Motorcycle Adventures in Mexico (and Guatemala but not Belize anymore)

Day 27, Guaymas, Sonora – Last night in Mexico

2010-01-13T16:48:00.001-08:00

The ride today was long and uneventful. I left La Cruz early and headed to the Libre, there would be plenty of Cuota (toll) roads later and I wasn’t in too much of a rush. I went through Culiacan, then passed by Los Mochis, then up into Cuidad Obregon. Most of the roads were straight and kind of boring, but it was good for eating up the miles, or kilometers. I did just under 700km today in about 8 hours or so. Only stops to get gas and buy some water. I didn’t even eat lunch. I did have some Canelitas (cinnamon) cookies left from yesterday that I munched on as I rode. I also purchased some Mexcican Ritz crackers to get some salt back into my body. It wasn’t as hot as I was expecting though so it was a decent day.

So now I am about 5 hours from the border. Should be in Arizona for lunch time, depending on the line is to get to the other side. I also need to find a Banjercito (Military bank) to cancel my vehicle permit. If I don’t they will charge me something like $400 dollars. I guess that is enough to reduce how many cars people take over and sell.

Day 26, La Cruz, Sinaloa – The start of the ride back home

2010-01-13T15:23:00.000-08:00

I didn’t sleep that well last night so I stayed in bed till 8a or so. Then I got up,made eggs and chorizo with refried beans and a quesideilla. I took it all up the roof and ate it with a great view of the ocean. After that I packed up my stuff, cleaned the dishes and kitchen and set off. I didn’t end of leaving till around 12:30p so I wasn’t sure how far I would get. I stuck to the free roads and found my way back to Matachen bay and San Blas area. I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures when we stopped on the way down, so I wanted to see the bay where you used to be able to catch the longest wave in the world. Unfortunately due to changing ocean floor and other conditions, that waves only breaks on a certain type of swell and it doesn’t get it very often.

I continued on toward Mazatlan and got there a little after 4p. There was still plenty of light so I pushed on. There were a couple other towns on the map that I figured I could stop and find a hotel. However all those towns were on the Cuota (toll), and the Libre (free) highway happened to veer and stay apart all the way to Culiacan, 200km further. With the sun going down I stopped at a gas station to ask about a hotel. An older guy said there was one in the tiny town off the pathway behind the gas station, it was above a hardware store. But when I mentioned I was thinking of heading toward the toll road another said there was one over looking the ocean that was nice. I headed to the toll road and ended up passing the little motel. It was a small dirt off ramp and the motel didn’t look all that. I ended up coming into the next town, La Cruz and found an acceptable place. It’s not that nice, but it is ok. I just need to spend one night here. I am contemplating going out and trying to find the internet…

“Twenty Seven Dresses” is on and it has been dubbed in Spanish. They ruined one of the best parts though. The two get drunk in a bar and start singing Benny and the Jets, but the Spanish version cuts out them singing! All you hear is the actually song in the background. I can’t believe it, they usually leave in the singing in English but not in this one.

Day whatever + 1, Punta de Mita, Jalisco – Sun, Sand and Surf

2010-01-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

The ride to Punta Mita was fine, I took the free road most of the way but I got there with the sun still out. I ran into a older guy on a motorcycle who offered to give me a good deal at his hotel so I went to check it out. It looked great, a huge room, Sky TV, a full kitchen and a couch, all for $35 a night! I then went to go rent a board since I wanted to get out early the next morning. I ended having to strap it to the side of my bike to ride it back to the hotel, it worked out well except it was hard to put my left foot on the ground with the board there. I was planning to ride that way down to the trail for the beach break but the guys at the surf shop said the parking area wasn’t totally safe so it would be better to walk down the beach instead.

The next morning I took off about 8a to walk down to the surf break, La Lancha. A swell was hitting to the waves were supposed to be head high or so. The walk down the beach was a little more tricky than I though, I had to over rocks, and around a big point, all during high tide. I later found there was a path over the point instead of around it. Anyway, the surf was good so I paddled out. By the time I got out to the lineup my arms were already tired, I need to get into better surfing shape! It was fun out there though, I didn’t catch as many waves as I hoped, I tried to pick good ones to conserve energy. I did get caught in side once and ended up coming to rest for a little bit. I did catch some fun waves and it was a good morning. The walk back wasn’t as bad since the tide was lower and it was easier to get over the rocks and stuff.

I went back out that after noon but I went to the break in from of the main hotel area. The waves were a lot smaller, only waist high or so, but there were some fun rides. I ended up running over and trading the board I had for a longer one. The longer board worked better in the small stuff although the quad fin layout made the back a little loose, it needed a big center fin. It was fun out there but at the end of the day my arms and shoulders and back were sore. I was thinking of staying another day, I think I would have been too sore to have had a lot of fun.

Day whatever, Guadalajara, Jalisco – It’s good to know people

2010-01-13T15:20:00.001-08:00

I almost stay in San Miguel an extra day since it was rainy and I didn’t feel like venturing out and getting wet. Then I figured I wouldn’t get to do too much if I stayed anyway so I packed up, wrapped my shoes in plastic and hit the road. Fortunately once I got away from town the rain let up and eventually stopped although it remained cloudy the whole way

I left I left SMA a little later than I would have like, so I took the shorter route that bypassed Dolores Hidalgo and Guanajuato. I made good time into GDL and once I got into town I was supposed to called this guy Andy, he is a friend of my buddy Matt in SD, and they have known each other for like 15 years. I hoped that since GDL is the second largest city in Mexico my phone should get service, well I was again disappointed. It should it had roaming service which basically means no service. I rode into the downtown area and tried to get online to call with Skype but I couldn’t connect to any of the public networks. Finally I found an internet place and was able to get a hold of Andy. He actually wasn’t too far away from were I was so he told me were to meet up with him.

I am glad I went to GDL a day early there was a lot to do and see and I got to meet a bunch of people through Andy. I had time on Saturday to check out one of the parks and see a couple churches, or temples as some people call them. That night I met up with some of the people I had met the night before for a Spetzel-fest. One of the guys Frank is German and likes to cook so he invited people over. On Sunday I went to church in the morning then talked to Andy about which beach I should go to. Since I wanted to do some surfing and needed to rent a board, he recommended Punta Mita. So after he showed me where the breaks were and where to rent a board I set out.

Day 21 San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato – A beautiful mountain morning ruined by the cops…

2010-01-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

I headed of Cuernavaca early to try to avoid traffic and get to San Miguel de Allende (SMA) as soon as possible. I was going to have to fight through some traffic in Toluca but at least I was avoiding Mexico City. The way out of Cuernavaca was pretty straight forward and the turn off for Toluca clearly marked. This route would end up winding through the mountains and taking me up over 10,000ft. The highest peaks around me were probably around 11,000ft and the morning was crisp and clear. At the top of the pass there was a meadow with horses grazing, I should have taken a picture…

On the way down the other side I ended up behind a police car. I slowed down and carried on behind him at his same pace, which was rather slow. Eventually some taxis came up behind us and summarily passed us. We were going a little slower than what I assumed was the speed limit (50 in a 60) so I pulled out and passed the cop as well. He was probably waiting for it cause not 5 seconds later the lights came on. Fantastic. There was no shoulder or anything on which to pull over and stop and gestured as much to them. They finally pulled in front and told me to follow them. Fortunately they did not want me to follow them to some out of the way abandoned building but to a little turn off area. They asked to see my documents which I presented, and the cop wanted to make sure my license was good for a motorcycle, which I showed him it was. They asked what were in my bags, then let me go. Not a big deal, thank goodness.

The rest of the ride was fairly straight forward. Aside for the road work and small detours I made it to SMA in good time. It is a quaint little town in the Silver region of Mexico. It is also a fairly large tourist destination. I found the hotel that was recommended to me and it was a little more pricey than I would have liked, but I have a feeling that anything with parking, close to the Zocalo would be in that same range, and it would require me riding around and getting frustrated. I dropped off my gear and went to wander about. I found a small little restaurant, got some food then found a bakery to get some sweet bread for dessert. Afterward I set out to find a barber shop to get a shave. I had brought a cheap Gillette razor but it doesn’t work well when my facial hair is long. Apparently there is only one place that shaves with a straight razor and it was this old guy which hopefully means he has a lot of experience. It was my first time getting it down and I think he did a pretty good job. There are some stray hairs here and there but its nice to be clean shaven.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain and I am planning to ride through Dolores Hidalgo and Guanajuato City, two other old Silver mining towns although they are supposed to be bigger cities than SMA. Hopefully it does not rain a lot. I plan to make it into Guadalajara at a reasonable hour and see if I can meet up with Andy, a friend of a friend who lives there. I will probably spend two day in GDL then head back to the coast for the ride back to the states. Let’s hope for some good weather.

Day 20 Cuernavaca, Morelos – Another day, another city

2010-01-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

Before I left Oaxaca I grabbed a quick tamale torta, atole champurrado and shoe shine. My boots have seen its fair share of miles and could use the clean up. With that done and my bags packed I hit the road north to the state of Morelos. I found my way out of Oaxaca without incident, and decided to take the free road out of town instead of the cuota (toll road). It was a good decision as it was a fairly curvy deserted section of road. The desertedness may be due to today being Day of the Kings (Dia de los Reyes), whatever it was I did not complain.

The ride was rather uneventful. I stopped in small town called Yahuntla to take a look at an old church that looked interesting. It was under the process of being restored but it was pretty cool looking inside. An old grounds giving gave me a brief tour for a small “collaboration” fee. I left there and kept on the way. It was a good thing I had a route to follow because unless you know most of the small towns between where you are and where you are going, it is difficult to make heads or tails of where you want to go.

