Finally, we were at the good stuff.
Hwy 2 is a paved road that runs east/west, joining Rayones, Nuevo Leon, Mexico in the west to Hwy 85 in the east. It is a superb, twisty road that takes about an hour to ride if you keep moving. It's hard to keep moving though, because the vistas will have you stopping often to take pictures.
No, that's not the Alps. And it's not Colorado. It really is Mexico, and just 150 miles from the Texas border.
You can see the road snaking its way around the mountains.
The pavement ends at Rayones, so we decided that would be a good place to take a break and have a cold drink. Rayones is a pretty little pueblo nestled in the mountains. They grow a lot of pecans in the area and most of the tiendas (stores) sell various pecan treats - candy, shelled pecans, etc.
Smoke 'em if you've got 'em. Dirtbike Dave enjoying a smoke and a cold coke in Rayones.
From Rayones we travelled south via a non-paved road to Galeana. Though it is only about 20 miles, the ride takes nearly an hour. The road twists, turns, climbs, drops, switchbacks, and so on. I think it's a realy fun road and my fellow riders agree. I also think it is the least fun road in the entire area, so if you like this road you are gonna love all the other dirt roads that crisscross the mountains.
Last year it was a class 1 road, but this year it is most definitely a class 2 road. This area had 26 consecutive days of rain about a month before we arrived - the most rain they've had in many, many years - which caused significant deterioation of the roads in the area. Pretty much every road was one level of difficulty higher than the previous year - class 1 roads were now class 2, class 2 roads were now class 3, etc. There were also reports of landslides/mudslides on many of the roads. We didn't encounter any, but there was evidence that landslides had occurred and had been cleared as we saw many piles of fresh dirt alongside many of the roads.
We arrived in Galeana late afternoon. Quite a few riders had beaten us in, some arriving early that day while others had been there a day or more.
Galeana is a fine town sitting on a high mountain plain at about 5000 feet of elevation. It has all the necessary services - hotels, restaurants, stores of all types, a hospital, a gas station, a bank, etc. It is centrally located so that all of the great dual sport roads in the area can be reached in a reasonably short period of time. In short, it is a perfect location to base out of for any dual sport adventures you want to have in the area.
We checked in to the hotel, cleaned up, and went in search of some supper.
La Casona del General Restaurant is highly recommended. They make a really good steak. And their beer is nice and cold. Big A will back me up on both of these.
The restaurant owner and his wife.
After supper it was time to hang out at el zocalo (the plaza), kick tires and tell stories.
Milton ran into some friends from a previous trip. Really, they're just friends. Really.
Bikes parked on the plaza
It had been a good warm-up for day 2 and the best road I've ever ridden.