Mexico-Copper Canyon with Rosen's Ride

[sailwing2003]

Stumpy started posting about this trip in the "Mexico Maddog 1600" thread. I sure hope that he continues his story.

Part 1 of several to come, and note that my camera lens cover did not like the dust and bumps and sometimes did not open or close completely. The dark top and bottom corners are not my gloves. This was also my first trip with the camera, and I am amazed any of the "on the fly" left handed and over the shoulder shots worked!

About 300 photo with captions are located at:
http://sailwing.smugmug.com/gallery/396865

This report has some of the total pictures from the gallery.

I must start with a huge thanks to Rosen's Rides, Rickie Rosen, Justin Lopez and Raul. They put this all together for us, made the trip start in Presidio for the DFW group that started at 4 grew to 7 and then lost 3 in the final weeks before leaving. There is nothing more that could have been asked for, or done to make this one of the best trips I have ever made. From my first hearing about the trip in 2000, and getting the video that summer, I have dreamed of seeing this part of Mexico. Justin and Raul are magical in their powers, to guide 9 different riders, of all different backgrounds, thru the constantly changing events and circumstances for some 12 days, and to always have a smile says a lot. It is a huge responsibility that Justin handles so well, as he leads a bunch of gringos thru his world. He showed us the part of Mexico that few will ever enjoy. Meeting someone off the Copper Canyon train makes one realize that there is just no better way than by motorcycle to see the back roads of Mexico.
The Mexicans welcomed us, helped us with their smiles, their patience, were honest with the pesos, and laughed along with us as we used our terrible Spanish and sign language. Everywhere we went they waved, from the cars and trucks, from the school yards and fields and front porches. It was truly a very special trip.

Well, 9 of us met in Presidio TX for a 11 day, 10 night Copper Canyon to Sea of Cortez ride with Rosen's Rides. We are a mixed group of 9 guys, ages from 44 to 62, mostly self-employed, but a couple of retired guys as well.

Justin Lopez guides and leads us the first pre ride day over the border to do the paperwork. He makes a couple of trips back and forth to get the late arrival guys all checked into Mexico with the correct paperwork.

We enjoy a dinner together, getting to know everyone.

The group is:

2 friends from Mass, many years of New England rock garden riding. They arrive with a huge trailer full, with 4 bikes, (two street bikes), full size BBQ, and more stuff than a race team. They are out for 2 months, with stops all across the south to ride after Mexico. They are going to do bike week, and have to be home by March 28th. Joe is renting, Josh is on a KTM 320 in full race prep. They both are great riders.



Josh

2 friends from Kentucky, Mike, and Stewart, both back for a second trip with Rosen's Ride. They bring a perfect 2004 KLR and a DRZ400. They are great riders, and prepared for almost everything.



Mike and Stewart

1 rider from Houston, Stumpy, on his Honda XR650R also back for a 2nd trip with Rosen's Ride, who plans to haul to Cuathemoc, and offered to carry Josh and his KTM to save knobbies.


Stumpy in his hard earned Terlingua Ranch shirt


4 riders from the DFW area on KLR's with anywhere from no off road experience to a couple of 1000 miles of Big Bend, gravel roads, The Ozark Fall Color Ride, and a couple of days in some local motocross parks. There is not much off road riding in the local area, and that will be a turn out to be a problem for us. Vince, Lee, Joel and me, Dave

More to follow.

[sailwing2003]

Day 1

Presidio to Cuauhtemoc, paved

We cross the border, no stops as we all have our windshield stickers. Justin is driving the chase truck to Cuauhtemoc where his bike is parked and we will meet Raul who will drive the truck for the rest of the trip. Justin briefs us on where and what to do. We follow him thru town till he waves us around and we continue to our first group stop. Rosen’s lets us set our own pace, stop where ever for photos, and always has the truck riding drag on the group. The trip is mountain curves and then 7 to 12 mile straight lines across desert portions, followed by the next mountain range crossings. Fantastic roads, signage, and striping are to become the norm for all the paved roads in Mexico.



The only surprises are the rocks on the road, a Mexican habit of blocking parked trucks with a handy roadside rock that is usually just left on the road as the truck moves off.

