A Week in Mexico

Got up at 6 AM, did 368 miles and are now in Juchitan, nearly in the state of Chiapas which borders Guatemala. If tomorrow is good, we hope to cross the border sometime in mid-afternoon. You can make good time away from the big cities, even with the numerous small towns as long as there isn't much traffic and we pass everyone, riding about 20 - 30 mph faster than everyone else.Another surprise this morning at El Dumpo Hotel.....air conditioner (at least it had one) leaked water all over the floor soaking one of Jogi's bags including his clothes. I stepped out of bed and was actually relieved that it wasn't backflow from the toilet.

Did a little roadside maintainance when my rear brake fluid got low, so we bought some good old DOT 3, and filled it up, much better.


Stopped In Puerto Escondido.......a beautiful spot and pleasantly free of much of the tourist scene characteristic of Mexican resort towns. Fish fillet at a beachside restaurant then on our way to make up for lost time. Nearly in

Juchitan, saw this herd of goats and the palapa.


Riding a motorcycle is a completely different experience than riding in a car.A few people who may be reading this are motorcycle riders, but most are not. On a bike you are part of the environment rather than just passing thro it Operating the vehicle is very user-intensive, no sitting back on cruise control. You constantly are receiving and assimilating numerous bits of information every few seconds which you must process and usually act upon as you ride. Thought I'd recount the thoughts that went thro my head, what I saw and what I did during about three minutes of riding today as we came into and left a little town.


***********************Scanning the usual 8 seconds ahead...following the mnemonic of
Scan Identify Predict (SIP), looking for hazards. Notice a dark spot on the road, could be oil so I swerve to avoid it. Something you unlearn when riding a motorcycle is to avoid the natural instinct of target fixation...looking at the hazard, because the bike goes where you look. Look where you want to go, not where you don´t want to go. Jogi dives into a tight lefthander, follows a racing line and I do too. Set up outside,go inside to clip the apex of the turn, then outside near the road edge. Perfect, and I feel like Valentino Rossi doing it right. Big black rocks up ahead?, no...two large black cow butts facing the road as the owners graze with heads down perpendicular to the road about four feet away. I move to the right to create some space even though it seems unlikely they will spring into my path like deer. Speaking of which, where are they? Haven{t seen any deer since we{ve been in Mexico, 2000 miles now. Maybe the Mexicans ate all the deer? Another turn, right hand this time, but as I am in the curve, leaned over on my line, I notice sand along the inside so I adjust the line a bit to miss it and skim the center line as I exit. Suddenly, we round another corner and there is San Ignacio....population about 1000. Signs warning of topes. Hard on the brakes, lightening up on the rear as the front end dives under braking to reduce chance of a rear wheel skid, simultaneously blip the throttle and downshift two gears, stand up on the pegs and whack the throttle open to lift the front tire over the tope. Two little kids walking along the virtual shoulder. I create space by moving to the left of my lane, wave at them but they just stare blankly. It occurs to me that, in my riding clothes and helmet, I must seem like an alien from outer space to them. Accerating leaving town when Jogi{s rear tire abruptly kicks up...stealth tope.....no sign, no marking, just a big undulation on the pavement which we don{t see....BRAKEBRAKE BRAKE, only time for one quick downshift, stand up so my legs can act as shock absorbers, but hit it too hard and feel the front forks bottom out as the bike becomes slightly airborne for a split second. Mutter my millionth curse at these infernal things. A truck, barely moving directly in front of me. I do a quick head check to my left, lean out and look ahead. A car is coming, but I figure I can beat him, quick downshift, accelerate around the truck to make the pass and tuck in with room to spare. *******************************

