We’re driving south over a bad road. We’re driving south over a bad road because in Baja California even the good roads are bad. As for the bad roads themselves, well, they’re another whole level of bad. But each bad road in Baja California is bad in its own way, and if you spend enough time driving south of the border you become a connoisseur of them, a sort of bad-road snob, and you grow to appreciate, even respect, the many fine and subtle ways a road can be bad.
In Tijuana, for example, Mexico 1 features curves that tighten too sharply or drop away off-camber, exits requiring lane changes across speeding traffic, and grades more suited to a mountain pass—all typically experienced amidst a turbid mix of American SUVs, overloaded local jalopies, and ancient delivery trucks.
In Bahía de Los Ángeles, one encounters a moonscape of potholes; in Maneadero, unmarked speed bumps the size of redwood logs. In those cases “bad”
3,300 words to go
You’re just getting to the good part.
This story — and 41 issues of them — opens with a subscription.
Either one picks up right where you left off.
Join 7,000+ readers · Independently owned · Since 2008
Already a subscriber? Sign in
