Tomas and I both woke up early as our body clocks were far out from Mexico. We had a nice breakfast in the hotel before being picked up by our driver and headed for Taxco with the 4 Costa Rican riders that were sharing the same driver.
The drive was beautiful but scary. The mountainous views were stunning and the roads swept through the lovely countryside. However, the Mexican drivers we came across all the way were very loco! There did not seem to be any rules as the drivers seemed to do whatever they want. After around 2 hours of driving we arrived in Taxco from the northern road. The sight was amazing and it had all of us on the edge of our seats. We could immediately see the Cristo (statue at the top of Taxco) and knew that was where our race would begin.
The race organisers had booked us into the only 5 star hotel in the town which was beautiful. My room overlooked the city and the Cristo.
View of Taxco
After throwing my bag and bike in the room I set of with farid (a competitor from Mexico) to have a walk down the course for the first time. We took a taxi that cost 24p to the Cristo and set off on foot from there.
Checking out the track with Farid
I couldn’t believe just how steep the course was! It dropped away from the mountain side vertically. We got to the first technical section which was a road gap onto the school roof and drop iff the other side. Again, it blew me away just looking at the course let alone riding it! Jeremy the course designer was on the school roof building the structure. Jeremy is better know for building the extreme jumps at the Red Bull Rampage in Utah.
Taxco Drop
As Farid and I descended the course we soon realised that this was no walk in the park. It was an extreme track pushing mountain bike racing to the limits. We finished our walk and headed back to the hotel for some therapy!
Off for the local Tacos tonight with some of the other riders. Can’t wait to ride the track tomorrow!