I made it into the city almost without incident, a wrong turn here, almost getting steamrolled by a speeding bus, but who’s counting. I was supposed to meet up with a guy from Couch Surfing but I was never able to get a hold of him. The cell phone I bought in TJ has ended up being a piece of crap and almost useless. I ended up going into the city center and finding a hotel not too far away. Once I got unpacked I took a stroll around to find some food. I found a decent torta (Mexican Sandwich) place, got one and was filled. I went back to the hotel to see what this city has to offer and where I need to go in the little time I am here. Well there is a cool Cathedral that was built like a fort. It even has a skull and crossbones over the entrance, but I think that denotes a Franciscan Monastery or something. There is also a museum that has a large Diego Rivera mural, but it was closed, and a nice botanical garden, but it was too dark to see anything. I ended up finding a café, ordering some hot chocolate and rosca (King bread) and relaxed for a bit. Tomorrow I head up to San Miguel de Allende and I have a feeling finding my way there may be a little difficult.

Day 19 – Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Oaxaca

2010-01-05T20:46:00.001-08:00

I wanted to get an early start this morning but when I got down to the lobby the entrance was blocked by a car. I decided to go look for some breakfast so I walked to the Zocalo (town center) and found a guy selling tamales. I bought one with mole and a cup of atole champurrado, a chocolate drink made from corn. It was a very good breakfast, albeit the tamale was hot and burnt the roof of my mouth but I couldn’t stop eating it.

After that I headed out to the ruins. The kid at the desk gave me some easy directions, or so it seemed, and I promptly got lost. It is a pain to get around here, especially with the a lot of the streets downtown blocked off for the holiday celebrations (tomorrow is day of the Kings). I eventually made it to Monte Alban around 10a, got my ticket and went in. I have to admit I was not very impressed. Don’t get me wrong, it was all very interesting but after having seen Palenque and Tikal in the last week, size wise, this wasn’t all that. It was interesting to read some of the boards and learn of the different eras of construction. A lot of the older construction had been modified or built on top of between 300-500 AD. Going into the museum afterwards they had on display numerous posts and household items that gave more of a sense of it having been inhibited. They also displayed an almost complete skeleton and various skulls!

I spent a couple hours there and as I was getting ready to leave a couple guys came up asking about the bike. They were all bus drivers that had dropped people off and were just waiting around. One guy was familiar with San Diego and started naming off places like National City and La Mesa and Chula Vista. I don’t think has ever been but he has plenty of compadres there. I took advantage to ask the guys where a bike shop was so that I could change my oil. One of the guys said there were a couple by a gas station but I never found them. I did find one but they didn’t have any oil. I drove around a bit and went back to one I passed on my way to Monte Alban in the morning. All they had was Bardahl 20W50. They told me of another place that, again, I never found, but I did find place with some Motul 15W50. They made room for me to work on my bike and dug through some buckets to find a filter removal tool. When all was said and done I tipped the guys like 60 pesos for having let me use the stuff.

I was thinking of going out to Mitla but with the pain it is to drive here I decided against it. I ended up walking through one of the markets and getting some food garnachas in the street market that has many of the streets closed. After walking around for a bit I went back to the hotel to rest for a bit then at 7:30 I went to the Zocalo to meet up with Paul and Eric for dinner. It was good to see them again and tell them about my adventures in Guatemala. They have been in Oaxaca for about a week now since we left Puerto Escondido. They just got into a Spanish class so they will be here another week before pushing south some more. After walking around a bit and fighting our way through a ridiculously crowded people intersection in the market, we found a good taco stand where we got our fill of tacos. We then had some hot cakes (pancakes) with various toppings for dessert. After that we said our goodbyes and promised to stay in touch. Now it need to get my things packed up and ready to go tomorrow morning.

Day 18 Oaxaca, Oaxaca – A long day in the saddle

2010-01-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

I know the post yesterday said day 16 and today says 18, well I was looking at my schedule and I guess I guess I dropped a day, probably the first day, so today is actually day 18 of the trip.

The ride today long, 386 miles in 8 hours. I left San Cris and jumped on the toll road to Tuxtla. It was cold and cloudy and I didn’t have the time to do the mountain route. Leaving Tuxtla there was another toll road towards Arriaga so I took that as well, but looking back it took me a little out of the way, at least I avoided topes, towns and traffic. I jumped off the toll road about 20km from the Arriaga, right in the middle of a set of super tight curves. I was in second or third gear most of the time and there were a couple first gear hairpins (check the scale in the picture of the track). It was fun, but I had to get used to the fully loaded bike again. I found that with the saddlebags, on tight right--handers, the skid plate will touch down before the peg feeler, not a happy sound. From there I was headed to La Ventosa, the place with the wind turbines I rode through on the way to Tuxtla. (The pic below is of a shack with a half-sized wind turbine sticking out the roof, I guess its the modern interpretation of the windmill.) I think today it was even windier with a couple gusts pushing me into the opposite lane. Although that was the worst of it the wind persisted the rest of the day. At least it warmed up in the afternoon, a nice change from the cold and rain.

Coming up into Oaxaca it cooled down a lot in the afternoon as the town is at about 5,000 feet. It would have been a nicer ride too had the road not been pock marked and broken for most of the way. It is rather unsettling in the turns. By the time I got to town my arms and shoulder and hands were pretty tired from shifting and braking and pushing the bike into corners. Arriving in town brought other difficulties. Due to the holidays there are a lot of streets closed for shops and markets. It took a while to finally find the hotel I will be staying in for the next two days. I am excited to walk around a bit and tomorrow I will go out and see the Zapotec ruins at Monte Alban. I also need to change the oil on my bike and clean it up a bit.

And this was just a funny pic of a family fueling up there John Deere what ever it is!

Day 16 San Cristobal – The emotional rollercoaster

2010-01-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

After a quick breakfast I went around the corner to the LDS chapel for sacrament meeting. As it is the first Sunday of the month, and year for that matter, it was fast and testimony meeting. Having already eaten, I am traveling so it is excusable, right? I was moved to bear my testimony. There is only a small branch in Salcaja but they are great members and it was a great experience to attend with them, even the off key singing brought back memories. I stayed after and spoke with a couple members and said hi to the missionaries. One was from the LA area and his brother played football for USC, although he informed me that he just transferred to BYU. It was fun talking football real quick and always a surprise to see who you meet in places like this.

I returned to the hotel, quickly changed and packed up the bike and was on my way. Leaving the city I did see a couple of guys on sport bikes off to have some fun in the twisties and I saw a few adventure riders on their BMW GSs. Otherwise the ride to the border was unmemorable, just a lot of topes, or tumulos as they are called in Guatemala. The border was nothing special, relatively small but filled with people selling stuff. I didn’t see anyone really watching the border but there was a makeshift arm in the way so I waited, I guess not many people actually cross the border, I can’t remember seeing any Mexican plates. Someone finally came and lifted it and I went through and was told to park by the Aduana. After speaking with the guy and hearing his spiel on how they could take my bike for not having imported it to Guatemala, Bethel didn’t have the facilities to do it and it would have been way out of the way to get it done, he told me to go to Immigration. There the guy couldn’t find the Guatemala stamp in my passport, because I didn’t get it stamped after I crossed, so he said I had to pay a 200 Quetzal fine. Already in a sour mood from the guy giving me hard time about the bike, this put me in a worse one. I had purposefully used up my Quetzales and they wouldn’t accept pesos. Fortunately I had enough dollars and change in Quetzales to pay it off. Leaving the immigration office I got waved over to have my bike sprayed to kill whatever germs it contracted in Guatemala, because they are so much dirtier. That cost 60 pesos. Leaving the border in a bad mood I came up to a military check point and of course they wanted to look through my bags. I think this guy realized I was pissed so he made it quick.

The ride didn’t get much better with all the topes along the way but I told myself I had to let it go and enjoy my surroundings. Gradually my mood lightened and I started to feel a little better. As I got closer to San Cris I passed a bunch of indigenous people on the side of the road selling pottery. I turned around and pulled over to take a look. Some of the stuff was pretty cool but I didn’t have anywhere to put anything if I bought something. I did buy a fried corn on the cob, which was slathered with mayonnaise, hot sauce and chili powder. It would have been good had the corn not been over cooked and tough. I could only get through half of it before my jaw started to hurt. If he cooked it any longer it probably would have turned to popcorn. It was nice to stop though and see the women hand painting the pottery and selling what they made. It helped to raise my spirits again.

I got back into San Cris and found my way back to the hotel I left my saddlebags at and got a room. I gave the lady I left my bags with a tip for watching them and she refused but I insisted, she was very nice about. After unloading my stuff and changing I am not waiting to order dinner. The kid working stopped but twice in the 20 minutes I have been sitting here and even then for only two seconds, not enough time to order food. So far his tip counter is going way down. Hopefully the pozole is good. One night in San Cris and long ride to Oaxaca tomorrow. I need email the beard brothers, Eric and Paul, who have been there since we split up last week. It would be nice to get a hotel recommendation so I have someplace where I can arrive. I plan to take a day off and go see the ruins at Monte Alban and also get some laundry done and change the oil in my bike. I can use a rest, my bum and shoulders are sore after all the riding and boots are not quite dry yet.