Our first stop is Peguis Canyon overlook, photos taken and on we roll. We are stopped just a short distance later at the government checkpoint where our paperwork, and passports are looked at, and we are passed thru. Our route is on the old highway 16, with little traffic, since most are now using the new toll road. We make a stop at the Pemex stations that are about every 50 miles. They are clean, attended, and all have a store next door with snacks, food and bottled water. We press on, running almost any speed we want as the day warms into the 40s, some of us enjoying heated grips and jacket liners. We gather together at the Pemex just out side of Aldama, get fuel and our next set of instructions. This became the way on most of the trip, a quick overview of what lie ahead, and where to next stop and regroup. Throughout the trip Justin keeps track of who will need gas where to get to the next Pemex. The KLR "tankers" didn’t need to fill as often as the others. And were able to ride the rough days without full tanks. Of course the truck carried fuel for the small tank bikes.

Justin guided us thru all the turns in town and turned us loose till the overpass outside of Chihuahua. With a population of over a million, we would be led around the bypass, with a bunch of turns.

We made the turns thru the city and took the toll road to Cuauhtemoc, climbed higher, entered the cattle grazing, ranching and farming areas of the state. We passed miles of covered apple orchards lining the highway for as far as one could see.

Our arrival at the hotel became the norm for the trip, Justin goes and checks us in, is back in just minutes with the keys, assigns room, and we form the conveyor belt to unload the truck. We find out where the ATM will give us pesos, phone and beer store are located, oil chains, and get our dinnertime schedule and are off to explore the town center. Later we walk a couple of blocks to the best steak dinner. We order off the menu with Justin's guidance and translations, chips, salsa, guacamole, beer and more to start, and then the huge steaks show up, followed by one of three kinds of desert. We are off to a great start.

[sailwing2003]

Day 2

Cauathtemoc to Creel paved

We walk to a great breakfast, order everything off the menu, have fresh squeezed orange juice and plates of food. We wipe the frost off the seats, load the bikes and truck, kickstands up with Justin leading we make the trip out of town to the Pemex. Fueled, we head out west following the RR, and as we climb we enter into the pine forests with rock formations.


Just a couple of miles out of Creel, Vince pulls off the road on a corner for photos, and washes out the front wheel, going down on the right, twisting his right foot under the bike. He is released from under the bike by the group, and finds that his right foot hurts. We continue into Creel to the Best Western, get our room assignments, unload the truck, and Justin and Raul take Vince off to the clinic.

Joe with the X-Ray, Vince with his new riding cast, and Lee on door service

About an hour and half later they arrive back, with the x-ray, and his leg in a cast. Some of the group get instructions for some more optional riding and are off. Everyone regroups for beers on the porch, and later dinner. We build Vince a crutch out of gas pipe, a T, and two 5" nipples and cut the pipe to length at the shop at the hotel, add a tape wrap for a hand grip, and a pair of socks for padding. We get plans made to get Vince sent home to see a specialist, and look forward to tomorrow. As it cools off the gas fireplace keeps the log cabins warm and give a nice glow to the darkened rooms.

More to come

[Drifting Fate]

Keep the stories & pics coming!

[sailwing2003]

Day 3

Creel to Cerocahui

We start with breakfast at the Best Western, and a good bye to Vince, and leave Vince's bike locked under cover to be picked up on the return in 9 days.







Our first miles are more of the beautiful mountain riding, views, and forests on our way to the turnoff to the Divisadero. It is the most often visited overlook in the canyon.








The Tarahumara Indians sell their jewelry, hand woven baskets, and hand made belts, scarves and bracelets to the last tourists that we will see for many days.



We travel a short distance before airing down our tires for the hundreds of dirt roads ahead. The rest of the group blast off.

Just a few short mile in on the drop down to the low road to Cerocahui, Lee misjudges a 200 degree switchback, and rides off the edge. I am leading him, coasting down a pitch. In the mirror I see him make most of the corner, and then as he leaves the road, push off the bike, drop from view, watch the bike hang in the tree, and then rotate upside down and disappear after him. Oh this is not good! I stop, sideways on the road, to stop any traffic, run back up to the edge, leave my helmet on the largest rock, and start working my way down the rock face. Lee is face down, pinned down by the bike, not moving, I work my way down, turn off the key, and lift the KLR off his legs. He turns over, pulls off his helmet, smiles and thanks me for the help.



