Yeah, I reckon he is the kind that tried first hand AND interviewed. He's actually a Bolivian transplant. Great guy... but his class is so boring yet extremely interesting at the same time! :coffeedrink:
A Mexican Adventure Expedition
- Thread starter LaOutbackTrail
- Start date
Yeah, I reckon he is the kind that tried first hand AND interviewed. He's actually a Bolivian transplant. Great guy... but his class is so boring yet extremely interesting at the same time! :coffeedrink:
GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Campsite number two in Mexico. Between the Coyote yelping in the distance, good food for dinner, and a good days ride... I say it was a great campsite.
We figured it would be a half day's navigation back to Galeana. Our campsite though, was in the "town" of La Rucia. La Rucia, is however, one seldom used ranchito and then a couple ruined buildings a few hundred yards from the ranchito. The track after the second set of buildings looked like this.
This track went on for about 15 miles getting narrower and less distinct, several washes, lots of cactus, plenty of thorns.
And then suddenly, right ********** in the middle of nowhere, was this little rancho.
I stopped to take this picture, and looked around to find the owners... I did not get a picture, but I made sure to wave whenever I saw them, in the little corral out side of their compound. Definately indians, dark skinned and wearing more traditional clothing. But hey, they had a solar panel and a 4x4.
I tell you what. This track was awesome. Stand up, crank your wrist back to 50mph. Dodge the cactus balls. Stop, take a picture, repeat.
Holy cactus balls batman! These things would pop up in the middle of the road....
Did I mention how much I liked this track? At one point it was so fun I was yelping like the coyote last night.
Banked curves with slightly loose surface sand, 4th gear madness!
Campsite number two in Mexico. Between the Coyote yelping in the distance, good food for dinner, and a good days ride... I say it was a great campsite.
We figured it would be a half day's navigation back to Galeana. Our campsite though, was in the "town" of La Rucia. La Rucia, is however, one seldom used ranchito and then a couple ruined buildings a few hundred yards from the ranchito. The track after the second set of buildings looked like this.
This track went on for about 15 miles getting narrower and less distinct, several washes, lots of cactus, plenty of thorns.
And then suddenly, right ********** in the middle of nowhere, was this little rancho.
I stopped to take this picture, and looked around to find the owners... I did not get a picture, but I made sure to wave whenever I saw them, in the little corral out side of their compound. Definately indians, dark skinned and wearing more traditional clothing. But hey, they had a solar panel and a 4x4.
I tell you what. This track was awesome. Stand up, crank your wrist back to 50mph. Dodge the cactus balls. Stop, take a picture, repeat.
Holy cactus balls batman! These things would pop up in the middle of the road....
Did I mention how much I liked this track? At one point it was so fun I was yelping like the coyote last night.
Banked curves with slightly loose surface sand, 4th gear madness!
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Richard is a geologist. He plays with GIS software daily. He's fed up with that, so next week, he is going back to Mexico to continue herding goats.
This road was fast. Too fast. We stopped to give Jim a chance to catch up, or maybe we were just making sure he was OK.
Richard had to strap extra weight onto his bike... Guia Roji atlas of Mexico. Ah, here is Jim.
We were in a "Joshua tree" forest. Anyone want to confirm what sort of vegetation are in this photo?
Gobble Gobble
Feel like going 60? DONT! Some of these washes trick you. Like here, the first one is a good one, the second VERY DEEP! Some of them are 2 ft deep, or maybe the leading edge is raised above the road surface by about 9 inches, or maybe the bottom is full of sand. My suggestion, either wheelie over all of them, or be like Jim and be the turtle. Either way, your suspension will hate you.
This road was fast. Too fast. We stopped to give Jim a chance to catch up, or maybe we were just making sure he was OK.
Richard had to strap extra weight onto his bike... Guia Roji atlas of Mexico. Ah, here is Jim.
We were in a "Joshua tree" forest. Anyone want to confirm what sort of vegetation are in this photo?
Gobble Gobble
Feel like going 60? DONT! Some of these washes trick you. Like here, the first one is a good one, the second VERY DEEP! Some of them are 2 ft deep, or maybe the leading edge is raised above the road surface by about 9 inches, or maybe the bottom is full of sand. My suggestion, either wheelie over all of them, or be like Jim and be the turtle. Either way, your suspension will hate you.
Not far from this location, we got a good glimpse of Cerro Potosi. Getting closer to Galeana.
Lots of this.
Boys will be boys, right?
