Ride Hard, Take Unnecessary Chances, Safety Third - MexTrek 2009

[tricepilot]

So I am curious about taking gifts for the locals.

......I was thinking it would be neat if there were some way we could gather donations here and have them shipped or trucked down there for the rides.

There are several ways to look at this.

On the motorcycle, with limited space, tootsie rolls, pencils, etc for individual kids and adults, and if you have a pump, a few deflated soccer balls to pump up for the schools. Nobody is thinking rich to poor - that's not their culture. It's the smile and the handshake they're looking for, the small offering is just the vehicle between cultures. It's critical to remember, you are making a lasting impression wherever you go. You may forget the ball you left, it'll be a long time, if ever, that they forget you brought it.

Larger things can be brought by some of the trucks trailering motos to Galeana (or wherever). The problem here is, who gets what. A great idea some of my friends who go diving at Utilia in Honduras have used is to make contact with the local mayor. Sometimes you discover a school or a clinic in town that could use donations. Medical clinics that serve the whole community are always in need of money and/or supplies. My buddies, one of whom is a professional medical massage therapist, set up a table on Utilia and sold massages to the American tourists there, and collected quite a bit of money. He and my other buddy then presented to cash to the "mayor" of Utilia along with the director of the medical clinic. They had never seen such a thing before, and the whole event not only helped the clinic, but the amistad (friendship) between our two countries. In Galeana, we only need to "find a cause" and raise some cash (or truck down needed stuff, but that might be harder).

The other thing that few people think of, is staying an extra day, and donating labor. Many public school buildings or churches need painting or cleaning, or even some type of specialty work like wiring. It doesn't take everybody, but the more the better. We just get to Galeana a day early or stay a day later, and pitch in wherever the mayor or the school director needs help. I did this in Honduras for 10 days this past June, and in Argentina last year.

It's really easy to hand out candy and balls, takes a bit of coordination to do the bigger projects described. But they're not as difficult to do as you think, and they have a huge, huge impact. If you think you are loving the beauty of Mexico from a riding perspective, wait until you establish life long friendships with the people down there on some type of project. Your heart will leap.

 

[way-man]

I visited with the telesecondaria teacher and students in La Joya where we left the little girls photo. I pass by there 2-3 times a year and want to take supplies that are usefull. Teacher said without hesitating that they could use markers. Students said they could use spiral tablets. We are developing the relationship with this community. La Joya is on the north side of Cerro Potosi.
The soccer ball gifting is another great idea.

.

Two years in a row it has paid off to have a truck and trailer. Next year I would suggest that we take a larger trailer that can carry more bikes. This year I carried out one bike and could have carried out two. If we are taking a truck and trailer anyway, it would not take much more to carry the more bulky items. I would like to think that I will be going again next year, but that is a long way down the road.

 

[GTgirl]

Pedro Neurto gets to wear the name of hero also

Izz saved my butt a few times too!!! You are a heck of a rider dude!!!! Looking forward to riding with you again!!!

 

[Coolhand]

There are two photographers - that's Martin's framed photo, he took it a year ago and presented the gift, I took the photo of her holding it. I was lucky to capture her wonderful expression - her eyes and smile that I still can't get over.

Bob, thanks a bunch for the correction. What a great thing to do Martin!

 

[Mextrekadv]

.

Two years in a row it has paid off to have a truck and trailer. Next year I would suggest that we take a larger trailer that can carry more bikes. This year I carried out one bike and could have carried out two. If we are taking a truck and trailer anyway, it would not take much more to carry the more bulky items. I would like to think that I will be going again next year, but that is a long way down the road.

But let's not forget one very important aspect we may have overlooked. We had police protection on the square 24/7. We had support of the Mayor to park our bikes in the normally off limits town square. We need to have at least a couple of guys responsible for getting to know and entertaining the local law enforcement and figure heads. This will go a very very long way towards keeping old Mexico as accessible and friendly as it currently is.

