Day One: El Paso, TX to Rio Grande, Zacatecas, MX [685 Miles.]
Wednesday the 10th:I got up about 4:30am, ate a bowl of cereal and went to gas up the bike. It had rained most of the night, and it was still misting a little and was about 52degs. F. I hoped it would quit by the time the sun came up. I had been in communication by E-Mail with Judy in Mazatlan and the club there had decided to leave on Friday instead of Thursday, so they would not be in Salamanca until Saturday with a overnight in Guadalajara. I also had been in E-Mail contact with a dentest friend (rides a '89 PC800) in Aguascalientes. I was bringing him some parts for his bike and was planning on staying with him Thursday and Friday nights. He wanted to show me the city and take me to the local motorcycle club meeting on Thursday evening. I was leaving early because I had to stop at Mexican customs to get my permit for the bike. I got to the customs stop at the 30k mark about 6:30am MST, I had already lost an hour crossing the border, as it was 7:30am CST. It took about 30 min. to get the permit. There was no one else ahead of me but there was only one girl working the office and she was sorting and filing a bunch of papers and said I had to wait until 8:00am CST before she could make out the permit. Welcome to Mexico. While I was waiting, I struck up a conversation with a man who was waiting also. He was going home from California to Zacatecas and said he should be there tonight. He kind of shook his head in wonder that I was going to ride a motorcycle all the way to Salamanca.
By the time I got my permit, the sun was starting to come up and the rain had stopped but it was still kind of chilly riding. I cleared customs and was on the road at last at 8:10am. Next stop was In Villa Ahumada for gas, coffee and some eggs about 10:00am. It was warming up real nice now so I took my helmet off and rode with with just my leather cap, Life was good.
Off and on during the day I kept playing tag with the man from Zacatecas in his S-10 chevy pickup. I would pass him then he would pass me whenever I stopped. I rode right on thru Chihuahua City and got gas again on the southern end of town. The guy in the pickup honked as he passed me again. I lost track of him when I stopped in Jimenez for gas again.
I stopped for gas again at the station just before the toll booth outside Gomez Palacio about 5:00pm, while I was gassing up, in drove the guy in the pickup, I thought he was ahead of me, but he had taken the libra (free road) instead of the toll road for part of the way, so I had gotten ahead of him. We got something to eat and I asked him how much further it was to Zacatecas. He said it was about 4 more hours. I knew I could not make it before dark and said I might stop for the night in Cuencame. I followed him to Cuencame, but it was still daylight and I did not see anyplace that looked good enough to spend the night. He went on while I got gas again. I now planned on stopping for the night in Fresnillo. I had left the toll road at Cuencame and now was on a very bad section of 2-lane and the light was going fast in the mountain foothills. I saw that I was not going to make Fresnillo before dark. It was getting late and I was having a hard time seeing the road with no center strip and on-coming headlights. By the time I got to the little town of Rio Grande, it was 9:30pm. I got gas and asked if there was a motel with secured parking in this town, there was about 1 mile ahead. I stopped and asked if there was a vacancy, there was. I had stopped just in time, as about 6 more people came in right behind me. I tried to use my cell phone to call home, but there was no service here. So off to bed. I was actually ahead of schedule, as my original plans had called for me to spen the night in Gomez Palacio, about 170 miles behind me at this point.
Day Two: Rio Grande, Zacatecas, MX to Aguascalientes, MX [132 Miles.]
Thursday the 11th: After a good nights sleep, I got an early start at about 9:30am. It was a good thing I stopped for the night when I did, because I got into road construction just outside of Rio Grande. One lane was completely closed and it was single lane traffic for about 10 miles, with flagmen holding oncoming traffic in each lane to let the other pass. I would have been in deep do-do last night with the poor visability.
After passing the junction to Durango at Fresnillo, the road got good again with 4-lane divided the rest of the way to Zacatecas. I stopped in Zacatecas and got gas and had a couple of burritos for breakfast, they were hot but good. My bald head sweats and I get the hickups with really hot food and this was the case with these burritos. Not knowing the roads here, this was all new territory for me, I inadverly took the 2-lane truck route around town thru the hills. On the way back I came thru the center of town and it was shorter and level divided road.
I got to Aguacalientes about 1:00pm and stopped at Mc Donald's for a Big Mac and fries. I was at a shopping center with a Sam's Club, Walmart and a multi screen theater complex. After eating, I went looking for a phone to call my friend Enrique. I found one at Walmart, but it did not take money, just Ladatel phone cards. I asked the security guard where to get a phone card and bought one with $30.00 pesos worth of time. I did not know how many mins. that would be, I still don't. I called Enrique's office and he answered the phone and said he would be by to show me the way to his house in about 15 mins. The call took $.50 pesos, I had $29.50 left. While I was waiting, I got a soft drink from a machine and looked around the center. There was a very good looking girl with a Quaker State t-shirt on giving away free samples of something in front of WalMart, I started to go over and talk to her about the time Enrique rode up with a friend on his bike.
