Motohermandad 2011, Tampico, Tat-tat-tat-Tamaulipas

[andyc740]

Motohermandad weekend was upon us again. We had been to the bike rally in Tampico the past two years and wanted to make it three in a row. We had all heard the continuing scare stories coming out of Mexico, but just kept telling ourselves everything would be OK, don't worry. I had slapped a pair of fresh tires on Rocinante, packed up the paperwork on the current project at work, made hotel reservations in Tampico and stocked up on the Spanish biker bibles we typically hand out at the rallies. What a good feeling to be heading out! Things had been fairly hectic for the past month or two at work. A long weekend in Mexico sounded like a nice break.

Dale (Goldfish) and Rick were along again for the ride (just can't keep those guys away) and Bato from Kerrville was coming with us again. He had joined us for the bike rally in Monclova in November last year and was game for making the trip to Tampico. Dale, Rick and I were leaving from Corpus at 1:30 Thursday afternoon. Bato would meet us in Pharr just before crossing the border.

Rocinante all packed up, ready to go (I forgot to turn off the time/date stamp on the camera after the HoT rally):

We met up at our Stripes gas station meeting point and left just a few minutes after 1:30. The day was warm, but we pushed it all the way down to the gas station in Pharr where we were to meet Bato. Arriving about 4:30, Bato was already there to meet us. He had sold the Sportster he rode to Monclova, replacing it with a 2010 Ultra Glide with the 105 motor. I was looking at that shiny, new, black bike and thinking, "Cartel candy." We did a bike blessing for Bato and the new Harley and slapped on one of our new Spanish bike blessing stickers. CMA had started selling the Spanish stickers just a few months earlier, partly because we had asked for some. It was great having the Spanish stickers.

After gassing up, we exchanged money, then headed across the bridge to Mexico. Rick and Dale needed papers this trip (Bato had gotten his already) and Rick ran into a hiccup when he was told he hadn't turned in his previous tourist visa before it expired. They're not as picky about the vehicles, but they want those tourist permits back on time. He had to pay a $23 fine, doubling the cost of getting a 180-day visa, but then they were happy to issue him a new one.

We left the border about 5:30 heading south into Indian country. We took the new bypass around Reynosa which still isn't officially open, but has some traffic anyway. An armed guard at the closed tollbooth at the far end just waved us on through. We got through the aduana checkpoint fairly quickly, then headed south on Hwy 97. That road has about a 60-mile straight stretch. I'm not kidding. It's straight as an arrow. And flat. The scenery is mostly sorghum fields which were already being combined. Most of the little shacks along the highway looked empty this time. I was so happy to be back in Mexico again. I hadn't been across the border since my trip to Huatusco in January.

Riding in Mexico, we don't worry about riding in formation, we just string out single file and go on down the highway. Makes it easier passing or being passed. Also gives us room if we have to slow down suddenly for something.

We planned to spend the night at the Hotel Rancho Viejo, at the intersection of Hwy 97 and Hwy 101, a few miles east of San Fernando. San Fernando has seen a lot of violence over the past year and we were wondering how safe we'd be at the hotel. When we arrived about 7:00 PM, there was an armored truck belonging to the Federales parked in front of the hotel entrance and Federal Police and their vehicles all over the place. It turned out a company of about 100 of them had been staying there for several months, trying to pacify the area. So we had lots of protection.

It looked like washday at the hotel.

We did see some effects from all the violence. The string of taco stands across the highway were all closed. The Oxxo convenience store, the gas station and the restaurant were no longer 24-hour operations, instead closing down at night. We were told several ladies working at one of the taco stands had been killed by Zetas trying to extort protection money out of the owners and everybody had closed up shop and shut down. All this crime just turns into a blight on the area. Things are beginning to look like a lightly-populated version of Beirut.

We had dinner at the restaurant, got some ice cream for dessert from the Oxxo and settled in for the night.

 

[andyc740]

Rancho Viejo to Tamaulipas

The next morning we got some coffee and pan dulce at the Oxxo and headed out. One or two of the taco stands seemed to be open, but there wasn't much traffic.

