We’re huddled in a circle with a bunch of Mexican bikers on the ferry from Baja to mainland Mexico. In broken Spanish we ask about a remote route we want to take soon after landing. They shake their heads and after a few minutes reach their conclusion: “Very bad road. Big problem. Don’t go.” Our faces light up. We have been in Baja for the past few weeks. It’s like a soft introduction to Mexico with lots of American tourists in the main towns, but now we want to get stuck into the real thing – mainland Mexico. We roll down the ramp on our Honda CRFs and head straight for the Devil’s Backbone.

COWBOYS

Apparently, the Devil’s Backbone is one of the world’s most dangerous roads because of its steep drops, hundreds of tight hairpins and drug running. But a new paid highway runs alongside it now and there are fewer trucks barrelling around blind corners in the wrong lane. Maybe it was once rough, but today it feels like any other pretty mountain road.

Either way, it isn’t even the road the bikers were worried about. It’s tomorrow’s ride – the much less travelled Route 23 that’s the “big problem”. Google refuses to calculate a route for us, so we write down the village names, fill our emergency petrol can up and see what Mexico has to offer.

The country unravels the