2012-03-26::Arizona
Preparations
I found a little problem with my motorcycle, two hours before our scheduled departure. So I spent the day working on my bike. Fortunately I can do my own mechanical work, rather than waiting for a few days for a shop to do it. And we don't have a plane to catch or anyone to meet. And I actually like working on my bike. I'd rather be riding it, but oh well :)
Day 1
March 27, 2012: Home to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
We rolled down the driveway at 7:50 am. Two miles out, I tried to pass a truck and realized that my bike had no go-power. It was running fine, but I only had half the throttle pull. For about a second I almost decided that I could put up with it, and then reason took over: Yes, this is a problem and I need to stop and fix it.
While pulling into a parking lot my mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what was wrong. I had read stories about this same thing happening to other riders. There is a half-setting on the bitter end of the throttle cable that can be accidentally set. But I had not been into the bitter end of that cable recently. Then it dawned on me: The handlebar end of the cable. I knew exactly what the problem was. I had put the throttle handle gear on the wrong tooth, inside the handlebar grip.
The tool I needed was in my tank bag, so I grabbed that, disassembled the handlebar grip, and set the gear on the right tooth. Voila. The problem was fixed.
Jenny writes: I wasn't sure how long this repair work would take, and there wasn't much I could do to help, so I decided to take some photos of Ray at work. I snapped a couple quick ones, then was setting up for more photos when Ray announced, "Ok, it's fixed." That was the fastest repair job I've ever seen. He knows that bike inside and out; I barely had time to take photos.
We rode the slab through Tucson then Highway 19 south to Nogales, stopping a few times rests and water. Both bikes are running very good, and we are having fun riding them, even on the highway.
We were familiar with this border crossing into Mexico and the highway south to Hermosillo. It was basically a repeat of Day 2 on our Moto Mexico trip from last month. We already had our tourist cards and temporary vehicle import documents, so this time we breezed through the border zone. The only needed stop was to change money.
Ray writes: It felt good to be back in Mexico, as always. I love it down here, with the friendly people, interesting scenery, and different culture. It seems to me that it is safer riding a motorcycle in Mexico than in the States. That may not be necessarily true, but it seems like people are more used to seeing motorcycles on the rode down here, so there seems to be more awareness and tolerance. About twice as much, it seems to me; not that it is safe in any country.
Sixty-eight kilometers south of Nogales we stopped in the town of Imuris at a roadside taco stand for lunch. We ordered two carne tacos each. They were small but delicious, and we ended up ordering two more each.
Back on the road, on the south edge of Imuris, there is a shop that makes decorative copper pots that are just beautiful. Right next door to that shop is a stone mason shop where they make fountains and other yard decor carved out of stone. Both are very interesting. The main toll road skirts the town of Magdalena de Kino, so again we did not see that town.
We spent the afternoon riding south through a non-descript high desert, some chaparral and cactus, with interesting bluffs in the distance. They are still working on the road, dividing the traffic flow, and widening it to two lanes south and two lanes north with a good shoulder.
As we neared Hermosillo, we saw something that neither of us had seen before. An ambulance sped past us with about 30 lights flashing. Then, in another kilometer or two we reached the next toll station. We couldn't believe our eyes when the ambulance driver had to stop and pay the road toll. It was a strange thing to see, and funny - in an odd way.
On our previous Mexico trip I was using a Garmin Zumo GPS and I found that it was almost useless south of the border. It didn't know the roads, let alone the cities. So this time I bought the Garmin Mexico maps, for 50 bucks. They have a great amount of detail, but ironically, again, the GPS was almost worthless. For 150 miles the GPS wanted us to turn around, make a U-turn. Then, 4 miles from Hermosillo, it straightened itself out and led us correctly through town.
We reached the Hotel San Martin at 4:30 pm. It felt good to turn on the air conditioner in the room because we had been hot all afternoon. We had stayed at this hotel a month ago, and it is clean and nice, with a decent restaurant on the premises.
Day 2
March 28, 2012: Hermosillo to Basaseachic
This was the most amazing day of riding I have ever experienced, and I'm glad Jenny got in on the fun. If you like twisties, this road is the one. Its 200 miles of the tail of the Dragon.
We left the motel at 7:30 and endured Hermosillo's heavy traffic for half an hour going south through the city. We had ridden this way a month ago, and fortunately I remembered the route, because the GPS was no help. We stopped for gas, drinking water, and a few snacks; then after another half an hour of route-finding (most of which was spent waiting for a train that was blocking the road), we got onto highway 16 and headed east.
