Fascinated with Mexico Ride Reports. chabon, I followed your last Copper Canyon RR. Looks like you made an adjustment with the wheels.
And the #1 team in the country goes down in flames...... So we had a great day in El Fuerte. As I look through these photos, I'm struck by how often the entire group has a grin on their faces......for 5 old dogs, everyone seemed to have a pretty good time......... Our off street parking. The hotel a block away, the San Francisco, same price but much better courtyard.....we didn't know...... We toured the town including the Civic Center, town square, mission, Hildalgo Hotel and the Museum...........here's an assortment of photos......
There are a couple of photos that I need to add in from previous days.......just look back a page or two for the context....... Jessica and Mike make a very cute couple.....dontchathink............
We have a late lunch and cruise the town having a cerveza or two......hit the hay.....find a great breakfast spot and today we leave the pavement.......
Great report so far. I'm gonna have to make the trip this fall, that is if I can get Dad (Burt) to go down there again.
As we wound our way into the backcountry riding, the road was dusty and graded with some concrete bridges....Burt has been this way a few times and he looks comfortable here. Mike rolls with KLR stealth....he's mostly running as Burts wingman....the two of them ride tandem very smoothly. The country is tightening up a bit, hills and dales.... In another mile or so, we run into our first "Community Patrol", a cowboy hat, walkie talkie and assault rifle, standing on the side of the road. We rode by with a nod and a wave, no issues. I'm not sure how to broach this topic but if you have a fear of armed folks, this is not an area you should consider riding. It is not legal for you to bring a gun to Mexico and just like the "Constitutional Carry" states of Wyoming and Arizona, you will run into armed nationals here. I never felt threatened and except for one negative interaction that was caused by one mistake we made, they were pretty benign. It was clear to me after the first guy that we would be tracked as we made our way through their communities over the next week. Initially, I was the only one who thought this but it proved to be true and was confirmed by the CP a few days later. I personally considered them another piece of the ride experience and I think that if we had a significant problem, they would have helped us. I'm not the kind of person to take things down the low road, it's easy to make situations worse, I'd prefer to improve them. Because of their presence, I will refer to the CP occasionally but they did not constitute a significant impact on our ride. End of that rant........
We've got moderate days to ride over this week, this is a longer ride distance but less challenging terrain. We make pretty good time and move along at an average speed of 20 mph, ascending 12.690 ft and descending 7400 ft. We'll spend the night a bit higher than most of the valley locations. We come through a community that shows up on the maps and has a nice plaza/store, stop for a break which means somebody drank a Tecate or two......and the townfolks gather around. When we pulled in, there was some smokin' going on but after we declined politely, it quickly went away. (My line is: No Gracias, I ride a moto and fall over if I smoke the mota...followed with a ) Nobody will force the issue....and that rant's also over..... We are treated to the dancing horse. A beautiful mural. And a photo with Da Boyz.....who are very friendly.....just like us..... The owner, El Jeffe, is just to my right and he privately let me know that we are on the radar but welcomed...... And how could it be otherwise, Burt and Mike have been riding this area for decades. They are great company and know that if we enjoy our ride and mind our business, we are in fabulous country with good folks around us. So, we hit the countryside looking for our next hotel....... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pe00iZu2-ig" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Our destination for the evening...
Wheels and bike. The WR250X is a lot lighter and lower than the F650 classic. Last year went over 10 times, this year....... you'll have to wait and see...