Day 15 Salcaja, Guatelmala – Great views and great roads

2010-01-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

The town I stopped in is called Salcaja, it is about 12 km from Quetzaltenango. It seemed like a nice, quaint place and a good location to stop. Quetzaltenango is actually in the opposite direction of where I am going tomorrow as well and is a pretty big city, I probably would have wondered around for a while. As I rode up here I stopped and asked a man where a hotel was and showed me one down the street and we ended up talking for 10 minutes or so, he was really nice. I also saw the missionaries walking down the street. The hotel is decent and I will take a walk around the town.

The ride here from Antigua was really nice, despite taking the wrong way out and retracing my tracks. The road wound me up into the mountains, eventually getting up to almost 9,900 feet! I had no idea it was so hi here. Unfortunately when you get to that height you are pretty much in the clouds, literally, it was quite foggy at times. I was fine with that and thankful that it was not raining. I wanted to make a stop at lake Atitlan and about halfway there the roads turned into immaculately paved tarmac without the Bots dots lane dividers, it was awesome. I missed the first turn off for the lake but found the second. I went to a good overlook point, which was above a church group meeting for a sermon, but didn’t actually go down to the water, it would have taken an extra hour and it was already getting late. The lake is said to be the deepest in Central America (up to 340 meters) and of Volcanic origins. I almost regret not jumping in but I am sure it would have been freezing.

The ride to Salcaja was just as good as it was coming up to Lake Atitlan, perfect pavement almost all the way. The turns were really nice fast sweepers that I could take in fifth or sixth gear, nothing too tight or technical, I loved it. The roads got worse once I came out of the mountains and near the towns. For the most part I applaud the Dept of Transportation for Guatemala.

Once I got situated in my hotel room I took a look at my tracks for the day and realized I also took the long way from Coban to Guatemala. Oh well, I made it in pretty good time and guess I got to see more of the city. Tomorrow I will head back to Mexico and to San Cristobal to pick up my saddlebags. Hopefully the weather is nice there.

Day 15 – Lunch in Antigua

2010-01-02T11:39:00.001-08:00

After I got to Coban, wrung the water from my socks, soaked up what I could from my boots and hung the rest of my gear out to dry, I took a walk around town. I was actually in search of food and an internet café. It seemed that due to it being the first day of the new year most stores were closed. I eventually bought a fried taco and shredded chicken sandwich from a street vendor, of which there were many. After asking around I found an internet café that was open and set about updating my blog and calling home.

After returning back to the hotel there was not much to do other than ponder on my route for the next day and read. I was planning to winding dirt track to a small town called Nebaj, but with the rain I was debating the merits of trying to be adventurous and tackling the track or being smart and taking the longer way through Guatemala city. I decided to wait until the morning to see how the conditions where before making a choice. With them semi-decided, I picked up the book I am reading, Long Way Day, and read about how Charley and Ewan tackled the mud and rain in crossing Ethiopia. What that a side that I should throw caution to the wind? We will see what the morning brought.

Being awaken in the middle of the night to hear rain pounding down on the roof was not a motivating sign. It did not appear that the weather would improve. I awoke early to a constant, soft drizzle. I was going to push off early despite the days destination. I packed up my stuff, slipped on my still damp gear and headed out. As I rode out of town, I was still thinking of taking the dirt track, a guy I talked to say the vans and buses still take it and if they can make it I could too. Thoughts of the guys in Long Way Down kept coming to me but they had a big support crew and satellite phones, I had none of that. I got to the turn off and asked some guys at the bus stop. None of them were terribly optimistic and at the mention of landslides my decision was made, on to Guatemala.

The ride to Guatemala continued to be cold and wet. My boots were soaked through again but my body was remaining dry. As I climbed up into the mountains it also got foggy, oh joy! This was not going to be a fun ride this morning. Fortunately just past the summit and were this photo was taken, the skies parted and the sun out, I was thrilled. The rest of the ride in was warmer, drier and mostly sunnier, it was wonderful. As I got into the city the traffic thickened but never got too bad. Most of the highways had multiple lanes or at least a passing lane for the uphill side. I didn’t want to go into downtown but rather I wanted to head to Old Guatemala, or Antigua as everyone calls it. After missing the turn and having to way out of the way to find a place to turn around, the highways are divided and don’t offer many places, I found my way into Antigua.

The city lies at the bottom of a valley, kind of, and the decent is a little steep, enough so that they had to provide various runaway vehicle ramps for cars or busses that toasted their brakes. The city is really nice though, colonial, quaint, but very touristy. The prices are commensurately higher and there are more white people. It was nice to walk around a bit. I even thought of staying the night here but that would make my trip tomorrow longer than I would like buit I am glad I stopped here. I found a Thai place to eat and got some Pad Thai that was ok. I decided to push on and go see Lake Atitlan. Tonight I will probably stay in Quetzaltenango or something around there. We will see!

Day 14, Coban, Guatemala – Cold, cloudy and wet. Very wet

2010-01-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

Not the best day, today. I woke up in a not so good mood, the hotel was crappy and not worth the price, I didn’t sleep well cause the mattress sucked and it was muggy and uncomfortable, and people were lighting off fireworks all night. I packed up my stuff and headed out, the ride to Coban was not too long.

I made it to Sayaxche in good time. I almost missed it because the bridge is being repaired, or made, a lady said the have been working on it for 15 years. I had to get across the river and fortunately they have a real ferry that operates there. While waiting I bought a tamale and hot chocolate from a little comedor/store and chatted with the owner lady. After I got to the other side I continued on. It started to rain an little, but it would start and stop. Eventually is didn’t stop so I had to pull over and put on my over-pants and close the vents in my jacket. My boots and legs were already a little wet from the road and I didn’t want to get more wet than I had to. I continued on and it continued to rain. It got heavier at times, never a downpour but constant, and I got wetter. Eventually it soaked through my boots and started to go through the jacket and pants. Not very comfortable and the road started to get more twisty the closer I got to Coban. I only really had one moment when I briefly lost the front end going around a corner but for the most part the tires performed admirably in the wet; something for which the stock tires were not known.

I arrived in Coban and did the requisite tour to find a hotel. Found a place that was really inexpensive yet had covered parking. I was not too miserably wet but wanted to get the gear off as soon as possible. Now I have to decide what to do tomorrow, the route to Nebaj is supposed to have dirt sections which I imagine are muddy sections now. I need to find a place to check the weather, maybe I will hang out here an extra day and see if it dries up.

Day 13 Flores and Tikal - Tired feet and a tired bike

2009-12-31T19:58:00.000-08:00

I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of getting from Bethel to Flores. I knew the road out was rock and dirt but I didn’t know exactly how far it went and in what condition it would be. Fortunately the rains had not been very hard so the road was not too muddy. It was rather rocky in most places and some sections where pocked with pot holes. It actually helped to carry a bit of speed; it would smooth things out a little. And you want to run a gear low and keep the revs in the power band in case you need to gun it and give a tug on the handlebars to get the front wheel over a hole or rock or whatever. About three quarters of the way through the dirt I went over a pretty rough spot and heard something strange. It sounded like a bag or something was caught in my tire so I slowed a little and tried to see look down and see what it was. A minute or so later the sound stopped and I saw something bouncing back behind me. This can’t be good. I turned around to see what it was and found that it was a little bracket and definitely came from my bike. I dismounted and saw that it was the chain guard bracket and it had sheered off at the swing arm. The only thing I can figure is that the guard would hit the tool tube I had mounted and could only take so much. I pulled out my Leatherman Surge multi-tool and ended up prying the other end off and removing it completely. After that it was smooth, figuratively, the rest of the way.

The roads here are pretty good, I didn’t encounter too many topes, and the scenery was very green and lush. The clouds continued to loom all around, threatening to open, but never letting go. I hope they stay that way or decide to move on. I was making good time but I wasn’t sure how far it would be to Flores. I could probably make it on the gas I had but I decided to stop and be safe. I didn’t have a lot of Quetzales (Guatemalan money, not sure of the exchange rate!) I got some from Juan that morning when he exchanged some pesos for me, but I didn’t have a lot. The first place I stopped didn’t have an ATM so had to turn around and go to the one I had just past. Most of the ATMs here have a 5B symbol, I am not sure what that stands for but I know it means I can’t get any money out. I did have enough to get a couple gallons (they sell by the gallon here, not liters as in Mexico and I believe the price works out to about $4 a gallon).

I made it to Santa Elena, which is next to Flores which is actually an Island, around 12p and wandered about for a bit. I found the cheap hotel that Juan recommended so I stopped to see how much the rooms cost. I then had to go out and find an ATM. After driving around again I finally found one that accepted my card and let me take money out. I decided to check out a nice hotel and they wanted $110 for the night! I figured I could survive in the place I stopped at. The good thing is that it just on the other side of the bridge to Flores so I can just walk over tonight.

I unpacked my stuff in the room then went to get some lunch, the first thing I have eaten other than candy, beef jerky and trail mix since breakfast in San Cris. I got a seasoned pork loin with some slightly pickled lettuce or cabbage and a tomato sauce on top of 4 tortillas. It was pretty good. I didn’t stay very long since I wanted to get to Tikal and see the ruins before it got dark. I quickly paid, went back to the hotel and got the stuff I needed to take with me.