The first part of Highway 16 passed through an industrial region with lots of dust, smoke and foul-smelling air - poduced in part by a Ford plant and a Cemex plant. After the industrial area, there was very little traffic. There were a couple of long, straight stretches of road leading through the desert, and then the road began to climb into the foothills.
Our first town stop was at San Jose de Dimas, a pretty little town with lots of blooming bougainvillea and other flowering trees. We pulled up to the town square and pulled out our snacks, juice and water. There was a small store here, but no signs of a gas station. We did not need gas ourselves, but perhaps this will be useful information for others riding this way.
From here the twisties began in earnest, as the road continued east, winding up and over and back down the lower mountains and intervening river valleys. The hillsides were covered with oaks and now and then a grove of pine. It was enjoyable riding, especially because there was very little traffic.
We arrived in another town, Tecoripa, and were glad to find not just one, but two Pemex gas stations. (Eighty miles between gas stops.)
After more climbing into steeper mountains, the road twisted down to a tall bridge over the Rio Yogui. It was a beautiful, large river, and we pulled off on the steep dirt road that led down to the river's edge where we enjoyed a shore break. Across the river, a fellow was pumping river water into a large tank on his truck. We sensed there might be some money crop being grown around here. A small plane flew overhead, probably looking for the said crop. That was our guess, anyway.
Back on Highway 16, from here the serious and unrelenting twisties began. The mountainsides grew ever steeper, and more densely wooded with pines and junipers, and the views became expansive. The drop-offs were breath-taking.
We had hoped to find gas at Yecora, and indeed we did. (Ninety-five miles between gas stops). Yecora was a typical ramshackle town, but it had several small stores, taquerias, and a couple signs for hotels. It was 1:30 pm, and we were ready for a lunch stop, so We pulled off the highway and drove through town. We found one taqueria that was open but it was quite busy. So instead, at the store next door we bought some snacks, juice, and a gallon of water, and sat outside in the shade, eating our lunch.
The air was cooler now that we were in the mountains, and out to the east we could see some rain clouds building dark and fast. We had some wind, but mostly the weather was perfect. As the afternoon and twisties wore on, and as the clouds continued to build ahead of us, we would have liked to find somewhere to camp, but all along the way the road was lined with barbed-wire fence, indicating private property.
We had to be extremely careful of high-speed traffic out on this curvy mountain road. Large semis, buses, work trucks, smaller pickups, and small cars. One immense, passenger bus came barreling down the road and as it careened around a curve it leaned so far over it looked like the driver was going to lose it. But no, that's just the way the fellow drives this road. The road was in very good shape, until we reached the border between Sonora and Chihuahua. After that point it was much more potholed and a few sections of rocks on the pavement. At one point, on a super sharp corner, the edge of the pavement had fallen away. Here the road was black with tire marks of vehicles coming too close. The accident rate through here must have been quite high, judging by the impatience of the high-speed drivers. At one point we had to stop on the edge of the highway to allow an 18-wheeler to negotiate a sharp curve using both lanes. Most everyone was friendly, we received a lot of waves.
We should also mention road hazards: cattle, burros, dogs, potholes, rocks. Fortunately, all of these are not in abundance, but we had to stay alert. Just before reaching Tecoripa, an animal ran out in front of me. It was dark colored and about the size and shape of a Mexican wolf, but I couldn't be sure. Earlier, in the lower foothills, Jenny had seen two roadrunners running across the road in front of her. And in the mountains we saw a squirrel with a tail that must have been twice the length of its body. Also in the mountains we saw a lot of Ponderosa Pines, and also some Cypress. And at the stops we noticed poison oak, bare stems only.
As the afternoon wore on, the traffic increased and became more frenetic. We were ready to stop for the day, and just west of Basaseachic we stopped at the Hotel Alma Rosa, at 5:30 pm. The Alma Rosa was run by an older Senora who had quite a sense of humor. She makes burritos for the guests, and when we asked how much do they cost, she asked us, how much do you have?
Day 3
March 29, 2012: Basaseachic to Gomez Farias
Another fun day of riding, but first a little change of plans. Yesterday I had discovered that one of my front fork seals was leaking (on the Dakar). In fact, so badly that it had run dry and started clanking. Not good. The 200-mile Tail of the Mexican Dragon had taken its toll. Or rather, it had found a hidden weakness in one of the fork seals. The other fork was fine. It would be foolish to go deeper into Mexico with a bad fork seal. Especially into the remote mountains and canyons.
In addition, the Mexican Dragon had maxed out the GPS memory with all those curves. It only saved the last 150 miles. There was so much data that the first, initial tracks had to be overwritten. Usually the GPS can hold about 4 days worth of riding.