I followed Enrique thru town to his office, he took the senic route and got me totally confused on where I was. There sure are a lot of narrow one way streets in Aguascalientes! Enrique dropped off his friend and we proceeded to his office. His office is in part of a converted 3-car garage at his home on one of the main streets. It is his parent's home and two of his brothers also live there. His parents were out of town on vacation someplace and his brothers came and went and I never did see both of them at home at the same time the whole time I was there.
After getting settled in we went for a ride for about an hour as Enrique had a patient coming in at around 4:30pm. When we got back from our ride, the president of the mororcycle club came by to welcome me and invited me to the club meeting that night. His name was also Enrique! He said he would meet us at Walmart about 9:00pm as he had some things to buy for the meeting to give out as raffle items. I also needed to buy a disposable Kodak camera since I forgot to get one in El Paso before I left.
A friend of Enrique's , "Dinkey", came by riding a Venture and we left to go to WalMart about 8:00pm. I got a camera and the club president bought a few things for the meeting. We went to pick up another friend, "Mike" and then went by to pick up a couple of girls that wanted to go to the meeting also. One of them turned out to be "The Quaker State" girl I had seen when I first got to town. We then went to a local Pool Hall - Bar where the club meeting is held. I forget the name. There were about 15-18 people in attendance and the president passed out flyers about the rally and they discussed who was going and what time on Saturday and from where they would leave.
There were a few friendly games of pool,
and food and cervesa. (Enrique,Mike,Olivia,Mary,Me)
"Dinky" and "President Enrique" posed for a photo.
A group shot with "Dinky", Mary, Harry, Gilberto, Enrique, Olivia, and me.
After the meeting broke up about 12:00am, we took the girls home, went back to Enrique's house, got his car and then we went to a local nightclub, "The Station", which seemed to The Place to go. Very popular hangout. I ran into Alex, whom I had met at the Mazatlan rally in May, and told him I would give him the picture I had of his Harley, which was taken in Copala during the rally, the next night. After closing time we went home to get some rest, but Enrique's brother was fixing something to eat, so we decided to eat also. Then Enrique and I went to his office to use the computer to check my e-mail. We got to talking and finally got to bed about 5:00am. He had to get up for a patient at 8:00am but I slept in until 12:00pm.
Day 3: Aguascalientes
Friday:After a late start, Enrique took me on his bike to see the sites. I did some of the tourist things. This is me in front of the monument which marks the "Exact Geographical Center of Mexico"
Me in front of the many murals at the Governors Palace.
The obligatory picture with a sombrero.
We then went to a bakery and got some very good pasteries. The clerk is one of Enrique's patients.
We had to get back to the office as Enrique had patients scheduled for the rest of the day until 8:00pm. I finally called home about 6:00pm and let everyone know I was OK. I had sent an e-mail earlier the previous day, but had not gotten a response, so I called to check in.
It started to rain, and I hoped it would quit before I left the next day for the ride to Salamanca. It only rained for about 30 mins. About 9:00pm, we out to eat at very good restaurant "Rincon Maya" which serves food from the Yucatan. They have the best tamales. He drove me around and showed me the famous gardens and the bull ring, then we went back to "The Station" to see if Alex was there. After closing, back home and to bed for an early start the next day, the group I was going to ride with was leaving at 7:30am.
Day 4: Aguascalientes, MX to Salamanca, MX [129 Miles.]
Saturday:Enrique was going to wait until around 5:00pm to go to the rally, so I was going to ride with some members of the club. I got a late start and had to have Enrique lead the way to where to the others were going to leave from. By the time we got there, they had already left so I said good-by to Enrique and went on by myself. It was 8:30am.
I decided to take the toll road as far as I could, as the others had taken the free road, I figured I could get to the rally site before them. I took the toll road as far as Leon, then got on the free road to Silao and on to Irapuato. I arrived in Salamanca at 10:30am. I drove thru town looking for a sign about the rally. I found myself on the other end of town without seeing any indication of other mortorcycles or any sign pointing to the rally site. I drove on about 10 more miles and stoped for gas. After gassing up, I turned around and backtracked for about 8 miles, there I took a turnoff that circled around the city. After another 2 to 3 miles I came to another intersection with road to Guadalajara. I pulled off at a Pemex station which had a market and asked the clerk if she knew where the rally site was. She did not know anything about it, but she said the address on the info sheet I had was referring to the fair grounds, and pointed me in that direction. I bought a Coka-Cola and looked at the info sheet to memorize the streets. As I was doing this, I saw a bike headed in the direction I had just come from, I waved, but he was too far away to see me. I thought, if I waited there, he would discover that was the wrong way and come back. I finished my soda, and after about 15 mins. I went on in the other direction (the same direction the other bike had come from). I found myself right where I had first entered the town and took a left hand turn down another road that crossed some railroad tracks and appeared to circle the town on the other side. Just then I saw another Gold Wing headed in the opposite direction and he waved and pointed in back of him. I pulled off to the side and waited for him to come back. He was one of the local club members and was cruising town looking for lost bikers. I then followed him about 6 blocks to the fair grounds where dropped me off and resumed his search for lost bikers. It was now 11:30am. Registration was to begin at 3:00pm. I was the first one to arrive, and the organizing club had not gotten everything set up yet.
