Copper Canyon and Batopilas

[Uncle Pollo]

[R2O]

Any guesses?[/QUOTE]

Yes its Coach or "the Coach." Hola Amigo Ramey. I didn't know you were still in Copper Canyon. Was riding around the top of the Canyon last week scouting for new roads. good to see you riding again
Adios
Your big Amigo Arturo

[tricepilot]

Correctomundo!!!

It is indeed Ramey "Coach" Stroud. He hooked up with Motodiscovery to do some of their off-road adventure training. What a job he does! EVERYONE came away much better riders after taking in his sage wisdom and through hands-on application.

As the winner you've won........we'll, I don't know what you've won BUT you should at least know that your powers of observation are keen!

[R2O]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

Correctomundo!!!

It is indeed Ramey "Coach" Stroud. He hooked up with Motodiscovery to do some of their off-road adventure training. What a job he does! EVERYONE came away much better riders after taking in his sage wisdom and through hands-on application.

As the winner you've won........we'll, I don't know what you've won BUT you should at least know that your powers of observation are keen!

Wow i won!!! don't I even get a cup of coffee. I lost coaches e-mail do you have it. I saw him in Creel for the HU event and have some great pics of him I would like to send him. He taught me how to ride standing up and to use my rear brake and throttle at the same time in a curve!!!!! wow now that is some fun.....

[tricepilot]

Try getting ahold of Coach at ridecoach.com or look up the Cascade Endurance Center on the web and see if you can find a link there to his email.

As for the prize, I think I left my Ipod in Room 4 at the Pueblo Viejo in Creel, it's between the matress and the boxspring. Its yours if you go back to Creel, ask for that room, and find it there!

[inte]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

After reading all the informative threads about Mexico's Copper Canyon, I decided to take my R1200GSA to Creel and Batopilas with Motodiscovery March 17 to 25 2007.

We must have ridden right past each other ... I was down there March 5-17

Ran into (not literally) at least one advrider and one "ledgend" as well

[R2O]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

Try getting ahold of Coach at ridecoach.com or look up the Cascade Endurance Center on the web and see if you can find a link there to his email.

As for the prize, I think I left my Ipod in Room 4 at the Pueblo Viejo in Creel, it's between the matress and the boxspring. Its yours if you go back to Creel, ask for that room, and find it there!

I will call down there today and have them look for it. I will be down there late this month to do some recon on some new roads. I will be based out of the Rancho San Lorenzo where the big waterfall is at(Basasachi). We are going to build a bunkhouse for anyone who wants to come down and kick back. there is no electricity but plenty of dirt roads, horseback riding and even some panhandeling! Gold up in them there hills ya know!!! Rancho is also going to build 30 cabin/condos for time shares this year as well.
I will try coach today as well Thanks

[tricepilot]

Muchas Gracias mi amigo.

Let me add to the thread a photo of the famous Skip Moscorro of MotoDiscovery a.k.a. Pancho Villa Moto Tours. Skip knows about everyone in the industry and even helped Helge Pedersen get his start. This was Skip in El Paso the day we left for the border:



Just to prove I am now an official Texan, here's me in front of a rather obscure landmark I'm sure nobody will recognize. Every Saturday morning the "usual gang of idiots" meets at Bike World on Broadway and heads out for the most authentic Mexican food we can find (yes I know we got that when actually in Mexico....)



Permit me to add one more shot of "Coach" Ramey Stroud, here in the Valle de los Monjes (Valley of the Monks).

[tricepilot]

I couldn't wait to get back to Mexico after going deep in country in October of 2006. That trip was to visit some of Mexico's colonial cities such as San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Ciudad Valles. Here's the trusty R1200GSA in the middle of the Sierra Madres in the early morning...let me tell you, the 1200GSA is equally killer off-road but is also insane in the twisties - it will give you whatever you need whenever you need it.



My wife likes photos of all the glorious plants and flowers of Mexico, so if she lets me take the trips, I'm happy to oblige. This one was made into prints and even part of a mexico photo greeting card project.