From the intersection, it's about 50 or 60 miles to the turnoff to Soto la Marina, then another 40 miles to Soto. The road is pretty new, in really good shape, and lightly travelled. Mornings are nice in the tropics. I was enjoying the ride, admiring a concrete water tank in a field painted in a rainbow of colors, then had to slow for a white burro crossing the road in front of me. Sometimes Mexico is surreal. We gassed up coming in to Soto, then stopped at El Torito for a late breakfast/early lunch before heading on. (I'd say "brunch" but that doesn't sound like a biker term to me.)

South of Soto, we had about 10 miles of new road, then another 5 or so that were under construction, but they were widening the road and had left the old pavement in place so we didn't have any dirt encounters. I really like riding the sweepers through those low hills. The acacia trees were blooming. I love their bright orange blossoms and we were rolling along doing about 70.

I always see the signs marking the turnoffs to several spots along the coast and I always tell myself I need to go see what the coast looks like along there, but I've never done it; La Pesca, Tepeguahe, Barra del Tordo. Barra del Tordo looks the most interesting, a little fishing town along the coast. Google Streetview has even made it there. I should be able to.

The road turns west when it gets to Aldama, then hits Hwy 81 going between Cd. Victoria and Tampico about 25 miles later. At the intersection, another bunch of Federales were checking car papers. They were all wearing masks over their faces. They just waved us through, "Keep moving. Don't block traffic." We were happy to oblige.

We gassed up at the station by Estacion San Manuel, then headed down the 4-lane divided highway into Tampico. Coming into Tampico, we took the coast road again to avoid all the urban traffic and were at the rally site by 1:00 in the afternoon, just under 500 miles from Corpus Christi.

 

[andyc740]

Motohermandad Friday afternoon

Rolling into the rally, the organizer, Alex Carrasco, spotted us and gave us a very warm welcome. He said the question he had been asked most frequently in the weeks leading up to the rally was, "Will those Christian bikers from the U.S. be coming again this year?" He assured everybody that asked that we were going to be there. Made me glad we'd made it. We asked where to park and he cleared out a spot for us under one of the canopies. A fellow from Tecate was under the one next door babysitting a bunch of plastic chairs and tables and he was happy to give us some, especially after we gave him one of our bibles. We strung up our banner and were soon set up for the rally.

If you've read the earlier trip reports from Motohermandad, you know the rally is held in a large parking lot right on the beach, about half a mile from where the Rio Panuco hits the gulf. It's a great location. As usual, we were there early and things were still getting set up.

These guys reminded me of the shot of the marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima.

A tanker coming into the port.

The Speedbiker ladies were getting registration ready in a trailer fixed up to look like a giant Tecate can.

We went to check into our hotel, Hotel Real del Mar, where we stayed last year. Only this time the room was $100/night for a triple, not the $75 we were charged last year. I think we'll look for another place to stay next time. Not much bang for the buck.

And then the rally gradually picked up steam.

 

[andyc740]

Motohermandad Friday evening

As the afternoon wore on, people began to show up. I called my wife Mary at work to let her know we had made it to Tampico without any problems. She was happy to hear that and my communication obligations were satisfied for the weekend.

Two bikers that rolled past appeared to be from Matehuala, which piqued my interest. A Matehuala rally was one of the first rallies we attended in Mexico. The riders soon came over, introduced themselves and told Dale, "You were in Matehuala three years ago doing bike blessings. We want bike blessings, too." Amazing. They didn't remember me, but they remembered Dale. We were happy to oblige.

Rick had gone back to the hotel, then didn't show back up again at the rally. It seemed he brought a stomach virus with him and wasn't feeling too well. The show went on. Half a dozen guys showed up with their stunt bikes.

Registration finally opened, 250 pesos.

And as the afternoon wore on, more people began to show up. This mother and daughter caught my eye with their matching purple footwear:

Some of the local media were out taping the festivities.

Bato even handed out a few bibles.

And the Pitbulls, the motorcycle club from Mante, were back with their globo del muerte.

Thought the little dirtbikes they used weren't as cool as this guy's ride.

I was trying to talk my way into El Globo del Muerte (the globe of death for you non-Spanish types) as a volunteer for their act. I had it all lined up, but when the time came, Alex stole my spot. What a bum. If you follow the links, you'll see my video. Anyway, there I was hanging on the fence, talking with one of the spectators and asked him where he was from. He said he was from the state of Tamaulipas, only now he said it was called, "Tat-tat-tat-Tamaulipas," imitating a machine gun. I thought that was pretty funny and was repeating the joke all weekend long.