Ehhh, yep. While turning around to jump, again, I decided to go down into the ditch.... Let it be known that only 99% of the large stones that line ditches in Mexico are cemented in with dirt.... I found one of those in the 1%... and fell over.
And just for the record, this was the second time I picked the bike up for this fall, the first time, I was too fast and they didnt get a picture.
I was amazed with the technology found in rural Mexico.
This is a Mexican CD player.
Lots of this.
Boys will be boys, right?
Ehhh, yep. While turning around to jump, again, I decided to go down into the ditch.... Let it be known that only 99% of the large stones that line ditches in Mexico are cemented in with dirt.... I found one of those in the 1%... and fell over.
And just for the record, this was the second time I picked the bike up for this fall, the first time, I was too fast and they didnt get a picture.
I was amazed with the technology found in rural Mexico.
This is a Mexican CD player.
The road and ride was too fun to take pictures of, but from what I understand, it looks a lot like Utah. See, you follow this nice little canyon from the top to the bottom. Canyons are twisty. Canyons are fun.
Now, I'd like to introduce you to my two new friends. Well, one friend.
Meet Carlos (right) and his brother.
They spoke to me in English, I spoke back in Spanish. Their uncle owned the little shop across the way. Check out the arcade games.
Back on a familiar road.
Back to Galeana. Hamburgers and pepsi.
This is definately the better route to Real de Catorce.
North to Santiago.
Now, I'd like to introduce you to my two new friends. Well, one friend.
Meet Carlos (right) and his brother.
They spoke to me in English, I spoke back in Spanish. Their uncle owned the little shop across the way. Check out the arcade games.
Back on a familiar road.
Back to Galeana. Hamburgers and pepsi.
This is definately the better route to Real de Catorce.
North to Santiago.
WhereTheHellIsJames?
Explorer
That looks like an absolutely epic trip- thanks for sharing!
Where was I? Oh yes, back at Galeana. We circled the square in Galeana to find a decent place for lunch. Namely, one where we could keep an eye on our bikes, not that our bikes were unsafe in Galeana.
We at lunch at a roadside hamburger joint. Ever put avacado on your hamburgesa?
Leaving out of Galeana we headed towards Mimbres again. Passing Cerro Potosi and hitting the Dualsport Double Dragon. If only the cliff wasn't as much of a drop off and there werent so many blind curves..... it'd be a hoot to go really fast on!
But here we are again. Outside of Galeana, funny, Jim and I both took the same picture... here is mine.
And here is Jim on the DSDD
Back in Mimbres, we buy three cokes and two bags of 'tater chips. 23pesos. 13 pesos on the dollar.
Here is Kevin. You really can learn a lot of Spanish from youngsters.
Like this. These are patos.
This is Kevin's sister, she's eleven.... boy does she look rough already...
Jim entertaining Kevin and his friends.
Mimbres to Cienga del Toro is a great run. Great run indeed. Here's a peak.
We at lunch at a roadside hamburger joint. Ever put avacado on your hamburgesa?
Leaving out of Galeana we headed towards Mimbres again. Passing Cerro Potosi and hitting the Dualsport Double Dragon. If only the cliff wasn't as much of a drop off and there werent so many blind curves..... it'd be a hoot to go really fast on!
But here we are again. Outside of Galeana, funny, Jim and I both took the same picture... here is mine.
And here is Jim on the DSDD
Back in Mimbres, we buy three cokes and two bags of 'tater chips. 23pesos. 13 pesos on the dollar.
Here is Kevin. You really can learn a lot of Spanish from youngsters.
Like this. These are patos.
This is Kevin's sister, she's eleven.... boy does she look rough already...
Jim entertaining Kevin and his friends.
Mimbres to Cienga del Toro is a great run. Great run indeed. Here's a peak.
Our flag being put to good use in Mexico......
..... but atleast its an important job.... 
Richard decides to stop (guess why) and this is where the one 18wheeler we see in the middle of nowhere passes us.... covering us in even MORE dust.
The camera didnt do this valley any justice.
What??? What the hell is this???????
Again, no justice.
Well, I forgot to add a couple pics. Here is a good one.
This fellow was in the middle of nowhere. He approached us during a break and asked us where we were from, going, and have been. He recommended a restaurant in a town that was about 15 miles away!!! The town he was walking towards was at least 5 miles...
Hi. Me again!
Getting gas Coahuila style.
Manzana orchards.