I propose to Richard, when putting out the invite for next year, make a statement about how we might donate additional funds to charity and government up front, as part of registration. $35 for an organized ride is a pittance. I'll be the first to offer to pay $100 for next year's ride. Richard can take what he wants or needs to keep putting on the event, the rest can be used for building lasting relationships. If we all did this Galeana would have a $3000 donation each year. That would pay a couple of teacher's salaries, help police buy and maintain equipment, help with school supplies, etc... And it would guarantee a warm welcome each year and foster the kind of lasting relationship and mutual respect we so need with the rest of the world.

Another idea, I think we could probably get groups like http://s242835542.onlinehome.us/EMHomePage.shtm interested in sending down a bunch (trailerfull?) of kid's bikes, especially with pics like TP's as evidence of the needs down there. I only saw a couple of kids on bikes the whole trip. Well, there was our beer delivery driver on the 16" kids bike with ape hangers.

 

[Trail Boss]

Friday - The Unknown

There are 12 routes in the ride guide. The first eleven have been ridden by somebody, at some time, at least once. The twelfth was unridden, unexplored, unknown. I had been eyeballing that twelfth route for three years. The "road" was on the map. You could see part of it on Google Earth. Heck, last year on our way home early Saturday morning my group stopped at the north end of the road and had a look at it. A raging river blocked access to it, but I could see the road headed off into the distance, down a very narrow and steep canyon, an enticing jewel waiting for our return.

According to the map, the road went south for about 10 miles to the village of Ranch Viejo. From there it turned into a trail and went east another 10 miles, following a river bed through a narrow canyon.

Did the road go through? Was it rideable? I knew the trail must cross that river more than once. Would it be passable? Would the river be too deep for a bike?

All unanswered questions.

Today was the day we were going to get answers to those questions.

Today was the day that somebody was finally going to ride that route, to find out if it went through, find out if it was even rideable.

I had set aside Friday specifically to ride the Unknown route. I mentioned to several others that I was going to explore this route and invited them to go with me. Only one or two committed to go along, which was fine with me. Usually, small teams of 3-5 riders are best when it comes to dual sport riding, especially on tough or unknown terrain.

So, I was a bit surprised when 10 other riders met me on the plaza on Friday morning, ready to ride. No problem. I really shouldn't have been surprised. After all, this was a group of adventure riders in the midst of a superb adventure in Mexico.

Locked and loaded, we headed south into certain adventure.

The turn off to Rancho Viejo y La Palma and the beginning of the dirt.

The first few miles of dirt consisted of steep climbing. Some of the steepest, most sustained climbing I had ever encountered. It was fantastic.

The road climbed up and over a mountain pass and then descended into the valley beyond, heading south until ultimately reaching Rancho Viejo.

The view of the valley leading to Ranch Viejo

After a few hours of great riding and superb scenery, we took a short break under a canopy of trees on the side of the road.

I don't know who or why this was built, or exactly what its purpose was/is, but it was interesting.

Finally, we reached Rancho Viejo. And the first water crossing of the day. Of course we had to play a little.

Pete crossed with the most gusto of the entire group

Wayland

Milton

Jim watching the action unfold

Once everyone was safely across the river, we stopped at the one store in town for a "lunch" break. Lunch consisted of a drink purchased from the store and whatever snacks each rider had brought with them.

This guy runs the tienda (store) in Rancho Viejo

Hanging out in Ranch Viejo

The locals

Once our "lunch" break was over, we headed east, further into the unknown.

 

[miltonotto]

It was Friday morning and I had run out of Darvon. The Tremodol Retards given out by the pharmacy only worked half as good, plus they made me feel woosey. Getting out of bed in the morning was always the worse. I judged the day by: can I pull off my Tee shirt without gasping for breath in excruciating pain, and the final test, can I get on my motorcycle. Once in the saddle, I was relatively ok, Just Don't Fall Down. I was at the mercy of my riding buddies, because there was no way I could lift up a fallen bike on my own.

Richard was excited about the "Unknown" route. I was skeptical. There was a river road involved. The proposed route was on the lower coastal side of the mountains. The first half of the route went thru something called Cañón Seco, or Dry Canyon. That didn't sound very interesting.

