My Bike Ride to the Beach in Acapulco
Some of my earliest memories are of riding a bike, how good it felt. As I got older it started to mean more, it started to mean freedom and the ability to spend more time on my own. When we moved to Lawrence one of my Christmas presents was a mountain bike, and I loved it. I rode to school almost every day on it, and it allowed me to go places I wouldn’t have had enough time to get to without it. When I was told we were going to start traveling, my bike was one of the few things that I had difficulty leaving. So when we walked into the house in Acapulco and found two bikes, I was ecstatic.
It was yet another nice sunny day in Acapulco without a cloud in the sky, and I decided to take a break from working on my computer science project and go for a bike ride to the beach. This was exactly why I loved having a bike so much; it allowed me to go do things I would otherwise be unable to. The road to the beach is the only road that goes straight from the beach through this side of Acapulco, on the far side of the mountains which only 20 years ago was a jungle. The road is only 2 lanes, but that’s further reduced by cars parked on the side because there is nowhere else to go, as well as shops lining the sides that have people moving to and from constantly, and there is no sidewalk or curb, so the road is the only path. Also, the road is in terrible condition. Potholes in the USA are often formed by one section of road splitting up into pieces, but entire sections of the road have been broken up, as well as there being potholes. As well as the road being completely destroyed, there are also lumps of concrete that have been pushed upwards. But wait, there’s more! Every 50 feet or so there’s a speed bump, but they’re so steep that no car can go over them at more than 2 mph, but on a bike, I can avoid all of this and go as fast as I want.
The first turn on my route led me down a road that eventually ended in the main area of Acapulco but had a turnoff that would take me along the beach. The sidewalk was inconsistent, as if every store was tasked with laying their own, and they had done no collaboration. Every piece of sidewalk was different, some made of pavers, some of poured concrete, and sometimes it was barely large enough for a person to squeeze between the electrical poles. It was exhilarating to zip around all of it and dodge people and poles, to finally end up at the next intersection, where I turned off towards the beach. The road calmed down immediately, and I could just glide over the concrete and almost drift to the beach entrance, where everybody parked their cars.
When I arrived at the beach I was actually a little scared about leaving my bike. The area I was in was by no means well off, but that was based on American standards, and this was Mexico. I still parked the bike around a corner out of sight of almost everyone, and walked towards the beach, checking over my shoulder every little while. Once I got on the beach I saw how ridiculous I was being, and tried to stop worrying about my rusty-chain single-speed bike. I hadn’t been for a run in a while, and I was feeling energetic, so I jogged for about a half mile down the beach, and it felt so good to run. While on my bike ride I had gotten thirsty, and now I felt like a snail that had just crawled through some salt.
It seemed like on that one day, there were the fewest people selling drinks I’d ever seen. When I had finally found someone who could sell me water, I chilled out on the beach. This was why I loved having a bike so much, I could take a ride to the beach on my own and just enjoy myself.
I love having a bike and the freedom it gives me, and how it allows me to do things that I love, like taking a ride to the beach and just enjoying time by myself. I also love getting in shape, and seeing how fast I can go.