Fontanaman
Robin Trower
Oh Mexico how I was looking forward to this trip, Oh Mexico.
For three years now I have been following Don Stanley's trip reports to Mexico. A resident of the greater Phoenix area Don has made many trips to Mexico and posts his ride reports on the FJR forum. Don loves riding in Mexico.
As a resident of the greater Seattle area, a web foot, I have followed Don's trip reports with a certain amount of jealousy as he is riding in February and March while it is raining in Seattle. Someday I was going to join him on a trip to Mexico.
In December 2013 Don announced a trip to see the authentic Mexico. The idea of dual sport riding in authentic Mexico, not tourist trap destinations caught my interest. I am not one for tourist towns. Leavenworth Washington with its phony Bavarian village facade is something to avoid, as it the western themed town of Winthrop Washington on the east side of the North Cascades Hwy - I prefer Twisp down the road eight miles thank you.
I have not been on a dual sport bike in 5 years and my son and I road single track in the Washington Cascades about 10 years ago. I used to ride a DR250 - a fun trail bike.
My son grew up and grew tired of the dirt bike so I sold both of them.
In 2005 I bought a Suzuki Vstrom DL1000 aka the manstrom and rode it to places such as the Magruder Corridor the Lolo Trail Motorway and Copper Canyon Mexico.
I sold my Vstrom in April 2012. I sold it because:
In August 2014 the wife gave me the green light for the trip to Mexico. My FJR was not going to cut it so working with Don and Skip Mascorro of MotoDiscovery I rented a Suzuki DR650. Nice!
In September 2014 while playing golf I hit the turf instead of the ball with a 3 iron damaging my left wrist. I tried home remedies but finally was forced to seek medical treatment in November. It was then I found a had a slightly frayed tendon. The RX was a cortisone shot and a wrist brace for eight weeks. If this did not heal my trip was in jeopardy. By January 2015 my left wrist was well on the way to recovery - Yes! I was thrilled to have dodged a bullet.
It is February about 3 weeks before this epic trip. I get a email from a friend on the FJR forum saying Don Stanley had crashed his motorcycle. I find a post on the forum; it did not take long to learn Don was out for this trip. Major bummer for Don for his motorcycle season is over. On a personal level I was going to miss seeing Mexico through Don's eyes - he has such a love for Mexico and his enthusiasm would be missed.
Don's accident started a whole stream of bad juju for this trip and it never quit.
I was flying on United Airlines from Seattle to McAllen Texas our depart point for this trip. I decide to ship my gear via UPS, seven days prior to the start of the trip to make certain it would be with me for this ride. I didn't want to trust United Airlines - no gear no trip. The gear got hung up in Louisville Kentucky for two days due to a snow storm. I posted pleas for help on the forum for fellow riders to bring some spare gear and they did - the outpouring of support was great. As it turns out my gear, shipped via UPS, arrives at the hotel one hour before I did. Bad juju avoided by sheer luck. Damn good thing too, and although I did not know it, I was going to need some good gear on this trip. Bad juju was narrowly avoided.
It was raining on the departure day, Tuesday March 10 and the forecast for the next two days was rain then for better weather. This would be a common refrain on this trip - the forecast was always for better weather and unduly optimistic.
I didn't want to get my camera wet, it rained a lot on this trip, limiting the number of photos.
It was raining on departure Wednesday March 11. Par for the course. Despite the rain our enthusiasm was still intact.
We get back to the gas station and I say to Alberto hey we can do that. If a school bus can do that we can! Not one to hold us back, Alberto said go for it. So Brian and I went for it. It was no problem, just some slippery mud in places but no big deal.
An nobody took a single photo of the ride along the mud bypass and it was so noted at dinner that night. We agreed to correct that wrong on Thursday morning.
And we did.
Thursday morning dawned with blue skies for a change. Hurray. The moral of the group was starting to sink and we need a bit of blue sky to turn things around.
I decided to ride the dirt road bypass on the way out. Everything was going well until the last 100 yards when I choose the wrong line allowing the front tire to run into the right side of tire rut. The result was very predictable - the front tire hit the edge of the rut and sent me flying on my ass. How damn embarrassing. An easy piece of cake and I tip over. Even worse it took three guys to left the heavy DR650 as footing was a problem in the mud. On the plus side it provided some comic relief for the group. That was my only tip over the rest of the ride.
This was easily the best day of the ride. The weather was nice and I had access to my camera. Also our wet gear dried out during the day- a bonus.
I was learning the DR650 had a very touchy rear brake and the Corbin seat, while better than stock, was good for about 75 miles. I am spoilt seat brat having only Russell saddles on my last four bikes.
So far we had not rode much in the dirt. After a wonderful lunch in a splendid setting that was about to change. As Brian said, Don ordered a dirt bike ride and MotoDiscovery was about to deliver.
And it was great!
It was getting late in the day. Spending the entire afternoon on a dirt road left the group stretched out quite a bit and it took time to regroup. We were about 30 miles from our destination, Real de Catorce, when the sun went down.