My heart is pounding, and he is smiling. We gather up some of his stuff, and I go back up to put his helmet on the road.



I know that Raul is behind us, not sure how far. As I start down to my bike, Raul rolls up and stops. I use my English hand signals for "bike over the cliff"" and the "OK", and when he gets to the edge of the cliff uses the first English I've have heard from him, "Oh shit". Raul starts working his way down, I go to get my bike and come back up the road. He must have done this kind of thing before.




Raul starts working the bike down slope, thru the trees and cactus. When I get back to the edge he is coming up, seems to say that Lee and the bike are down on the next road. I follow his truck down the road to where I think Lee might be. No Lee, but looking up thru the woods I finally spot him. My turn to say what Raul said.






Justin returns from the next stopping place, gets the news, smiles and starts up the slope to ride the bike down. After getting on, he gets off. And we 4 walk the bike down the best line we can find. Then it is just down the last pitch into the truck.



Note the use of the 100# of beans and a Mexican parking rock, and we added two tow straps and with 4 people we lowered the bike into the empty truck. We reload all the gear with Lee who wants to go on, not back, and we are off on the low road again to Cerocahui.



more of day 3 to follow

[gaspipe]

[sailwing2003]

Gaspipe,

You helped set the standard for this Copper Canyon reporting stuff. Justin and Raul had seen the first 3 or 4 days of your Dec. account.

Between you and Maddog Samson, none of us could hope to match your two adventures, craziness or writings.

More of the Jan. 11 day trip to follow.

Dave

[bmwhd]

Keep 'em coming!

[Eurobiker]

[sailwing2003]

Day 3 continued

It is today that the youngest guy, on the best bike for the off road trip, make a very small mistake at the first of the next 100+ water crossings and in front of almost everyone does a perfect endo. They said he came up very quickly out of the water and the KTM started right up and drove out of the creek. Us back on the cliff missed the swimming lesson.

It is later on this road that Mike, while ripping along at a good clip, goes thru one of the many potholes, while standing on the pegs, smashes the aftermarket center stand on the rocks and shears off all 4 foot peg bolts. He drops on the seat, tank bag, and windshield, and only because of his skill gets it stopped without crashing. He goes back to pick up his missing parts. He finally locates the second foot peg down 20' in shallow water in the river.



Note how nice and clean the left peg is after soaking in the river.
We load the parts, and are off he cruises using the highway pegs. He is still fast.




Sag truck, a "travel light" group, and a unrideable KLR, and spares: priceless



Joel, legs for any size bike, and me dusty from following everyone.




We arrive at Justin's motel, get our room assignments, start the wood stoves and the beer. Justin loads his kids and Lee in the truck for a trip to the clinic in the village of Cerocahui. The Dr. pokes and decides maybe nothing is broken. Lee gets something for the pain and discomfort that he will have for the next week. They return and we enjoy lunch, afternoon beers and later dinner is served. We are to spend the first of many hours solving world problems, before moving to the porch.



Justin's home is being built, it's phase 2. The foundation is just completed, and brick structure starts soon. They will have a beautiful view of the river below. He will then have 6 double rooms, hot showers, great beds, wood stoves in each room, a dinning space. Then will start on phase 3. The government is planning to improve the high road to Cerocahui by paving it in the next 4 years, and then you will be able to trailer your trail bikes to his motel. We sat on the porch, enjoyed watching puppies and children and then watched the moon rise.



Justin's older daughter, she warmed up to us gringos after an hour. She speaks Spanish with her mon, and English with Justin, but alittle of both with us. She hung on him, as he had been gone most of the month.



Spare lap dogs, on sit/stay, till called or needed. Included in the price of the tour.

Can things get any better? Today we rode in on some very dusty roads and wonder how much more dust we might see. No need to worry, Justin schedules a light night rain to settle the dust, and rinse off the bikes.
Day 4 to follow

[slide]

[sailwing2003]

Day 4 Cerocahui to Chinipas



We are greeted with a sunny morning, Oriela, Justin's wife, cooks and serves us a very great hearty breakfast including a homemade coffee cake. We leave Lee's unrideable bike to be picked up on the return trip. We thin our loads, leave things we might not need for the next week and head out. My day is made more interesting by a rock hit by my aftermarket center stand on my lowered KLR. A short stop and some line I have it tied to the bike, so that it will not pivot and on I ride.



