The Whole is Greater than the Sum: Chihuahua Time!

[g-tex]

Well, I made a mistake. I mentioned my past rides in Mexico a few too many times to deny that I ever went there before. Sometimes silence is golden, but I'm not good at silent. Curiosity about past adventures has spiked at Bike Nights, Club Events, and Bikes and Coffee. Consequently, I spent a month or so organizing a small ride that ballooned into two rides and a total of 26 eager riders heading to Mexico for 10 days or so.

The trips are divided into a Short Ride and Big Ride. Both are Big Bike Adventure Rides organized on behalf of Beemer Off Road Dallas: BMW MOA/RA Chartered Club.

The Big Ride of 9 guys left on February 23rd and headed to Big Bend>Creel, MX>Batopilas, MX>Cerocahui, MX>San Carlos, Manuel Benavides, MX>Marathon, TX.

The Short Ride of 16 guys met the Big Ride in Ojinaga on March 1st and headed to Big Bend>San Carlos, Manuel Benavides, MX>Marathon, TX.

Prologue: February 23rd

Bags are all packed and I'm ready to go. I had spoken to Keith and Shawn and we were planning on meeting up over at Keith's shop around 10:30 or so. Keith is the importer for GG Quad and has a shop on the southside of a Dallas Neighborhood called Deep Ellum. Keith had spent a significant portion of his time over the course of the previous few weeks to make my original F650 Dakar ready for yet another trip to Mexico; I first rode the '01 F650 Dakar to the 2007 Chabochis Rally, which was held in Creel by the Brothers Ibarra and Horizons Unlimited. I was super excited for my buddy Zach to make his first ride to Mexico on the bike I first used to visit the Copper Canyon.

So, I get rolling over to Keith's shop, but I realize that something is wrong. Not only have I left my TVIP, title, and other bike-related paperwork...I left my passport behind as well. ****, I thought...I've got 24+ guys depending on me being on my game for this trip and I just did the EXACT thing that I had advised everyone against. Thankfully, I was about 5 blocks from my house and I just wrote it off to some sort of a check of my internal fail safes, but it bugged me for about an hour.

Arriving at Keith's shop, he only had a few things to do to his bike to complete the prep.

Shawn and I hung out, talked about the trip, and fooled with the F650 Dakar, which was looking as good as that bike can look!

Finally it was time to get rolling.


We pulled to the front of the building, while Keith shut down his shop and locked up.

2x1200GS were purring along.

1x1190SA goes to the starter button and we heard the apocryphal "hu-huhhh, scratch" of the big Katoom. Apparently, Keith had been testing new lights, ignition off. So, after fooling with Shawn's Antigravity, which wouldn't jump the bike, we resorted to shore power and a robust battery charger for about 10 minutes.

Current Prep Score:
1 Forgotten Passport
1 Non-working KTM Battery
1 Non-working Antigravity Jump Kit

While we were waiting, Jeff arrived and introduced himself. Jeff is the father of Ben, another rider who would be meeting us in Terlingua. We had not met Jeff before, but he was nice enough to offer a trailer spot for Zach's bike to Terlingua, so he seemed like a great guy to ride to Mexico with.

With the F650 Dakar Loaded, Keith's battery sorted, and a stretch of road in front of us, we pulled away at about 2:30pm for Ozona.

It was chilly.

Temps were in the low 40s along I20 and it started misting on us outside of Aledo. The further west we went, the more intense the rain got. By the time we pulled off to get gas in Cisco, it was 36 degrees and we had passed the wrecked shells of 18 wheelers who met their fate during the ice and snow event of the previous two days.

Local Health Needs are being met:

As we made our turn south, we knew that temperatures would be rising for the duration of the trip and the chance of precipitation would be a thing of the past for the time being.

Cisco>Cross Plains: Mid 30s and Wet
Cross Plains>Coleman: Low 40s and Wet with the road surface appearing like glare ice. If you ever take this road after a rain event, know that it is some of the snottiest pavement I've ever seen.
Coleman>Ballinger: Mid 40s and Wet with snot-pave alternating to grooved pavement
Ballinger>San Angelo: Upper 40s to 52 and Dry
San Angelo>Barnhart: Dark, Upper 40s and Dry, Train in Barnhart delayed our turn to Ozona by 15 minutes and an impatient driver nearly ran me over in the parking lane.
Barnhart>Hitching Post, Ozona: Dark, Upper 40s and Dry

We pulled into Ozona and went straight to the Hitchin' Post for a 7:50 Arrival at the best spot in town.

