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- Joined
- Nov 13, 2007
- Messages
- 2,064
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- Location
- Houston, TX and Phoenix AZ
- First Name
- Peter
- Last Name
- Shaddock
Sunday, Santiago N.L to El Naranjo S.L.P., 320 miles:
Day 2 we headed out of Santiago at a slower than normal pace. On the road at around 10:30 or 11:00 after the worlds slowest breakfast service, we headed south on the ever so lively Mex 85, a 6 lane highway most akin to the video game Frogger, south through Montemorelos (home of Fonda Miguel...Hi Mike), Linares (Charles' grandmother's birthplace) and south towards the reportedly dangerous city of Ciudad Victoria. My little group maintained a 70 or so average and we were split up over and over again. Nearing Ciudad Victoria we regrouped for a roadside soda and all input Mex 101 on the GPS towards Tula. Well all except for a couple who missed this gem and took the newer bypass around Victoria. Definitely a planning error on my part. Not knowing each day if we would be in the promised deluge and taking a direct route or having the lucky unpromised sunny day where we could see and explore more, we had to do trip planning day by day, hour by hour.
I am taking a stab in the dark, but the new bypass south of hwy 101 seems to have severely limited the use of 101, as well as its upkeep. We had a train of 10 bikes and the "crash truck" coming over the multiple, amazing, scenic passes. Tim B and I were running a sorta spirited pace up front, regularly regrouping every 10 or 15 miles to be sure the group didn't scatter, keep the group pace reasonable, and head count. As we came over the last high pass the road turned really poopy. Lots of loose gravel on the outer 2 to 3 feet of roadway. I found a good stop to regroup about 1 mile past the pass and we waited. And waited. Our last 2 riders had not caught up. Second to last came around the bend, without his riding buddy, saying his buddy had stopped to take pictures. I headed back up the pass to find said rider took a lowside spill in a downhill decreasing radius turn,..one with a eye catching previously bent guardrail and lots of gravel on the outer 3rd. Bad luck, gravel, and a target fixating scary drop and bent rail all conspired to ruin a Mextrek. Bike was fine. Rider, clearly, had a shoulder injury. Nothing glaring, just the type of painful look in his eyes and the knowledge he had already had multiple shouklder repairs in the past that said he probably wasn't riding any further. This was our first pass of the trip, one of tens or hundreds to come, and I wanted to cry for my buddy. Luckily he had full extraction insurance, they cabbed him to SLP, flew him out, had a personal assistant to help him. His bike was ridden back to Santiago by our gracious moto riding hotel manager George of El Paraiso de Rio in El Naranjo, then Abisha Brakefield (aka A.B.) who could not make the trip, went to Santiago on business and brought it stateside with a cancelled TVIP. Last I heard AB dropped it off a few days ago in Houston. Charles and the truck got our rider and bike to the hospital, then to El Naranjo, safely. Job well done guys. Much appreciated.
So with a late start, a crash, and miles to go we regrouped in Tula. Restaurante Casino on the square was our hotspot on the Run Down in 2016 and it served up a nice late lunch. From Tula to El Naranjo we navigated some nice, cool mountain passes on Mex 66, then south where we eventually landed in some fields straight out of any Vietnam war movie. I was looking for Charlie everywhere. (turns out Charlie is always at Bar Fly, silly me, see bird pic above) Massively wide and flat fields of cane and corn surrounded by picturesque small mountains and hills. A northern intro to the Huasteca Region. Just enough clouds to keep temps at a reasonable level. A few miles out of town our group split. I went ahead to check in at the hotel, El Pariaso del Rio. The other half headed to El Meco falls and Bar Sundial. El Meco is a 25 meter fall with boat rides to the bottom, cliff diving, swimming, beers and palapa seafood. Very tranquil. not heavily tourested on a Sunday at 6pm. The water was absolutely perfect, green, inviting. We took a 25 peso boat ride, where we paddled, and went up to the falls. Steve even climbed under the falls in a cave. Most of us did a bit of cliff diving. Others chose to hold down the bar scene with cold Dos Equis.
After 3 years of waterparks, rivers, rainstorms, toilet drops, and other times of hour and hours of water resistance my silly old phone decided El Meco was a great place to die. Here is its final moments of life with a SIM card, thrusting me into a wonderful position of leading a ride with only wifi capability. Luckily my backup phone was in perfectly good working order, in my backpack, in a tub, in Paul's warehouse in Houston. Nice....too much packing and repacking last minute...
We were all satisfied, our thirst for adventure momentarily quenched, and we rode to the hotel in El Naranjo around 8:30 for a waiting meal at the huge amazing palapa restaurant on the river. In Mexico, when a restaurant closes at 8, no problem. We promise 18 hungry humans, who will also run up a bar tab, They agree to stay open late, 9 or 10. We dine on amazing Paradillas of seafood, beef, and chicken. Sip tequilla and some homemade local specialty mood enhancing mescal until after midnight, tip very well, then retire to our quaint cabins on the river bank.
Day two had been long, at times very hot, stressful, and over 320 miles. but in the same light, Day 2 rewarded with great roads, amazing food, a waterfall, a cold swim, and scenery not found often back home. And very clearly the bonds of lifelong friendship began to form. The kind that will last way beyond the crashing of the servers holding this ride report, when the pictures are distant memories, and Mexico is no longer the relatively unmolested rapidly developing country that we have the pleasure of experiencing now. 4 of me and my newest and oldest amigos shared a cabin. Snoring in harmony for about 4 hours of sleep.