We were riding like the wind and it was not raining, still some were not thrilled about riding in the dark. My ass was tired of the seat on the DR so dark was the last thing on my mind. I wanted off this damn bike and the sooner the better.
It is 15 miles of hand laid cobblestone from the main road to Real de Catorce. We road it in the dark.
It had been a terrific day. Juan and Alberto were working hard to find interesting routes and worked even harder keeping us on the routes. Like herding cats.
For three years now I have been following Don Stanley's trip reports to Mexico. A resident of the greater Phoenix area Don has made many trips to Mexico and posts his ride reports on the FJR forum. Don loves riding in Mexico.
As a resident of the greater Seattle area, a web foot, I have followed Don's trip reports with a certain amount of jealousy as he is riding in February and March while it is raining in Seattle. Someday I was going to join him on a trip to Mexico.
In December 2013 Don announced a trip to see the authentic Mexico. The idea of dual sport riding in authentic Mexico, not tourist trap destinations caught my interest. I am not one for tourist towns. Leavenworth Washington with its phony Bavarian village facade is something to avoid, as it the western themed town of Winthrop Washington on the east side of the North Cascades Hwy - I prefer Twisp down the road eight miles thank you.
I have not been on a dual sport bike in 5 years and my son and I road single track in the Washington Cascades about 10 years ago. I used to ride a DR250 - a fun trail bike.
The Naches Trail at Government Meadows - his DR125 and my DR250 cira 2005. Wonderful place with lots of good memories.
My Son on his DR125
An interesting part of the trail!
My son grew up and grew tired of the dirt bike so I sold both of them.
In 2005 I bought a Suzuki Vstrom DL1000 aka the manstrom and rode it to places such as the Magruder Corridor the Lolo Trail Motorway and Copper Canyon Mexico.
I sold my Vstrom in April 2012. I sold it because:
- My FJR is a lot better road bike and I road the Vstrom 99% on the road.
- The most scenic places in the US have paved roads. Most of the roads were built 100+ years ago and roads were built to all the most scenic places. Generally gravel roads have a fewer scenic places and take forever to get there.
- Here in the Pacific NW the best gravel roads are under snow until mid July. After that fire season can bring smokey and hot conditions.
- Riding down a gravel road on a Vstrom is like riding 15% out of control 100% of the time. The front end is plowing looking for a way too throw my ass down.
In August 2014 the wife gave me the green light for the trip to Mexico. My FJR was not going to cut it so working with Don and Skip Mascorro of MotoDiscovery I rented a Suzuki DR650. Nice!
In September 2014 while playing golf I hit the turf instead of the ball with a 3 iron damaging my left wrist. I tried home remedies but finally was forced to seek medical treatment in November. It was then I found a had a slightly frayed tendon. The RX was a cortisone shot and a wrist brace for eight weeks. If this did not heal my trip was in jeopardy. By January 2015 my left wrist was well on the way to recovery - Yes! I was thrilled to have dodged a bullet.
It is February about 3 weeks before this epic trip. I get a email from a friend on the FJR forum saying Don Stanley had crashed his motorcycle. I find a post on the forum; it did not take long to learn Don was out for this trip. Major bummer for Don for his motorcycle season is over. On a personal level I was going to miss seeing Mexico through Don's eyes - he has such a love for Mexico and his enthusiasm would be missed.
Don's accident started a whole stream of bad juju for this trip and it never quit.
I was flying on United Airlines from Seattle to McAllen Texas our depart point for this trip. I decide to ship my gear via UPS, seven days prior to the start of the trip to make certain it would be with me for this ride. I didn't want to trust United Airlines - no gear no trip. The gear got hung up in Louisville Kentucky for two days due to a snow storm. I posted pleas for help on the forum for fellow riders to bring some spare gear and they did - the outpouring of support was great. As it turns out my gear, shipped via UPS, arrives at the hotel one hour before I did. Bad juju avoided by sheer luck. Damn good thing too, and although I did not know it, I was going to need some good gear on this trip. Bad juju was narrowly avoided.
It was raining on the departure day, Tuesday March 10 and the forecast for the next two days was rain then for better weather. This would be a common refrain on this trip - the forecast was always for better weather and unduly optimistic.
Getting our permits for the motorcycles and ourselves in Mexico. This took two hours and our guides Juan and Alberto were fantastic helping us poor Gringo's who didn't speak a lick of Spanish.
I didn't want to get my camera wet, it rained a lot on this trip, limiting the number of photos.
Lunch stop on day one.
Lunch stop on day one.
Left to right, Russ my roomy, Bob and Bear. In the foreground is the Dammit Don doll. Since Don could not make the trip Brian brought the Dammit Don doll instead. We put the doll in all sorts of compromised position, including being screwed by a coke bottle.
Dammit Don doll with a Personal Locator Beacon - he's gonna need that PLB if he touches my lunch.
It rained a lot the first day.