Friday morning I was at a loss. Everyone had picked partners and routes and I was left wandering the plaza wondering what to do.

Richard approached and said something like, "Come on Milton, go with us." Yeah, sure. I did have an interest in seeing Rancho Viejo, on the other end of the Pablillo Canyon from Cueva. I'd ridden with Rich, Tricepilot and Juan the day before and had had a blast.
"Meet us at the Pemex outside of town" Rich said.
When I got there there were 11 riders.
Jeese! On what the heck. It had been a great MexTrek. Today was like a "free day".

Cañón Seco turned out to be relatively spectacular.

The road to Rancho Viejo. It begins simple enough.

The community of Rancho Viejo on the Pablillo River looking down the canyon towards Cueva. Check out this canyon on Google Earth.

 

[Trail Boss]

The Unknown continued

Locals in Rancho Viejo confirmed that the trail to the east went all the way through the mountains and out to the village of San Francisco. From there we could ride north to pavement and then on to Galeana.

The locals also told us that there were 24 river crossings on the trail out.

That's a lot of water crossings.

It sounded like fun so off we went.

Things went well until the third crossing. The River Gods decided they needed a sacrifice and Wayland was the chosen one.


Wayland got crossed up in the deepest part of the crossing and foreward movement stopped...

Then the bike tossed him off and pretended to be a submarine. Only the left side handlebar and part of his tail bike remained above water.

Wayland did a combat roll, jumped up, and lunged toward the bike. After all, his wife's camera was in the tail bag and, boy, was she gonna be mad if it got wet.

Wayland struggled to pick the bike up...

but it was getting the better of him.

Pete, seeing the problem, parked his bike and plunged into the water to help out. Between the two of them they were able to get the bike up and out of the water.

And the crowd went wild.

His bike was drowned, not his spirits.

When the bike went underwater the engine was still running. Which meant that water had been sucked into the engine. The mechanics in the group explained that we had to get the water out of the engine. How do you do that? Remove the spark plug with the spark plug socket specific to your bike.

Houston, we've got a problem.

Wayland didn't have a socket that fit. Neither did anyone else. Try as we might, we couldn't get any of the available sockets down onto the plug. (I say we, but I mostly offered verbal encouragement since several in the group were much more mechanically inclined than I.)

What to do? Several things were tried to get the water out of the engine, but in the end we called No Joy.

Seeing our distress, the River Gods smiled on us. Wayland found a hidden socket in amongst his tools and, Hallelujah!, it fit!

Out came the spark plug. A few cranks of the engine blew all the water out of the cylinder. A short time later the mechanics got the engine running.

Lesson learned: Always make sure you are carrying a spark plug socket that fits your bike. Make sure it fits before you head out the door on your next adventure. You might even carry a spare spark plug too. I have to admit I don't have either of these items in my tool roll. A problem I will fix before my next ride.

Time to ride!

Hold on a second, Nellie. Now Milton's bike wouldn't start.

For the next 45 minutes or so we (there's that "we" again ) worked on Milton's bike. The issue was the spark plug well was full of water, grounding out the plug.

Finally, Pete figured out that the drain hole was plugged. I didn't even know the bike had a drain hole. Anyway, he stuck a zip tie in the hole and water and dirt poured out. Problem solved.

Now I know what this little hole in the side of the engine is. Thanks, Pete.

All it all, we spent about 2 hours working on the two bikes. Now that all the bikes were running, we could continue on our way.

 

[miltonotto]

The Unknown

By the time we got to Rancho Viejo, there had been 3 dropped bikes. I, for one, was trying to figure out how to split the group up. ("Choose your man," Deloris said.)

Hummmmmmmm. My map showed how I could split off from the group after we'd gone thru this little river section, branch off thru the monte to a place called Mainero and from there I knew the secret pass to Camarones and I could loop back thru Cueva and Inturbide. It would still be a "light" day. This reminded me of one of Thumper's comments about CeeBee (Cake Baker) Chuck. It goes something like, no matter how nice a route they had planned, Chuck would do his best to mess it up.

