Clouds pouring over cliffs on Mil Cumbres this morning.The Panamericana is really two races. One is a collection of what they call Special sections where you run against the clock on closed parts of highways selected for being challenging drives. This is the smallest, but most intense part of the race. The other parts are called Transits, which require you to get from one Special section to the next on time. If you get there early or late, you get penalized. Your total score is a function of your times and your penalties. The Transits are on open public roads with regular traffic, but since it is impossible to arrive on time by driving at legal speeds we drive much faster. The police along the way actually abet our speeding, looking out for us, getting us through road construction, traffic tie ups, stopping cross traffic at intersections when we arrive, turning the lights green for us. It's like a dream. We've driven at two or three times the posted speed limit past at least 200 police cars in the last week, and didn't get one ticket. They close the roads from the outskirts of town into the town square when we arrive at the end of the day and we zoom into downtown on empty streets, through traffic lights red and green, and past the traffic jams caused by the street closures. Then they give us medals and a party. How great is that?
Tomorrow we do La Bufa once each way, and Friday, the last day, we do it again on our way to Nuevo Laredo.
