acres and acres of mango plantations that don't seem to be harvested at all. I stopped by a semi-derelict section of plantation and just walked in under the nearest tree and picked up as many mangoes as I wanted - all in perfect condition. I swear, Ive seen hundreds of thousands of unharvested mango trees on my ride over the last couple of days. There must be millions of them here in Mexico, and that means Billions of wasted mangoes - literally!!
And I'm sure they are going to waste too! Ive seen only a couple of plantations with evidence of harvesting going on, and I'm sure the mangoes are ripe and I'm sure they are not being picked at night! Not sure why they are going to waste but I'm sure there must be a transportation problem or they would be gobbled up in Canada for sure!
I pushed on north and pounded pavement for the rest of the day. No wrong turns, no near accidents, A few Hornbill and Toucan sightings, and one of those dog sized ant-eater/racoons with the tapered fluffy tails that they hold straight up in the air - except for the tip which is laid back - very nice :)
So, my ears are ringing and my but is aching and I now have to go and find a place to sleep for the night again :)
A good day.
