Motorcycling thru Mexico?? Madness!!

[Ted / AF1 Racing]

For the many of you that don't know me, a quick introduction. My name is ted and I used to work with the guys at AF1 (hence, the username that I'm not sure I still deserve). Last year I decided to ride an XR650R to the Panama Canal and back, and Jon, Micah, Steve and Ed were all eager to help in any way they could. Partly due to their expertise and greatly due to shear luck, the trip was a success.

Well now I'm back at it, though on a smaller scale. This go around it's just Mexico but hopefully the end result will be the same. I'd like to use this thread as a show of appreciation for all that the AF1 guys do and hopefully you all will enjoy it as well.

I'm now in Puerto Vallarta catching up on some internet, and heading to Guadalajara soon. After that, I have no plans. I'll try to post updates in this thread as often as possible.

I have the first few days' ride reports at my website: http://tardypizza.com/ Go to the journal page and endure my ramblings.

And enough with the jibber jabber, on with the trip report!


Weather on the day of departure: 31 degrees with a chance of freezing rain. With way too many layers on I was almost warm...almost.




Because of a late start and bad weather, I didn't make it into Mexico on the first day. I was peeved that I had to pay $50 for a hotel room in Laredo, so I made sure that the room came with a garage.


The border crossing was uneventful and easy, but the weather was less than enjoyable on the way down. I froze my butt off in rain and drizzle with temps hovering just above freezing until I reached Saltillo.


I didn't encounter a break in the clouds until I was almost to Torreòn. The sunset was magnificent.



The next day the highway took me from the high desert into the mouth of the Sierra Madres. Serously, some of the best motorcycling roads I've ever encountered. Over 200 miles of twisties and canyon carving.




The canyons got bigger and deeper until the road just seemed to cling to the cliffside. I'm not sure if the Sierras this far south are considered to be part of the Copper Canyon, but the scenery here blew away what I saw last year.



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[Ted / AF1 Racing]

I must have passed this truck 7 or 8 times. I would speed up, stop to take a picture, he would rumble passed with his jake brake belching and then I would hopscotch again to the front.



About halfway down I came across this sign.



I hated Mazatlan last year, but this time of year there are far fewer tourists and so I enjoyed myself immensely.





I had no problems getting a ticket on the ferry. I've heard horror stories of people having to wait anywhere from 3 days to a week to get aboard. 19 hours aboard this glistening vessel? ¡Como no!




Once aboard, I met a Cory, a bush pilot from the Yukon, Canada. He bought this KLR for $1800 (canadien) that had been sitting in a snowdrift for a year. He never started it until he put it on the ferry down to Vancouver. He rode it all the way to Baja with zero problems, and for what? Packed away in those large bags is a para-glider. That crazy canuck dragged that thing all the way to Baja and further just to go para-gliding. And I thought I was hardcore.




I was a little slow in securing my bike for the ferry ride and suddenly found myself all alone in the hold of the ship. While the ferry is at sea the cargo bay is completely sealed off with fire doors and no one is allowed down there until the ship reaches the port. I tried to open the fire doors to no avail, and after about 20 minutes panic set in. There was no way I could survive down there for 19 hours, especially with the overwhelming fumes of diesel and kerosene. I soon realized that no one knew I was still below so it was up to me to get myself out. After crawling underneath semi trailers and between tightly packed cars I finally came across a tiny hatch at the top of a 2 story ladder that lead into darkness. I poked my head through to find daylight and a few dozen very curious Mexicans staring at me. This is the hatch I came up in a restricted area.





After arriving in La Paz and regaining my sense of balance (the ferry ride was miserable - 19 hours of being tossed back and forth by high seas, the whole time worrying about my bike that never got tied down properly because I panicked), I found the road to the coast. After about an hour the pavement ends.



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[Ted / AF1 Racing]

The dirt road lead up into the mountains and at times was fairly steep, and of course accompanied by sharp dropoffs and washouts.



