Monster Ride home!

[machete]

With a new tire in place (did I mention that Ducati Austin ROCKED and took good care of me!), we went out for food and beer. I realized I still hadn't received my passport from the overnight express. Some calls to fedex, and my worst fears came true. they said they delivered it. But it wasn't at my friends house.

So I walked up and down the block, and asked some workers at a house up the block. They said, yeah, fed ex guy came and delivered some packages. I checked the name, and yep, they were mine. :| whew! So passport in hand, the plan is to go home via Mexico.

After some hard partying, I convinced my friends to come down to San Antonio with me to see other friends of mine, as one of them has a birthday as well.

So Wed. midday (Day 6 of riding), I took off on the bike, and they drove down. 1 has his bike in the shop, and the other one had work related stuff he needed to do. Oh well, riding solo is fine.

Rain came hard that day. and my friend Rob got some photos from his car. He also offered to carry my bags, which was fine with me. Austin to San Antonio, about 130 miles total.

 

[DucatiHoney]

<...tapping finger on desk.> Where are the rest of the photos? I need to finish your story and get to work. Don't leave a girl hangin', ya big tease.

 

[machete]

Once in San Antonio it got warm, and humid as fuck. Met up with my friends, and he got a surprise from his in-laws. an old bagpipe and case. awesome! says he will be practicing non-stop to play it well.

We went outside of town to my friend Marcus' house and he bbq'd for us at their new home. Very peaceful, and nice place to live. We chilled and drank beer and caught up with him and his family.

With a nice Texas sunset to end the daylight.

 

[NoGall]

More!

 

[machete]

After that, his wife gave him a hall pass and we all jetted back into the city to pick up Bryan and go over to Hills & Dales. A decent little bar, with over 70 beers on tap. Not bad. We would meet up a bunch of friends from San Antonio that I hadn't seen in a long time.

Some photos out at Marcus' place. His boy was jumping on the trampoline and would come jumping over to where his sister was and jump right next to her and send her flying. I caught the moment he jumped next to her.

Us catching up and mulling the fire pit

She wanted to use my phone and call someone, so I called Chris (sitting next to us at the dinner table)
and that's him talking to her in the next photo.

and last photo was taken by Dalan himself (5 year old)

 

[machete]

Hills & Dales is a cool little roadhouse off of Loop 1604 in San Antonio. Popular with the bike crowd, mostly Harleys and such. But no matter. They have great beer on tap, and if you drink 100 of the different beers there, you get your name on a plaque up on the ceiling. One of the guys in the group shot, has like 10 plaques up there.

Took it easy that night, and crashed out about midnight. Got up around 6:30 and quietly slipped out of my buddies house to not wake them up. (Day 7 of riding)

and rolled the bike up the street before taking off.
Booked it down towards Eagle Pass, Tx. to make my entry into Mexico through a smaller city and bypass all the permit hassle of big cities

A couple shots, exiting the city, and then a statue about 50 miles south, depicting the crest of the Mexican Flag, the brown eagle, clutching a snake on top of a cactus. It was cloudy, and I figured rain would come soon.

 

[Hot Frog]

Can you post a map of your trip? I read and I get lost..

 

[machete]

I passed through Eagle Pass and was told that all tourist permits and vehicle permits through this border crossing are now handled at the federal checkpoint 53 km into the interior.

Sweet.

A couple parting shots of Piedras Negras (Black Rocks) and then I hit the road. It was still chilly out but sunny in the morning.

I went south on hwy 57, which is funny cause you'll come into a town and see 3 different routes pointed out on a road sign and they're all labeled hwy 57.

Passed the town of Sabinas, and much of this area is desert terrain. But man, when the water comes down the desert blooms into a luscious green color that is nice to see.

Last time I went through here it was summer and hotter than balls.

I've got rain gear on now, as the rain comes and goes in heavy downpours. Oh well.

photos:

First gas stop in Mexico in the city of Monclova. I pulled in, as I was also kinda miserable (hungover +rain + cold = stop for tacos) which is the second photo in that little road side stand by the 18 wheelers. sooooo good.

last photos are of the bike, when I stopped further up for a hot drink. The clouds are what I'm headed towards.

