Motorcycle Mexico 2026 Day 2
February 22, 2026
We tried to get on the road by 8:30, but after a substantial and tasty breakfast at the Hotel Mirador we ended up leaving closer to nine. It was only 45 degrees out and it warmed up very slowly. We definitely got our money’s worth from our electric jacket liners for several hours.
We kept going south, but the landscape changed only very slowly. There is a lot of Mexico that is dry, and today it was windy, too.
We took Mexico 16 south to Mexico 24, then to Parral where we got some gas. Then we continued south, joining up with Mexico 45 as far as Rodeo. We turned off to follow the Nazas River to the east. This road started off being almost more patches than road, then the patching crew gave up and it was potholes everywhere. Finally we got to some pavement in reasonably good condition because the road has a lot of nice curves. Eventually we joined Mexico 49 to the south again, all the way to Zacatecas. We rode about 500 miles and for most of nine hours, stopping only for gas and a short break to eat some protein bars.
After unpacking and spraying some lubrication on the motorcycle chains in the dimly lit garage under Hotel Meson de la Merced, we walked around the town for a while before settling on dinner at Garufa, an Argentinean restaurant. The meal ended up being huge, but very good.
That evening we learned that government or police forces had killed “El Mencho”, the head of one of Mexico’s biggest cartels the previous day. As a result, cartel activity in various areas was causing chaos: roads being blocked by the cartel with burning buses, trucks, or cars, and other roads blocked by the government to try to control traffic. Cartel gunmen even stormed an airport and burned a passenger jet. We will be doing some careful research before getting back on the road.