Tikal is about 62km from the hotel and it took a little less than an hour. Once you enter the park they ask that you keep your speed to 45kph (~30mph) since there are a lot of wild animals and they don’t want you to hit something. That’s all fine and good but the entrance is like 15km from the trailhead. Anyway, Tikal is bigger than I thought, at least is more spread out than Palenque was. I ended up seeing most of the stuff and walking 6.6 miles. There was a lot of up and down stairs in that as well but it was pretty cool. It seemed that the trails here were not as well marked and you could walk around more and take smaller trails. A lot of the main trails lead you over roots and stuff that could reach out and trip you if not careful. It was also rather muddy in some spots so I tried to stay to the edges where the water didn’t pool. It was fairly cool thanks to the clouds but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t sweat a lot. And in the sections where the sun broke through it was hot. I ended up spending about three and a half hours there and saw about as much as I wanted to see. My feet were getting tired and I still had to drive back to the hotel.

That ride back was fine but it does give you nerves to no see people walking on the side of the road till the last minute. Or dogs or horses or what ever else is there. I made it back safely, jumped in the shower and now I head over to Flores and see what is going on for the New Year. It may be a late night!

Day 12 Palenque and into Guatemala – Second thoughts are for wimps

2009-12-31T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today had a little bit of everything, twists, turns, close calls, frustration, second thoughts and in the end sweet relief. I wanted to leave San Cris around 8, but the lavanderia didn’t open till then, and I still had to sort out what stuff to take with me. I had decided that I would leave my saddle bags (panniers) at the hotel and return for them when I came back out of Guatemala. After getting everything ready I went next door and had some breakfast, and it’s a good thing I did because it would be the only thing I would eat all day. I finally left San Cris at 9:30a and got on the road to Palenque, which people told me would take 5 hours. They must have been thinking of a different route, not trough the mountains, because I got there in a little over 3 hours, and boy was it a ride.

Remember, San Cris is around 6400 feet high and Palenque is only around 600 feet, that is a large elevation drop and with that comes twisties. Now I normally look forward to twisty stuff but after 11 days straight of riding I would have been find with straight sections. The thing about today’s ride is that it was really tight, I scrapped the peg feelers on both sides, once causing me to go wide and almost ride off the road. Throw into that uneven, rippled and broken pavement and the fun factor plummets. The worst is in the middle of a corner or sudden dips or rises that aren’t very smooth. On one such rise I didn’t notice it till the last second and grabbed a lot of brake, briefly locking up the front. Not fun.

If you thought that was bad how does a double dose of topes sound? You like that? Well we will give you some small and perky, unmarked ones, the worst kind. I tried different techniques to get over these topes, braking hard then releasing just before the tope to unload the front tire and get it overt the top, still hard on the back and I also get scared my trunk will pop open and my stuff will come flying out. Another way is braking and downshifting just before then accelerating over, which works well on some, you can get a little air even, but it can be hard on the bike and the forearms. The other way is slowing down to almost a stop and rolling over. I got pretty good throughout the day determining which method to use on a particular tope.

Other than all that it was some pretty scenic riding. Very green and hilly and riding through the towns and seeing all the indigenous people in their brightly colored clothing was nice. Until you come around a bend and see some kids holding up a wire across the road. Yes, they would tie a wire on one side of the street and when buses and collective vans would drive up, they would raise it up and make them stop. Once stopped they would mob the respective vehicle and try to sell any number of things from refrigerator magnets to beans. Fortunately they were nice enough to not try and knock me off the bike, but it was a little alarming. I did stop once to take my long sleeve shirt off and cool down and had three little kids run up and try to sell me stuff. I did by a bag of fried bananas from the youngest girl.

I made it Palenque safely and it was a busy place. I avoided the city and rode straight up the the archeological site. There were tons of buses and collective vans and regular cars but I was able to navigate it quickly. There was a 22 peso park admin fee or something then the 51 peso entrance fee. I was able to find a parking spot in right by the entrance and head in. Pretty cool place, nestled in a lush green jungle type area. San Juan Teotihuacan on the other hand is in a more barren location. It was neat to walk around and see the ruins but it was rather humid and sweaty. Fortunately it was a rather cool, cloudy day. I only stayed for about an hour because I wasn’t sure how for the border was and I wanted to get there sooner rather than later.

I filled up when I got back onto the highway and asked how far away Frontera Corozal (the border town) was and one guy said it was only about an hour. Well two hours and 15 minutes later and I was there, with not a minute of sunlight to spare. The ride out there was nice, fairly open, mostly straight sections. I have been trying to not drive as fast so that I can one, enjoy what’s around me, and two, be more fuel efficient. It was also misting a little and sections of the road were wet so I didn’t want to push it. I got to boat dock around 5p and a guy walked up and asked what I needed. I told him I needed to get my bike on a boat and head to Bethel. He wanted 1000 pesos but we settle on 800. It was late and I was tired and just wanted to get cross. I was already having second thoughts since with the recent rains I didn’t know how muddy things were going to be in Guatelmala. I decided to go for it and road my bike down to the water. It was a rather muddy, slippery and precarious road and I almost lost it more than once with the front then the rear sliding around but I made it.

Getting the bike in the boat was a interesting feat. It took about six of us and 4 ramps, but we got it in, not sure how but we did. I was told it would be nice of me to tip the guys that helped so I handed over a 50, they deserved it. The guy wanted me to sit on the bike for the trip and I figure that would be as good a place as any to sit and keep it from tipping. The ride down the river, it took us about 30 minutes wasn’t as eventful. This wasn’t exactly a flowing river, although it had weird currents around which they had to navigate. That is why there was a guy sitting in the front and telling the driver where to go. As we went down the river it started to get dark and I was getting nervous again. I had no idea what was going to be on the other side and conditions of road I had to take. As we docked the boat a group of kids were waiting to help get the bike off. From the dock up it was fairly step and kind of muddy, I was not very thrilled with the prospect of getting the bike up there. Luckily with enough people pushing, and the rear tire only threatening to slip off the side of the boat, we pushed it to more level ground. I paid the boat fair, handed over another tip for the kids and headed on my way.

Bethel is not a big town, I actually don’t know how big it is, but I don’t think you would use big and Bethel in the same sentence. It was even more remote than I expected, fortunately I had been giving a tip on a place to stay and an electronic track to follow, it was a store that had Disney characters painted on it. Another guy who did this trip about three or four months ago stopped there and really liked the family. I was glad to have a place to go and that they were there and the room was available. I did not want to drive into Flores in the dark and on rocky road.

I came up to the store and found the owner, related my acquaintance with Evan and asked if the room was available. As I unpacked the bike a couple kids came up and started to hang around. They wanted to see my map and what I was bringing so they came into the room, looked at all my stuff, listened to my ipod for a little and then wanted to see my computer and whether I had any games. I let them play on it for a bit before their dad came and I got them. They are pretty cool kids, it was fun. After a shower, I am ready for bed and whatever tomorrow brings. The ride out is dirt for 50 kms or so and hopefully it won’t be very muddy. It hasn’t rained a lot, mostly sprinkles at night, and the road is gravelly too, we will see how it is tomorrow! Good night!

Day 11 – Ascending into the clouds, and cold

2009-12-29T14:23:00.000-08:00

Tuxtla was a nice town, it was convenient that the hotel was close to the center. After going back to the room and putting my bike in the parking lot (it is across the street from the hotel and their guests get free parking after 8p) I walked down to the main Church. There was some type of open market event happening, so I grabbed some really tamales qaxaquenos and tacos. After that I walked around a bit more and gazed at some of the wares being sold, nothing caught my eye. It was getting late so I headed back to the hotel to get stuff ready for the trip into Guatemala. Oh and I had to mix together the stuff I bought for my trail mix. I went to Walmart earlier, but they don’t sell normal trail mix. I had to buy everything separately and mix it myself. This stuff has granola in it so it is actually kind of good.

This morning I got up around 8a, packed up my stuff and headed out. I made my way out to the west of the city so that I could stop by the temple. After that I got on the road to San Cristobal. On the way out I get seeing signs for this place called Chiapa de Corzo, so I decided to check it out. It was a nice little town, interesting since it is basically on the back side of Tuxtla. I got a couple picture of the square and the lake that sits behind it. They offer boat tours and supposedly there are some canyons you go into as well. Sounded nice but I was hot and wanted to get to San Cris so I could do some errands.

The trip to San Cris is not very long, only 70 something kilometers taking the toll road. I wasn’t in too much of a rush so I took the free road. This ended up being a great choice. San Cristobal is over 6000 feet in elevation so the road was bound to be nice and twisty. As I was winding my way up I started to see signs for a place call the Charreadero and they had signs for signing and caves and stuff. I figured I might as well check it out. It wasn’t as cool as they sign made it seem at the entrance to the road, but it was cool. There was a waterfall and various pools you can hike down to, there was also a larger pool and waterfall inside of a cave. I walked around for a bit then went in to check out the other fall. It was a little spooky going in and it smelled strongly of cannabis. I had to go back to my bike and get a flashlight but that didn’t help much in the inner cavern. It was too big and expansive to light anything up. I didn’t stay very long as it was warm inside and the cries of the bats were making me nervous. It was a fun little side trip.

I continued the ride up the mountain and it was very scenic and nice. I passed through some small towns but hardly any had topes and the traffic was fairly light. I came across a military check point and got waved through but ended up taking the wrong fork and had to turn around. The second time through the guy made me open all my bags which is the first time I think it has happened on this trip. I rode on a further and kept climbing, 4000 ft, 5000 ft, 6000 ft, up and up. It started to get cold and foggy so I found a good spot to pull over and put my jacket on (I was riding just in a long sleeve shirt since it had gotten wet the waterfall and I wanted it to dry out). As I was getting ready to go a guy on an Africa Twin came up the other side and pulled over. His name was Simon and took from his accent that he was English. He has been traveling on his motorcycle for 15 months! He shipped the bike to Buenos Aires then drove down to Tierra del Fuego and is now working his way up to Vancouver. It was good talking to him and he recommended the hotel he stayed at in San Cris. We said goodbye and continued on. The rest of the trip into San Cris was great. Nice roads, if a bit rough, good views and cool weather.