We hung out at the rally the remainder of the evening and finally headed for the hotel about 8:30 or so.

 

[andyc740]

Motohermandad - Saturday

In the morning, things were fairly quiet. The hotel restaurant finally opened up a few minutes after eight and we piled in for our complimentary breakfast. After breakfast, Bato and Rick took a taxi downtown to see the sights while Dale and I headed back for the rally.

The Tecate fellow was there again, watching our space like a hawk, making sure our chair and tables didn't wander off. They're always at a premium at the rally. Dale's bike was a big attraction at the rally. It was the only GL1800 there and a constant stream of people came by wanting to look at it and sit on it. Dale was fine with that. Rocinante might as well had been invisible for all the attention she drew.

A few people did like Rocinante. This gentleman came by with his grandson and told me about several Triumphs he had owned, along with a string of other motorcycles. He was a retired policman and said he used to ride standing on the seat of his bikes, holding his arms out to the sides as he talked about it. I asked if he had ever fallen off. He said, "A lot."

A guy rode past with his two kids on his Hayabusa with him. I chased him down as he parked and got a picture of the family on the bike. He later came by to talk and to admire Dale's Gold Wing.

A fellow showed up on a very nice '82 Suzuki Katana, repainted Orange. One of the bikes that started the whole sportbike genre. I had a poster of one of these on my wall in college.

And some fellow wanted a picture of his son with the biker in the clown wrestling mask. I was surprised at how well the kid handled it, didn't bother him at all.

I didn't see any Islo's this trip, but I did see an Indian:

 

[andyc740]

Alex and his Speedbiker crew were always in motion, taking care of all the details required to run a show like this.

We were steadily handing out bibles to folks and doing bike blessings when asked. Our stock of bibles was dwindling. We brought just over a 100 with us this year. By afternoon, they were just about gone.

Pati showed up again and started squealing when she saw us there. She wanted another picture taken with us. Last year, she was my new best friend and she was intent on maintaining the relationship.

A fellow from a local radio station came by to do a brief on-air interview with us. I talked a little bit about CMA, what we were doing in Tampico and invited the listeners to come on down to the rally. A bit later, as he drove off in the van, the broadcast antenna snagged the temporary wiring that had been strung up for lights and brought the wiring down. It pulled the wiring loose in several canopies around us (including ours) and light bulbs were dropping and popping all around us. For a minute, I had no idea what was going on and was ducking and covering.

A bright orange V-Rod showed up, decked out with fairing and touring bags. We'd seen the bike last year in Tampico, so we went to talk with the owner about his bike. He said he'd had the V-Rod 8 years, the first four as a sport-style bike, then decided he wanted to deck it out as a tourer. He bought the fairing and bags and mounted them on the bike himself. When the Harley guys told him he mounted the fairing too high, he said, no, he'd done that on purpose, to keep his hands out of the wind. I'm a bit surprised Harley hasn't built a V-Rod like this themselves. Rick wants one like it.

Even our Tecate friend got in on the act, posing on Bato's Harley. He wasn't a biker and this was the first time he'd been at a rally. I think he enjoyed it, in spite of his expression in the picture.

At the rally, we were being treated like rock stars, except we didn't have women throwing themselves at us. People were stopping by to have their picture taken with us, not just on our bikes (amazing, somebody actually wants to have Dale in a picture) and we couldn't get a drink at one of the vendors without someone stepping up and buying it for us. Amazing. I always think of myself as the guy who stays in the background. Though I guess if that were true, I wouldn't be posting all these trip reports.

By late afternoon, things were busy at the rally, though I think the number of bikes was down from previous years. We did see more out-of-town clubs represented I think, though it was mostly just a few from the clubs showing up, not the whole club.

The wiring's back up in this picture.

Most of the people in the pictures are non-paying spectators that wandered in to see the show.

