Getting into Mexico through Tecate is about as easy as it gets. All you need to do is find your way to California Highway 94, which twistiliciously parallels the border below Interstate 8 (the mind-numbingly boring slab that runs from San Diego into Arizona). Roughly 25 miles east of where 94 originates near San Diego, you’ll see Highway 188. Highway 188 is only a mile long, it turns due south off 94, and it runs right into Tecate.
On the US side, Tecate is little more than the US Customs and Immigration station with a couple of buildings scattered along the road. Just keep riding south. You’ll see the signs warning you not to bring guns into Mexico (duh), and suddenly, you’ve entered Mexico. There is no Mexican border control officer. You just ride right in. You can do that going south. Don’t try it in the other direction, though.
I guess I should mention, too, that you’ll need your US passport. You can get into Mexico without showing your passport, but if you want to get back into the Estados Unidos, well, you get the idea.
The place to get your Mexican tourist visa is a bit complicated to get to. Well, sort of. It’s right there as you enter Mexico, the first building on the right, once you’ve crossed the border. You’ll bounce over a couple rows of Bots Dots (those annoying grapefruit-sized metal domes). The drill is to park (but there’s no place to park), walk across the road you just rode in on, hoof it back to the Mexican customs building (but there’s no sign on it), walk around the road through a gate as if you were walking out of Mexico, cross back again, and, if you’re like me, wonder what you’re supposed to do next. Look for the steps, go up a half a flight, and then enter the Mexican immigration area. There are no signs. Just wander around looking like you’re lost (you won’t have to act, because you will be), and ultimately, somebody will ask if you need help. I get the feeling not too many people actually get a visa when they enter Mexico. But you’re supposed to. There. I’ve said what I’m supposed to.
When you get back on your bike (or in your car), continue south on the street you came in on, and you’ll immediately see the sign telling you yep, you’re here…
Tecate is laid out kind of like a T, with the top of the T following the border to the east and the west, and the long part of the T heading south toward the Ruta del Vino wine country. The drill here is to go a block or so past the Tecate welcoming banner you see in the photos above until you T into Avenida Revolución, and then turn right. If you go about a mile or so, you’ll see one of the two places I stay when I’m Tecate. It’s the Hotel El Dorado. It’s okay and it’s not expensive. My preferred place to stay, though, is the Hotel Hacienda, which is another mile east on the same Avenida Revolución. The Hacienda has that amazing Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos restaurant I wrote about in the ExNotes blog yesterday in a connected building. The Hacienda also has more secure parking (they lock up the parking lot at night). I think the rooms at the Hacienda are a wee bit nicer, too. The price at both places is about the same, and they are both on the right side of the road as you continue west.
Hey, one thing I ought to mention is that Mexico has stop signs that look exactly like ours, but somehow they are way harder to see. If you’re approaching an intersection, start looking for a stop sign. They won’t jump out at you.
You’ll see plenty of gas stations, and in Tecate the gas stations take credit cards (that’s not always the case further into Baja). Until recently, Pemex was the only gas you could buy in Mexico. Being a government company, though, Pemex ran out of money for exploration (and then they started to run out of gas), so the Mexican government now allows other oil companies. We saw BP, Chevron, and ARCO stations in Tecate.
Tecate is dominated by the Tecate Brewery, which is the tallest thing in town. The brewery is smack dab in the center of town, and you literally can see it from just about anywhere. They used to offer brewery tours, but alas, I was unable to book one. Maybe they still do, but neither the phone number nor the email address on the Tecate website worked for me. I wandered onto the Tecate factory grounds to try to get a tour, but I struck out. A worker told me the Tecate Beer Garden is still open, but there were no tours. He said the Beer Garden was well hidden between two iron-grated doors. He was right. We couldn’t find it.
So, imagine you’ve just crossed the border into Mexico and you are at the apex of that T described earlier (the T that is Tecate). If you turn right and head west on Mexico Highway 2, you’ll eventually run into Tijuana (although why anyone would ever want to do that is beyond me). If you turn left and head east on Mexico Highway 2, you’ll eventually run into the Rumarosa Grade (a very scenic place described earlier in our blogs about the Janus trip) and then Mexicali. If you go straight and head south on Mexico Highway 3, you’ll leave Tecate and dive deeper into Baja. Highway 3 becomes the Ruta del Vino and it is a fabulous ride through the northern Baja wine country. Highway 3 ultimately intersects Mexico Highway 1 (Baja’s Transpeninsular Highway) and the Pacific Ocean at the northern edge of Ensenada.
We’ll pick up with the Ruta del Vino in tomorrow’s blog, so stay tuned!
