Cars are Traffic - Road Riding in Mexico City

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Published 2024-01-03

As I state in the intro, not your typical tourist route, but one that I'm fond of. There is sense to the chaos if you allow it to happen and do no try to control it, but to try be invisible inside of it. Most cyclists try to be visible to stay safe, but once drivers see a cyclist they start to behave in ways that they normally wouldn't, making it harder to predict what they'll do. Often they'll just slow the entire flow of traffic down which comes from a place of concern, but I don't want to be the cause of a ripple in the web of movement. I like the idea of highly skilled rider moving faster than anything else in a city while also causing the absolute minimum interference to others movement. This aproach only makes sense if you have thousands and thousands of hours of experience in traffic. When even the most senseless actions no longer surprise you. I've been riding full time for 20 years, most of those as a messenger.

There's so much to take in and process when riding on the streets. At these speeds you can't be thinking about what to do, it just needs to happen. The people, the animals, the road conditions, weather conditions, the cars, trucks and buses, the sounds, a plastic bag blowing across the road... If a loud bang or a horn goes off next to your head while riding between two cars and you flinch that might be the last thing you do. None of this comes naturally, all of this is trained. The only training I know of is years on the road as a messenger. That industry is dwindling and the volume of runs has seen a sharp decline almost everywhere since the early 2000's which means the volume and quality of training available has seen a sharp decline. That's not necessarily a good or bad thing, but it is a reality. This is a dying art.

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SAFA'S GEAR
Road bike: safa.link/Foil-RC
Full gear list: safa.link/GearList

STRAVA of this ride: www.strava.com/activities/8068396027

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#DescentDisciples #PrayForSpeed #safa

All Comments (21)

@nj2s0N 6 months ago

Safa, please be safe. wanna see lot of videos of you 2024 and ahead. dont take unnecessary risks
@AzeemLive 6 months ago

my heart rate is higher than Safa's HR while watching all the close calls😅 what a ride (y)
@ernestopreciado4895 6 months ago

You made in 20 minutes what an average daily commuter in that location does in 1 to 3 hours. But at the cost of quite a serious gamble 💀
@tdgdbs1 5 months ago

You won't live long riding like this; I've been riding for 40 years and had quite a few crashes, but none I can blame anyone but my stupidity!
@SonnyDarvishzadeh 6 months ago

18:50 🤣🤣 best par
@jharricam 6 months ago

I love your videos Brian, they contributed to getting me into cycling. You are a beast but please stay safe! Very little margin for error in this video. 4:50 brown pants time!
@SonnyDarvishzadeh 6 months ago

My heart rate was jumping between 120 and 170 watching this. You should start putting "viewer discretion is advised" on your videos 😂
@largadeugnt 5 months ago

You guys are nuts. Going through all that heavy traffic swaying and tight passing makes me truly apprehensive and nervous. What a cycling day you got there!
@claudeschweizer3932 6 months ago

yesss some mexico again, nothing beats this kind of traffic. Stressy, but yet thats what's the most fun to cycle, next to decents :P <3 i love the chaos, or rather: love perfectly managing it. I love it, that watching you is still just pure inspiration to me, i begun with you, and still priorizing you. Descents and climbing up for it, aswell as nice citytrafic riding at its best. "Push it to the limit, but not further"
@rafamenjau9739 5 months ago

i didn´t had to start watching the video before hitting the like button, every Mexico City video is always epic. You really inspire so much people, hope to keep watching amazing videos. Greeting man.
@Nikica358 6 months ago

Damn, this guy reads roads and drivers like a book, hats off Brian.
@andrewcalladine2507 6 months ago

Normally a fan of your videos, but not in this case. The problem I see with this, is that there is no margin for error from either yourself or the other road users. Filtering at this speed is pure lunancy.
@kendo4242 5 months ago

I think it's so cool that you have included mobile auto quarter panel inspection to your business model. Smart!
@randomwildlife206 2 months ago

I am blown away. That was one of the best, if not the best cycling videos I have ever watched. The way it was filmed, the numbers running on the left, the commentary and, obviously, the ride itself. It was incredible. Just try and stay safe. That's some speed right there!
@skankhuntfortytwo9152 5 months ago

damn bro you are crazy! i wouldnt even fathom myself riding like that, too dangerous, a lot of drivers, motorcyclists, and even pedestrians tend to be so unpredictable and behave in erratic manners, people here usually do not obey traffic laws and riding sometimes its very risky, yet you have the courage and the skills and maybe a spark of luck, because for real you never know whats gonna happen next or whats around a blind spot. amazing what you do, i was watching this amused and tense because Mexico City is a very hectic, unpredictable and chaotic enviroment. i wish you all the best, i wish that you are always safe in your trips, you had some really close calls. you are crazy dude, amazing!
@visceras7979 5 months ago

It's a cool video, but it is incredibly stupid and reckless at the beginning, and contributes to the negative stigma some drivers have towards cyclists. No one should be doing this. The roads belong to everyone and should be used safely, it should not be used as your racing track. Any slight mistake made by or the drivers, and you could've caused some serious accident here.
@thetechfromheaven 5 months ago

I work doing app delivery and get this feeling every day slicing through the traffic in the bike doing 40+kmh. You should come to Nogales Sonora Brian we have some amazing tracks and some annoying traffic to slice thru despite being a small town 😂
@DavidMichaelChen 5 months ago

Great Scott, speechless. Hope you get 5M views for this! 100% commitment no hesitation. Ride safe.
@joeemmerling2139 5 months ago

I loved and hated every second of this. Pure talent, there’s no luck involved. Well done Safa, this is amazing
@reinholdachleitner2069 6 months ago

Happy New Year and wishing you all the safety in your new Videos to come.💯👌🏻💪🏻🚴‍♀️