So... we are driving up the coast of Baja California. We spent Friday night in Ensenada, and we were supposed to catch a shuttle up to Rosarito in the morning on Saturday for the start of the ride. The shuttle wasn't where we thought it should be, so after parking our car (Bob's Volvo, which we weren't absolutely sure we would ever see again), we had to ride our bikes around downtown Ensenada looking for the shuttles. After a few miles and much consternation we stumbled onto the secret shuttle spot, loaded up our bikes and headed north. The shuttle was packed full of twenty five people who all seemed the same, but all were very different. The riders were nothing if not eclectic, young (saw a kid who was probably about six on the back of a tandem with his father), old, skinny, fat, gringos, Mexicans, you name it, we saw it. The conversations on the shuttle ranged from political debates to training rituals (it was a long ride).
So... we are driving up the coast of Baja California. We come around the bend and up ahead I see a cloud of smoke and hear some squealing brakes! The big truck in front of us just slammed on his brakes and swerved around something in the road! Our driver, a young person who didn't speak much English, starts muttering under his breath, clearly rattled, trying to figure out what is going on. Then, through the smoke emerges... a horse? In the road? Just running around in the slow lane. No rider, just the horse. Please keep in mind that the road that we are on is analogous to the I5 here on the West Coast, or the 95 in the East. It is the major North-South freeway in Baja California, and there is a horse jogging? cantering? in the slow lane. Our poor driver slowed quickly, very quickly, and started honking his horn. The horse didn't really care. Along it went, with enough of a weave to its journey that going around wasn't really an option. After what seemed like a mile, but was more like a hundred yards, the horse veered off the side of the road and headed inland. The driver just muttered some more and then sped right up as if nothing happened. Ah, the resiliency of youth.
It was quite an interesting start to our day.
So... we are driving up the coast of Baja California. We come around the bend and up ahead I see a cloud of smoke and hear some squealing brakes! The big truck in front of us just slammed on his brakes and swerved around something in the road! Our driver, a young person who didn't speak much English, starts muttering under his breath, clearly rattled, trying to figure out what is going on. Then, through the smoke emerges... a horse? In the road? Just running around in the slow lane. No rider, just the horse. Please keep in mind that the road that we are on is analogous to the I5 here on the West Coast, or the 95 in the East. It is the major North-South freeway in Baja California, and there is a horse jogging? cantering? in the slow lane. Our poor driver slowed quickly, very quickly, and started honking his horn. The horse didn't really care. Along it went, with enough of a weave to its journey that going around wasn't really an option. After what seemed like a mile, but was more like a hundred yards, the horse veered off the side of the road and headed inland. The driver just muttered some more and then sped right up as if nothing happened. Ah, the resiliency of youth.
It was quite an interesting start to our day.
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