I went ahead and registered and paid my entry fee of $200.00 pesos, which included a key fob , a certificate of participation and meal tickets for 2 meals a day for 3 days which they had catered. They then showed me where I could park the bike in a covered parking area and where I could put up a tent. Since I did not know this was a camping rally, I had no tent. Anyway, Enrique had a dentest friend here in Salamanca, and had arranged for us to stay at his home. Since I did not know where that was, I would have to wait until Enrique arrived about 8:00pm.
I found that there were no food or softdrink vendors, only beer and tequila, well this is Mexico. After I parked the bike and went over to get a beer, they did not take money, only beer tickets, I went bact to the registration booth to buy some tickets at 5 pesos each. I bought 100 pesos worth. I figured that would last the whole 3 days. After I got something to drink, the bike I had seen earlier from the Pemex station came in and parked beside me. When the rider took off his helmet, I saw that it was Eduardo from Mexico City, whom I had met in Mazatlan in May, very funny, we were the only ones there so far. We speculated on when the Moto-Club of Mazatlan members would arrive since they were to have left the day before and spend the night in Guadalajara. We decided to have a beer (or two) since there was nothing else to do yet. Slowly, more riders started coming in and starting to put up their tents.
About 4:00pm, the group from Mazatlan rolled in. They were late because Alberto had lost the rear axle nut on his Harley and almost crashed. They had spent the night in Leon, only about 30 miles away and had taken most of the day trying to find a nut for Alberto, finally had one made to fit.
They all headed to the beer booth, but did not have beer tickets, so I gave them some.
We decided to have a photo shoot and took pictures of each other. This "The Comandante", Eduardo and Judy.
Judy had her camcorder and was taking pictures all over the place, this is after more riders had arrived.
I can not wait till the next trip to Mazatlan to see the movies.
Saturday was get aquainted day as there was nothing happening until the opening ceremonies at 9:00pm followed by supper at 9:30pm. Then the band would play from 10:30pm until 2am.
Some more members of the Moto-Club Mazatlan.
Later that evening we took some photos with the "ProntoPhoto Girls".
The "Cabrito Tequila Girls".
Enrique and "Dinkey" finally showed up about 10:oopm. It seemes that Dinkey's Venture had a problem with the fuel pump and they had spent a couple of hours on the road trying to get it working. By this time I was out of film! Too bad, as the best part was yet to come on Sunday. About 2am we went to Enrique's friend's house to spend the night.
Day 5: Salamanca, Gto., MX
Sunday: We got up about 9:00am and went back to the fair grounds for breakfast. The parade through town was to start about 9:30am. Then a police escort lead the group on a ride to San Miguel Allende; Dolores Hidalgo; Sierra de Sta. Rosa Gto. (where lunch would be served); Guanajuato Capital and return to Salamanca around 7:30pm. This was very pretty countryside and the tunnels under the city of Guanajuato were outstanding. Had to hear it to belive it. (800 motorcycles in the tunnels make a heck of a sound.) All the bikes gathered on the Park area in front of the Capital for a photo session. There were a lot of tourists there taking pictures. On the road portion of the trip, it seemed that everyone wanted to be first in the procession and there was a lot of fast riders with a lot of passing, very dangerous on the mountain roads, but there were no accidents. The police escort was great, all intersections were blocked along the route and we got to go through all the red lights in the various towns we passed through. People lined the roads for miles admiring the bikes. Along the way we passed runners carrying a torch to Mexico City for the Independence Day Celebrations. Back at the rally site, supper was served about 9:00pm and then the live music started about 10:30pm and lasted until 2am. We called it a night and returned to Enrique's friend's house for the night.
Day 6: Salamanca, Gto., MX
Monday: Got up about 9:00am and returned to the fair grounds. The schedule for the day was:
08:30 to 10:00 Breakfast
10:00 to 11:00 Election of Miss Biker
11:00 to 14:00 Recognition of different Clubs and groups.
Sign-up for rodeo events
14:00 to 15:30 Lunch
15:30 to 16:30 Special Event - Mexican Police Motorcycle Drill Team
16:30 to 19:30 Rodeo - Field Events and presentation of Awards
20:00 to 21:00 Official Presentations
21:00 to 22:30 Supper
23:00 Indepentance Day Celebrations
23:30 to 02:00 Live Mexican Music - Dance
At 2:00 am I went and got a Motel room and went to bed since I was leaving for El Paso in the morning.