As it turned out, gravity and reality naturally split the group into two teams of 5. Both teams worked well together.

Some roadside repairs. Pete (in orange shirt) (aka Shadman or Pedro Norte) was emerging as the true hero of the day here.

At the 3rd river crossing Wayland dropped his bike in the river and the engine took on water. With all our man power ( and brain power) we opened the air box and tipped the bike over to drain water out of the carb. Next we stood the bike straight up in the air on its rear wheel, perpendicular to the ground to drain the water (a lot of water) from the exhaust system. (No one got a photo of this??) Next was to remove the spark plug (which was a lot easier said than done) and finally crank the engine, which spit a geyser of water out of the cylinder. Water had commingled with the oil, but this was an issue we deferred to a later date.

With Wayland's bike finally sputtering, spitting water out the exhaust, and 5 of the original 10 already up ahead, I decided to move on. 'Cept now my bike was dead! What the hey! Airbox? Dry as a bone. Now everyone was waiting on me. Off with the bags, off with the seat, the tank, dang, dang, dang. This was becoming a little too familiar.

Just another one of the some 28 river crossings we did that day.

I fell once. Twice. Three times. The bike always started.
Once the bike with engine running just didn't feel right. Wouldn't move.
"What's going on" I asked Richard?
"I don't know. You're digging a hole."
Come to find out that the last fall and pegged the hand brake lever back against the hand guard. The front brake was full on and well, whenever I gassed it it just dug a deeper hole.
We were all starting to get tired.

 

[tricepilot]

Re: The Unknown

At the 3rd river crossing Wayland dropped his bike in the river and the engine took on water. With all our man power ( and brain power) we opened the air box and tipped the bike over to drain water out of the carb. Next we stood the bike straight up in the air on its rear wheel, perpendicular to the ground to drain the water (a lot of water) from the exhaust system. (No one got a photo of this??) Next was to remove the spark plug (which was a lot easier said than done) and finally crank the engine, which spit a geyser of water out of the cylinder. Water had commingled with the oil, but this was an issue we deferred to a later date.

Not a photo, but a video:

http://tricepilot.smugmug.com/gallery/10002886_uqbbX#684328116_jEvy9-A-LB

I/We were all starting to get tired.

You got that right!

 

[Trail Boss]

30 river crossings

During bike repair operations, this Hombre rode by, driving a few cattle toward Rancho Viejo.

The locals back at Rancho Viejo told us there were 24 more water crossings. The guy on the burro told us there were 28 more water crossings. All I know is there were a heck of a lot of water crossings. By the time it got dark I was really, really tired of water crossings. I did get some good pics, though.

Tricepilot

Wayland

A group of 5 riders had gone ahead while we were working on Milton's bike. I was leading my group when I caught up to them a few hours later. They informed me that this part of the river was too deep to ride the bikes across. They had to be pushed across. So that's what we did. Then we spent some time hanging out, trying to recover some energy. The riding was hard and we were all getting fatigued. Bob, in particular, was overheating, so he sat in the river for a while, cooling off.

After pushing all the bikes across here, we needed a break.

Pete recovered first and threw down a "Superman" pose while jumping into the river

Bob drank water while cooling off in the river

As if things weren't already tough enough, the rain showed up. Things started to get muddy. We really needed to get moving.

My DRZ did great today. I was really happy to be riding it instead of a KLR or my Wee Strom.

The water crossings were relentless

Finally, just as the sun went down somewhere behind the clouds and the rain started to fall in earnest, we exited the canyon and the river crossings, and arrived back in civilization. We took a short break at a store, had a drink and a snack, and donned our rain suits.

Except for Waylan. He donned his plastic bag. The latest in waterproof fashion.

Finally back on pavement and ready for a wet, dark ride back to Galeana

The Unknown has been conquered. It kicked our butts, and gave us all we could handle, but we made it through.

Now comes the decision on what to name this route, since "The Unknown" no longer fits. Wayland claimed naming rights because he said he fell in the river more than anyone else. Bob wants to name it the Day of Death (Dia del Muerto) due to the difficulty of the route. Milton suggested naming it "Richard's Gamble", which seemed an accurate description of our day. I'm leaning toward "El Diablo" (The Devil) cause it was a devil of a route.

