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The Wild Bunch In The Remote Backcountry of Mexico's Sierra Gorda

During my morning walk around Tula I stumbled across what looked like some sort of package lying in the bottom of the river walk area.

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I wanted so badly to see what was inside. Was it just bundled up trash or possibly money or drugs.......
I figured it was probably just trash and I had better leave well enough alone.

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Leaving Tula and trying to locate the Pemex was a bit comical but we made it. There I found a guy that was really digging my KTM. He had some sort of home made Rat Bike and wanted to trade. It looked like a little much to handle on the trail so I kept the KTM. :trust:

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Let me join in and catch up.



First day just loaded up and headed for the boarder




Hitch carrier

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As was previously described - Did the paper work shuffle and crossed the border. Did a butt burner toward Tula, alittle rain,alittle gas, alittle food and never a dull moment riding with these clowns - my riding buddies.




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Playing musical chairs?

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Scott in a blissful food coma

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on the way to Tula

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Richard has arrived

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Scott on a serious hill climb

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Day two in Mexico was very memorable for me.

Hit a dog about 50 or so mph, and caught Montezuma's revenge. Made it to the Pemex just in time!

But crapped my pants trying to get my gear off :eek2: what a bummer!!!:giveup: To top it off no toilet paper!!!! O'Well I loved those socks. Are we having fun yet? The worst day riding in Mexico is better than good day in the states.

THANK YOU MY FRIEND for the Cipro!!!!!!!

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Chit Happens ! :rofl:

But, I wouldn't have told THAT!

Nothing makes a better story than the truth. Life just like it happens....Bring on the adventure.
 
Day 2 continued

After the mechanics finally fixed Milton's bike (for the day) it was time to go exploring. But, first, we needed gas. Where the heck is the Pemex? It took a bit of exploring before we finally located it. Once we were all tanked up, off we went in search of some dirt.

And dirt we found.
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JT and I had spent a lot of time looking at various maps before this trip (JT more-so than me). We were reasonably confident that most of the roads we planned to ride during this trip were actually there because not only were they on at least one of our maps but we could see them on Google Earth.

However, there were a few roads that were on Google Earth, sort of, but weren't on our maps. The first dirt road out of Tula was one of those we weren't sure about. We hoped it went through but knew it very well might dead-end. There was only one way to find out - go and ride it. That's what we were here to do.

We located the dirt road and headed south through the mountains. Wow, what a great road it turned out to be. Great views and wonderful riding.
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Several miles down the road, at an intersection, we decided to take a short break, have a drink of water, check the maps, and say hello to the young man hanging out at the intersection. He was patiently waiting for any vehicle to pass by so he could catch a ride to town. There doesn't seem to be much of traffic on this road - I don't recall passing any vehicles - so I don't know how long he ultimately had to wait.
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Smoke 'em if you've got 'em. (That's what they used to say at break time when I was in the Army back in the 80s.) I didn't smoke so I just hung out and shot the breeze. Which is exactly what is going on here.
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The further south we rode the better the road got. It wasn't just a matter of this being a new road to us, it really was a fun, scenic road. I was glad we had chosen to explore this particular road as part of our route to Aquismon.
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The first spot where we expected to find a dead end was at a (very obvious on Google Earth) laguna. We could maybe see a whisper of a track on Google Earth bypassing the laguna to the west but couldn't really tell for sure. As we examined the area on Google Earth we could see a road south of the laguna but was there any way to get to it?
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Some guys were working the fields at the laguna and told us we could get through and gave us permission to continue on our way. As we rode on the route deteriorated into a fine class 3. Very fun. There aren't many locals travelling this way.
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This cowboy was tending to his cattle, who slowly yielded the road to the motorcycles.
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Just great riding.
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Eventually we crossed a small bridge and decided it was time for another break. I took the opportunity to grab my camera and explore the creek...
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...and found this pretty little waterfall.
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But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Eventually the road dead-ended - as we expected - and we were forced to backtrack to our planned bypass, which had us heading west through the mountains, out to the desert beyond. But not before we stopped at a tienda (store) along the way for a cold soda.
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We exited the mountains onto a road that Milton and I had ridden 5 years earlier. I knew this desert road to be fast and fun.

La Memela, here we come.
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The late start and the backtracking conspired to eat up our time. Once we arrived at pavement a few miles west of El Naranjo, we had a decision to make. Either stay on pavement so that we could make it to Aquismon before dark, or keep exploring and likely getting caught riding after dark (one of our rules is to minimize riding in the dark in Mexico). We elected to split into 2 groups - one would take the pavement to Aquismon and the other would do a little more dirt before jumping on the pavement to Aquismon.

Unfortunately, rain caught us before we arrived in Aquismon. Milton hit a slick patch while riding the last bit of pavement and went down at speed. The bike was okay but he had a huge hematoma on his left elbow. Ultimately, no bones were broke, but it did put a restriction on Milton for the next few days.

Once in Aquismon Milton visited the local clinic and they splinted his arm.
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Here's some stuff that I have from day 2

Bob planning our next move.
(Shhhh, don't tell him that the map is upside down...)
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Chuck making a roadside repair
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This guy in the backgroud is the one Richard mentioned was waiting out in the middle of nowhere for a ride. I felt kind of bad for him but figured he probably does this all the time. As everyone rode off I was the last one there and watched as he walked down the road a bit, then low and behold a car came down the road so I had to sit and watch. He waved at the car and they just passed him by like nothing. My heart sank just a bit and then I rode off too.
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Some video of the morning ride​
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP8-JXQbjnc"]Mexico 2015 First Taste of Dirt - YouTube[/ame]

Near the dead end
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Caught this guy ease dropping
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Coke break (Richard didn't get the memo...)
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Milton taking it all in
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I named this one the "Lost Socks" video. Mainly because the end of the video shows where Chuck lost his socks...... :rofl:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2AIG2qrwJA"]Memorial Week in Mexico 2015 Day 2 Part II - YouTube[/ame]
 
Day 2
Into the dirt
Since this was an exploratory trip, every road sign was documented and cataloged.
The pic below shows ant hills in the road. I could only imagine they were all connected underground.

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Rest break
Richard and JT had done a commendable job of scouting these roads.
Spending many hours scrutinizing satellite imagery on Google Earth.
Hats off to Rich and JT

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Bob/Glen Beck trying to connect the dots
Check out the rock wall in the background. Can you imagine the man-hours ??

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Good riding
We're having fun now

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Just follow the power lines
Me: Hey JT, where do you figure we are? (me looking at my old school map)
JT: We're about 5 klicks from San Fernando.
Ok. That's what your GPS says?
No, that's what the sign behind you says.

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By this time I was beginning to notice a flooding problem with my bike. It was always flooded when I tried to re-start it after a short break. JT loaned me a pair of medical hemostadts which I used to clamp off the fuel line whenever I stopped.
This seemed to work. The bike never flooded when I remembered to clamp off the fuel line.
You just had to remember.
 
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End of the line
This was our turn-around spot. JT up ahead radioed back, "impassable"
And we were so close to connecting up with roads on the other side.
JT contends that this happens whenever you cross state lines in Mexico.
One side is always worse.

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I didn't see anyone tell the "Quote". It's from Galaxy Quest.
 
I didn't see anyone tell the "Quote". It's from Galaxy Quest.

Ding, ding, ding... We have a winner winner chicken dinner. Yes, it's from Galaxy Quest. Well done! I owe you a beer. :sun:
 
I'm not an expert but I think you win.

Since I only drink water, milk and some fruit juices,(Barley isn't a fruit, contrary to popular belief), I'll have to pass on the trophy. LOL

Thanks,

Steven
 
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