As I rode into town I had two hotel recommendations in my head. Another rider came through here a couple months back and told me about the place where he stayed, I was going to try to find it first. I got near the center and noticed up ahead on the same street was the hotel Simon stayed at, I figured I would just inquire there so as not to hassle finding the other place. Fortunately they had a room and let me pull my bike in the courtyard. Very nice place, big rooms and they said I could leave my side cases while in Guatemala. After I got settled, I found a place to do my laundry (for almost 10 times less than in Los Cabos!) then found a restaurant since all I had eaten all day was trail mix. I found a non-descript place down the street that advertised Oaxacan style food and I wanted to some mole so I went it. I orded a plate of Cochito (slow cooked pork) in mole negro. It was delicious, just what I needed. Now I am off to explore the town a little.

Day 10 – One my own again

2009-12-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

The place we got in Puerto Escondid ended up working out ok. It was in a great spot and fairly inexpensive. Unfortunately we didn’t have the luxuries of a real hotel. The main disadvantage was a private bath and things such as sheets and a blanket. I ended up sleeping in pants, a sweatshirt and a towel covering my feet. Honestly though I probably slept as well as I have on the trip. Some of the guys went our for drinks but I was tired and wanted to get an early start in the morning.

That didn’t happen though. We got up around 7a and were mostly ready to go by 8a. Eric and Paul were going to stick around and go swimming since their ride to Oaxaca City wasn’t too far. Mario wanted to change the oil on his bike and there was a Yamaha shop in town, but we all decided to go get breakfast. The only think was we all needed to get some cash. Surprisingly there are no ATMs on Zicatela beach, the popular tourist spot. We figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find an ATM then someplace to eat, but it was. We rode around for a good 30 minutes and finally found one but the line was super long. Finally Marcel and I decided we had wasted enough time and needed to get on the road. Mario owned Marcel 300 pesos so he would follow us until we found an ATM. We said our goodbyes to Eric and Paul and hit the road a little after 9a.

We stopped at a couple gas stations hoping they would have an ATM but no luck. Finally we made it to Huatulco and were able to get money there. It was actually a nice enough town, at least the square where we were. It is a pretty popular tourist spot. We rode by another Yamaha shop so Mario was going to stay there and change the oil so Marcel and I pushed on. I had about 400 miles to cover to get to San Cristobal de las Casas so I needed to start moving. Marcel was heading directly to Guatemala but didn’t know how far he could get in one day. I had waited to get gas since I didn’t have money, figuring I could get it outside of Huatulco. Well the nearest gas station was 50 miles away, good thing we were going slow or I would not have made it! We also rode past a big wind turbine farm, it would have been cooler if it wasn’t so windy! It was a weird day weather wise too, leaving Oaxaca it got even warmer and more dry, then in Chiapas with the wind and the clouds and I thought it might rain, but it didn’t.

We rode together till about 2:30p when our paths split and we said our farewells and went our separate ways. The road east started out really twisty, which would have been fun, again, if not for the wind. It does not inspire confidence when you are leaning into a turn and a gust pushes you wide. After having to slow my speed I decided I would stop in Tuxtla Gutierrez, not too far from San Cristobal de las Casa. I had already made up my mind to take a rest day so one night here and a short ride to SCdlC would accomplish that.

Tuxtla seems like a nice enough place. The layout is fairly easy to navigate and I was able to find a hotel without too much trouble. After unpacking the bike and showering I made my way over to this park, Parque Marimba, where they are having some type of Marimba festival apparently. A lot of people and some fun music. Also amazingly, the park has wifi! So I am sitting on a park bench, listening to live Marimba and updating my blog. Not a evening. Now I need to find someplace to eat…

Day 9 - More of the same and no room at the inn

2009-12-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

I am sitting on the edge of a sidewalk watching the motorcycles as my companions look for a hotel where we can stay the night. Again, we did not think the towns would be as crowded as they are. Apparently Christmas time is high season for Puerto Escondido, this place is packed! Just outside the city I had pulled over to wait for the others to catch up and as we pulled away, I saw a Best Western hotel situated on a lagoon with a green grass lawn and a very tranquil setting. I thought about pulling over again and checking the price but I decided to push on. Looking back now we should have stopped. The sun was just above the water and lit the clouds up in a warm orange glow… What is it they say about hindsight?

The day in general was nothing spectacular. Leaving Acapulco this morning we did follow the coastal road which took us around the big bay around which the town is situated. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but the views are amazing. After that we jumped back onto the highway and made our way to Oaxaca. Other than a stop for gas and a couple drink breaks we drove straight through. It was the typical fare of driving though towns, bumping over topes and trying to get around slower cars. We made it to PE as the sun was falling below the horizon and we had hopes of finding a place along the famous Zicatela beach. That brings us back to me, sitting on the curb, waiting for my companions to return.

It looks like tomorrow we will all be splitting off on our separate ways. The beard brothers are headed to Oaxaca City and I believe Mario will go with them. We wants to to replace the spark plug and get more oil since his bike is burning it. The brothers will spend a couple weeks in Oaxaca and take some Spanish classes before heading further into Central America. I believe Marcel is going to head straight to Guatemala and I not sure what is plans are after that. As for me I hope to make it to San Cristobal de las Casa by tomorrow night.

Ok, we found a place on the main beach, it is more just an open, covered rooftop patio with a foam pad and some hammocks. It was the best we were able to do but it will work. Hopefully it won't be too cold and the ants won't attack up. Not a bad spot though. Good night.

Day 8 – Why do people like Acapulco so much?

2009-12-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

As we were eating breakfast in Zihua Rob broke the news that he was altering his plans and was going to head back up the coast alone. This was sad news to us all since Rob was a likeable, funny, sincere guy. It is not hard to see impetus behind his decision, I knew the events of the previous day, with Mario crashing and the feeling of being rushed, weighed heavily on his mind. He wanted to enjoy the rest of his trip and take time to enjoy what he was doing. We exchanged email addresses at the table and after we finished and went outside, we bid our final farewell.

The rest of mounted up and but did not quite push off toward Acapulco yet. We figured that a town as big as it was, it might benefit us to find a hotel beforehand. That led to us returning to our hotel and trying to book a place online. The hotels were all a little more pricey than we wanted to pay, $152 for a double so we started looking in the guide books. Eric found one that sounded nice so we had Mario call them up and reserve two rooms with us. It was also going to be fairly economical, 150 pesos each, and it had a pool and was only a couple blocks from the bay. With that settled we headed out for… isn’t there a nickname for this place?... Acapulco.

Getting out of Zihua wasn’t too hard, and the ride down the coast was starting to feel the same, slow cars, topes and the heat. I don’t think I mentioned the heat yet. It has been in the 80’s most of the time we have been here. I don’t know the exact temperature but with the gear on it feels like 100. I know we are probably wusses for complaining about this but it does make things a little uncomfortable. Usually when we stop we all take or jackets off and try to cool down. I tried to just wear a short sleeve shirt under my jacket but then my arms get sweaty and the sweat gets the jacket damp. I have taken to wearing my long sleeve Northface base layer shirt which has worked well to wick away the sweat and create a cool sensation as the air flows through the jacket when moving. It has been working well but it has lost its fresh smell for some reason. I will have to wash it one of these days…

We finally made it into Acapulco and in pretty good time. There were some nice twisty sections that I was able to enjoy. Once we got into the city though, things slowed down considerably. It felt akin to LA traffic but with no traffic rules, it was pretty crazy. I was trying to use my GPS to find the hotel, and as I may have mentioned before, you can’t trust it 100% in the city. We were headed down a major street and came to a stop behind a big bus when Eric lost his footing and dropped the bike. It wasn’t a hard fall and his brother helped to pick it up, when he noticed that the clutch lever had broken. It broke right at the base where it attaches to the handlebar too, so there was no way to keep using it. We all pulled over to the curb to assess the damages. Eric thought he might have brought an extra one so while he looked, Marcel put to taking the broken one off. As to be expected he had not thrown the lever into his bag, we would have to find another option.

What we decided to do was have Marcel and I head to the hotel then take off my clutch (Eric also has a V-Strom) and Marcel would take it back to them while I checked in (we were supposed to be there by 4p). Meanwhile Mario was going to try to find a bike shop and get another lever or try to get the broken one fixed. The quest to find the hotel was a challenge, remember what I said about the GPS, but we finally found it and I quickly got the lever off. Instead of Marcel riding back, I told him to take a taxi, that way, once the bike was fixed, they could follow the taxi back to the hotel. While he was gone, I checked in and got the hotel keys. I have to say, I am surprised a travel book (I can’t remember which it was) would recommend this place. It was not very nice and not something I would recommend to anyone. The two almost redeeming factors are the cost, yes it was cheap, and it was only a couple blocks from La Quebrada, where the cliff divers jump.

By the time I got my stuff and Marcel’s into the rooms and showered, the others were just arriving. What ending up happening was Mario was able to pull the lever off of a GSX-R at a local bike shop and they let him have it for free. Once he got back to the bike they did have to slightly modify it and put a jumper wire on the clutch engage switch, but it worked fine. I put the lever back on my bike then we all went to shower and change. We were planning to see the cliff diving show at 7p.