In any case, no matter what we end up calling it, I have to say this was the toughest day I've ever had on a motorcycle and the most difficult route I've ever done. No contest. This route is a class 4 and, while I don't have any hesitations about recommending it to others, I wouldn't do so without making sure they understood the level of difficulty.

 

[tricepilot]

Shadman My Hero:

And here are the three videos of the resolution of Wayland's soaked motorcycle:

Part Two

Part Three

Shadman Pete's Victory Finale

I've said this before here and elsewhere, that this ride on Friday bonded all of us forever.

 

[miltonotto]

How 'bout callin' it Sal Si Puedes, which means, leave if you can.

 

[miltonotto]

Sal Si Puedes

This was the worse crossing of the day. We all had to dismount and physically push our bikes through this hole.

At least we kept water out of the piston.

KLR

Trice was starting to get grumpy

Pete tired

Pete happy

 

[miltonotto]

Sal Si Puedes

Ho hum. Another wet plug, another tear down.

One of the more bizarre scenes of the day. Photo stolen from Shadman Pete.

And the rain cometh

Easy ride, huh Rich?

Finally out of the monte. Now for a miserable ride home in the dark and rain and cold but... on asphalt!.

 

[Mextrekadv]

Milton, please tell me how you merged my two photos into one!

 

[miltonotto]

Pete, PhotoShop (CS3) makes it easy.
In CS3 you go to File>Automate>Photomerge. That's it.
I thought I'd have to manipulate it but your photos lined up seemlessly, automatically.
If you look carefully at lower right hand corner you can see how I crudely cloned in a strip of rocks to make the crop lines even.

 

[TWTim]

I loved this thread. Thanks, everybody.

 

[primate]

Not sure, maybe that's why Primo had to ride home in the back of the truck

[/IMG]

BWAAhaha I was wondering when that pic was going to pop up. No gut problems for me though, not this year.

Milton, I didn't know you were hurting, what's the story on that? Oh, and cool job on the chop, funny how the pics seamed up, huh?

 

[jredford]

Great photos, great narratives great ride! Congrats to all that were in the inaugural class of the "Unknown"!!

 

[primate]

Richard, PM sent.

 

[CeeBee]

Re: The Unknown

It would still be a "light" day. This reminded me of one of Thumper's comments about CeeBee (Cake Baker) Chuck. It goes something like, no matter how nice a route they had planned, Chuck would do his best to mess it up.

Hey, I resemble that remark! If the route gets to be a boring class 1 or light class 2 I'll tinker with it and turn it into a higher class, depending on whom I'm with, AND with their input, will determine how high. When your exploring though - It can be a crap shoot. One thing for sure, Richard's route didn't need to be tinkered with! A side note my have to be added to the ride guide - Four or more riders minimum, so you can carry each others bike around!

 

[Trail Boss]

Re: The Unknown

A side note my have to be added to the ride guide - Four or more riders minimum, so you can carry each others bike around!

That's absolutely right. We talked about it briefly during the ride and came to the same conclusion - 3 riders would be the absolute minimum for this ride and that's if all 3 were strapping young lads like Pete. 4 would be better.

 

[mlstults]

Bob, thanks a bunch for the correction. What a great thing to do Martin!

Yes, thank you Bob. It was a great moment. Such a simple thing could mean so much. I've been looking at that photo for a year and waiting for the chance to return. I love Mexico and the beautiful children.

 

[miltonotto]

Re: The Unknown

Hey, I resemble that remark! If the route gets to be a boring class 1 or light class 2 I'll tinker with it and turn it into a higher class,.... When your exploring though - It can be a crap shoot. One thing for sure, Richard's route didn't need to be tinkered with!

I'm pretty sure I saw the cut off to the back way to Mainero as we exited the River Road. I made a mental note of it but didn't consider taking it for a nano-second. By that time the daylight was fading and I was feeling tired cold and wet and pretty danged lucky to be this side of civilization.