Is Mexico Safe?

Yep, but he got sucked into the never going to win war on drugs and forgot all about the Cien Pueblos plan etc...and started hitting the bottle, got greedy with the IETU, and changed de la Concha out of the PGR. Could have been worse, could have been El Peje AMLO!

+1Kiko, there is an actual law that limits foreigners involvement in politics.
A certain club in Mexico even has a law prohibiting a foreigner from leading it.

Back when the Zapatistas uprising was quelled in Chiapas, I remember very clearly a mobile display set up by journalists with evidence of how Salinas had censored everything. Cameras had been returned to the photogs along with all the exposed 35mm film that had been pulled from the cameras. A few images made it out, bodies of young guys, kids really, with the infamous wooden rifles they had been issued.
The truth about Chiapas will never come out, there wasn't any to begin with!
One can get a grasp of Mexican politics, but nobody will ever understand it because it is designed to be never fully understood and therein lies the evil genius.

Not to bore anyone, but here is a quick look at how things work for local riders. For example, on Saturday night a young CFE employee was executed in Martinez de la Torre, not on a regular route here, but a nice destination and waypoint on some good riding, not every weekend but maybe a few times a year. What happened? Well, he happened to be the nephew of one of the military generals that Pena Nieto just released. Calderon had jailed the general and a few others, Nieto sprung them a little while ago. Martinez de la Torre seems to be heating up again, it is not the greatest destination anyways due to the damage to the highway from tropical storm Fernando, so it gets scratched from the list like it has been before. No real risk, but unless a UFO lands there, no need to bother with it, plenty of other locales to visit.
Meanwhile, the militant teacher's union has support in Puebla and Veracruz and they have been taking over the casetas on the toll roads whereby you drive through and they will hand you a sheet of paper outlining their feelings about the proposals to educational reform. Their main beef is that they are to be subject to a general evaluation, they say it is not fair unless Mexicans can also apply the same general evaluation to the politicians.
They have a point. So this means you might connect a perfect storm of free casetas and ride to Puebla and back through 8 casetas in total and save yourself a couple of hundred pesos.
Easy choice as to which route you should be taking. That's always a nice ride to Puebla via the Cumbres.

Thanks for that! Was wondering what time of day was best to hit the border.
Since I'm pressed for time I'm leaning toward the McAllen/Reynosa crossing, heading south to San Fernando then Victoria. From there 85 south to Santa Ana de Allende, 37 south to 105s to Pachuca.
Then if time southwest to Coyoacan, or southeast to Puebla, then on to Oaxaca city.
This is just a rough plan, I don't have the overnight stops planned.

How about on the Texas side? since I'll be coming west on 10, does anyone know if after Houston I can still make good time (75/80mph) on 59 to 181 to 281 to McAllen? Do you pass through many small towns that slow you down? Or would I be better off staying on 10 to San Antonio to 35 south, crossing at Nuevo Laredo?

I always head down to McAllen from Houston. I spend the night in McAllen and cross in the morning.

Motoroberto ....Actually you could go by way of 59 and US 77 south from Houston to Matamoros and save distance overall to CdVictoria Mexico as compared to via San Antonio and I35 to Laredo.
US 59 is all four lane now to Victoria TX and bypasses all towns , it is labelled as" Future I69"
the road is Interstate quality already. And the same is true for US77 from Victoria TEXAS TO Brownsville and the border. The shorter distance compensates for any time gained by
Speeding along US interstates.
From Matamoros it is a simple matter of following Mex 101 all the way to Cd
Victoria , Tamaulipas and this road also bypasses most towns now, even San Fernando and the remaining towns it does go through wont hold you up much . Even with the lower
speed limit it will beat coming down the toll road from Laredo which is farther west than
Ciudad Victoria
Besides in Mexico you don't want to ride at the speeds you mentioned, you won't have time
to rubberneck at the scenery- and it does exist even on the coastal plains chaparral
country. Take it all in especially if this is your first ride inMexico.
If you cross into Matamoros in the evening and get a nice hotel( lots there)
you can start riding south at dawn and miss all border delaying traffic.

Awesome! That's great information, thanks.
I've only driven a car around Tulum and a pickup around northern Baja, so this will be the first time on the bike, and the first time seeing this part of Mexico. I will definitely slow down a bit to take it in; there's as much to be said for a variety of scenery as there is for one kind over the other.
I like the idea of getting thru the border into Matamoros, getting a room, then hitting the road at daylight, that may be my plan. Are border crossings 24hrs?

MikeMike - I'll check it out,
As for getting involved in politics in Mexico, here is my story.
One of the candidates for mayor last year came by to ask for my support and give me some campaign swag. I reminded him that I was not a citizen and it was illegal for me to get involved. Then I said that I thought it was fortunate that we had 2 really strong candidates for mayor and that whoever won, it would be a good thing for our town. He cocked his head, looked at me and said "who is the politician here, you or me?

TC, that one made my day and my week!

At least he was honest.

Motoroberto .... yes , all the big town crossings and
truckers crossings are open 24/7 to handle the traffic
from and to the US highway system.
In Browwnsville Bridge II off International Blv/ TX 4 downtown
will set you up for an easy drive right down thru the center
of Matamoros , past the plaza down Calle 6 and you can select from hotels.
It is the small out of the way crossings with very little traffic
which serve limited hours, for instance the crossing on the
Amistad Reservoir dam above Del Rio, the Falcon Dam south
of ZapataTX and Antelope Wells NM. If you want to use any like
these you better find out the hours, but they wil usually be open
from after dawn to 6 pm or some evening hour .But since you
will not be riding the lonesome highways at night it does not matter.

What Sjoerd said. Stick with Brownsville or McAllen.

Something else to consider. Instead of taking I-10 all the way through Houston, you might consider the Sam Houston bypass 8 down to 59 south. It really depends on the time of day you hit Houston. The Sam Houston is a short tollway, but it can be faster with less traffic.

Hwy 101 has a bypass around San Fernando. Pemex on the bypass has premium grade. Not so in town.

Sjoerd Bakker, acejones and Schizzman, thanks a million for your help. It's great to know a little bit of what to expect before I get there, and to plan accordingly. I have my insurance printed out, my TVIP is on the way, now I just need my tourist card I think?
My bike is going in for service tomorrow to do an all-points check and my wife's plane ticket is purchased. I have a cruise control on the way to replace my crampbuster (still coming along) and I'm probably going to get a new seat with taint-saver. At break of dawn September 21, I'm on a mission.

And I keep rehearsing: Por aqui se va a Oaxaca?

Let me know if you want a route to Oaxaca that will leave you breathless, literally and figuratively speaking. A little change in your plan and you will take in some excellent high altitude paved riding.
Expect rain, lots of rain at times, it is that time of year and watch for landslides in Oaxaca, especially.

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