Quick ride to Santiago, Mexico but, WOW!

It was bound to happen, pulled over by the Federales on the autopista between Reynosa and Monterrey. Ostensibly, I was speeding (140 kph in a 110 zone, according to them), but they were mostly fishing for a payoff. Four police cars and several cops standing alongside the road with radar guns were working a half mile stretch on that Friday afternoon.

To back up a bit, Mary and I and Rick (Hombre) were taking a 3-day weekend to visit acquaintances in Santiago, Nuevo Leon, about an hour southeast of Monterrey on Highway 85. We'd met Cristobal, Rosa and their daughter, Idalia, when they've come to visit another daughter, Cecelia, who is a neighbor and friend of ours. They'd invited us to visit their place in Santiago and I told Mary I'd take her back to Cola de Caballo (Horsetail Falls) for an anniversary trip. Rick came along for the ride. He's always ready to head for Mexico. Dale (Goldfish) wanted to come, but he only made it as far as the border to turn in his papers. He needed to go back to Corpus for some personal business.



Santiago is only about 300 miles from Corpus Christi. We'd left about 9:00 AM, Friday, crossed into Mexico at the Anzalduas bridge south of Mission, and got some lunch and some pesos before leaving Reynosa.

Hombre has rooms reserved all over Mexico.


We got another reminder of Dale while we were eating lunch.


I'd decided to take the autopista because tolls for motorcycles had been cut in half, making the cost about $10 each instead of the $20 cars have to pay. I hadn't counted on getting stopped.

The cop had my license, asked why I was riding so fast ("Because I didn't want to get run over from behind?") and was telling me I would have to go into Monterrey in a week or two to retrieve my licence and pay the $300 fine.

I employed my usual tactic learned in similar situations years earlier in Honduras and Mexico; delay. Don't argue with the cop (even though I was probably only doing 120 kph at the time and was being overtaken by several other cars at the moment I was flagged over), don't get excited, don't make excuses, don't offer money, just hang around. When I went to get a bottle of water out of the tail trunk, the cop asked, "What's that?" pointing at a ziploc bag with some of the biker New Testaments we carry.

"They're bibles."

"What do they cost."

"Nothing, we bring them along to give away. Would you like one?"

"Sure."

After about 15 or 20 minutes, another Federale climbed out of the pursuit car, (I think there were 3, total), came over, told me I needed to ride slower, told the younger cop to return my licence and took the bible from the younger cop and we were on our way. Riding a bit slower. No harm, no foul. Stalling tactics work again.

My theory is, after a while, they realize they're not going to be able to panic us, we probably won't pay them much, if anything, and, in the time we've stood there, they could've pulled over several other people. Because we don't get confrontational, nobody's pride is on the line. If it does escalate, get out the camera, take their pictures, get a picture of the car, hope you don't lose the camera.

We rode past the exit for Cadereyta, where the big refinery is, and got off at Benito Juarez. I wanted to take a back road into Santiago I hadn't ridden before. There was quite a bit of construction going on in downtown B. Juarez, so we had to zigzag a bit a follow traffic to hit the road heading south. The road went by a number of weekend places, all with signs saying Quinta This or Quinta That. I guess a Quinta is a small vacation property. Some of them were very pretty. We could smell jasmine occasionally as we rode past the flowers.

The road joined up with 10, coming from Cadereyta, went through a gap in the mountains and came out on the east side of the lake at Santiago, Presa Rodrigo Gomez. We rode around the north end of the lake, hit highway 85, finally found a crossover, then headed south for Alamo, on the south side of Santiago. We were scheduled to meet Cristobal at 5:00 at a restaurant alongside the highway and were running a few minutes late.

Mary said we were looking for El Charro del Alamo, a restaurant with a big hat on top.

I said, "El Chavo del Ocho?"


"No! El Charro del Alamo!"


