Author Topic: Bicycling southern tier, side roads near I--10 Van Horn to El Paso, border towns  (Read 6172 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Westinghouse

It was winter in 1984-85. My girl friend from England and I bicycled from southeast coastal Florida to San Diego, California. In El Paso we went into Juarez, Mexico and did a loop in Mexico, reentering the US at border towns Agua Prieta and Douglas, Arizona. In Mexico the policia pulled us over. They advised us to go back to the American side. they said there had been robberies and crimes where we were headed. they said it was not safe. Years later, circa 2010, I bicycled from FL to CA. This happened on that stretch of highway between Van Horn, TX and El Paso. It was on that stretch of road where you must exit I--10. You know that road. It has all those small towns strung out along the way. Fabens is one town. Anyway, it was zero dark thirty. The border patrol stopped me at the side of the road. They told me this. If anybody waves or gestures to you in any way to stop, if someone or ones try to befriend, DO NOT STOP. Keep going. Recently two tourists had been lured to go party and drink and some fun time with the senoritas. What they got was robbed and murdered. After that I wrote about the possible dangers of cycling the Mexican roads along the border, naming Laredo/Nuevo Laredo as a possible danger zone. The people on the bicycling forum seemed to think the risk was negligible, and the threat exaggerated. Someone from Nuevo Laredo posted a sort of denunciation of my warning. She insisted theirs was such a good place to live. It was a decent area for tourists to visit. Shortly after that, several corpses were found hanging from a bridge in that decent safe little town. They had been horribly mutilated, some probably beheaded with their sex organs mutilated. Another time I bicycled from Florida to Brownsville, TX. It is right on the US / Mexican border, across from Matamoros, near the gulf of Mexico. I was in Brownsville in a cafe, drinking a cup of coffee and reading a a newspaper. This story was in the news. A Mexican border town had voted in a new chief of police. He had vowed that bribery would not rule the police in his jurisdiction. His position was anti illegal drugs and anti cartels. One day after his election, they shot him dead in the street in front of his office.

Offline Westinghouse

Baja, CA, MX is a popular destination for cyclists. I have not been there.  I understand that some or most of the cycling there is on dirt roads and sand.  As everyone probably already knows, three young men recently went there for surfing. They were robbed, murdered execution style (shot through the backs of their heads), their bodies thrown down a well, and their truck set ablaze.  The burning was to conceal evidence, they said. When it comes to cycling the southern tier, which I have done completely 5 times,  I would STAY on the AMERICAN side of the border.

Offline ray b

Did route 9 along the eastern New Mexico - Mexico border a couple years ago. Plenty of drones, planes, mobile monitoring sites, and border patrol cars and vehicles. Due to the heat, I was riding in the dark in the early morning - have to admit to a rare sense of edginess.
“A good man always knows his limitations.”

Offline Westinghouse

At first it seemed like a false report, this last incident, the robbery and murders of two men from Australia and one  American.  And they dropped the bodies down a well. It is almost inconceivable.  It is unthinkable.  There have not been any such catastrophes for touring cyclists on the American side of the border.  Or have there been---even 0ne? I never heard of it.

Offline Westinghouse

Did route 9 along the eastern New Mexico - Mexico border a couple years ago. Plenty of drones, planes, mobile monitoring sites, and border patrol cars and vehicles. Due to the heat, I was riding in the dark in the early morning - have to admit to a rare sense of edginess.

Long distances bicycle touring in that area give me a very good idea of what you saw. I cycled through there in 2022, for the sixth time.  I found it a very good area for cycling. How many times did I cycle, loaded with 40 pounds of gear, up that long steep road in downtown El Paso?  They have those electric eyes all over the place, and some you cannot see, hidden, cleverly concealed.

Offline Westinghouse

I have read that in other parts of Mexico, and in parts of South America, kidnapping and holding for ransom or something of a cottage industry. They say it used to happen all the time. When people needed money they would go out and find some rich executive from a foreign country. They were kidnap him and hold him for ransom. That was how they made money.