Mario still hadn’t showered so he told the rest of us to go ahead and he would meet us there. We walked up the street and found out that the show wouldn’t be until 7:30p and it would cost 35 pesos. We ended up waiting around for the show instead of going to get dinner and decided to pay the 35 to get down to the lower viewing lever to see the divers. The show is pretty cool, the divers walk down through the crowd, climb over the wall get into the water and then swim to the opposite cliff. They then climb of to various spots, make a little show, then jump in. Only one guy jumps from the highest point. Still it was worth 35 pesos.

After that we walked down to the center square and found a place to eat. This part of town is the more local, old Acapulco side. It is not the area with the newer hotels and exciting nightlife. The big attraction for the night was a late booze cruise, 250 to get on and an open bar. The line was ridiculously long and not really my time of crowd. After dinner we went back to the hotel and tried to get a good nights sleep in the warm and humid night.

Day 7 - Small towns, cows and our first accident

2009-12-24T21:20:00.000-08:00

Last night we mentioned we would try to be ready to go by 7a, well that didn't happen. Most of us were ready by 7 then we decided to get some breakfast. We didn't end up leaving to closer to 9, and then we got lost leaving town. We finally found our way to a gas station then the highway to Puerto Vallarta. The day started sunny and warm and quickly got hot and muggy. Many of us shed out big jackets for t-shirts which made it more comfortable, especially when going slow and through towns. The thing about traveling in a group is that you kind of want to stick together and some people don't like to go fast, and it make passing slow cars take longer. It was pretty slow going today, we only averaged 39 miles and hour.

Puerto Vallarta was nice. A big, bustling, touristy beach town. It was pretty busy and we drove straight down the main road. It seemed like a fun place and had some really nice beaches, I wish I could have stopped to get some more pics. Which reminds me, I didn't get a chance to get any pics of Matanchen bay either... After getting through town we pushed on to try to make it to Manzanillo, the next big town down the coast. The roads were nice and there were some scenic areas. We were coming down through one valley and come around and turn and there was a herd of cows milling along in the road. It could have been a mess if someone wasn't pay attention. Fortunately we were, unlike the guy apparently who went off the road and flipped his truck. Hopefully he is okay, but we did see an ambulance heading to pick him up.

As it got later we pulled over to decide on a destination fot the day. A guy we met in PV while taking a break mentioned two places, Melaque and Barra de Navidad. They are both right next to each other and about 30 miles outside of Manzanillo. We chose Barra de Navidad, since tomorrow is the Navidad... It ended up being a pretty good choice. Getting in was not without a hitch though. As we pulled into town the people in the front pulled up to stop suddenly, I am not sure why, so the people in the back at to brake quick and throw in a speed bump, well it was nothing major but Paul bumped bags with his brothers and ended up dropping his bike. Fortunately it was nothing major.

We rode through town and find a place to eat. It was good, I got pozole and some sopes, but the wait person, we weren't sure whether it was a guy or girl, wasn't very good at their job. I asked for a banana and strawberry smoothie and got one with cantalope, and I wanted pozole with pork but got chicken. Thankfully the food was pretty cheap so I wasn't too put out. After dinner a couple of us walked around to find a hotel with parking for the bikes. We finally found an inexpensive spot that looks to be an improvement upon last night. After showering and changing we went out to check out the town. It was pretty nice with long peninsula type walkway out into the water. Seems like it would be a nice place to spend some time in. We met a couple other American people, retired couples that come here often. We also heard quite a few people speaking English.

Hopefully we can get a good nights sleep and an early start tomorrow. We want to make it to Zihuatenejo.

Day 6 - A long ferry ride to the mainland

2009-12-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

The Ferry to Mazatlan was actually pretty nice. It kind of felt like a hotel, they had a lobby and you had to check in and get your key and stuff and a porter took you to your room. Two of us paid for cabins and the others were just going to sleep in the reclining chair things. Since the cabin held four people and both of our were empty, other than for ourselves, the other just crashed with us.

The Ferry took a little longer than the 12 hours they said, and we were the last to get off. We also meet two other bikers on BMW GS's, one was from LA and the other from Europe. I don't remember where they were headed. Once we got off the ferry, we had to find a Kawasaki dealer so Mario could set a part for his bike. I was going to look it up in my GPS but I had forgotten to load the maps for that area (I had only loaded up Baja). We had to pull over and I had to load the maps then enter in the address. In the end it ended up being slightly off (maybe there was a north and south part that I missed, but we drove around for a bit and the wrong way on a one way street before finding it. Mario got his part and I picked up a bungee net that I had forgotten. Then we had to find our way out of Mazatlan and head south.

The drive was pretty scenic, I wish I had a helmet cam since I can't take pics while riding, well I can but its not very safe. We took the free road for the first part but eventually jumped on the toll road. The toll road was faster and nice since it avoided a lot of the little towns, but the tolls were pricey, 160 for one and 74 for another. Oh and it started raining so we all had to pull over and put our rain gear on. It rained on and off most of the way in. We decided that our destination for the night would be San Blas, Nayarit, made infamous but the Mana song En el Muelle de San Blas.

We rolled in after taking a nice scenic road from the main highway, around 5:30 so we looked for a place to eat. The one thing about San Blas is that the prices are comparable with a big resort town. Dinner was ok but pricey, but we did meet and American guy who recommended a hotel down the street. The place ended up being cheap, 200 pesos each for a shared room, but it wasn't really nice in any way. They did let up pull our bikes into the court yard but we had to ride them up a pretty high curb and into the entrance. There was a covered patio were we all relaxed while it started to pour. There was also a bar across the street that had a caged crocodile. It was kind of sad to see since the cage was small and it had been there for a long time, 30 years someone said. Some of then headed to the bar next door since there were some guys playing live music. We stayed there for a little before retiring for the night, our first of many on the mainland. Hopefully it doesn't rain tomorrow...

Day 5 – Fun in the sun and meeting new people

2009-12-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

Today was going to be my last in Los Cabos so I wanted to do something fun. I was thinking of renting a wave runner in the morning then head to Todos Santos and spend the afternoon there, but my plans changed. I ended up meeting Marlene who worked a sweet deal to go on one of the Cabo cruise ships. Normally it is $50 but she got us a deal for $25. The boat was going to leave at 11:00 so I was supposed to meet her at 10:30 at the dock. In the morning I got my stuff ready and decided to wash some clothes. Unfortunately the laundry room didn’t open till 9:00 so I had to send it out instead.

The mini cruise ended up being pretty cool. It took us out to see the famous Arch rock formation then over to another beach called Chileno Bay. There they let us use snorkeling gear to swim around, although there wasn’t a lot to see. After that we got back on the boat and they had a little lunch buffet for us and a nice cruise back.

I got back to the hotel at 3:30p, changed and got ready to go. I wanted to be at the ferry dock in Pichilingue around 6:00 and it was a good 2 hours away, but I had to wait for the laundry service to drop my clothes off. It got there by 4:00p, as promised and I paid for it ( a whopping 16 dollars! I need to get into that business) and hit the road. I rode up through Todos Santos but didn’t have time to stop. I finally made it to Pichilingue around 6:30p just in time to see four other guys on motorcycles pulling into the dock. I pulled in line behind them and as we waited we all got to know each other. They had all met recently as well and were from different places. Two were brothers one from Oregon the other from Salt Lake. One was an older guy also from Oregon and the fourth was a Guatemalan guy living in Vancouver BC. Finally it was time to board the boat, and we were allowed to leave the dock first. The police truck leading us was going unbearable slow as we had to drive up the street to where the boat was docked. As we pulled into the ferry though we saw a couple other bikers finish strapping their bikes in and walking up. Didn’t get a chance to meet them yet, but we run into Marcel, a Swiss rider they other four had met previously. He has had some unfortunate, but interesting experiences on his trip so far. They all seem like really nice guys and we will have to see how things work with riding down with some or all of them. Some are planning on camping though and I didn’t bring any gear. We’ll have to see.

Day 4 - The good life

2009-12-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

I took a walk down to the beach this afternoon, pretty nice, what you would expect of a resort destination. The sand is pretty grainy though. It was nice to relax and read a book. I just started Long Way Down, written by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman about their motorcycle trip from Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa. Their first trip around the world in Long Way Round, was kind of an inspiration for this trip. Still haven't seen the DVDs of either trip yet, I will have to when I get back. Anyway the water was nice and refreshing. Took a couple pics...

That afternoon I rode over to San Jose del Cabo and tried to check out some surfs spots. Most of them you have to access through the hotels, but nothing looked great. The Sea of Cortez side gets waves in the summer time so it isn't the season for them here anyway.

After hanging around there for a little bit, I went to go find some food. Supposedly there is a great taco place called Guacamayas but I couldn't find it. I settle for another place which was good.

Tonight I need to update my itinerary to accommodate the two days spent here. Then I will probably walk downtown and see what is going on.

Day 4 - A nice easy morning

2009-12-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

I got up a around 8 this morning and ambled over to the free breakfast room, made myself some cereal, toast and tea. My throat has been a little sore and I am a little congested to the tea helped. I grabbed a couple extra bags for the room.

After that I researched some surf breaks and mapped out a couple in the GPS. I needed to lube my chain today so I decided to head to the closer break in the morning the come back and lube the chain. This place is called Monuments. There wasn't a swell so no ways, although a couple guys said it was a little better in the morning. Nice view though.

After that I come back and cleaned and lubricated the chain. Fairly easy proposition, and the tool tubes are handy to carry the WD-40, Lube and some paper towels.

I am going to walk down to the beach for a bit, then this afternoon I will head back up to San Jose del Cabo and check out the other breaks.