"OK" I know when not to push my luck. We found the restaurant, but no Cristobal. Assuming we would have dinner there, we went inside, found a table, ordered something to drink, and Mary made a couple phone calls. A few minutes later, Idalia showed up with a friend and then we met Cristobal. He had been parked outside waiting for us, but missed us when we pulled in. He also said Rosa, his wife, was cooking dinner for us. So we paid for the cokes, got on the bikes and followed Cristobal about a mile to their house.

Getting acquainted at Cristobal's

When we pulled up a Cristobal's house, he wanted to show us around, starting with his shop in the back yard. Their property also includes two other houses, located behind their house, occupied by two sons and their families.

Cristobal is a retired truckdriver and says he's driven trucks and buses all over Mexico during the 50 years he worked. In retirement, he tinkers around with woodcarving, does a little painting, and rides his motorcycles when he gets the chance.

This is Cristobal's shop behind their house:


And some of his handiwork:


He's got a Suzuki Intruder and a smaller bike that he rides around town.


Just a very pretty place.


Cristobal told us he was the fifth generation of his family to live in the area and many of the streets in the neighborhood were named after ancestors of his. Over the years, the family property had been divided up between each succeeding generation, so all he had was a lot big enough for three houses. Cristobal said, without any land to farm, he went into truck driving. So did his brothers, and his sons, and at least one grandson.



We enjoyed dinner with the family, visited with them and a number of the extended family that stopped by during the course of the evening, then finally headed for bed. They had shuffled room assignments around until they had two free bedrooms they put us up in. Their hospitality was amazing.

During the course of the evening, they were planning a trip Saturday to take us up to their cabin in the mountains behind Santiago. In the morning, they would buy food and head out there. Some of them in cars. Cristobal, Rick and I on the bikes. Cristobal said it wasn't far, but the last stretch was dirt road. Only the last bit of that was going to be a bit rough, everything else would be fine...

The Ride to the Cabin

In the morning, I was up about 6:30 or so, when a grandson of theirs pulled up in front of the house in a big rig, no trailer. The talk the evening before was he'd been spending the night several nights earlier in a truckstop in Chihuahua and someone in the middle of the night began shooting at several of the trucks, including his. Apparently, the other truck got the worst of things. I couldn't find any bullet holes in his.

Once everybody was up and had something to eat and some coffee, Rick and Cristobal set out to buy some cowboy boots for Rick. He's always interested in shopping. After a while went by and they hadn't returned, the rest of the family decided it was time to head out, the shoppers could catch up later.

We made a stop or two to buy some groceries. While at the second, I visited a bit with a group of 4-wheelers from Cadereyta that were headed up into the same mountains.




The whole area is national park and is a favorite weekend recreational destination for people from Monterrey and the area. There are groups of 4-wheelers, dirt bikers, jeeps, bicyclists and hikers all over the area. We drove past a number of cabins and resorts on our way out to the family's cabin.

We went over the summit above Horsetail Falls, then stopped for a bit on the far side to see if Cristobal and Rick would catch up. When they didn't, we went on our way.


Mary was riding in the car with Idalia (who was driving), Rosa, and a grandson, Aron. I was following on the bike.


Down the road a bit, we went through a little town, I believe Cienega de Gonzalez, with an incredible backdrop. I stopped to take a picture or two.




A couple miles past Cienega, the road made an abrupt left turn, and went through a gap in the mountains that was even more mindblowing. The gorge was probably less than 100 yards wide, room for a stream and the road beside it, and that was about it. The walls on each side probably went up 1500 to 2000 feet above us. We didn't stop and I found myself wishing I had a helmet cam.

Through the gap, we turned off the pavement, went through Laguna de Sanchez and a couple miles beyond that, we were at their cabin.

The last bit of road leading to the cabin.


One of the grandkids, Gael, wanted to ride the last couple miles past Laguna de Sanchez with me, but I told him to get off before the last bit up to the cabin. It was a challenging couple hundred yards and I wasn't sure how I was going to get back down the hill when it was time to leave.

The Guzzi was now officially a dirt bike:


While we were still unloading, Cristobal and Rick showed up on their bikes. Rick was sweating.