Day 2 we headed out of Santiago at a slower than normal pace. On the road at around 10:30 or 11:00 after the worlds slowest breakfast service, we headed south on the ever so lively Mex 85, a 6 lane highway most akin to the video game Frogger, south through Montemorelos (home of Fonda Miguel...Hi Mike), Linares (Charles' grandmother's birthplace) and south towards the reportedly dangerous city of Ciudad Victoria. My little group maintained a 70 or so average and we were split up over and over again. Nearing Ciudad Victoria we regrouped for a roadside soda and all input Mex 101 on the GPS towards Tula. Well all except for a couple who missed this gem and took the newer bypass around Victoria. Definitely a planning error on my part. Not knowing each day if we would be in the promised deluge and taking a direct route or having the lucky unpromised sunny day where we could see and explore more, we had to do trip planning day by day, hour by hour.
I am taking a stab in the dark, but the new bypass south of hwy 101 seems to have severely limited the use of 101, as well as its upkeep. We had a train of 10 bikes and the "crash truck" coming over the multiple, amazing, scenic passes. Tim B and I were running a sorta spirited pace up front, regularly regrouping every 10 or 15 miles to be sure the group didn't scatter, keep the group pace reasonable, and head count. As we came over the last high pass the road turned really poopy. Lots of loose gravel on the outer 2 to 3 feet of roadway. I found a good stop to regroup about 1 mile past the pass and we waited. And waited. Our last 2 riders had not caught up. Second to last came around the bend, without his riding buddy, saying his buddy had stopped to take pictures. I headed back up the pass to find said rider took a lowside spill in a downhill decreasing radius turn,..one with a eye catching previously bent guardrail and lots of gravel on the outer 3rd. Bad luck, gravel, and a target fixating scary drop and bent rail all conspired to ruin a Mextrek. Bike was fine. Rider, clearly, had a shoulder injury. Nothing glaring, just the type of painful look in his eyes and the knowledge he had already had multiple shouklder repairs in the past that said he probably wasn't riding any further. This was our first pass of the trip, one of tens or hundreds to come, and I wanted to cry for my buddy. Luckily he had full extraction insurance, they cabbed him to SLP, flew him out, had a personal assistant to help him. His bike was ridden back to Santiago by our gracious moto riding hotel manager George of El Paraiso de Rio in El Naranjo, then Abisha Brakefield (aka A.B.) who could not make the trip, went to Santiago on business and brought it stateside with a cancelled TVIP. Last I heard AB dropped it off a few days ago in Houston. Charles and the truck got our rider and bike to the hospital, then to El Naranjo, safely. Job well done guys. Much appreciated.
So with a late start, a crash, and miles to go we regrouped in Tula. Restaurante Casino on the square was our hotspot on the Run Down in 2016 and it served up a nice late lunch. From Tula to El Naranjo we navigated some nice, cool mountain passes on Mex 66, then south where we eventually landed in some fields straight out of any Vietnam war movie. I was looking for Charlie everywhere. (turns out Charlie is always at Bar Fly, silly me, see bird pic above) Massively wide and flat fields of cane and corn surrounded by picturesque small mountains and hills. A northern intro to the Huasteca Region. Just enough clouds to keep temps at a reasonable level. A few miles out of town our group split. I went ahead to check in at the hotel, El Pariaso del Rio. The other half headed to El Meco falls and Bar Sundial. El Meco is a 25 meter fall with boat rides to the bottom, cliff diving, swimming, beers and palapa seafood. Very tranquil. not heavily tourested on a Sunday at 6pm. The water was absolutely perfect, green, inviting. We took a 25 peso boat ride, where we paddled, and went up to the falls. Steve even climbed under the falls in a cave. Most of us did a bit of cliff diving. Others chose to hold down the bar scene with cold Dos Equis.
After 3 years of waterparks, rivers, rainstorms, toilet drops, and other times of hour and hours of water resistance my silly old phone decided El Meco was a great place to die. Here is its final moments of life with a SIM card, thrusting me into a wonderful position of leading a ride with only wifi capability. Luckily my backup phone was in perfectly good working order, in my backpack, in a tub, in Paul's warehouse in Houston. Nice....too much packing and repacking last minute...
We were all satisfied, our thirst for adventure momentarily quenched, and we rode to the hotel in El Naranjo around 8:30 for a waiting meal at the huge amazing palapa restaurant on the river. In Mexico, when a restaurant closes at 8, no problem. We promise 18 hungry humans, who will also run up a bar tab, They agree to stay open late, 9 or 10. We dine on amazing Paradillas of seafood, beef, and chicken. Sip tequilla and some homemade local specialty mood enhancing mescal until after midnight, tip very well, then retire to our quaint cabins on the river bank.
Day two had been long, at times very hot, stressful, and over 320 miles. but in the same light, Day 2 rewarded with great roads, amazing food, a waterfall, a cold swim, and scenery not found often back home. And very clearly the bonds of lifelong friendship began to form. The kind that will last way beyond the crashing of the servers holding this ride report, when the pictures are distant memories, and Mexico is no longer the relatively unmolested rapidly developing country that we have the pleasure of experiencing now. 4 of me and my newest and oldest amigos shared a cabin. Snoring in harmony for about 4 hours of sleep.
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Very glad he was wearing good gear! It is no guarantee, but it sure stacks the odds in your favor!