This is the point where my camera battery dies. Did you notice how many photos were taken for this one day???
Well, I did get some video of the curvy roads heading towards Santiago.
This fellow was in the middle of nowhere. He approached us during a break and asked us where we were from, going, and have been. He recommended a restaurant in a town that was about 15 miles away!!! The town he was walking towards was at least 5 miles...
Hi. Me again!
Getting gas Coahuila style.
Manzana orchards.
This is the point where my camera battery dies. Did you notice how many photos were taken for this one day???
Well, I did get some video of the curvy roads heading towards Santiago.
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More from Richard
PigTrail said:The idea was that we'd push towards Santiago after lunch in Galeana, so that on the next day(Saturday) we could sleep in a bit, make our way to the border, and head back to Houston Saturday night. With Sunday being my birthday I was looking forward to having some time to re-orient myself before returning to the rat race on Monday.
So back in the valley north of Mimbres we were looking for some gas. In one of the little towns Scott stops and asks a gentlemen where we can find some gasolina. Here of course. And out he comes to fill our bikes.
The remainder of the evening was spent traversing the mountains towards Santiago. For 30-40 miles we wound along a paved road with several locations where the mountainside had nearly reclaimed the pavement. Aside from the land-slides, dramatic elevation changes in the curves, and little towns, there was little to distract us.
About 30 km from Santiago we connected with a larger 2 lane paved road and the atv traffic began to pick up. Apparently this area is a popular vacation destination with the Monterrey crowd. Atv and cabin rentals dotted the road-side. We pushed on in hopes of finding a hotel and hot meal near Santiago.
The topography and road cuts just west of Santiago are breath-taking. It's 500 ft cliff, river, road, and 500 ft cliff back up the other side. Scott and Jim likely have some better shots.
Coming down out of the mountains towards Santiago we got stuck in a bit of tourist traffic. The rear brakes of the f150 in front of us were letting off a fair bit of smoke as we descended. I don't suppose he realized that his automatic tranny can let him run in a lower gear. Scott also had a scare as a mountain cow standing next to the road made a lunge for him. As we neared the more populated western outskirts of Santiago it was beginning to get dark and I saw a sign that said hotel. Sweet, let's check it out. Turns out that it was a pretty posh place with rooms that were 1500 pesos per person for the night. After asking for some cheaper recommendations and then getting confused about the directions the desk clerk offerred us a room for a significantly reduced rate and we settled in for the night. Sweet. In the morning the hotel's bird population came to check us out.
I think this guy took one look at Jim's bike and fell in love. But can he afford her?
This was the view out of our hotel room. Not too bad for walking in off the street eh?
The hotel apparently catered to the atv crowd.
But it seems that these vehicles were for the exlusive use of those in the presidential suites. In case you're wondering that would not be us.
Richard was a bit out of order. The smoking brake truck was on the downside from the hotel. The mean moo cow was infact on the upside of the road... which by the way, reminds me that I still havent cleaned the crap stain out of the riding pants.
Our plan was to head due north out of Santiago, but we missed the turn. Our reroute brough us on the outskirts of Monterrey. No me gusto.
But the scenary was kind of nice
(all chicas, by the way... except the two with the red white and blue jersey)
I hate big cities. I dont like big Mexican cities. I hate traffic. This sign put a knot in my stomache.
And then I saw this... eh.
And then I saw this.... yum.
After we turned here, we went through the suburbs of Houston... well, it looked like it anyways.... then we got on another hwy and while Richard was playing with his GPS (in traffic) he didnt realize just how close he came to being rearended by a speeding veedub (VW) Golf. Then we almost missed a turn, Jim had to improvise. I should be a bloody fighter pilot with my reaction skills after following Richard around. Then there is the traffic. And then a toll. I was freaking out, thinkink the toll was the one on to get on Mex 40 back to Reynosa, which was 183 pesos. Nope, this one was 10pesos. We get going some more and we do find the entrance to the cuota... we take the libre.
If you are still reading this, cool. At one point, I got up to about 90mph, then I slow down.
We all pass an 18wheeler at about 70mph and top a hill. Two federales with radar.....
matt marquardt
Adventurer
Wow. I'm having epic trip envy.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
Where was I? Federales? Scary stuff.