A Walk in the Park

Idalia said if we wanted to walk on up the road a bit while lunch was underway, there were some pretty nice views at the top of the hill. So we all set out with the group including Gael and Alexia, two of the grandkids in the family, cousins of Aron.





Powerlines were in the process of being put up in the area, though it would be a while yet before anybody in the area had lights.

First up, some of the local not-so-wildlife.

A stray dog that hung around patiently all day waiting for the scraps from the meal.


A couple mules. In the background. On the left.


And some cabrito, still on the hoof.


Then it was on up the hill. Since the cabin is at about 6500 ft. elevation, we were all huffing and puffing.






The views were every bit as nice as Idalia promised, though the area had obviously had a forest fire several years earlier.


At the summit, we ran into a group of hikers that were coming through from the opposite direction.


It was nice hanging out for a bit before it was time to head back for lunch.








Cristobal finally showed up and said lunch was just about ready so we headed back down the hill.

Lunch time!

Back at the cabin, Israel and Iza had shown up, parents of Gael and Alexia. The cabin was a two-room affair with a kichen, bedroom, bathroom and sleeping loft. It had running water and, according to Cristobal, had been built with dead timber left by the forest fire. The walls were chinked with a mix of sawdust and glue. The porch had another of Cristobal's carved bears.




Cristobal's daughter, Gaby, was also along for the day. She spends most of her time in a wheelchair but always enjoys an outing.


Things were real homey with everybody there and food cooking on the fire.


Cristobal pointed out trees around the cabin that he said were Oyameles, firs that only grow at higher elevations in Mexico. According to wikipedia, these are the same type of trees where the monarch butterflies winter in Michoacan. The cabin had been named after them.


Unless you looked at the other side of the sign.


When lunch was served, it consisted of a chicken stew that was a specialty of the area.


We also had agujas, a cut of meat that's a favorite of mine. Since I liked them so much, they served me a good portion.


All in all, an excellent meal. The dog that was on hand earlier had hung around and was joined by several others, but they all got a decent amount of scraps.

Heading Home

After lunch, the first order of business was to take some pictures with the bikes. People in Mexico love posing on random motorcycles, especially the larger road bikes. I guess it's because, for most of them, having one is a dream they don't expect to realize.

Israel and Iza (taken by Idalia):


Alexia got her turn, too.




Then it was time to figure out how we were going to get the bikes back down the hill to where the road leveled out a bit. It was steeper than the bikes could handle with their road gearing, so it was decided to make things a group effort.


Cristobal even enlisted the help of several of the guys stringing the power lines in the area to get Rick's bike down the worst part of the hill.


The ladies followed along after us after packing things up at the cabin. They stopped a time or two along the way for a few more pictures.




What a day! Rick and I were watching our odometers on the way back and found out the cabin was 25 miles past Cola de Caballo (which we never did visit this time) and a total of 30 miles from the house in Alamo.

The paved road that goes past Cola de Caballo goes all the way to Arteaga, just outside of Saltillo. It looks like its about 100 miles across there. That's a ride I sure want to do some day. What fun.

Back at the house, we unwound from the day and finally headed for bed. When I got up in the morning, I checked the air temp on the bike and saw it was 36 deg. F. I decided not to tell Mary that and wait for things to warm up a bit.

We headed for home about 9:30, this time going through Montemorelos, General Tehran and China (the town, not the country), instead of returning on the toll road. Cristobal assured us the road was in good shape, it was shorter and it was quicker.

We saw lots of motorcyclists out and about on Highway 85 when we headed for Montemorelos and saw several restaurant parking lots full of bikes. I guess it's a popular day ride for the area. The road is a divided 4-lane highway with gentle elevation changes and lots of nice sweepers.

The ride back was pretty uneventful. We took a brief break in China, got some lunch in Reynosa, turned in our pesos (apparently the only exchange place on that side of town is at the entrance to the big Soriana Supermarket where the bypass from Anzalduas intersects with the highway going to Monterrey, though their rates aren't that great), turned in our paperwork at the bridge, then rode back to Corpus with a nice tailwind pushing us all the way home after several more posing sessions with the bikes.