After some Chicken bites and steak cubes, it was time to head to ranch. We drank a can of Stillhouse Apple Crisp and watched the USA Curling Team take the GOLD! USA USA!

It was time for bed.

MUCH MORE TO COME...

 

[g-tex]

DARK WAS THE NIGHT.

We awoke to a somewhat foggy day and the promise of increasingly better roads.

I got out the Bialetti and made some coffee for myself, Keith, and Shawn.

[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]fCRDkqtG3Rc[/MEDIA]"]

Quick scans of the camp and countryside revealed that we were definitely far from the Metroplex that we call home. Headcounts of 20+ deer and scores of turkeys confirmed that west Texas is a friendly place for certain critters.

It was time to break camp and leave.

We made a stop at Mingo's burritos, a place that smelled like we had already entered old Mexico, but was twice as hot. Seriously, the lady had the heat on and it was a sweltering 85 degrees inside.

While we waited for our breakfast burritos, an older rancher ambled in and we struck up a conversation. "We used to go to Mexico, but we don't go anymore. One of the local guys was held up on the side of the road. They took all his money and personal items. It pissed him off. I don't think I'd go back," said the rancher. We politely blew him off and wished him a good day.

With breakfast and negative kaffeeklatsch behind us, we took off down I10 for our turn to Sheffield.

TX290 connects I10 to the town of Sheffield, TX; along the way we visited Fort Lancaster for a moment and generally enjoyed the increasingly interesting views afforded by the mesa and range features of Val Verde County.

One of the hidden gems of West Texas roads is Texas 349. It is not particularly anything, but it is a very pleasing run of approximately 60 miles between Sheffield and Dryden, Texas. Nice elevation changes, good pavement, ample curves that rate from lazy to bite-your-lazy-***, and opportunities for cold refreshment breaks make for a nice ride.

After a cold and refreshing beverage, we made our way onward to Sanderson for gas, then on to Marathon for a tasty picnic lunch from The French Grocer.

A spot of gas and we head south for the Park.

After paying our $20 fees, we roll into Big Bend National Park, with its 45mph speed limits. Needless to say, we got pulled over, A Tradition Unlike Any Other in Big Bend. The police tailed us to Panther Junction, then flicked on the bubble gum lights for all to see at the gas station. We waited about 35 minutes for their Hal 9000 to report back that we are normal guys, who own our bikes, and pose no threat. After a short lesson on Park Etiquette, we were dismissed with new knowledge that an Ultramarathon had just concluded near the Hot Springs and that things may be a little "busy down that way". We decided to head on to Terlingua for check in at the El Dorado.

We arrive at the El Dorado at about 4pm or so. We check in for our "BUS" accommodations. Upon entering the bus, we find that it is still partially occupied, by an older woman with particularly bad drug prescriptions. We hunt around for a staffer to take care of the mistake and finally get someone to "move out" the squatter's junk.

With check-in behind us, it was time for our first round of Margaritas on the trip. Ask anyone who has been on one of my little motorcycle junkets and you will learn about the most important items that I carry on my bike...The Margarita Bar. The Margarita Bar has improved over the years of multi-continent travel, but the recipe remains the same, only the quality of the Ice changes. For this trip, the 1 gallon white rotopax was filled to the gills with tequila and secret ingredients.

Things more or less progressed from there...I made approximately 48 margaritas that first afternoon...the boys were thirsty and plenty; Zach, Jeff, Ben, Doug, Mike, and Danny joined Keith, Shawn and I; the Big Ride roster was complete with a caveat--Zach was not going to make it for the Big Ride due to a parole violation in New Mexico. Actually, just a work commitment that popped up would limit Zach's participation to the short ride.

After Margaritas we all rode up to the Starlight Theater for some fine grub and few more libations, something that Terlingua excels at. Among the intoxicated local denizens, Zach encountered a rather disheveled young bloke with some extremely hot sports opinions about life. Shawn and I thought we recognized him as the same fella who yelled at us from a moving car from earlier...rather jovial, but definitely bitten by the desert, we figured we would see him again.

After dinner, we returned to the El Dorado where we were greeted by its proprietor, Herman and the young bloke who was now extremely wasted and getting on Herman's nerves. Herman dumped the wet contents of the bar mat on the young bloke, which unfortunately drove him outside to join us for a conversation. We learned the bloke's name, "Will L", which he explained was due to the prevalence of other Wills in Terlingua...no ****. Will L ran down his whole life story and told us that he was well known down in Batopilas and that "they like me there", which seemed a little untrustworthy.

Will L proceeded to give us some advice for the inevitable moment when we found ourselves with our hands behind our head, kneeling on the ground before our Narco executioners. He instructed that the only way out of the situation was to spell socks; S-O-C-K-S, or eso si que es, which he stated was slang for "it is, what it is", a universal "safe word"....