Plan B then, was to head north, back toward home, via a much easier route. The morning dawned chilly. In fact, we found frost on the motorcycles. So we delayed our departure several hours. Eventually, we set off at 10:00 am and headed for the local Pemex station a few miles back west. There we got gas and a quart of motor oil. I couldn't replace the fork seal because I wasn't carrying a spare, so I could only pour more oil into the fork. After doing that we set off going east on Highway 16.
This part of the highway was enjoyable riding also, and most of the morning local traffic had cleared out. Within a few miles we found the turnoff to Basaseachic Falls, which we still wanted to see, despite our change in plans. We rode slowly through the town, bumped our way over the giant speed bumps, and then cruised along through a beautiful forest of pine to the small parking lot. Here we parked the bikes, grabbed our valuables and cameras and hiked part way down the trail to see the famous cascades. A suspension bridge spanned a canyon above the falls and from here we took photos of the gorge below. It is indeed a beautiful area and Mexico has every right to be proud of this natural wonder. We are pleased that the entire area surrounding the falls is now a Parque Nacional.
Back on the road we carried on with the twisties, but today they seemed to be mellowing a bit. We were gradually descending from the high regions, and today the curves were interspersed with pleasant straightaways. We still climbed and descended, but overall we were descending. The clouds had built early today and provided welcome shade and a cool, pleasant riding temperature.
One hundred and one kilometers east of Basaseachic, we turned off of Highway 16 and headed north on Highway 11, although on our maps the road was not numbered. This road was a welcome change, with long, straight, undulating pavement and very little traffic. We were finally able to shift into 4th gear, and sometimes even into 5th, but not for very long.
We passed through several small, pleasant towns: Ciudad Guerrero, Santo Tomas, and eventually Matachic, where we stopped for gas (115 miles between gas stops). As we were getting gas, a pickup pulled up with two cows in the back of the pickup. The gas station owner's yappy dog started barking furiously at the cows, and the cows panicked, giving the truck a good beating with their hooves. The pickup truck driver got gas as fast as he possibly could and got out of there.
We continued north, weaving and dodging rain squalls, and admiring the expansive countryside. We were now out of the mountains and in the high desert and agricultural regions. It was a high prairie and grasslands, interspersed with stands of junipers and small towns. There was very little of the noisy and dirty industrial works we had seen back to the west.
Highway 11 (although on one of our maps this is listed as Hwy 23) ended at another highway (number unknown), where we turned left, north. The road led past several more small towns, and soon we arrived in Gomez Farias, where we found only one motel that looked like it was open for business, Hotel Central. There was a very small driveway that led into a small parking court. There were perhaps 12 or 15 units, and the pleasant woman running the place spoke a few words of English. And it was cheap, only 25 bucks, and there was hot water. There may have been heat, but we couldn't figure out how to turn it on.
Just after sunset, a police vehicle crept sloooowly along the main route through town with its siren blaring. Then here it comes again, but this time it was leading a parade. Apparently the local high school was celebrating who-knows-what, with lots of whooping and hollering, and loud music. It was lots of fun, with police escorts, a good bunch of kids, and lots of costumes, flashing lights and music. We joined the spectators at the curb and enjoyed the celebration. Fun!
Day 4
March 30, 2012: Gomez Farias to Bisbee AZ
We sincerely hope that we are not using up everybody's fun tickets, just the two of us, but we seem to be having more than our share. Yet another fun day of riding our motorcycles in Mexico.
We woke up with the birds this morning and decided to get an earlier start, so we packed up and were on our way by 6:30 am. The air was cold, so we were bundled up in thermal pants and warm jackets under our riding gear. Our route led northward through farmland and agriculture, including some orchards, possibly apples, with the trees in blossom and the boxes of honey bees set out for pollinating.
Once again we could smell the distinctive and aromatic odor of burning juniper; apparently it is used to heat the rural homes. And once again, traffic was light and the going was very enjoyable. There was a regular pattern to the travel in this area: starting with a 5 or 8 mile stretch of straight roadway leading to a small town, then the approach curve to the town, followed by a dramatic drop in speed in order to climb and descend the speed bumps (topes), which has the desired affect of slowing traffic through town. Then once out of town, back up to speed for the next stretch of road.
We were still descending out of the mountains, and at one point we came to a super fun batch of twisties descending the sierra la katarina, with spectacular views down into the lower regions to the northeast. There is a lot of territory down here, and we had covered only a small bit of it. For now, it felt like we had finally left the sierras grandes behind.
vThe town of Buenaventura was like reaching an oasis of green vegetation, with cottonwood trees lining the roads. This would be an interesting place to explore. The next large town, Nuevo Casas Grandes was a little bit too big for thoughts of spending extra time here. We got gas at one of the Pemex stations.