The road finally met up with the Sea of Cortez and hugged the coastline for the final hour to the beach house.



I've never felt this confident on dirt before so I twisted the throttle and zoomed towards the house, at times hitting 60mph. My excitement was growing and could barely be contained. The last 2 days had been some of the best and thrilling riding I have ever done, so what could top it? This was waiting for me upon my arrival.



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[Ted / AF1 Racing]

The house we got to stay in is a vacation home for some well off acquaintences of my married friends. They let my married friends use it for their honeymoon 5 years ago and every year since they get to go back and invite the rest of us. Total cost to me for 10 days = $147.



The view south towards Los Barriles, from the hilltop behind the house.



There is a runway nearby for the rich to fly in on their Leer jets. This guy landed short, ripped the landing gear off, then slid onto and off the runway. Imagine trying to explain to the insurance company why your million dollar leerjet is in nowhere Mexico.



If you're bored, try to find the house in Google Earth. It is on the East Cape of Baja, halfway between La Paz and Los Cabos. The runway has large letters that say Punta Pescadero (fisherman's point).

This is the view from the front veranda.





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[Ted / AF1 Racing]

Most days were spent sitting on the porch, sipping Pacifico's and watching the Discovery channel in HD on a lifesize screen. All of the next pics were taken directly in front of the house.



An osprey clutching its prized dinner, an Angelfish.





A heron, just chillin.





This sealion woke us up with its barking.




When I saw this pod of dolphins circling up some fish I scrambled to get out to sea in the kayak. I think I got within about 20 feet of them.







It's whale watching season, but these guys didn't show up until the last few days. The sight of them breaching and the titanic splashes they caused brought cheers from those of us lucky enough to witness the spectacle.










And that's all I've got for now gents. And as I said, I don't really have a plan from here on out, but I hope to keep you updated here and over at http://tardypizza.com .

Enjoy!
ted

[Jet City Racer]

Hey Ted, maybe try one of these places.

http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/s...d.php?t=102125

Ride safe!

[Beau1K]

Awesome trip dude! Great pictures!! Sounds like a real adventure...what prompted you to go for it?

[Micah / AF1 Racing]

Ted was born for stuff like this!

I am so glad to get an update, I saw the www.tardypizza.com page was just updated the other day...you had me worrying a little bit! Looks like an awesome trip and is making me more and more jealous by the day. We are going to have do one of these trips together one day.

The beach house looks like the deal of the century! Lucky and well deserved. Keep us posted homie, I am really enjoying the pics!

[teacherboy]

Great trip and beautiful scenery. Nice work.

[Old Wanderer]

Well as a person that years ago used to really enjoy Mexico, and even had a home there, until the corruption drove me out.

Riding a motorcycle around Mexico, how much in "mordita" (Bribes) did it cost you? Like automobiles did you also have to put up a cash deposit to guarantee you would not sell your motorcycle in Mexico?

There is some really beautiful countryside to see, and getting off the beaten path has caused me to find some very nice people.

I have some fond memories of hunting trips, and just wondering around the country.

[bicilindricov60]

I am dying to do the trans-american trail if I could only buy the time. These write-ups are some of my favorite things to come across on the web........

Very nice Ted, I am soooo jealous!!

[D148L0]

Awesome!

I recently drove from Washington, DC to Monterrey, México in my modded aprilia RS-50 (yes, you read that right). I even visited AF1´s store and saw some of the guys, too bad Micah wasn´t there and I was short on time. I still have to pick it up and drive to Puebla city...

Maybe one of this days I´ll upload the pics, but they are not as cool as this ones.

Best of luck to you!

[Readmarx]

Great idea, attitude and pictures - best of luck with wherever you're headed fella

[ckruzel]

That Is Awsome!

[derrickhackman]

Oh man is that cool... thanks for posting the pics. Makes me want to try something like that some day. I bet it was nice and peaceful just rippin' down the roads