Mexico is actually dangerous !!!!

[Chefonbike68]

Well, I have to say that I nearly had few fatal crashes in various places in the last 3 weeks in Mexico, but it is not from the wonderful Mexican people that I met who have been extremely generous and kind, but from the wind which has been blowing really hard in some places, the month of March is known for that, I guess I should have done more research on weather conditions.
It all started going through Baja where I got a wind constantly trying to push me off the road unless I would find a "appropriate" speed (95 km/hr) to cut through this NORTH wind because any slower than that, I would be blown off the road as I tried to slow my pace, not a good idea.
It lasted for 3 days going down from Tijuana to Todos Santos, 24 hrs a day bowing dust on the road, spreading wild fire bushes, and No, there is no where to hide in order to escape this crazy wind, if you have done Baja, you know what I'm talking about, long wide open space, I had never experienced wind like that before.
I'm in a more calm area now for the last 3 days in Oaxaca which is absolutely stunning, rich in art and culture, but I ventured myself south yesterday towards Santo Domingo Tehuatepec (270km), where a west wind in the last 40 km was again pushing me sideways, and to top it up, I realized at the toll booth that I forgot my prescription glasses on my bed in Oaxaca and I lost my front break twice riding down the mountain, so guess what !!!! I had to turn around to get my glasses and I knew that the last bmw dealer is in Oaxaca before I cross the border of Guatemala.
In the end, at the hostel, the amazing people had my glasses waiting for my return, and I went to the dealer, and they could't find anything wrong with my front break, and I had a new front and rear bleed done in Guadalajara, which was done properly, so they concluded that the ABS is going banana when I break under certain circumstances like very rough road, which is in Mexico quite often....

I did share my experience with the tech manager at BMW and he knows the area very well and suggested to change my route south after Santo Domingo Tehuatepec again and going back north to avoid what he calls a very dangerous wind which is exploited by 100's of wind mills after Salina Cruz where the wind is known to go up to 160km/hr and apparently a town carries the name of "Las Ventanas".

The government has build a HWY 185 further North
to bypass this area which has claimed lots of lives unfortunately.

Anyway, I'm alive, all is well, but maybe my lack of research is no further than the answer, and maybe it explains to me why I have been on the road for 3 weeks in over 6,000km and met only ONE rider at the ferry in La Paz.

I thought that I would share my experience in order to prevent anyone to find themselves in the same situation which turned out find so far for me.

safe riding to all , and keep the rubber down more than ever

[markharf]

Not headed for Patagonia by any chance, are you?

[Chefonbike68]

That is a loose plan for travelling with my wife eventually but for this one as I'm alone for central america and back to Canada.
Patagonia, Oh my god let's talk about wind !!!!

[guaterider]

There is no way you can avoid the windy area around La Ventosa (not las Ventanas) if you are headed from Tehuantepec towards San Cristobal or Tapachula . The wind usually picks up at noon, so the earlier you can go through this stretch, the better .
The good part is , there is not much traffic on that road, so you can stay pretty much on the centerline all the time

[motomundo antigua]

BMW in guatemala city has no Heidenau tires, they are shitty as usual, will try to find thru other ways.

[guaterider]

I don't want to get into an argument about BMW or not, I couldn't care less.

But they do have the Heidenau tires and so does fellow ADV rider marior97 in San Salvador (he has the better price)
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