Acapulco Hell

If yesterday was the best day so far in Mexico, then today (Saturday March 29) was the worst. Realizing that we are taking longer to travel Mexico than anticipated, we wanted to make some mileage today, but things started badly when we got turned around leaving Playa Azul, took a "shortcut" on the advice of a local guy (Central America Riding Rule #6 – Locals are always eager to give directions which are almost always wrong) which got us into Lazaro Cardenas all right, but not on the main road and we wasted a ton of time finding it. Two hour later, we'd traveled 28 miles!
Yesterday, we had another Federale stop.......17 year olds with M16's, looking very serious indeed as they unzip a bag here at pat down a duffle there. The officer in charge was friendly and even recommended the hotel in Playa Azul.
Back to the here and now, Things went from blue to gray as we approached Acapulco; we'd planned on bypassing the city altogether which was possible, as it turned out, only on the map. Instead, we inadvertently got into town, and spent the better part of two hours trying to stay alive in the utter chaotic mayhem which is Acapulco traffic. Buses cutting you off, cars blasting out from side streets, stop and go major gridlock jams..........all in the usual milieu of fluid lane demarcations ( there aren't any) with two vehicles often trying to occupy the same space simultaneously. I consider it fortunate that we escaped without injury. FINALLY, after 5 stops to ask directions (see above rule) and 3 to check our maps, we escaped.
The topes are rapidly losing their charm to put it charitably and in G rated language........not that they had any in the first place. By now, I must have ridden over a few thousand of the damn things. For the most part, they make no sense whatsoever. There are usually 2 – 8 of them at the entrance and exit of every little town,sometimes marked, sometimes not. Today, when we at last made the highway out of Acapulco, and are accelerating onto what amounted to a turnpike, what did we encounter but several of the ##$%%^&# topes....!!!! This on a major high speed thoroughfare. Called it a day after 300 miles, emotionally and physically exhausted. Stayed in an authentic Mexican hotel, i.e cheap, tawdry, but clean with an air conditioner that works and the faint odor of sewage throughout. Hey beggars can't b e choosers and there wasn't any more daylight to seek out a bigger town. Had a very good authentic Mexican dinner however, enlivened by several giggling senoritas who kept asking, "What are you doing here?" with genuine puzzlement , made jokes with Jogi and practiced their English.

Highway 200

The vehicle safety compound at Hotel San Miguel

Cobblestone street in Tomatlan

Hwy 200 from Tomatlan was the best riding day yet. 350 miles of mostly curves. The speed limits are ridiculous........posted limits of 36 or 42 mph (converted from kilometers/hr) were pretty much ignored as we went along at twice these speeds. Big mistake staying in Playa Azul tho, a beach town very expensive and touristy. A mile from the beach, Jogi's saddlebag came loose, lodged against his rear tire, tore open and spilled his underwear across the landscape. Could have been bad had he b een leaned over in a curve, but no harm done except to the
20 mile from Playa Azul

bag which was damaged severely. We lost an hour we could ill afford secondary to the time zone change. We are behind schedule to enter Guatemala Monday as it is.

Pharmacist where we stopped to change money

BELOW is a video Jogi (he's a genius!) took of me on Hwy 200

Puerta Vallarta

(above is San Blas)
Not a lot of progress today. Did some bike maintainance in front of the hotel in Acapoponeta, ate breakfast on the road and met some Mexican bikers headed for the big bash at Mazatlan.
cut over to the coast thro some of the twistiest stuff yet, some serious windy roads thro the mountains which makes for slow going at times since there is a tiny town seemingly every 500 yards complete with topes (large speed bumps) and vibradores (series of 10 -15 smaller bumps spaced over 50 feet or so) to slow you to a crawl at times. There were not one but two accidents in the mountains which really backed traffic up nearly all the way the last 30 miles into Puerta Vallarta. Close to the city we had our first police encounter. Didn't see Jogi behind me, waited and still nothing so turned around to look for him and see him coming towards me. Turns out he was pullled over by a motorcycle cop who claimed that both of us had run a red light.I'm pretty sure this was bogus although not impossible. Anyway, the cop is BS'ing him about his bike, and doesn't the seat get hot?, etc. Tells him he must surrender his license (which he took) and pay a fine at another town. This was repeated several times at which point Jogi decided it was all crap, told the copi he'd had enough and said, "Give me my license back. I don't have time for this (!!!!)" He then, showing considerable chutzpah, proceeded to grab his license from the cop's hand, got on his bike and left!!!! He seemed very nonchalant about it all, but I was flabbergasted. (
below are photos of Puerta Vallarta)


Anyway, into PV, stop for refreshment and then a tortuous, very hot 100 miles down the coast..........still very mountainous, and stopped for the night at a little town called Tomatlan where our bikes were locked in a gigantic metal corral for the night. (I'll post a pic of this later) Hotel Mision San Miguel, spacious room with a balcony, shrimp for dinner. Only 232 miles today so tomorrow will need to be a big push.