Joe and Justin inspected my sailer rigging to understand how KLR footpegs should be tied to the bike. I learned how to do this last year at the Ozark Fall Color ride. It worked for a couple of days.




We stop in the only little town on today’s ride for a lunch, at the only place that serves food. Some say it was bull's ball soup., Others just ate it because there was no other choice available in town.
Later in the afternoon, Mike and Joe run up behind Justin and want to go faster. He waves them on. Minutes later Mike rounds a tight lefty corner and meets a truck coming up the grade, on the wrong side of center.


He tries to go inside, and the truck tries to go outside, and Mike does all that could be done, before getting off the bike. The bike goes down, and under the right front wheel in the center of the road. Mike goes down the truck's right side sliding in the gravel. After looking at the problem the truck backs off the bike, and we discover the sheared off brake line on the truck. We are able to plug the system with a nail, and since they know Justin, they let us go on. The truck is from a cafe in Chinipas and is making the 60 mile round trip to the next town and the railroad, to get fresh fish, shrimp and supplies. It is a 6 hour trip for the truck in low gears.


We spend the next couple of hours taking things off the KLR to make it rideable.



Damage includes: bent key, bent handle bars, dead starter switch, broken instrument cluster, broken fairing, one mirror, turn signals, broken lower shrouds, bent overflow tank frame, bent radiator, crushed fan shroud, reshaped gas tank edges, bent and broken left highway peg frame, folded and bent shifter lever, and a ripped off hand guard.



All in all, not un-rideable. Raul shows up, and we start what is to become the theme of the trip. "Another day, another KLR bites the dust." We load all the broken parts, and all the tools, and head off for town. Most of us being much more careful about our lane position on every tight blind corner.
Justin leads us into town, slows, stops and jumps off his bike, opens some doors, and then jumps the curb and rides into tonight’s motel.





We follow suit, across the sidewalk, into the motel lobby, crossing the tile floors, and drop down into the courtyard.

More to follow

[gaspipe]

Caguama's puppies are growing up!

I think you guys have earned the title of the No Te Ahuites Tour, Part 2.

Onward!

[sailwing2003]

Day 4 con't.
As we are unloading the truck, Stumpy comes out, he needs Justin inside. Something about how his bike had just tipped over, fallen against the landlady, pushing her into the box hiding her water heater. It is usually a fight to get her to turn on the electricity and light the water heater, this might be really bad. Justin works more magic, and we will have hot water soon. Justin reports that for 6 years the shower in the front room as been missing the shower head. Raul takes off to find a welding torch, and returns with 3 cases of beer and the torch.



We come to learn that Raul can find anything, and knows someone in every town we pass thru. He is the answer to any problem.



We start on the beer and take Mike's bike apart, everything that is plastic comes off, plus the tank, fan and shroud and everything on the bars. The plan is to heat the cross bar, and pull the bars back out to more normal position. While we are working on Mike's bike, others start to change the rear tire on the rental KLR. Since it had not gone flat, we had a tough time breaking the bead, till Joe's 44 years of experience brought in the gasoline. Pouring it on the rim loosened the tire’s grip. Joe did in 5 minutes what 3 of us had struggled with for 30.



By this time the torch was hooked up to a water heater gas-bottle. With Mike heating, Joe and Stewart pulling and Stumpy holding the bike back, the custom bar work was done.



Then the work began on the fan and shroud. The only solution was to cut away the fan shroud to get a couple of mounting bolts to work. So with vise grips holding a hack saw blade the shroud got it's mod, till we got two of the holes to line up. Then we added a couple of wires to the starter solenoid, ran them up to the cross bar, and they worked to start the bike for the next days ride. To start you just touch the two bare ends together and then spread them to ride. We reassembled all the parts, and finished most of the beer and went to dinner.
We are in one of only two motels in town, it is poor choice, but has safe parking. The town has very limited dinning, and we are assured that things will get much better as we go on. This is the worst hotel, and meals of the trip as it turns out. Justin is right about everything getting better, little did we expect just how much better indeed.

[sailwing2003]

Day 5

Chinipas to Alamos, all dirt

We start the morning in the fog, planning to see if we might make the river crossing.