Friend Doris said it best - Mexico has it's own patina to it, part history, part culture, part, part magic.



Everywhere I went, there was stunning architecture and very friendly, helpful people. And now for my favorite city in all of Mexico, Guanajuato...



Above is a cathedral in Guanajuato. The tunnel system there used as a street system in modern day has to be ridden to be appreciated. Below these surface streets is a web of old mine shafts converted into actual city streets, with signs, stop lights, and intersections. You have to be in it to believe it.

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by harley1550

Thanks, Tricepilot. I enjoyed your posts. I ride to Big Bend, the River Road, and Presidio every year and have often thought about Copper Canyon. What percentage of the roads are dirt and is a dual sport required? Did you guys camp or stay in motels/hotels? Any more pictures and info. would be appreciated. Thanks.

There are lots of folks to ride to Copper on "road" bikes. The area is a gold mine of twisties and fabulous vistas. However to make the decent to Batopilas I would not want to go on anything but a straight-forward dual. I spent way more than half the time standing on the pegs - Fastway footpegs by the way - and was GLAD to have the capabilities of the bike underneath. I didn't see a single roadie going in or coming out of the canyon itself.

Motodiscovery did not originally plan to go to Batopilas on this particular off-road training trip. I advised the owner, Skip, that it was my opinion that most if not all folks who were making the effort to get to the Canyon AND to avail themselves of this type of training absolutely wanted to get to Batopilas. In my mind it would be like going to Colorado for climbing training and never getting vertical. So, Skip added a day free of charge to the trip and down to Batopilas we all went.

Like I said, you can have a blast on your road bike all over the Sierra Madres, the Canyon area, and more. But if you want to plunge down the canyon and along the cliff (see my first pic of this thread) - and you truly want to enjoy the ride, be safe, and not beat up your bike - go dual.

For places to stay, in Creel I recommend the Pueblo Viejo, but there are all sorts of places to stay in Creel. In Batopilas, there are several places that are talked about on other threads. I haven't heard of Batopilas filling up. Beware that there are trains with American RV tourists (and their RVs) pulling into Creel, and some of them have vans or pickups take them to overnight in Batoplias. Right now there aren't enough bike riders alone to fill the hotels, but I can't say what impact the RV gang has there. If you're the type that needs confirmation of accomodations, it wouldn't be hard to arrange.

You might want to push past Presidio, on to Chihuahua, and then down to Creel on your ride, then make arrangements to get to Bato somehow, just to see it. Leave the bike topside. Or, rent a dual sport and do the whole trip yourself to the bottom. It's truly one of the "rides of a lifetime".

As you've read in my thread, I did the River Road, Davis Mountains etc. leaving Mexico on this trip. I see why you go there all the time - west Texas alone is absolutely beautiful.

So go tell your wife you're adding another bike to the garage!

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by R2O

I will call down there today and have them look for it. I will be down there late this month to do some recon on some new roads. I will be based out of the Rancho San Lorenzo where the big waterfall is at(Basasachi). We are going to build a bunkhouse for anyone who wants to come down and kick back. there is no electricity but plenty of dirt roads, horseback riding and even some panhandeling! Gold up in them there hills ya know!!! Rancho is also going to build 30 cabin/condos for time shares this year as well.
I will try coach today as well Thanks

Got more info on your business and/or how we can avail of your tour service?

[judjonzz]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

There are lots of folks to ride to Copper on "road" bikes. The area is a gold mine of twisties and fabulous vistas. However to make the decent to Batopilas I would not want to go on anything but a straight-forward dual. I spent way more than half the time standing on the pegs - Fastway footpegs by the way - and was GLAD to have the capabilities of the bike underneath. I didn't see a single roadie going in or coming out of the canyon itself.

Motodiscovery did not originally plan to go to Batopilas on this particular off-road training trip. I advised the owner, Skip, that it was my opinion that most if not all folks who were making the effort to get to the Canyon AND to avail themselves of this type of training absolutely wanted to get to Batopilas. In my mind it would be like going to Colorado for climbing training and never getting vertical. So, Skip added a day free of charge to the trip and down to Batopilas we all went.