Like I said in my last segment, we were cruising down a straight road. Imagine crossing a bit of a valley, a nice 'U' shaped valley. This is where I bump it up to about 90. I'm following this Ford pickup that just happens to be doing the same speed. Jim and Richard are on the bottom of the valley when I get stuck behind an 18wheeler. Jim and Rich catch back up to me and we pass the truck. We top the hill at about 70mph... in a 80kph zone. Thats kilometers, about 50mph. Atop the hill was a federale car and two federales. CHOP the throttle brake hard.....
They were facing the other way. By the time they turned around, we were doing about 60. First cops we saw on the whole trip (in this situation anyways)
Something else we noticed. No military checkpoints, only the checkpoint about 20 miles in, they only asked for our vehicle permits. I was first and they only checked mine (again on the way into Mexico), i showed him my permit, he asked if we all had it. "Bye bye" he said.
Oh we are on our way back, why am I talking about day one???
Its odd, 940 miles total trip. Mile 870, my butt starts hurting. Mile 923 is where the federals sat on the hill. Amazingly enough, the butt clenching that was involved seriously relieved monkey butt. I highly recommend it.
______________________________________________________________
Now, a concern we had for the entire trip was upon us. What do we do to get back across the border? Well, this may only apply to the Reynosa Crossing, but here it goes.
Of course you must return your vehicle permit. Be careful. You DO NOT go into the lanes going towards the "puente internacional" No, go one block north of this and follow these signs.
Unfortunately, you'll be faced with this....
And you have to participate in this....
When we got to the window, I scared the tendant.... she turned around and saw this...
My best 'Gaspipe' impression... I was only missing the altoids...
No problems. You give them your permit, they check your VIN and give you a receipt.
And then the fun part... (left part of picture)
Like I said in my last segment, we were cruising down a straight road. Imagine crossing a bit of a valley, a nice 'U' shaped valley. This is where I bump it up to about 90. I'm following this Ford pickup that just happens to be doing the same speed. Jim and Richard are on the bottom of the valley when I get stuck behind an 18wheeler. Jim and Rich catch back up to me and we pass the truck. We top the hill at about 70mph... in a 80kph zone. Thats kilometers, about 50mph. Atop the hill was a federale car and two federales. CHOP the throttle brake hard.....
They were facing the other way. By the time they turned around, we were doing about 60. First cops we saw on the whole trip (in this situation anyways)
Something else we noticed. No military checkpoints, only the checkpoint about 20 miles in, they only asked for our vehicle permits. I was first and they only checked mine (again on the way into Mexico), i showed him my permit, he asked if we all had it. "Bye bye" he said.
Oh we are on our way back, why am I talking about day one???
Its odd, 940 miles total trip. Mile 870, my butt starts hurting. Mile 923 is where the federals sat on the hill. Amazingly enough, the butt clenching that was involved seriously relieved monkey butt. I highly recommend it.
______________________________________________________________
Now, a concern we had for the entire trip was upon us. What do we do to get back across the border? Well, this may only apply to the Reynosa Crossing, but here it goes.
Of course you must return your vehicle permit. Be careful. You DO NOT go into the lanes going towards the "puente internacional" No, go one block north of this and follow these signs.
Unfortunately, you'll be faced with this....
And you have to participate in this....
When we got to the window, I scared the tendant.... she turned around and saw this...
My best 'Gaspipe' impression... I was only missing the altoids...
No problems. You give them your permit, they check your VIN and give you a receipt.
And then the fun part... (left part of picture)
So yeh. The line at the border is exactly how you see it. Atleast this day and the day that I crossed the border in July.
This day was warm... but July was hot. In July, I managed to cross at a time when I had literally half the traffic of this trip...
So yes, we lane split. Most importantly because of my bike being aircooled.
Jim was too wide and being the third bike, everyone we passed decided to cut him off.... At times we double teamed. I would pull out infront of one vehicle, Richard would go. Vice Versa. Left side, right side. Out the curb, over the curb.
We get to the halfway point and I manage to get a pic of Richard with "the sign."
From here.... I lead off, and make it three cars before I become the biggest ************ on a motorcycle... ever.
This day was warm... but July was hot. In July, I managed to cross at a time when I had literally half the traffic of this trip...
So yes, we lane split. Most importantly because of my bike being aircooled.
Jim was too wide and being the third bike, everyone we passed decided to cut him off.... At times we double teamed. I would pull out infront of one vehicle, Richard would go. Vice Versa. Left side, right side. Out the curb, over the curb.
We get to the halfway point and I manage to get a pic of Richard with "the sign."
From here.... I lead off, and make it three cars before I become the biggest ************ on a motorcycle... ever.