The river is lower than 2 weeks ago, and we are able to make the crossing, saving an hour that it would take to muscle the bikes up the steps on the suspension bridge.



Most of us make the long crossing to the sand bar without stalling or feet down. We all make the second half without problems.



Some change out to dry socks.



We crossed just left of Lee, from the low spot in the trees.

The truck makes the crossing, water only up to the bumper. For some of us it is our longest water crossing, and our first with strong currents that swept us all off our lines. We regroup and start up "The Big Hill". Rosen suggests a lower 14 tooth gear for this ride, and this is the day it really makes a difference.



This was a nice place to tie my other side foot peg on. It is going to be a long 12 mile climb.



As everyone knows, you can only take pictures when it is not bad, and here it is not too bad.


We climb for 2 hours, and make 1000's of feet up, and down to top out at 8000", in and out of the sun, the wet, the dry, sand, rock gardens, shelves, follow a bulldozer working the road for a mile and ride on every kind of surface. The dozer was just tearing up the hard pack, loosening the big rocks, and then "smoothing" by hiding the big loose rocks. Riding on this loose topsoil, covering hard rock, big rocks, sometimes hidden in the 8" deep gravel and sand was a real challenge. I broke off a right side foot peg bolt on another high center, a couple of minutes with some line and I had it tied to not rotate. On we rode.







When I caught up with the lead 4 guys at the top, they asked what I thought of "Mother Fu..er Hill" I could only be amazed that the KLR could make such a climb. We were later joined by Justin, Joe and Josh. Their story was that Joe had stopped after a bad section to see what Josh's line was going to be. He stopped next to the edge of the road, put his foot down, in the powder, and felt nothing there to stand on. He went over the side, rolled away down the slope, but the bike's handle bar dug into the slope. Justin rounds the corner, sees Joe on the inside, and the bike upside down, just the bottom edges of the tires showing on the side of the road. Justin said the same thing that Raul said on the last KLR over the cliff. They struggle to get the bike back up on the road, and finally give up, and start working it down to the last road. So we have the 4th KLR down, but with almost no damage. They manage to get the flooded bike restarted and soon catch up with the group. We kid Joe about an extra mileage charge that he will have to pay for re-riding that section.



Madrone tree, with red bark, found as we go over the top, leaving the wet side and start down the drier side.


We drop down on the drier side of the mountains and run out into the beginning of the desert. The road changes from big rocks, gravel to sand and hard pack as we run out on the flats.









I am have by now broken 2 more bolts off, and we stop and remove the center stand and the only good bolt and throw the second foot peg into the tank bag. Justin asks want type of repair do I want to try to do, easy out the broken bolts or welding. I don't care, what ever we find, I came to ride, and will fix everything when I get home. As we enter the edge of Alamos Justin stops at the roadside and motions me into the pits for a quick repair.





Justin's welding solution, right on the route. With all this help we get the peg on almost in the correct position.

The welder hooks his Lincoln cracker box to wires hanging off of his meter with two spring clamps. We hold one peg in place, and it is soon welded on. The right side's bolt holds that side's position exactly right, and it gets some welding. $5 bucks and a cold beer from the store on the corner and we are on our way. Sure is more fun with foot pegs again.

We pull into town, fill up at the Pemex, and Mike find a push button switch to add to his hot wire starting system. It gets added to his bike, and he is happy to not have to burn his fingers to start the bike now.


Our motel tonight is a beautiful private hacienda. We have the whole compound, patios, pool, and gardens. Almost everyone gets private rooms.



Upper rooms, one of many porches, rough times now



Drive or ride anything you want in town.



Typical cobblestone street with the no maintance lane rocks.

We are just 3 blocks off main street. There is a music festival going on all week, the square and all of the main streets are crowded. There are a 100 plus booths, stands and vendors, selling all kinds of food, goods and drinks. We walk a block to an African Cafe, owned and run by Tom, who spends half the year in central Africa in Liberia and Ghana leading big game safaris from his camp in the jungle. He serves us huge meals cooked there at the outdoor kitchen, great tasting shrimp, fish, and beef, and we leave very full after ice cream and fried bananas for desert. We wander thru the square, amazed by the activities, and see a Sat. night festival.

More to follow...