 

[machete]

Can you post a map of your trip? I read and I get lost..

I'm still trying to figure that out.

but I wanted to post up a picture with my route. alas, I am somewhat technically challenged.

Suffice it to say, that on this day, I went from Northern San Antonio, south to Eagle Pass, south to Monclova to Cuatro Cienegas, San Pedro de las Colonias, and eventually Torreon, Coahuila.

 

[machete]

After gassing up and making a stop to warm up and chill. I headed west along hwy 30 to Cuatro Cienegas. A cool area that is encompassed by a Nature Preserve that surrounds the region. Hot springs and all. Some photos:

The huge lion depicting the Lions Clubs' welcome to this town. The town square and the small packs of dogs that you sometimes have to watch out for. Another shot of the town square, as the rain is dissipating a bit.

Last shots are of road construction going on.

In regards to road construction, you need to be very aware of what's going on. There is usually no where near the amount of warning signs available, and sometimes there is no signs at all. Just you having to be very aware of it. Keeps you on your toes. I like it.

The second to last photo shows the entrance into the Nature Preserve area, and the last photo is where i stopped in the construction zone to take some snap shots.

People are always asking me how much the bike costs. not as much as they think. But they don't see bikes like this one very much.

 

[machete]

In the first photo is the river bed that is usually dry in the summer and barren. It is full and flowing with heavy grass. A shot of my bike, dirty, beaten and worn. just the way I like it. Don't think I push to hard when I do long trips like this, cause it would suck to lose your ride.

Average speed in Mexico though, was about 85 - 90mph. Just have to watch out for the Federal Hwy Patrol. Yes, they have radar. and they're one of the few organizations that you shouldn't even attempt to bribe. seriously. Not saying that it can't be done.

Luckily for me, I didn't get stopped at all.

Just before entering Cuatro Cienegas, I saw the signs to this monument to Venustiano Carranza which was up on a hill. I rode up the single track and then followed up on the handicap ramps that were bypassing the steps. and put the bike closer for a few photos. Nice shots of the valley, all around.

 

[machete]

A couple more shots of the monument, and the valleys below.

You can see the rest stop in the 3rd photo at the bottom right of the photo. There was a passenger bus there and a lot of the occupants were outside listening to a tour guide. they seemed to be local people, as none of them looked anywhere near foreign. They just stared at me as I rolled up and went right past them up the hill.

a quick shot off the side of the road, of some horses in the wild, with the clouds washing over the mountains.

This was a really nice area to ride though, and it was great doing this trip solo. Nobody to worry about and can go my own speed and pace.

 

[machete]

Continued my ride south on Hwy 30 and arrived at San Pedro de las Casas for some gas. Stopped in and got some directions from the gas attendant. In Mexico, all gas stations are Pemex, or government owned (Petroleos Mexicanos)

The guy was very helpful and thought it was cool that I was riding around Mexico on a bike. Gave me some direction, and then was proud that that region was a farming region that cultivated cotton. Said I should get a shot of the cotton fields and all.

I got a few photos of the bike. I had just come from Monclova 264 km away.

a few shots of the filthiness of the Ducati. Poor girl.

Last photo is a shot I took at the river banks of the "Rio Nazas"
When I lived down here 18 years ago, this river was dry, and had been that way for a long time before, and up until this year. With the torrential rains they have been getting, they had to open the dam gates and allow water to run. The river is now flooded and full. All the roads built over the past 2 decades are covered in water, and in the cities where the river bed is wide and was dry, soccer fields, and basketball courts were built, along with bypass roads. All of that is gone.

Was amazing to see so much water in a river that was bone dry for so many years.

 

[machete]

Another shot of the river.