Sonora into Sinaloa

Yesterday we left Hermsillo bright and early, getting out of these towns back onto the highway is always a trip and this was no exception. Approximately 35 turns later, we were on Mexico 15, the cuota or toll road, the most expensive in the world (truth) works out to about 10 cents per mile traveled. We paid fiv e tolls today, about $12 for both bikes each time. One Federale stop, they looked in one bag, rather perfunctorily and waved us thro. Did McBreakfast in Guaymas, on the coast, quite pretty and traded the Nev ada like desert of Sonora for green fertile farmlands of the state of Sinaloa..........reminds me of the CA Central Valley.
Another great road sign to add to the ones I listed last year. "Reduce Your Speed, Your Family is Waiting for You"
Rode all over the town of Guamuchil trying to find a hotel with wi-fi sans success.

This mornin g (Wednesday) picked up some oil from the local Honda shop, breakfasted at a little (room for maybe 8 people) taqueria. Finally done with the b loody toll road, now on a two-lane highway which runs parallel to the cuota. Not much of a problem passing on our bikes.En route to Mazatlan, we hit some good curves in the mountains and (this is for Brother Jim ) i.e. " I was XX leanin' Man!" OK hit Mazatlan and there is some sort of Bike Week going on! Their version of Sturgis I guess. Snapped some shots of the famous Monumento de Pescadores . Nob ody knows exactly why both the fisherman and the mermaid are nude.............
Getting OUT of Mazatlan was awful........we rode around for nearly an hour, winding thro crappy residential areas and nearly got creamed making a left turn just as the light changed. This used up so much time, there was no way we could make our goal of Tepic before dark. Fortunately, the delightful town of Acaponeta showed up and we rode our bikes up some gnarly steps into the lobby of the Hotel Plaza where they assured us they would b e safe. 350 miles today and a nice $32 room . Wandered around the town plaza, ate dinner and watched dancers at a jazz festival they were having. No Internet here either in the hotel so thisis written at an Internet cafe next door.

La Frontera and beyond

A good first day, Crossed the border at San Luis de Colorado in about an hour and a half, pretty straight forward, but definitely made easier by the fact that we came prepared with copies of all essential documents. Met two bikers on Beemers from Minnesota headed for the Copper Canyon, Mexico's version of our Grand Canyon. Got going again around 10:30 riding thro the familar bleak Sonoran landscape.........similar to the moon, but with fewer trees. Had to pour it on to make our goal of Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, about 600,000 people so we wound up riding over 400 miles and got here at 6PM. Very nice hotel and an all-we-could-eat Mexican buffet. We toasted our prowess with shots of tequila, and hit the sack. BTW, gas figures out to about $2.90/gallon for regular.

Once More Into the Fray

This little Linux-based machine of Jogi's is quite the deal! He found a free wi-fi hotsport here at the motel in Yuma. One of the coolest things is that he uses Skype-the Internet calling system to "phone home" and talk to his wife and daughter in Costa Rica all for free of course!
After using the GPS to find our way out of Modesto, we made good time yesterday (a 500 mile day for me) and stayed in Pasadena. Heading east on I-10, the wind was FIERCE indeed, blowing Jogi into another lane at one point. Course at Indio all that windpower is put to good use vis a vis the windmill farm.....AlGore would be proud. Rode past the huge Salton Sea, which was barely visible and smelled bad and into Yuma around 2PM. Manana (sorry can't make a tilde with this thing), Entramos a Mexico.

Costa Rica or Bust 2008

Well, time for take 2. After last year's ill-fated trip, I rounded up a group of five bikers to embark on "la gran aventura" once again, i.e. ride motorcycles from the United States to Costa Rica. However, as time went by, and for various reasons, several were forced to drop out and now we are two. I will travel with Jurgen Gerner aka "Jogi", a German fellow who runs a successful real estate business in Tamarindo, CR. Jogi is an avid and accomplished motorcyclist who, with my help, bought a Honda XR650L dual-sport bike in California, and will ride it home to add to his collection. He flew into Sacramento last Saturday and stayed with me for several days while he added things to his new machine and we did a little riding to boot. He is now in Modesto, visiting a friend, and I will pick him up en route to LA and Yuma where we will cross into Mexico the day after Easter. Aside from the fact that he speaks three languages fluently, he is an excellent mechanic and a simpatico personality so I am looking forward to our journey together. Jogi also has a tiny notebook computer with him which should make it easier to post blog entries/pictures along the way. ¡Adios mis amigos y les veré en tres semanas!