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Deane & Alex's Motorcycle Trip to Mexico | |
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May 6 - Agua Prieta to Creel, Mexico - 430 miles |
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This was our catch-up day, to get on track with the reservations we had already made. With a new route selected, we started out on what we knew would be a longer day. The first part was by Mexico Highway 2, going southeast from Agua Prieta to catch a Highway 10, going south down a more central Mexico route.
At one point, Deane came around a sharp curve to discover a coyote at the side of the road. As Deane passed, the coyote gave chase after the motorcycle! As we laughed and talked over the CB radio, we decided that the coyote thought either: (a) that Deane's motorcycle looked to him like a big fat deer, (but he hadn't seen any fat deer in his part of Mexico so he wasn't quite sure what they looked like); or (b) he had a domesticated cousin who had told him that motorcycles were fun to chase, and this was his chance to find out for himself. He didn't catch the motorcycle, but it was fun. Then down through the Sonora desert. The route was one which had open road, narrow but in fair shape, for many miles between little villages. On the highway we could run at 60-65 mph, but through the little towns or villages, the speed limits were generally 30 kph (18 mph). This speed limit in the villages was enforced by "Topes" - Speed Bumps. The Topes were serious speed bumps - one has to slow down to a crawl to go over them, or they tear the bottom out of your car or motorcycle. The Mexicans call them the "Sleeping Policemen".
Finding gas stops was no problem. The Mexican federal government produces and distributes all gasoline, and they have new or quite new gas stations everywhere - you are never more than about 50 miles from a gas station, no matter how small the village that has a station. The gas is fine, either 87 "Magna" or 93 octane Premium", "sin plomo" (no-lead). We hit our first Mexican check points, both civilian and army. The civilian agents checked our permits to be tourists and our permits for the motorcycles, including checking that the "moto" (short for motocicleta) had the VIN number that could be matched to the paperwork. The military checkpoint waved us through without any checks. The military checkpoints are interesting, in that they really block the road, with logs and boulders, and make you go around the side over rocky and nasty dirt and gravel. Some of the time they are just checking one direction of traffic and sometimes two. What they are looking for, we haven't a clue, but they do have about four or five young army guys with their semi-auto rifles slung on their shoulder, not back in the guard shack, so they at least look ready for action if necessary. As the end of the day approached, and it was getting dark, we still had an hour of mountain roads to get to Creel, which is up in the mountains of the Sierra Madres. So, we had to ride in the deepening darkness until it was pitch black in the mountains. One thing helped, a bus which had the final destination of Creel on its marquee. It would pass us going very fast on the mountain roads, then stop for passengers and we would pass it. Then pretty soon it would roar up behind us and pass us again. At least while we kept playing tag, we knew we were on the right road. I told Alex that he was part of a very select group - motorcyclists who had ridden in the Mexican Sierra Madre mountains at night. We found our motel and checked in. They had a wall around the motel compound, with a big steel gate to lock when all the cars and motorcycles were inside at night, so we knew the motorcycles were safe. It was a long day, but a fun one, and we now are back on track. |
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We
rode through really rugged but beautiful dry desert hills dotted with
manzanita bushes that were quite green. The road surface was only
fair to poor, with occasional parts being good. The road wound in and out
of hilly sections and was very scenic, so we got to discover a new area.
The
little town of Casas Grandes had an interesting church, so we took
photos of the colorful little town.