Like I said, you can have a blast on your road bike all over the Sierra Madres, the Canyon area, and more. But if you want to plunge down the canyon and along the cliff (see my first pic of this thread) - and you truly want to enjoy the ride, be safe, and not beat up your bike - go dual.

For places to stay, in Creel I recommend the Pueblo Viejo, but there are all sorts of places to stay in Creel. In Batopilas, there are several places that are talked about on other threads. I haven't heard of Batopilas filling up. Beware that there are trains with American RV tourists (and their RVs) pulling into Creel, and some of them have vans or pickups take them to overnight in Batoplias. Right now there aren't enough bike riders alone to fill the hotels, but I can't say what impact the RV gang has there. If you're the type that needs confirmation of accomodations, it wouldn't be hard to arrange.

You might want to push past Presidio, on to Chihuahua, and then down to Creel on your ride, then make arrangements to get to Bato somehow, just to see it. Leave the bike topside. Or, rent a dual sport and do the whole trip yourself to the bottom. It's truly one of the "rides of a lifetime".

As you've read in my thread, I did the River Road, Davis Mountains etc. leaving Mexico on this trip. I see why you go there all the time - west Texas alone is absolutely beautiful.

So go tell your wife you're adding another bike to the garage!

+1 It is possible to get to Bato on a street bike. When I was there in February, there was a guy who had ridden his Shadow down from McAllen. He said if he had known what the road was like, he would have passed on the trip, but he got down and he got back to Creel. His riding partners were a couple of guys on GSes. One of them looked completely wrung out by the trip down; his face and shirt were bathed in sweat. His buddy, who had a lot of offroad experience, seemed unruffled by the whole affair.

Having said that, the ride down is a whole lot easier on a dual sport. If you want to ride beyond Bato, to Urique or out of the mountains to El Fuerte and Alamos, you will be much better served by a dual sport bike, 650cc or smaller. The ride across the Urique River has been made by bigger bikes, but the accounts of those rides all seem to exercises in survival, lots of dropped bikes, and some late nights in the canyons.

You don't have to ride there, however. The train goes from Creel to El Fuerte and Los Mochis. On several occasions, members of our party who were not up for the ride for one reason or another have taken the train to meet us in El Fuerte, a very nice place to spend a couple of days.

[Uncle Pollo]

bump

I got another secret!

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by Don_Alejo

Hi Trace!

I met you in the hotel in El Paso.

I went through the training too and It changed completely the way I ride.

Guess who I am?

You are the famous Señor G: veteran of Motodiscovery and also of the fixed gear cycle world. And, combat biff veteran from RR 337.

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by judjonzz

Pilot, nice pics, especially of Batopilas. It is amazing how differently people see the same place, or at least how different are the pics they choose to shoot.

Pantah, you can ride out of Bato and get back to Creel with a side trip to Urique with only one river crossing, the Urique river, about 30 mi. past Batopilas. If you want to do a bigger loop out to Alamos and El Fuerte, you have to cross the Chinipas River and, if you don't want to backtrack, cross lake Huites on the ferry. Or you can ride down to Los Mochis, almost on the Sea of Cortez, and ride north from there, all on pavement if you like.

I think if I were going to ride solo down there, I would get back in the gym. Maybe falling down has become so commonplace it no longer affords a rush of adrenalin. I used to be able to pick my bikes up without much trouble, but I find as sixty approaches that sheer muscle no longer avails me; I have to try to outsmart the bike or get some help.

I still have to track down the rest of Gaspipe's Mexico accounts and read them. The guy is an awesome traveler.

Jud

As sixty approaches you are doing exactly the right thing keeping you young at heart. Keep riding and exploring new vistas, at least until you can't twist the throttle anymore. There are cures for that, too.

Next up: Mexico's Sea of Cortez and the Western slope.

Bob