Day 7: Salamanca, Gto., MX to Jimenez, Chi, Mx. (566 miles)
Tuesday: I got up about 8:30am, cleaned the dust off the bike, checked out and went to the fair grounds to use up my last meal ticket. Breakfast was being served from 9:30 to 11:00.
After breakfast, about 10:30, I went and gassed up and started home. Enrique and Dinkey had gone to another town the day before, so I was traveling alone again. I stopped at the McDonalds in Aguascalientes for a BigMac at 12:30, then I drove on to Zacatecas. I stayed on the main road through town this time and made better time than I did when I had taken the truck bypass on the way in. About 2:00pm, on the road between Zacatecas and Fresnillo, I saw a group of six bikes parked on the side of the road. One of the bikes was being worked on, so I pulled over to see if I could help. It was some of the riders from Mazatlan that I knew. One of the Harleys' alternator had quit, I know what that feels like. Anyway Diego, from Baja 1000 Mororcycle Shop in Mazatlan, was working on the problem and had everything under control. They switched batteries with one of the other Harleys so it could charge up and the rider with the now good battery rode on ahead toward Durango. The group had spent the night in Zacatecas and was planning only riding as far as Durango to spend the night again before crossing the Sierra Madres the next day. I left next as I had a lot of miles to cover yet. It was now about 5:00pm and I wanted to get the section of two land road behind me and get to the toll road before dark. I stopped at the junction at Fresnillo and got gas and then took the turnoff to Torreon. I gassed up again in Cuename and got a bottle of water, as my supply was getting low. Some people traveling in a pickup had me pose on the bike for a picture, then I was back on the road again. It had already gotten dark by now, but it was only about 6.5 miles to the toll road. There was full moon and driving was easy. Since it was such a beautiful night, I thought I could drive all night and be in El Paso by 8:00am. By the time I got to Jimenez around Midnight, I decided to go ahead and stop for the night. I pulled into the Las Pampas Motel, where I always stay in Jimenez and got a room for the night. I then called home to let them know where I was and that I would be home the next afternoon. I still had about 8 hours ride ahead of me. My speedometer quit working when I arrived in Salamanca so I did not know how fast I had been going. I was running about 3,000 RPM and thought that was about 70 MPH. (After I got the spedo fixed when I got home, I dicovered I was only doing about 60-65 all the way home.) I still made real good time.
I left Jimenez about 10:00am after getting gas. As I aproched the first toll booth of the day, I decided to stop at a roadside food stand (they are everywhere) and get something to eat. I got a couple of burritos, which turned out to be some of the best I had had on the whole trip, glad I stopped.
I went throught Chihuahua about noon and got gas on the north end of town. I encountered the first little rain on the whole trip between Chihuahua and El Paso. It was 3 drops, but the air had cooled down a little. The radio said it was only 95 degrees F. I regreted having to leave the mountains, it had been a very comfortable 72-79 degrees all weekend in Salamanca. Welcome back to the desert. When I arrived in Juarez, I turned off toward Casa Grande to miss the rush hour crossing into El Paso. I went to the Santa Tressa, NM crossing instead. It was about 40 miles out of my way, but it is easier on the Wing than waiting in line for 1-2 hours to cross. I then proceeded to the Honda shop in El Paso and ordered a speedometer cable, I thought that was my problem. I asked the what it would cost to replace the cable, they said $70.00. Well it wasn't in stock anyway so I would think about it. I had plans to work tomorrow and ride up to Ruidoso on Friday for the Golden Aspen Rally which started today. On the way home I stopped by Barnett's Harley-Davidson to see if my friend Al Jones was there. He wasn't, they said he had already gone to Ruidoso to help Sherman Barnett set up the bike display at the rally. This was the first year Harley had made an apperance at Ruidoso in about 8 years. I arrived at home about 6:00pm and got a BIG glass of iced tea.
Footnote: After I returned from Ruidoso, I decided to change the spedo cable myself.
I went over to a friend's (Larry) house and had him as a second pair of eyes in case I missed something.
It took about 3 hours with coffee breaks to install the new cable. It did not fix the problem. The speedometer worm gear on the front wheel was bad. Well now I at least had a new cable.
The next day I called Deming Cycle in Deming, NM and they had a new worm gear in stock, only $54.00.
I told them to hold it for me and I would be over to pick it up before they closed. I went over about 2:00pm to pick up the part and returned home by 5:30pm.
I installed it the next day. Problem fixed. Total cost was $84.00 parts and gas.
Now I was ready for my trip to San Luis Potosi, Mexico on Oct. 8th. but that will be another story.
Ride Safe
El Gringo Loco