Some Mexican migrants turning to bicycles – Yahoo! News
By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer Sat May 27, 12:05 PM ET
SONOYTA, Mexico – Many illegal immigrants no longer hike. They bike.
The 110-degree heat and rough terrain of the Arizona desert would exhaust the fittest of cyclists, but these migrants are often middle-aged housewives or farmers, riding battered second-hand bikes for 30 or 40 miles.
The bikes also carry their supplies and belongings, so if rocks or cactus spines shred the tires, they get off and push.
The prize? A chance at a low-wage job.
“We’ve seen them going by on bicycles right by our offices … in whole groups,” said Mario Lopez, an agent for Mexico’s Grupo Beta migrant aid agency, whose offices sit just a few hundred yards from the border. “They’re usually old bikes because they’re going to abandon them anyway.”