All in all, it was a great weekend. We had not planned on Cristobal and family's hospitality, expecting to be at a hotel for the weekend. Instead, winding up at their house. And the trip to the cabin and back was a lot of fun. I have to keep reminding myself that at the farthest point, we were only 350 miles from Corpus Christi. We're ready to go back.

Great trip report and even better riding. I wish I could have made it, well most of it. Carrying my Wing down the mountain probably would have been more of a challenge than I would look for. <G> ! I am glad that yall had a good time.

Dale

VERY NICE! Thanks for taking me along.

Hi Andy! Great write up, great photos! I love seeing that Guzzi get dirty on the brecha. I guess the only thing missing was Bato. There is so much good spirit in those photos and that is the real Mexico. You need to take a few CNN reporters with you and show them the area and the people.
Looking forward to meeting up again your next time through.
Saludos y abrazos! Everyone needs to read your section on dealing with bribes.

Goldfish said:

Great trip report and even better riding. I wish I could have made it, well most of it. Carrying my Wing down the mountain probably would have been more of a challenge than I would look for. <G> ! I am glad that yall had a good time.

Dale

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CeeBee said:

VERY NICE! Thanks for taking me along.

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MikeMike said:

Hi Andy! Great write up, great photos! I love seeing that Guzzi get dirty on the brecha. I guess the only thing missing was Bato. There is so much good spirit in those photos and that is the real Mexico. You need to take a few CNN reporters with you and show them the area and the people.
Looking forward to meeting up again your next time through.
Saludos y abrazos! Everyone needs to read your section on dealing with bribes.

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Goldfish, CeeBee, Thanks for the feedback. It's appreciated.

MikeMike, Bato was invited but he had the current Mexico trip looming so he stayed home (to his later chagrin). It would be great to have some reporters along but nobody is interested in the good times in Mexico. It doesn't fit in their world. I sometimes call myself a Mexivangelist, but I'm preaching to a pretty small congregation.

CeeBee said:

VERY NICE! Thanks for taking me along.

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+1

Nice write up. Now to get the map out and follow along via roads. Thanks for allowing us along.

i want to take a 'quick trip' to Mexico with you guys sometime ......

hardybaker said:

Nice write up. Now to get the map out and follow along via roads. Thanks for allowing us along.

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hardybaker,
I know, I know, I should do maps along with the writeups. I just never can seem to work out embedding a google map. Though it looks really straightforward on the thread that shows how to do it, I can never seem to make it work. Sorry.

http://goo.gl/maps/Ut25n

This shows up as a link, not a map and the route is not right. It won't let me reroute from Benito Juarez south to Santiago, instead it makes me go through Monterrey. Oh well. At least it shows the area. And the return route through Montemorelos.

RJ2 said:

i want to take a 'quick trip' to Mexico with you guys sometime ......

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RJ2,
You'd be most welcome to ride along. Our next trip scheduled for Mexico is a ride to a bike rally in San Luis Potosi June 14 - 16. The plan is to leave Thursday afternoon on the 13th (same weekend as the ROT rally), spend the night south of the border, then light out for SLP in the morning, going by way of Cd. Victoria, Tula and Cerritos. Distance from Corpus to SLP according to Google is 540 miles. We might head back towards home later on Saturday afternoon, or early Sunday morning to be back in Corpus by Sunday night. It will definitely qualify as a "quick" trip.



Bike rallies in Mexico are much different from rallies in the US. Bikes and bikers of all types show up. The rally usually includes a day ride Saturday to some interesting nearby area where lunch is usually served to the whole crowd and Saturday evening is usually a bike parade through town. Both rides are normally accompanied by police clearing the route and the intersections along the way. Speed limits are not enforced.

We expect to see bikers from all over Mexico show up and probably a number we've met before at other rallies.

This rally also promises 1/4-mile drag races, a rock concert, a beauty contest and "polvera" (not sure what that refers to). In this case, it looks like the drag races might be a stand-in for the typical day ride.

Thanks for the invite! If I can possibly make it I'll give you a call. Adios,