From here I made my way through Torreon to Ciudad Lerdo, where some of my family lives and where I'll crash out for the night at my aunts place. I almost got taken out in the city, cause of construction. So the main blvd is shut down for construction, so traffic rolls along the lateral road...till the construction is over, and then they all jump the dirt median and hop back onto the main thoroughfare. All well and done, except that as I pulled onto the median, stopped to check for traffic, a truck on my right, I look back and a delivery truck guy is barreling toward me, he's looking back to see if he has to stop for traffic and at the last second looks forward and sees me there. He came probably within inches of my handlebars and taking out the front of my bike.
douchebag! Got after him, and did enough gestures to get my point across, and he wouldn't dare look over at me. Not even the "pull over" gestures. oh well. shit happens, I guess. Close call number 1, yep, there would be some more.

Rolled into Cd. Lerdo, and waited at the plaza while my aunt swung down to direct me back to their house where they had moved to. Some parting shots of the plaza.

 

[machete]

So, when I made the decision to ride back through Mexico, my family was a bit apprehensive. There has been a lot of violence in Mexico as of late. More so than the normal. This little town that I'm in for instance, back in June and July, suffered some heavy violence perpetuated by armed militants who are the muscle for narcotics traffickers. It got so bad, that they stormed this same plaza I took photos at (since city hall is behind the trees) and arrived in about 8 blacked out jeep cherokees and suburbans, fully automatic weapons, and had a major shootout and took over city hall with hostages, before moving on.

They were finding people assasinated and murdered on the river banks in groups of 5-10 at a time. People are paranoid and fearful, and everyone now looks over their shoulder. Truly sad.

I knew the dangers, but that shit happens, and I came down anyway. Just being more aware is all.

I'll try and dig up some news stories of it.

They were even having daylight gunfights in the street. Fully automatic and hunting down the cops as they patrolled. Seems things have died down, and there is more calm. Still something to be aware of.

photos: my cousin with his 3 kids. I went to high school with him down here.
The bike doth protest. Some kind of leaking happening. still running strong. Have a quart of oil on me just in case.
This is how you protect your walls. broken bottles of glass cemented to the top edge of the walls.
dirty chain...hmmmm figured I'll get to cleaning it soon.

 

[machete]

That night another friend of mine came over and picked me up and we went out drinking till about 2:30. got home close to 3 and slept in till about 9. felt good to sleep in.

Delayed my ride to the town of Mapimi till noon, as my uncle, who also rides, said he would get out of work, if I waited. sure, why not.

Walked around during the morning and took some of these photos.

 

[machete]

So the claim to fame here in Cd. Lerdo is Francisco Sarabia. Local citizen and hero of the 1930's. He was a pilot who broke many records back in the day.

Added some websites with info that I found.

His ill fated flight went from Mexico City to New York to deliver a letter to then President Roosevelt from the Mexican Government. He set a new speed record traveling from Mexico City to New York, arriving with barely any fuel left. He also opened up air transport lanes from Mexico City to Chetumal, Chiapas, Guatemala and a few others.

On his return trip from New York, not long after he had lifted off, he crashed in the Potomac near Washington D.C.

This airplane was his original airplane (GEE-BEE) that was recovered and ultimately restored to it's condition and then placed here in a monument to him.

photos: The airplane, the plaque "For the Greatness of my Country, I shall succeed"
The last photo of the plaque shows his accomplishments and records he established with flights between the different cities.

 

[machete]

First photo is of recovery efforts in the Potomac River. Recovery of the airplane and body.
Next two photos is a heroes return to Mexico! As the body is returned to Mexico City with full honors.

The next couple photos are about Francisco Sarabia and the story behind his fatal crash.

 

[machete]

first one shows the center point (Mexico City) and his way points where he would make runs to, setting records all over Mexico.
photos of the restoration process, one of his wife and dignitaries waiting for him to land in Guatemala, and assorted others.

 

[machete]

..continuing..

so I took all these photos on Friday morning walking around Cd. Lerdo.

Pictures at the larger plaza at the entrance to the city.

Saw an old Honda Goldwing.

the new handicap ramps on the sidewalk. "In Lerdo, respect, is obligatory"

the main church in the main square.