- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 4,491
- Reaction score
- 1,291
- Location
- Buda, TX
- First Name
- Rich
- Last Name
- Gibbens
Me: "Hey, JT, let's go to Copper Canyon."
JT: "Okay."
With that simple sentence and one word response, the game was on.
We discussed the logistics - when, where, and who - and made our choices. My son was getting married on a November Saturday in Terlingua so it made sense to start our adventure the day following the wedding (despite my wife's less that enthusiastic response to the timing).
For the where, I wanted to spend some time exploring the canyon. My Uncle and I had visited Copper Canyon in 2006 yet for a few reasons didn't spend much time at the bottom. At the time we marvelled at the superb (but now gone) dirt road to Batopilas and enjoyed a wonderful revolution parade put on by the local school children but that was the extent of it. For this trip it was high priority (for me) to see Sinforosa Canyon, visit Urique, and experience more of the dirt roads criss-crossing the canyon.
I drew up a tentative route and emailed it to JT, who then informed me that it was almost exactly the same route that he had ridden a few years past. Despite that, he was game to do it again, since he enjoyed it so much the first time.
Our plan was to take two days to get into the canyon. I would leave Terlingua mid-morning on Sunday and meet the guys in Presidio about noon. From there we would ride a few hundred miles and overnight in Cuauhtemoc. Monday we would continue cross-country to Guachochi and then begin our descent into Sinforosa Canyon, ending the day in Baborigame. Tuesday we would ride dirt to Batopilas and Wednesday would be more dirt to Urique. Thursday we would climb out of the canyon, enjoy the great vista at Divisadero and then make our way to either Cuauhtemoc or perhaps even as far as Chihuahua. On Friday we would arrive back in Texas. Here's what it looked like on the map.
The who was the most fluid part of the plan. We decided we wanted a small group of not more than 5-6 riders. This would allow the group to move relatively quickly, make logistics easier, and reduce the risk of bike problems (simply because there were fewer bikes to break down). We invited a few riders to join us. When those riders invited a few more to join, our ranks swelled to 9 or 10 who said they were all going.
Well, that's too big of a group to travel as one so we decided we would split into two groups, both travelling the same route.
With the logistics worked out and the plan in place, all that remained was personal prep and the long, seemingly endless wait for Sunday, Nov 11th to arrive.
JT: "Okay."
With that simple sentence and one word response, the game was on.
We discussed the logistics - when, where, and who - and made our choices. My son was getting married on a November Saturday in Terlingua so it made sense to start our adventure the day following the wedding (despite my wife's less that enthusiastic response to the timing).
For the where, I wanted to spend some time exploring the canyon. My Uncle and I had visited Copper Canyon in 2006 yet for a few reasons didn't spend much time at the bottom. At the time we marvelled at the superb (but now gone) dirt road to Batopilas and enjoyed a wonderful revolution parade put on by the local school children but that was the extent of it. For this trip it was high priority (for me) to see Sinforosa Canyon, visit Urique, and experience more of the dirt roads criss-crossing the canyon.
I drew up a tentative route and emailed it to JT, who then informed me that it was almost exactly the same route that he had ridden a few years past. Despite that, he was game to do it again, since he enjoyed it so much the first time.
Our plan was to take two days to get into the canyon. I would leave Terlingua mid-morning on Sunday and meet the guys in Presidio about noon. From there we would ride a few hundred miles and overnight in Cuauhtemoc. Monday we would continue cross-country to Guachochi and then begin our descent into Sinforosa Canyon, ending the day in Baborigame. Tuesday we would ride dirt to Batopilas and Wednesday would be more dirt to Urique. Thursday we would climb out of the canyon, enjoy the great vista at Divisadero and then make our way to either Cuauhtemoc or perhaps even as far as Chihuahua. On Friday we would arrive back in Texas. Here's what it looked like on the map.
The who was the most fluid part of the plan. We decided we wanted a small group of not more than 5-6 riders. This would allow the group to move relatively quickly, make logistics easier, and reduce the risk of bike problems (simply because there were fewer bikes to break down). We invited a few riders to join us. When those riders invited a few more to join, our ranks swelled to 9 or 10 who said they were all going.
Well, that's too big of a group to travel as one so we decided we would split into two groups, both travelling the same route.
With the logistics worked out and the plan in place, all that remained was personal prep and the long, seemingly endless wait for Sunday, Nov 11th to arrive.
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