Are you confused yet? We were...and buzzed, so we closed out and headed to bed with Mexican Socks on our minds.

MUCH MUCH MORE TO COME

 

[tricepilot]

This is a lovely report! Awesome Sauce On A Biscuit!

 

[philipbarrett]

After making the Metroplex trek any number of times (coincidently living about 6 minutes from the same Deep Ellum area) I agree that the Cisco-San Angelo-Marathon route is by far the most pleasant way to make the trip.

Can't wait for Episode 2 where, since you returned to write this, I presume SOCKS was either unnecessary or highly effective?

 

[nevlec]

This is off to a great start!

 

[misterk]

Great report, more please......


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[BrotherWolf]

Following & looking forward to forthcoming chapters...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jhansen]

Margaritas by the gallon....impressive.

 

[ed29]

Will L.... Yup, we all know him. I can probably guess the name of the squatter too. "Prescription"??? I can guess who filled her "prescription" too. Small town Texas, where everybody knows way too much about everyone else here.

 

[g-tex]

AND THEN THERE WERE OCHO

Morning came quick after the Margaritas and lively talk of the night before. Overnighting in the old bus was pretty comfortable and my snoring didn't SEEM to bother anyone located towards the front of the bus. A quick scan of the surroundings and it was time to head outside and see what mother nature had in store for us on this most fine of days: Day 1 in Chihuahua.

I was up pretty early, 6:30, and the sun was still hiding behind the High Chisos, directly west of our bus. The desert was quiet and as kind as it gets; it felt like a perfect morning.

On tap for the day; get Zach's bike loaded, meet up with Mike, Doug, and Danny at Doug's RV in Lajitas, get FMMs at the border, rock n' roll to bank, gas, and lunch in Chihuahua City, and then head towards Creel.

Pre-Sunrise:

Doug helping Mike with packing advice. We would later learn that Mike has cousins in Mexico who pack the exact same way.

Big Ride Group, moments before departure:

Getting our last bit of American Petrol in Presidio:

Keith has already blown up one motor on the big Katoom, so he was squeezing ever last American hydrocarbon into the tank:

Ojinaga Crossing, Mexican Border:

Go see "this guy" for FMM

The customs agency, SAT, is well capitalized in Mexico:

Mexican Army Bank- see these guys if you need to pay for TVIP. Thankfully ours were all in order prior to arriving. This line moved 1 person in 20 minutes. When the FMM guy arrived, we went straight to him and were all out of the building within 15 minutes.

Approaching the Toll-Booth on the Cuota Road to Chihuahua City:

View from the Cuota Booth towards the west. Pro tip, have one guy pay for everyone. The rest of the guys can roll through in a single-file line on the left side of the lane, avoiding the sensor and the gate it controls. Saves a nice amount of time and hassling with gloves, money, etc.

Danny with a new friend.

Yours truly in front of a super-clean bathroom facility.

Keith's kickstand spring came off somewhere along the way. Shawn has x-ray vision and claimed to have seen it.

Back underway toward Chihuahua City.

Approaching CC:

Bank and Gas Time in CC:

Lunch at the Greatness of Fonda Chilango. Delicious eats and drinks.

Mike was getting important updates from home.

Chori-Queso.

Grupo Chilangos de Texas:

We upgraded a couple of the riders with the owners of Fonda Chilangos:

Heading west, before Cuahtemoc. There are apple orchards for miles and miles that Mormon and Mennonite Colonies take care of. Interesting tidbit, Gecce Romney, father of Mitt Romney, was born on a Polygamist Mormon Colonia in this region...he went on to head GM and run for President of the USA, and so did his son...

Time for a cold one at BEER BEEP in La Junta, the turnoff towards Creel.

Rolling Towards Creel:

Rolling through San Juanito:

Downtown Creel:

Brewery at the Lodge at Creel, our accommodation:

Cantina showing a LFA GAME. Team Fun was beating Team Mex.

Blending in Danny:

Pinky's Up Shawn:

Sasquatch Grant:

After Dinner Foam Shots, compliments of the Chef:

Sotol Ranch Waters...

Doug is excited...

After that moment, all cameras broke.

MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE TO COME...

 

[g-tex]

Trying to add some drone video to the Terlingua posting. It's not working out currently.

 

[g-tex]

PACK IT UP, PACK IT IN, LET ME BEGIN

Day 4, Morning:

Post-Sotol, the evening was quiet and comfortable. The Lodge at Creel is a nice spot operated by the Best Western Plus brand. The bikes were all snug and secure behind the locked gate, temperatures were in the upper 20s, and all of our fireplaces were blazing in the rooms.