The canopy next to us was occupied by two young ladies selling fruit popsicles and fruit cups. Both named Cynthia. One was a history professor and the other, an architect. Our guys were smitten and spent the weekend looking after them, helping them unload, set up, tear down, reload. It was their first rally and they said they wanted to be next door to us next year. I stole this picture from Bato's facebook page:

 

[andyc740]

Motohermandad rally wrap-up

I was congratulating myself on having the only Triumph at the rally, then this bad boy showed up. I also saw the orange Speed-Four I had spotted last year, but when I went looking for it, I couldn't find it.

A few random pictures:

With all our bibles gone, dark coming and things getting rowdier, we said our goodbyes to Alex and his crew, packed up, headed back to the hotel, then went looking for dinner. We don't stay too late at the rallies, especially when we have 500 miles to ride home the next day. We could see this flag from the hotel, flying above Tampico's Bicentennial Park.

We had dinner at a Super Cream restaurant a few miles from the hotel, gassed up the bikes on the way back, and then turned in.

In the morning, we circled up, prayed up, and headed out, stopping for breakfast in Aldama. That took a bit longer than planned, but we didn't get excited about it, just headed on. Bato told me he didn't care for the broken-up pavement between Aldama and Soto la Marina, but he did a good job keeping up.

We bought gas again in Soto, went through the checkpoint when we hit the main highway and the soldiers wanted to search every pocket on Bato's bike. His bike has more pockets than a fly-fishing vest.

Bato wanted to stop for a picture when we went by the turn-off to San Fernando, I guess to prove to his friends and family that he had the guts to ride through there. So we obliged.

By the way, I hope Bato adds some of his pictures to this post. He has some good ones.

At the Aduana checkpoint south of Reynosa, the soldiers went through our stuff again, paying special attention to Bato's bike. We took the (closed) bypass around Reynosa and stopped for gas before crossing the border. It was a last chance for a few pictures in Mexico.

This may be Rocinante's last trip to Mexico. Her motor needs top-end work and a rebuild exceeds the value of the bike, so I'm starting to look around for a replacement. On the trip, when Dale spent a peso on gas, I spent P1.40. Though the bike did get me there and back again without a hitch. Good girl.

Bato and I turned in our paperwork at the border. We got through US customs fairly quickly, swapped our leftover pesos for dollars and had a late lunch at the Subway just up the road, something that's beginning to be a tradition with us. We said "Goodbye" to Bato (he was spending the night in McAllen before heading back up to Kerrville) and we rode on up the highway, on our way home.

This trip marks three years of going to bike rallies in Mexico; a dozen rallies, about a thousand bibles given away, some good friends made, lots of pictures taken and stories told. Can't wait for the next one.

 

[johnwesley]

Sounds like a great trip thanks for the report. What do I need to do for a invite

 

[andyc740]

Sounds like a great trip thanks for the report. What do I need to do for a invite

Thanks, John. Just ask. We're taking applications and hope to be doing interviews soon.

 

[johnwesley]

Cool I emailed u my app

 

[Goldfish]

Andy,

Excellent report, the trip is even better. I look forward to the next one as I am crossing the Rio Grande into TEXAS each time.
Thanks for having me along,

Dale

 

[tricepilot]

¡Viva México!

 

[bato]

Great ride Andy thank you ., claiming that hill for the hotel in Tampico was a challenge ok i'm posting some pics here at Andy's request
Rancho Viejo

Room with no basement​

SOTO

This is a good one Dale & Andy

Think this was in aldama I wanted to get some tunas (learned that's Prickly Pear in Eanglish that day) there a good to stabilize your stomach not that I was feeling anything but just in case

Tampico fish delivery i guess

OLD TAMPICO

PLAZA

DUSK @ SAN FERNANDO

​

Here is Rick with FURZAS FEDERALES

Took Hwy 16-173 as suggested by Andy glad dind't came back on boring 281 and was grateful to be back at my sweet home in TX

 

[10-95]

Awesome pics!

If you don't mind, what was gas prices vs here in Texas???

 

[bato]

More or Less
greater than 1200 cc premium 27% cheaper in Mexico

 

[geolpilot]

Just make sure that we don't see any photos of you guys "hanging out" under bridges in Monterrey. A couple of years ago I was staying in a motel in San Fernando and taking back roads down to the Laguna Madre.

 

[oscar zerrweck]

que valientes felicidades de buena cepa el primo

 

[bato]

que valientes felicidades de buena cepa el primo

VENTE PA ACA