Day 3 - Bad start but I found redemption

2009-12-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

So this morning kind of sucked. I spent way too much time looking for that Electra, but on the way out of town I found this internet cafe.

I put up a post on couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.org) to see if anyone had a place I could stay, but I ended up finding an inexpensive hotel about 1Km from the center of Cabo San Lucas. I decided to not have to deal with the hassle of wandering around looking for a place, so I booked it for two nights. We'll see how it works out. With that set up and a destination in place, I loaded up and got ready to ride again.

Once on the road I wasn't expecting too much. What I got was a great ride and good way to finish off a day that didn't start too well. The roads where scenic and twisty and fun and the sun was setting and it was warm and a really good ride.

Oh and I passed the Tropic of Cancer, which is the northernmost latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon. Apparently it isn't exactly a fixed location and can move slightly according "a complex motion determined by the superimposition of many different cycles with short to very long periods." (www.wikipedia.org)

Here us a picture of my some of my tracks today. It doesn't do the rode justice with how twisty some sections were.

Cabo San Lucas is a pretty big touristy spot. Riding in I passed a Costco, Home Depot, Sams and a Walmart. Downtown they have the standard fare of hotels and eating and drinking establishments. I guess Sundays aren't very popular though because all these places were pretty much empty. We will have to see how it is tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, here is what I need to do. Look into the oil leak on my bike. Lube the chain. Find a beach. Find a place to rent a board if its good. And relax. I think I can do all that.

Day 3 - Things don´t always work as you plan

2009-12-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

I went to the Ferry station at 9am this morning to get my tickets to find they don´t open until 10am. I went to get some food at a little stand and had some decent albondigas. Got back to the station then waited in line until they actually opened at 10:23 and only letting in one person at a time at that. I finally get in and find out that they don´t have any more spots on the boat. Great. They could put my name on a list and see if any spots open up, but I would have to come back after 12pm. I returned to the hotel, showered, packed up and went back to see what was up. They hadn´t been told by the time I got back so I bought a ticket for Tuesdays boat. This would give me a chance to relax a little and spend a couple days in Los Cabos. It may work out at all. Tickets were a little pricey though...

So now that I had all this spare time I needed to run a couple errands. Get some padlocks for my cases, a bungee net for my bike since I forgot mine, and find an Electra store to buy more minutes for my phone. Yeah since I don´t have an international credit card that is the only place I can buy them. I drove around forever! and finally found this place. Then I had to wait in line for 30 minutes and be done with it. I was not in a very good mood. Now I need to try to find accomodations in San Jose del Cabo. Hopefully things there will go better.

Day 2 – A ride to remember

2009-12-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

I wanted to start the day early since I had a long way to go so I awoke at 6:30 (after an uncomfortable and cold nights sleep), showered and packed up my stuff. By the time I got gas and was on my, it was a little after 7:30. It was a brisk morning so I layered up and was looking forward to a nice ride without too much traffic. First destination, Santa Rosalia, a quick 219kms away. Making good time I got there around 10am and drove through town, which was a nice enough beachy place, nothing special though.

From there I continued on to Mulege, which is an interesting place. It has a very tropical air to it with groves of palm trees and other things that make a place feel tropical. I wish I had more time to stop and poke around but unfortunately I was on a tight schedule. I was going to stop in Loreto to gas up and get some lunch.

The ride from Mulege to Loreto was great, amazing vistas and nice twisty roads. There were so many places I wanted to pull over and take a picture, again if I only had more time… I want to turn around in some sections and do it over again. I hope this theme doesn’t continue throughout the trip. My only constraint on this leg is getting the ferry tomorrow to Mazatalan. Here are some more pics.

Loreto had a bigger city feel. I had to stop at the bank to get gas money and I found a nice little restaurant and café just behind it. I stopped there to get a torta and check some things online. I didn’t spend any more time in Loreto than I had to because I still had a ways to go.

The ride from there to La Paz had some nice twisty sections but it was mostly inland so no ocean views and lots of straight boring sections. Again I seemed to lose time somewhere. I was hoping to get into La Paz around 4p but it wasn’t till around 6. Then I spent forever trying to find a cheap hotel with off street parking. I finally did and it is cheap. I guess you get what you pay for. Tomorrow morning I will head to Pichilingue to check on the ferry and get my ticket and paperwork processed. Then if I have time, head to Los Cabos. I might have to return this way instead of going through northern Mexico to spend some more time…

Here is the days route, 811 kms (503 miles), 10 hours 29 minutes (9 hours moving), 88.3kph moving average.

Day 2 - Lunch in Loreto

2009-12-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

I went to get money from the bank and say a little restaurant so I decided to save time looking for somewhere else to eat and just eat there. I got a beef torta (Mexican sandwich, I have to start taking pics of the food) which was ok, it was shredded, not a cut of meat like I was hoping and it had a sauce, but it filled me up. There was also a café that had wireless next door so I jumped on it to check some emails. Loreto was a nice little city, saw quite a few English speakers, I won’t assume they were all Americans. Could be a nice place to spend a day or two, but I only have a half hour.

Day 1 - Night riding isn't fun

2009-12-18T19:40:00.000-08:00

I left SD this morning around 8:40am and got into Guerrero Negro BCS a little after 6:00pm. It was a long day and the last hour and a half or so was in the dark, which is not fun since it is pitch black and the conditions are variable. Any way, today wasn't very eventful. I wanted to go all the way to Santa Rosalia, another 200km from here but I don't know where the time went and this was as far as I could make it. I think I lost an hour or two getting through Ensenada and finding a bank and getting through traffic. I didn't even get any pics today, just this one of my bike this morning.

Aside from the traffic the ride wasn't that bad. There were plenty of good twisties and the roads where pretty good for the most part. My bike isn't getting the same gas mileage it was before I gave it a tune up, which is perplexing. I tried to fill up fairly often but I did have a close call leaving San Quintin. My fuel was getting low and I was in the middle of nowhere. My GPS said there was Pemex station about 50km away which I could make with the light on, but when I got there the station was no longer in operation. I pulled up next to a group of cars and asks the guys int he baja bug where a gas station was. They pointed to an older gent but a red pick up and said he is the Pemex. Fortunately the old guy sits out there and sell gas out of his truck. With that I was able to make it to Guerrero with out any issues. I am not sure what is causing the poor fuel mileage, I think some of it may be due to the altitude, but not all of it.

Other than that, everything worked well. Tomorrow will be another long day, abotu 700km to La Paz. Here are the numbers for today, 9 hours on the road and 478 miles. Got to leave early tomorrow to not get stuck in the dark again. I will try to get some pics as well. Cheers.

Here's a shot of my bike on the patio, locked to 2x4 post. Should be safe there...

Gear Review: The Bike

2009-12-15T14:36:00.001-08:00

My companion for this trip will be my 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom. I bought the bike new back in February and already have 10,000 miles on it. It has been great so far and I haven’t had any issues with it. I looked a couple different bikes before I got this one, like the BMW R1200GS and F800GS. I also looked that the Kawasaki KLR650, but the V-Strom offered what I was looking for at the right price.

Once I got the bike I outfitted it with some aftermarket parts. One of the first things I installed were the Symtec heated handgrips from CA Sport Touring (http://www.casporttouring.com). I also bolted on the Suzuki hand guards to cut the wind. Both work well to keep my hands from freezing. Then I purchased the Givi engine crash bars and skid plate from Adventure Moto Stuff (www.amotostuff.com) and a center stand from Vstroma (www.Vstroma.com). I got the trunk on the back from JC Whitney (www.JCWhitney.com), which is great because I don’t have to carry my jacket around everywhere. The stock windscreen on the V-Strom works ok, but I experienced buffeting around my head. In lieu of a taller windscreen I purchased a Laminar Lip (www.laminarlip.com) that is supposed to increase airflow under the lip and push it over your head. The result was a slight decrease in buffeting but not as much as I hoped. In order to carry more stuff I also purchase some panniers, or side cases. I wanted something durable and big enough to be of use but not too wide. I ended up getting some Caribou cases (www.cariboucases.com) which use the military spec Pelican cases and attaches a rack system to it. They are secure and work well but they are a bit bulky. The other two items I purchase for the bike were an air bladder seat cushion from REI (www.REI.com) and a Nelson Rigg half cover for the bike from Adventure Moto Stuff (www.amotostuff.com).

As for the bike itself, it runs well and has been great for me. The stock seat was not very comfortable and my bottom would get sore sooner than it did on the Triumph sport bike. The air cushion has helped soften the seat and let me move around a little more. The bike is bigger but I can still get both feet flat on the floor. It pulls fairly strong is smooth as well. I do occasional have an issue with vague shifting. If I leave a little pressure on the shifter it can slip out of place or something then when I shift it will move but not change the gear. I also find a false neutral between 5th and 6th on occasion.

The gas mileage has been around 47 mpg. That is commuting to and from work and errands, so mixed freeway and city driving. I was seeing more when I bought the bike and was breaking it in, but that was keeping the tachometer below 5-5500 RPM. One peeve is the optimistic speedometer. An indicated 80 is really only 73-74 and at they speed I am turning at about 6000 RPM. The bike doesn’t really have any drawbacks. It does everything fine and with the truck as plenty of space to leave my jacket and boots behind. Some people complain about the soft suspension, but I haven’t noticed anything. I am happy with the bike and look forward to traveling with it down to Guatemala!