Creel has a certain smell. I remember it fondly from past times; the resident burn the local Mexican Stone Pine for heat with the resultant haze and smoke covering the shallow valley. I love it.

I roll out and start readying the bike and making a few pots of coffee on the Bialetti; there's nothing quite like a high quality cuppa in the land of instant.

The guys start milling around and we decide to roam about town, get some breakfast, a few supplies, and more than a few trinkets.

Colorful Tarahumara Dress.

Tarahumara Children wandered in and were selling trinkets in the parking lot.

The regional map allowed for an opportunity to lay out the day's activities.

Creel City Scape.

Cast Benchers abound in Chihuahua.

Telecom Doug

Creel Sign and the Art Museum near the center of town.

Another Regional Map.

Shawn at the best breakfast spot in town, Lupita's.

Mike just got important new from home.

Danny bought some ART!

Keith worried about his orange juice.

Ben contemplating a bit of the hot sauce.

It was **** cold in the grocery store and this looks like it was the only relief.

More Telecom.

Picking out a "Nice Remember"

Interesting Wares

So many pics from this day, I'm dividing it into more manageable bites.

Next up, Divisadero

 

[g-tex]

This is a lovely report! Awesome Sauce On A Biscuit!

thank you, trice...

 

[g-tex]

After making the Metroplex trek any number of times (coincidently living about 6 minutes from the same Deep Ellum area) I agree that the Cisco-San Angelo-Marathon route is by far the most pleasant way to make the trip.

Can't wait for Episode 2 where, since you returned to write this, I presume SOCKS was either unnecessary or highly effective?

Philip, thank you for the nice words. We should get together to talk some shop. I see you have several weapons in your bike arsenal...

 

[g-tex]

Margaritas by the gallon....impressive.

I drink what I can and sell the rest.

 

[StromXTc]

Ojinaga Crossing, Mexican Border: looks like they threw mucho pesos at this backwater crossing

 

[g-tex]

Ojinaga Crossing, Mexican Border: looks like they threw mucho pesos at this backwater crossing

It’s part of the La Entrada al Pacifico Corridor, which explains some of it, but it’s way out of whack.

 

[ed29]

Ojinaga Crossing, Mexican Border: looks like they threw mucho pesos at this backwater crossing

There was an incident a few years back that triggered a massive upgrade for the crossing including the addition of those twisting lanes that force vehicles to go slow.

I'll tell you about it in person over a beer on the porch.

 

[g-tex]

RIPPIN' RIDES TO THE RIM

Day 4, Late Morning.

After our breakfast walkabout, we decided that this was in fact a motorcycle trip and turned our attention to our morning target, Divisadero. A nice curvy stretch of pavement awaited us, with several crossings of the Ferrocarril Mexicano's "El Chepe" line between Los Mochis and Chihuahua City.

So, we got out there and got on it!

G-Tex:

Shawn:

Turn Off for Divisadero overlook and Adventure Park.

The Big Trick, around these parts...

Lizards Sunning

Stupid Human tricks, Part 1. The dogs at Divisadero come from a bagel-appreciating pack with strong traits of hybrid-vigor.

What else do you need?

Ben and Jeff with the obligatory father-son pic.

Danny likes Canyons.

Beautiful Wares from the local Raramuri

This particular market hasn't changes since my first visit in 2007.

Tough to frame it up any better.

Extremely tasty Michelada.

 

[g-tex]

NO ME GUSTA PRECAUCIÓN

Day 4, Early Afternoon

We finish the ride from Divisadero at the Pemex in Creel. Our time burn was pretty serious due to our lazy start of the day and need for a refreshing beverage at the Overlook. No problem, I had brought 6 pounds of dried German Sausage, known as Landjäger, from Kuby's in Dallas. Everyone grabbed a couple sausages, some chips, and fruit and we chowed down.

After some posing with the at the oddly hilarious Tarahumara "face-in-hole" at the gas station, it was time to go.

Danny and Ben look right at home in La Sierra.

The Bearded Lady visits Creel.

What's going on back there?

Mike got more good news from home!

Next stop is one of my favorite spots in Mexico, Cusarare Falls. The falls are located about 20 miles south of Creel. It is a gcceous ride passing by lakes and the abundant tall pine trees that prevail at this altitude.

It has been nearly 8 years since I have visited the cascada, so I pulled off at the first sign to the falls, which ended up being a small mistake. After speaking with the gatekeeper, it was revealed that a 4km hike to the falls would be involved from this northerly entrance. We were running a little short on time and we decided to return to the highway to utilize the southern entrance.