Reaching Janos we stopped at a taqueria for lunch. From here the road traversed mile after mile of wide open chaparral. The mountains were still quite distant, but I remarked to Jenny on the headset that there must be quite a steep mountain ahead of us, because I could smell hot brakes. Sure enough, more mountains materialized in front of us, and the road started climbing. Up and up, curve after curve, and it would have been super fun except that there was a large truck in front of us and it kept going slower and slower. The road was so curvy that there was no chance of passing the truck. It slowed so much that we couldn't even drive in first gear without using the clutch. Finally we reached the summit where there were a couple of small pull offs, so we stopped to let the slow trucks get farther ahead. Later on, on the descent, the driver of the slow truck gave us an apologetic wave.
Everybody we met was very friendly, and in fact, in all the towns we've driven through, the locals always try to be helpful if they see the need, and we have had very few instances where we felt the person was exhibiting obsequious behavior. Even the truck drivers are friendly and they often wave to us whenever we stop alongside the road. They drive fast on the twisty roads, but they don't dislike other drivers, generally. They drive by a different set of rules. And once you know what they're doing, they're not a menace. For example, the motorcycle doesn't take up much room in the lane. A big truck coming the other way takes up a lot of room, so the truck driver might as well move over into our lane, and that is very startling to an outsider. But actually it increases everyone's safety. Because the truck doesn't have to drive so close to the edge of the road - and that is dangerous for a big truck, because these roads are narrow. The truck drivers watch out for everybody. It is not like they are trying to be road kings.
Taking that example to an extreme, we were following a long line of big trucks going down the mountain, and the lead truck pulled over into the oncoming lane (which at that time was clear), and stopped to wait so that the traffic behind him can get past. The truck driver could see quite far ahead, and he stopped only one vehicle trying to come up the road. But he was the hero of everybody behind him, for letting us go by. This is all because there are no pullouts big enough for the semi trucks on these mountain roads.
We were riding on Highway 2 west toward Agua Prieta when we came to a military checkpoint. We have been stopped dozens of times by these, but this one was different. There was a long line of trucks and cars and we had to wait 50 minutes to reach the head of the line. Throughout this wait, the yellow car behind us was leaning on his horn, as if honking would hurry up the military guys. As we neared the head of the line, a soldier with an M16 walked up to us and asked if we were doing the honking. No, not us. Then he asked the driver behind. Sure enough, that driver was livid. The soldier let him know in no uncertain terms that the honking was unacceptable. The soldier delayed that driver for at least another five minutes while we passed through the head of the line. :)
In Agua Prieta we found our way to the border crossing, but before crossing, we stopped at the Banjercito office, which is adjacent to the actual crossing, to turn in our Temporary Vehicle Import papers and our tourist cards. Then after a short, 5-minute wait at the border, we were through and back on U.S. soil, in the town of Douglas. We headed west on highway 80 to Bisbee. Arriving in Bisbee we toured slowly through the touristy old town area, then at the west end, we found a quiet Inn for the night called The Gardens B&B.
Day 5
March 31, 2012: Bisbee to Home
The night was quiet and peaceful at the Inn where we stayed in Bisbee; once again it was birdsong at first light that awoke us. We packed up and at 6:30 am continued on westward on Highway 80. We were pleased to hear and feel the bikes running more smoothly with the cleaner gas we had filled up on yesterday afternoon in Douglas.
We dropped down out of the Mule Mountains that surround Bisbee, and the air became several degrees cooler as we descended into the major drainage of the San Pedro River. Immense cottonwood trees lined the river, and for a couple miles either side of the river the vegetation grew lush. This riverland is protected in the San Pedro National Conservation Area.
We drove through the town of Sierra Vista, which was fairly quiet for a Saturday morning, then turned north on Highway 90. This southeast corner of Arizona is fascinating country, both historically and geologically. The rocky and rugged Huachuca Mountains rise dramatically to the south and west of Sierra Vista and the nearby military base. At this time of year, this is pleasant country to travel through.
A left turn onto Highway 82 took us west to Sonoita and then we headed north on Highway 83. We took a rest stop at the turnoff into the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, and enjoyed the views across the lower, scrubby foothills.
From here it was a pretty quick trip home, since we had decided to ride the slab through Tuscon and on west to our small town. We made one gas stop along the way, and once again the bikes were eager to get up to freeway speed and beyond.
At 10:00 am we rolled into our driveway. We were glad to be home, as usual, and especially so today, as already the temperature was reaching into the low 90's.
Despite the change in our itinerary, our loop through the mountains of Chihuahua was super enjoyable, and super fun.