It rained a lot the first day.
We were soaked on arriving at the Hotel Las Palomas de Santiago Abasolo 105 Villa de Santiago. GPS: N 25º 25.503', W 100º 09.094' in case anybody wants to go there. The rooms had heat something that we would be missing for the next 4 nights but we did know that then. Too damn bad. The rain was more bad juju.Underground parking at Hotel Las Palomas de Santiago. Nice.
I took this after dinner. My room was on the second floor.
It was raining on departure Wednesday March 11. Par for the course. Despite the rain our enthusiasm was still intact.
Alberto, our guide, and Chris with the scenery in the back ground. The road took us between the crack in the peaks, nice road crummy weather. Bad juju.
It was pretty here.
Like spring time in Seattle and the temps were in the low to mid 50's. Heck this is just like home.
The dogs were pretty much on their own.
We stopped to warm up and have a cup of coffee.
The coffee shop. My Starbucks card was worthless.
My roomy Russ on day two.
It rained the rest of the day on Wednesday so I did not take more photos. About 1 mile from our destination, Hotel Magdalena in Galeana, there was a double fatality accident blocking the road. We sat there while our guides Alberto and Juan evaluated the situation. The local drivers being very resourceful found away around the accident creating their own dirt track paralleling the main road. Cars, trucks and even a flipping yellow school bus went down this dirt bypass, while the bad ass Gringo Dual Sport riders headed back the the gas station a quarter mile away.We get back to the gas station and I say to Alberto hey we can do that. If a school bus can do that we can! Not one to hold us back, Alberto said go for it. So Brian and I went for it. It was no problem, just some slippery mud in places but no big deal.
An nobody took a single photo of the ride along the mud bypass and it was so noted at dinner that night. We agreed to correct that wrong on Thursday morning.
And we did.
Thursday morning dawned with blue skies for a change. Hurray. The moral of the group was starting to sink and we need a bit of blue sky to turn things around.
I decided to ride the dirt road bypass on the way out. Everything was going well until the last 100 yards when I choose the wrong line allowing the front tire to run into the right side of tire rut. The result was very predictable - the front tire hit the edge of the rut and sent me flying on my ass. How damn embarrassing. An easy piece of cake and I tip over. Even worse it took three guys to left the heavy DR650 as footing was a problem in the mud. On the plus side it provided some comic relief for the group. That was my only tip over the rest of the ride.
The bad ass dirt road bypass.
This was easily the best day of the ride. The weather was nice and I had access to my camera. Also our wet gear dried out during the day- a bonus.
I was learning the DR650 had a very touchy rear brake and the Corbin seat, while better than stock, was good for about 75 miles. I am spoilt seat brat having only Russell saddles on my last four bikes.
Bill abusing his WR450 on the pavement.
A typical secondary road in Mexico.
A typical secondary road in Mexico is a good place for a GS bike.
My rented DR650.
Shot taken on the go. With blue skies the crew was happy! It was Thursday our last blue sky day.
Bill at the waterfall
Waterfall
Russ in the foreground and Bear in the background.
My new screensaver.
Brian and I went for a little walk. This is what we found. Waterfalls everywhere.
A wonderful day.
Juan fixed a great lunch at the waterfall and everybody had a great time.
The DR650.
So far we had not rode much in the dirt. After a wonderful lunch in a splendid setting that was about to change. As Brian said, Don ordered a dirt bike ride and MotoDiscovery was about to deliver.
And it was great!
Brian on his BMW
Example of the road surface. Easy riding on the DR650 - the bigger bikes had to take it a bit slower. I was thrilled I was on the smaller DR650. Lots of rock and a bit of mud.
As the elevation increased so did the number of pine trees. There is snow on the mountain top.
Brian on his BMW. He road that sucker everywhere and did not tip over once. Nice!
The DR was a great bike off pavement, so so on pavement. Some of the guys on the bigger GS bikes were not happy campers with today's off pavement excursion. Of course I was not a happy camper on the paved sections with the DR650.
We get to the top then descend. It was a rocky road with lots of hairpin turns. The guys on the bigger bike did a great job to get down this road.
From pine trees to cactus in a very short time.
Snow in the mountains, cactus in the foreground.
It was getting late in the day. Spending the entire afternoon on a dirt road left the group stretched out quite a bit and it took time to regroup. We were about 30 miles from our destination, Real de Catorce, when the sun went down.
We were riding like the wind and it was not raining, still some were not thrilled about riding in the dark. My ass was tired of the seat on the DR so dark was the last thing on my mind. I wanted off this damn bike and the sooner the better.
It is 15 miles of hand laid cobblestone from the main road to Real de Catorce. We road it in the dark.
Russ at the entrance to the 1.5 mile long tunnel.
Russ - we are thrilled to be at our destination.
Notice the cobblestone. Inside the tunnel the road surface is brick pavers.
It had been a terrific day. Juan and Alberto were working hard to find interesting routes and worked even harder keeping us on the routes. Like herding cats.
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