Cars are Traffic - Road Riding in Mexico City

SAFA Brian
SAFA Brian
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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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All Comments (21)
  • @nj2s0N
    Safa, please be safe. wanna see lot of videos of you 2024 and ahead. dont take unnecessary risks
  • @AzeemLive
    my heart rate is higher than Safa's HR while watching all the close calls😅 what a ride (y)
  • @tdgdbs1
    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!
  • @ernestopreciado4895
    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 💀
  • @claudeschweizer3932
    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"
  • @SonnyDarvishzadeh
    My heart rate was jumping between 120 and 170 watching this. You should start putting "viewer discretion is advised" on your videos 😂
  • @jharricam
    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!
  • @andrewcalladine2507
    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.
  • @Nikica358
    Damn, this guy reads roads and drivers like a book, hats off Brian.
  • @rafamenjau9739
    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.
  • @kendo4242
    I think it's so cool that you have included mobile auto quarter panel inspection to your business model. Smart!
  • @randomwildlife206
    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!
  • @Tanner_o
    Como ciclista chilango puedo afirmar que no he visto a nadie ni de cerca rodar como Safa. Si logras destreza al ratonear con el tráfico pero lo que él hace está en otro nivel.
  • @thetechfromheaven
    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 😂
  • @Fadelabdalkhalik
    Hi Safa ,Thanks for the great videos . is it still summer in Mexico ?
  • @lucianam.angelesgonzalez8408
    I'm a cyclist like the majority of this channel's viewers, but I'll never ride routes or highways (except only 4 cars uses it for hour).. that's CAR territory.. if it has a bike line then ride on the bike line, roads, but highway? Nope. You put people and yourself in danger. More if you crash with a motorcycle at 100km/h (not even a car), guess who'll be dead -_-
  • @Forgot10
    I once did intervals on a road I didn't know. On the last interval I was doing 40+ km/h between two rows of cars standing at a red light. It went well, but I decided that I'm not doing that ever again. Here you just casually cruise between even more lanes of packed traffic at similar and even greater speeds. This is truly terrifying.
  • @silviugheorghe7118
    Very cool video. Can I ask what camera setup did you use to have those data on the video? Thank you
  • @liquidSpin
    My eyes were GLUED watching this one. INTENSE AF!! GO SAFA!!