Motocross in Mexico

In honor of Mary's (my mom) birthday yesterday we went to take in our first motocross race. We had heard from various sources about the event, with varying start dates and times - Saturday morning, Sunday at 10:00, Sunday at 12:00. (Receiving completely accurate information about the start times of things has been tricky for us in Puerto.) We tried Saturday but there was just some set-up happening. Although disappointed we managed to walk around town a little, force down some amazing agua de jamaica (ha-my-kah, not the country, Jamaica), and pick up a few supplies at the grocery store.


We tried again Sunday at 10:00, but found out upon our arrival that the races didn't begin until 12:00. We clearly had some time to kill so we went to check out the two beaches out of the five local beaches that we hadn't seen - Playa Angelito and Playa Manzanillo. They too were gorgeous with some rocks separating the beaches, rocks that we obviously climbed on for a bit. These seemed more family beaches because you can actually swim in the water without fear of being pulled out to sea. Also there were lots of boats parked in the waters, waiting to take families and tourists out to see the sights - turtles, dolphins, even whales.


What am I pointing at? Crabs!!


We grabbed a quick bite to eat in town and then headed back to the motocross races. What a spectacular event! We were there in time to see the warm up for the intermediate, veterans, and expert groups - some of those guys can really get some air! Rory says he sort of figured out the race track after watching this practice, but I never got a sense of the hairpin turns, loops, and hills/jumps. There was a momentary pause in the action as the Sexi Chicas Corona and other dignitaries made their way to the commentator's mound of dirt by the track to call the official start of the event. The first race is what made it all worth it for me! With the help of adults, maybe fathers, a group of fully decked-out 6 year olds made their way onto the course. Their little bikes were ridiculous compared to the larger ones we had just seen. All the parts of the course that older racers jumped over and caught crazy air remained hills for the kids, their bikes never leaving the dirt. One kid even swerved off the designated course onto a different part of the track. No injuries, so I was free to laugh about it all.



Next up were the more experienced racers. They were from all over Mexico and even a few from Guatemala. It was neat to watch them do the jumps and jockey for position. And did I mention that the Pacific Ocean was the backdrop for all of this?