It was a fun ride to the Cusarare Falls Market, run by the Raramuri people who live in the vicinity.

Once again, have one rider pay for the whole group. Everything goes faster! $1.25 admission was pretty good value.

Beautiful terrain in the Falls Park.

A couple mild water crossings make things fun.

The Big Trick. The falls are at the head of a beautiful gcce. The terrain is so rugged that its hard to believe that anyone could live anywhere near this spot. In fact, the marketplace that lines the trail to the falls is the work of local Raramuri who live and craft everything within a short walk of the falls. You can see the footpaths leading directly away from their market stalls, into the forest, towards home. Each stall has a different design, indicative of their family or village. Beautiful wares, friendly people.

Walking out to the edge of the falls is absolutely encouraged...no OSHA or Safety Nannies down here.

Doug "MeowMix" Seims getting some first class cat.

Friendly, smart dogs.

Dr. Cat Nip playing with a hunk of fur.

Time to get to Batopilas, but first a little bit of dirt and water on the way out.

 

[g-tex]

COMING OUT OF CUSARARE

 

[g-tex]

COMO SE DICE EPIC

Day 4, Later Afternoon

After good times at Divisadero and Cusarare it was time to get to the main event for the day. Before us twisted, turned, pivoted, and strained an immaculate surface for 35 miles and beyond that another EPIC 40 miles of road awaited.

On this tour, there are many abrupt changes in scenery and riding conditions. The transition from Creel to Samachique is one of the best. Many will say that Mexico 23 is the finest motorcycling road in Mexico. I feel that is accurate, because the road is AMAZING and completely devoid of traffic. We passed 1! car between Cusarare and the turnoff to Batopilas. Simply sublime.

Things have changed a lot over the years...there was a time when you could blink and miss the turnoff for Batopilas.

Doug...checking out the scenery.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Ok, I'll detour to the other lane.

Baby Slide...

More slide remnants kept everyone on their toes.

Bridge at the Bottom is gcceous.

Gathering at the bridge.

Finding coins to fling off the bridge. I fed everyone the line, "if you throw a coin into the river, it brings good luck and assures that you will return!"...same line I was fed on my first trip. So far, 100% success rate with me!

Happy Grant, Stoke Shawn, Relieved Dan.

More fun ahead!

As I pass the construction equipment just before the bridge, I notice the Mexican Army garrison is hanging out, showing off their weaponry. I pull to the bridge to wait on the other guys, but start going over the history of this place since the last time I was in town. Basically, the lead cartel has changed over a couple of times, with some blood in the interim. It was very interesting that the Army Garrison was actually outside the town, across the bridge. I wondered why...well, I knew why, but I wondered where the situation would lead us...

Arrival at Juanita's...an Oasis in this small town. The eponymous Juanita is there to greet us in true Mexican fashion. She expressed that we were late, but her concerns were covered in laughing at carrying on at how happy she was to see us. To reach the courtyard and hotel, one must ride through her home, which has been set-up for the task. A unique experience.

View of the Rio Batopilas at the back of the property.

Courtyard at Juanita's.

We freshened up with a couple margaritas and departed for dinner across the way at Dona Mica. Great comida!

Yes, yes your are!

Serious aguachile de camaron!

We laughed, we drank, we ate, we laughed, we were spotted and approached by our first S-Cartel members. Then we ate some more, drank with the S-Cartel members, bought them beer, they bought us beer, and we generally had a wonderful night. Notice the lack of pictures after a certain point...coincidence?

Good Night, Batopilas!

 

[g-tex]

Oh dear...postimage.org forgot to pay their bill or something...will try to get pics back up

 

[g-tex]

Chasing Monks, Mangoes, and Rain Showers

Day 5: Morning


We arose to a nice humid morning. It was honestly a bit difficult to get up, but the day was calling us to greater things than the comfortable confines of Juanitas.



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The Rio Batopilas was gently rolling along, hardly noticeable within its course.

Hummingbirds were present and we lazily readied for breakfast around the corner.

As we entered and ordered, the proprietors went and bought the provisions for our meal. This is a normal occurrence south of the border; folks are close to the Mercado and they utilize it for storage as much as for substance. No spoilage or returns...seems reasonable, but a bit tough on the distributor.

Have a Coke and smile!

Keith is figuring out Mexican Armcuffs.

To say it was a lazy morning, would be a vast underestimation of laziness

 

[g-tex]

Mostly fixed the postimg issue and added in the best part of the ride between Cusarare and Batopilas....oops!