Day 18 - Brisa Bliss, San Juan de Alima

We were aiming for Acapulco, but there was no chance if making it in a single day, it was simply too far. So, we found a little spot called Zihuatanejo near Ixtapa that appeared to be about halfway between San Juan de Alima and Acapulco and looking on google maps, it promised to be an excellent road for riding and for the opportunity to get some great footage. Even though we wouldn’t be taking on a big day’s ride, we were up early enough to grab breakfast at the guest house and be on the road for around 09:00. We were not disappointed by the ride. Almost straight from the get-go, the twisty mountain passes along the coast were just amazing, super fun to ride and the condition of the actual road surface was good enough for us to trust that there were limited potholes so we could really get into the riding. The front brakes certainly had a workout as some of the corners tighten up on you when you don’t have enough visibility to check your speed. It was exhilarating, probably the best riding for a sustained period of around 2 hours, that I have every done, amazing and so enjoyable. However, we came across a car that was travelling in the opposite direction that had not gauged the speed at which to take the turns appropriately and smashed into the side of a cliff face. It must have happened less than 2 minutes before we got there, as the chap was climbing out the car as we rode past him. I immediately stopped to check on him in a pretty hairy place as there was no verge, just the carriageway and then basically jungle on my right towards the sea, and then a mountain on the left. There was a massive log jammed under the front of his car, which I suppose may have been in the road and he hit it. I managed to drag the log out from under what was left of his front bumper whilst he was flapping on about his arm, which was a bit banged up. The car was still running and after seeing that the front wheels were definitely not facing in the same direction, it was clear that this dude was up shit creek without a paddle. There was nothing we could really do for him. I think he was asking us to take him up the pass (in the opposite direction) so he could get cell phone signal, but that was not going to happen. Jorik had found a spot to turn around and arrived by now and was also having a look at the car. As we still had our helmets on, we could talk to each other through the comms system. Jorik also felt we should press on, particularly as we had both spotted an open can of modelo beer in the centre consol. We jumped back on the bikes and carried on riding through some glorious twisties in fantastic scenery. As the day wore on, the fantastic turns and scenery kind of dried up and we were slogging on highways again, which was not great, but allowed us to make good milage and time up. It was seriously hot, and we pulled off the main road, down a dirt track to have a coke break at what we hoped would be a little café or something at the beach. We kind of took a wrong turn and just rode down a dirt track that was actually a kind of private track to a little camping spot, which looked like it was straight out of a movie set. Just 1 local geezer and his Conchita chilling in a little house that they have created a covered restaurant out the front, and a levelled area to the side with palm trees for his campsite. The beach was right across from him on a beautiful stretch of coast. He had even built a little sun shelter on the beach. He heard that we were talking English so started to chat to us in English. He had lived in LA for about 5 years and decided to pack it in and get this little spot in heaven. Smart move my man; it was just awesome. Whilst sucking back on our cokes, 2 gringos walked over the sand dunes and arrived at the restaurant. They were Americans following a surf trip that they had taken like 30 years before and checking out how it had changed in that time. Jorik mentioned that he had done some travelling through Mexico and Central America back in the 90’s as well, which was a cool connection. They didn’t hang around for anything to eat or drink and moved on down the road. But as a parting shot, one of the chaps mentioned that there was a bridge coming up in about 5-10 minutes ride that we should be aware of as there is a bit of a hole/ditch between where the road and the bridge meet. It might not be too bad, but they had hit it in the car, and it didn’t feel great, so hitting it at pace on a motorcycle might be a little sketchy. Back on the road, and with the warning freshly in our minds, we clocked the ditch before we got to the bridge and were able to cross into the oncoming traffic lane and clear it with it ease. Nice 1 lads! It turned out to be a long day. The google map we uploaded suggests that it would take about 7 hours and 13 minutes to ride the 205 miles. We smashed it in about 6 hours. However, 6 hours riding in that heat was brutal. We had to stop numerous times to top up the water bags and just catch our breaths. We had originally thought we might stay in Lazaro Cardenes, which looked like a pretty sizable town and was pretty much bang on halfway between San Juan de Alima and Acapulco. But when we arrived in Lazaro Cardens, it was not just a sizable town, it was pretty massive and a load of industrial activity was going, particularly as it looked like a big shipping port. We both quickly confirmed that we could ride for an hour or so to make it Zihuatanejo, where we expected a much nicer vibe. We were not disappointed. The ride into town took as a back route along a wicked concrete road that allowed us to climb down from the top of a pretty serious hill, down into the bay area, and our hotel for the night, the Villa del Pescador. We were both pretty knackered and sweaty as hell, but the hotel had a great infinity pool that overlooked the bay and all the boats on the first floor, the reception a little up from that, and our room on what was referred to as the fourth floor but was actually like the sixth floor. And you guessed it, no elevator. So, after huffing and puffing our way up to the room with all our crap, we were quick to have our daily toast of tequila, change into our swimmers and get busy getting cooled down in the pool with an ice cold cerveza. Overlooking the bay whilst cooling off, it quickly become evident that this was a cool town and we needed to explore a bit on the bikes to have a look around before we lost the afternoon sun. We pulled up right on the beachfront in a little car park. A street vendor moved his little cart so I could squeeze in behind him and he then blocked the bikes with his little cart, and we knew he would keep an eye on things, not that we were concerned, but the extra security doesn’t go amiss. A great little town with a very clean and busy set up with loads of shops, restaurants and bars along the beachfront. A bit touristy, but there weren’t many foreigners. We had dinner at a little spot, a few streets back from the beachfront, which we always feel will be a little bit cheaper and maybe a bit more authentic. We then walked back to the bikes and headed back to the hotel. The route took us back along the main beachfront road due to the one-way system and we rode past a load of military bikes with the lights going. Jorik jumped off his bike with his camera and took a quick little video of me behind them. For those sharp enough, you might have caught a little reference to CHIPS in one of our social media posts. Back to the hotel and bed after a long day in the heat, but a great little spot and it should certainly be on your list if you visit this part of Mexico.