Some days you just have to pick up your marbles and go home.
for added accuracy. That involved coating the barreled action with a release agent, mixing epoxy and glass fibers and slathering the mix in the stock, placing the barreled action in the wet epoxy, and then clamping it all together while the epoxy cured. A day later, I pried the barreled action out of the stock and oila, the action now had an exact fit to its glass bed.
A few years ago when visiting the Zongshen plant in Chongqing, I spotted an RX3 set up as a police bike. It caught my eye for several reasons. First and foremost, it was a snappy looking motorcycle. I had written the 
I was still pumped about the police bike, though, and I convinced CSC to bring the RX3-P to the US for a trial marketing period. You can see my enthusiasm in the video we put together on the bike…
We publicized the bike big time on the CSC blog, and I think that got noticed around the world. The RX3-P found a home with several large police departments in Asia and South America. That’s a good thing, because it’s a great bike. I’d still like to see it happen here in America. I imagine Zongshen will introduce a police version of their RX4, and maybe that larger bike will have a better chance at breaking into the US police motorcycle market. Someday. Maybe. We’ll see.
I’ve always thought it would be cool to ride one of those early Earles-forked BMWs. When I lived through the ’60s, I thought the bikes were cool in an odd sort of way…lots of displacement but low power compared the BSA and Triumph 650s of the day, a weird kick starter that rotated outward from the bike, the low profile, and of course, the horizontally-opposed twin configuration. For a kid lusting after vertical twins from England and Honda Super Hawks, the BMW was most definitely an odd duck, but they were still cool. You didn’t see them very often, but when you did, the bikes commanded respect. They had what I later learned to call command presence. It’s hard to define, but it was definitely there.
You can see how the public admire Guayasense, a motorcyclist and Lord of the Transit Commission of Guayas Province at that time.
During the beginning 50 years, the Presidential Escort was established with the primary mission of escorting and providing security to the President and Vice-President of the Republic. They lit the alarm sirens, lights flashing resplendent in their motorcycles. The seated gentlemen guards were ordered in strategic caravans taking custody of the Presidential car with professionalism and responsibility.
We appreciate the members of the Presidential Escort’s professionalism and accountability. Here they are with His Excellency, Mr. President of the Republic of Ecuador, Dr. Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra.
Here we can see Vigilante Vicente Alvarado doing acrobatics and practicing on his motorized vehicle (motorcycle) at the start of the Training School of Presidential Escort.
In the 80 years of its existence the Transit Commission has renewed its fleet by acquiring brand new 750 cc Suzuki motorcycles, which were used for the Presidential Escort. Here we see Mr. Transit Chief Mayor Jorge Peñafiel Ball, and Mr. Sub Chief Transit Mayor Carlos Palacios Torres.
In the 1990s, the leading institution for transit renewed its fleet by acquiring 750 cc Honda motorcycles.
In gratitude for the performance of motorcyclists who were part of the Presidential Escort, the department received Harley Davidson Motorcycles.
Festivities in Juliana’s staff. Here is 92 years of motorcycle experience in the Presidential Escort to the President of the Republic Arch Sixto Durán Ballén, from left to right subway. Miguel Leon Czech Subway. Miguel Rosero Huacón, Sgt. Ely Lopez Duran and subway. José Paredes Desiderio (current head of the Department Presidential Escort).
In 2004, the Transit Commission of Guayas Province acquires new motorcycles for the department of the Presidential Escort. These are the 1150 cc BMW brand.
The Escort also received Suzuki Motorcycles of 500cc, which were acquired together with the BMW for the Department of the Presidential Escort CTG.
Here are Motorcyclists who took part in the caravan escorting Mr. Former President of the USA George Bush during his visit to the city of Guayaquil.
Here is the Head of Department (Cap. Jose Paredes Desiderio) planning with the class officers and gentlemen vigilant routes before a shift is going to escort some of the important people who visit the city of Guayaquil and Guayas Province.
This is the Staff of the Presidential Escort doing acrobatics on BMW motorcycles.
Like any other institution in the country and the world, women now form part of this great institution in the GUAYAS transit Commission. These beautiful and distinguished ladies who have the mystique and taste for wearing a uniform have the ability and skill to drive a motor vehicle, which has led them to join the select group of the Presidential Escort of the Province of Guayas.
At present I am trying to communicate with police elsewhere in the world who are interested in training with modern techniques and exchange knowledge. We ask them to share their his knowledge by writing to my mail (jparedesd@ctg.gov.ec). If any groups use Harley Davidson, BMW, Honda, Suzuki, etc. and would like to educate two members of this institution which I represent I ask you to contact me.