Final prep for the trip

2009-12-15T10:23:00.001-08:00

Two more days and the journey begins. I have most of my stuff together, not it just need to figure out what to pack and pick up some odds and ends. Today is my last day of work so I will have all day tomorrow to get ready. I still need to change the oil although I did give the bike a tune up. I also put on some new tires yesterday. A Michelin Anakee 2 in the front and a Metzeler Tourance rear. Most people like this combination for mixed riding and longer lasting.

This is the last iteration of the route. I may go to Puerto Vallarta before Guadalajara, it depends on whether I can get a hold of Matt’s friend Andy down there. The route is subject to change, mostly around the Guatemala area and the return trip through northern Mexico.

A day trip to TJ

2009-12-15T10:22:00.000-08:00

I spent all of Saturday morning in Tijuana getting things ready for my trip. If you are going to be in Mexico for more than 72 hours and further than a couple hundred miles, you need to get a tourist Visa. I also needed to temporarily import my bike and get a permit for it. I didn’t want to have to deal with all of that the day of me trip so I took care of it before hand. I got down to the border around 9:40a and walked across to the Mexico side and didn’t return to almost 2:00p. The wait at immigration office was long and slow, enough so that I was able to step and eat a couple tacos, but I got the paperwork done without a problem.

While down there I wanted to buy a prepaid cell phone for use in emergencies. I walked around and finally found a place that sold phones and accessories. I asked a guy if he sold prepaid phones and he pulled a phone out of his pocket and said I could have that one. It seemed a little weird but he promised the phone worked and was registered already and everything. I had him show me the website for the provider and how to add minutes and he was very nice about it. He also gave me his username and password to access the web at wireless hotspots, which was nice of him.

All in all it was a good productive morning. I got the paperwork done, a cell phone, got some tacos and a baggie of churros.

Lessons learned from a weekend in San Felipe

2009-11-17T18:08:00.001-08:00

As I get ready for my big trip down to Guatemala in month, I took a quick trial run to San Felipe to check my gear and get a feel for things on the bike. This is the same route I am planning to take down to Los Cabos as the first part of the trip so I also wanted to see how the road was once the pavement stopped south of Puertecitos.

I left early Saturday morning, headed down to the border crossing at Tecate (this crossing is not very busy and requires you to take a ride on Otay Lakes and Campo Rds which have some rather nice curves, although you cannot get the permits to temporarily import your bike there I found). Since I wouldn’t have enough time to go too far south and I wanted to hit some dirt, I decided to take little short cut and follow the Compadre trail which would take me south to the highway from Ensenada to San Felipe. (See map below)

Red is the route down and Blue is back up

The turn off for the trail was not marked (as many things are in Mexico) so it was a good thing I setup a waypoint on my Garmin 60Cx to let me know when I was there. The trail takes you from the side of the highway through some scattered brush then over a random overpass. Once started on the trail I stopped to take some air out of my tires, this would improve the contact patch and hopefully give me more grip. I downloaded some tracks from www.advrider.com onto my Garmin so all I had to do was follow that. I mounted the Garmin on my handlebars using a RAM handlebar mount which placed it in a good position so I didn’t need to take my eyes of the trail for very long.

My V-Strom performed well on the packed dirt and gravel sections. Where it struggled was in the loose dirt and sand. A more aggressive/knobby front tire would have helped keep it from floating and washing out. As it was my bike got a lot more friendly with ground. Both times it was due to the front tire washing out in really loose stuff. Fortunately speeds were minimal and no harm was done to the bike. The second time I tried to catch myself but couldn’t and the Caribou case mounted on my bike ended up landing on my foot/ankle. It tweaked my ankle, which is sore, but my Rev’It Rival boots protected me from serious injury. The fall did jar the case loose, bending the locking tab slightly. I was able to secure it back on the bike but it was still a little loose. I would have to take a look at it later that night in the hotel.

The V-Strom found a nice sandy spot and wanted to take a nap

I got back to the freeway and was relieved to be done with the dirt. By this time I was ready to eat. Fortunately on the track I downloaded it had a waypoint set up for a nice Loncheria where I stopped and got a plate of bistec ranchero with rice and beans. After that I was back on the road. There was another section that was more direct to San Felipe but when I got to the trailhead I talked to two guys on dirt bikes and asked them about it. They said it got pretty sandy in places and there a bit of traffic out there since people were practice for a race next weekend. I wasn’t too keen on the sandy parts and didn’t want to get run over so I decided to stick top the highway. I did stop to put some air back in my tires using my Slime mini 12V air compressor. It came with various power attachments and since I haven’t installed the 12V cigarette little adapter on the V-Strom, I used the alligator clips to the battery. After that I was good to go all the way to San Felipe.I got in around 4:30p so it was still light. I drove around a little bit then found an inexpensive hotel with off street parking and unloaded my gear. I then went to go exchange some money, fill the V-Strom with gas and find an internet café to write the folks and let them know I was ok. After that I walked around and tried to find a good place to eat. I eventually settled in at a small taco stand and had a plate of carne asada with beans and a really good pico de gallo. It wasn’t very late (I don’t know what time it was because I still need to buy a watch. It doesn’t matter as much when I am on the V-Strom because it has a clock and so does the Garmin) but I was pretty tired so I decided to head back to the room. I stopped by the local OXXO (standard Mexican mini-mart) and picked up some grapefruit flavored juice, cinnamon raisin Bimbo Roles for breakfast the next day and a Negrito for dessert. I also purchased a Guia Roja which is like the Rand McNally atlas for Mexico. When I got back to the room I took a look at Caribou case, was able to bend the locking mechanism back in place before settling in to relax and look over some maps.

Using a crescent wrench to straighten out the bent locking mechanism

The next morning I left around 7:00a with the plan to head as far south as I could and still return for my 12:00p check out time. I wanted to check two things, how far the pavement went and what the road was like past that. I had heard the night before that they are working on paving that whole section so I wanted to check it out. The road down is scattered with little resort type places or fishing places. The next town is Puertecitos and it is about 90 kilometers out. The road down was in decent shape with newer sections and some very long straight stretches. You have to be careful though because there are areas where the road dips down and you can see where many cars have bottomed out. I stopped at the Pemex station in Puertecitos, which is a small accumulation of houses with dirt roads, and asked the attendant about the road south but he said he has never been down that way. So I pushed on to find out for myself.

90 Km to Puertecitos and all of it nice open pavement.
It's after that where things get nasty.

The road south was in great condition. The only problem is that it continued on for only another 10 miles or so. After that I ran into the work crews who pointed me to the detours I had to take to get around where they were working. The side trail I took to get around the paving machines was dirt and gravel and not too bad. It took me back onto the grated dirt road but I was soon pointed to another detour. This time the trail was a lot more gnarly and had some bigger rocks and loose stuff. Not the type of trail I want to do to kick off my trip. The last think I need is break something (me or the bike) on the second day. After about 20 minutes I turned around and rode back to San Felipe.

I got back with enough time to get some breakfast (a tasty torta with eggs, chorizo and avocado) before checkout. After packing my stuff and loading the V-Strom I checked out and headed for home. I wanted to get home at a reasonable time so I stayed on the pavement the whole way. The highway from San Felipe to Mexicali is very straight and rather boring. Most of the stretch is through dried ocean bed type stuff with is very sandy although it is also very fine. It also happened to be windy so at time it was like driving though a dust cloud. I took the toll road to avoid downtown Mexicali which put me onto the highway to Tijuana. The best part of the trip is La Rumorosa, an immaculately paved serpentine section of road up to a summit of over 4000ft. After that I took the free road back into Tecate, crossed the border and got home around 5:30p with enough light left to wash off the bike and clean the chain.

Food for thought:
· Do I want to go down the Sea of Cortez side and hit that gnarly gravel, or do I want to cross in TJ and stick to the highway through Ensenada?
· Do I need to take the Caribou hard cases? They are big and add more weight and bulk. How much stuff do I need to take? It is harder to split traffic with the cases. Alternatives are to pack lighter and possibly strap stuff on the passenger seat. Or buy some soft saddlebags but they are not as secure.
· Need to buy a watch
· Decide on a front tire. How much dirt will I see? Do I need something aggressive like a Heidenau K60 or will a Michelin Anakee work? What about the Shinko 705?
· Adjust the schedule for some rest days

Trial run to San Felipe

2009-11-14T17:22:00.000-08:00

I rode down to San Felipe today to test out my gear and get a feel for what I may encounter. It was a little tougher than I thought it would be but I made it in one piece. I will put up the route I took and some pics when I get back home. I will also go over the gear I will bring with me. This trip did give me some things to think about like how much riding in the sand sucks with street tires. I definitely need to get a more aggressive tire in the front for better grip. I also think I will ditch the big Pelican side cases in favor of some soft saddle bags. Lighter is better when off rode I am finding out.

Pics to come when I get back and better trip report.

Just what the title says...

2009-10-13T20:16:00.001-07:00

This winter I am planning a trip, by motorcycle, down Mexico, into Guatemala, ~~through Belize~~, back into Mexico then home to California. In the 30 days I plan to be gone I will check out some surf spots, see ancient ruins, eat great food, take pictures, blog and have a great time. This blog will track my preparation for the trip, including motorcycle, gear and planning, and the trip itself. (Depending on availability of an internet connection, but I don't foresee that being an issue with all the internet cafes in Mexico.) Feel free to contact me with feedback, suggestions, recommendations and advice. Comments trying to discourage me from making the trip will be frowned upon :(

Thanks!

Update: I am cutting out Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula from the itinerary. ;( I am a little sad to do so, but this will allow me to take more time in other places and add some necessary rest days. I also hear Belize and the Yuc Pen are rather expensive. It will have to wait for another trip. -PSL