Monster Ride home!

[machete]

The first photo is of the shoe shine stand, had a cop getting his boots shined, with his assault rifle sitting on his lap.

Lots of paranoia at the moment, over what happened months ago. And a huge police presence, from cops milling around the place, constant patrols rolling by, bicycle cops armed and riding around all over, etc....

The others are a memorial to Pancho Villa and his efforts:
"The town and it's ex-combatants of the Northern Division, to their dignified chief, General of the Northern Division, Francisco Villa"

My great grandfather on my grandmothers side went off to war and fought along side Pancho Villa at the age of 15. At the age of 16, he came home and took his brother with him (14 y/o) He rarely talked about his experience to the family as he told my grandmother when she was young that it was too graphic and violent. He came home at the age of 17 y/o a lieutenant and no longer fought. Crazy shit!

The photo of the dudes walking along the sidewalk, is just some guy coming out of city hall, with two heavily armed escorts, wearing full flack jackets, assault rifles, side arms and a lot of ammo. I didn't want to take outright photos, so I was kinda stealth about it. I was already getting looks from folks.

 

[machete]

First photo is a bust of the man for whom the city is named after. Miguel Lerdo de Tejada. It shows the dates of how Cd. Lerdo was classified over the years.
May 10th, 1799 - Ranch - San Fernando
October 27th, 1827 - Hacienda - San Fernando
June 24th, 1867 - Villa - Lerdo de Tejada (name was changed)
November 16th, 1894 - Ciudad Lerdo (finally was recognized as a city.

The main gazebo
Families just come and hang out, sit at a bench, while the kids go and get ice cream, you see friends and other family as this is the social scene for a relaxed afternoon.

The church. I just took a non-flash photo from the doorsteps. Didn't want to burst into flames if I stepped inside.
An elderly lady sitting down, waiting to bust out the tamales she has for sale in the plaza.

 

[machete]

at the gas station there is a sign that says "verify zeroes" which tells you to verify that when the attendant turns on the pump to pump your gas, since it's full service everywhere, you need to verify that it is at "zeros". Cause they'll add numbers, and then when you pay, they will only give the gas station the money for the amount of gas that you put in your car, and pocket the rest. so they could start the pump with 20 pesos already on the display. scams.

always ask, and they confirm now.

a little wall graffiti, since the "Santos de la Laguna" are the local soccer team to the area. Like having an NFL team in your city. And they were champions recently. So it says "Santos champions motherfuckers!" In a literal kinda way.

some kids two up on a low rider bicycle.

having trouble uploading photos.

 

[pecha]

I believe that the current motorcycle record at the Pikes Peak challenge is held by a Ducati Hypermotard.

I don't think so. This year Hyper won it's class but it was beat by other bikes e.g. aprilia sxv5.5

Nice pics and story anyway!

 

[rideon2wheels]

Awesome! I am extremely envious of you! I would love to go on a long trip like that. Longest Ive done is South San Francisco to Lake Tahoe. Thats a baby ride compared to yours. haha Great pictures by the way!

 

[machete]

"Some weird mural" edit: I was kindly educated as to the origin of said "weird" mural as a depiction of Frida Kahlo's painting "The Broken Column" Thank you Buzzard.

a random tree where apparently everyone puts their gum.

My gloves at this point in the trip. 6 crashes at racetracks. countless thousands of mile, rain and all. They were finally giving out. My favorite gloves.

Saw this "Transito" or Traffic Cop pull up to this corner, and about 5 min had the first guy pulled over. ticketed him.

 

[machete]

I don't think so. This year Hyper won it's class but it was beat by other bikes e.g. aprilia sxv5.5

Nice pics and story anyway!

Doh! I stand corrected. Couldn't find the stats from this year. Just what I had heard.

Some more photos.

The cop then pulled over this truck for speeding. Yep. The speed limits in Mexico are very slow. Especially when in KPH, 40kph around town. Not followed, but they'll stop you. and maybe you'll get lucky to bribe them.

This cop took the license plate, which is common practice, then you HAVE to come in to the station to get your fees taken care of. He worked it like this for about 30 min.

My uncle finally showed up and we road north to the town of Mapimi.

Next photos are one in front of the house where my great grandfather and his family lived while he was mayor of this town in the 50's. The next few are of the interior as well.

 

[machete]

When we arrived, my uncle was telling me all kinds of stories at the house. They used to come there when they were little kids.
The room he's standing in is where all the cousins slept on mats on the floor, bunched up together. Lots of cousins. My mom was one of those cousins. boys on one side, girls on the other, and they wore all their clothes cause it got so cold at night. that's crazy. so they'd all lay there, bundled up with blankets all over.

the tour lady then asked who we were, and I said that my great grandfather had lived here...and that it was my uncles grandfather. and we pointed out the photos. They were really good with us after that.

a couple more photos in the house, which is now a museum. This town has some history, while still remaining small as ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo was jailed here in this town way back in 1811 when he was being transported north to Chihuahua.


The photo of the bed with the portrait above it is of Benito Juarez who stayed here on his trip north to his place of exile when Emperor Maximilian the 1st was given control in Mexico. This house has been here for a very long time.

 

[machete]

Awesome! I am extremely envious of you! I would love to go on a long trip like that. Longest Ive done is South San Francisco to Lake Tahoe. Thats a baby ride compared to yours. haha Great pictures by the way!

Thanks man. Hey, a ride out of the city is a good ride nonetheless.

I'm lucky that I get this time off. I needed this ride, it had been too long.

Photos. a few more in the house, and some of the old photos that are hanging inside the house. First photo is a black and white of the mining town of Ojuela, which is about 12 km from Mapimi. The suspension bridge that is in the photo was studied as part of the research for the suspension bridge that is in the bay...you know, Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty cool.

Yes, Pancho Villa came and would stay in this town. He had allies in the north state of Chihuahua that he governed. The two photos are, 1, of him in a bathing suit swimming in the local water pool. 2, with prominent members of the towns leadership. don't know the year.

 

[machete]

last few. we tooled around, and then decided on some lunch. fast food...which around here fast food means (comida corrida) beef soup and then some guisado. I had the chicharron en salsa which was so flipping good.

Bikes parked on a very narrow road that sees traffic go both ways.

Last photo, is that a fixie bicycle in the picture.

 

[machete]

Going back a little. forgot about these photos on my other camera.
As I rolled into San Pedro de las Casas, I was leaving the gas station and this guy rolled by. Yes, that is an infant, and yes, he has him by one arm while he rides on his scooter with the other. People don't even bat an eye around here about that. I stopped and took a picture of the guy and he was looking at me like whatever dude, I had to take the picture.

There was a balloon festival in town, so they paraded all the baskets in back of trucks through town and they were cranking on the burners all the way. You can see one in that photo. (As I was rolling into Cd. Lerdo on Thursday afternoon)

A self portrait with my uncle leading the way. Note, the blvd we're on is in 3 stages of repair.
to the far left is the completed area, and then there is a middle section which has one layer of repave on it, so there is a drop off, and then closest to my bike is the 2nd drop off on the section that they haven't repaired yet. No lines for lanes, and no signs of "construction" and "danger" every man for himself.

One more shot of me, while riding near Mapimi and the mountains.

 

[machete]

<...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.

yes dear.

Some photos:
freshly made breads for sale in the restaurant

Us having our lunch. Don't mind the stain on my shirt, I had a fight with the soup. ing

quick shot in front of the restaurant we ate at.

A shot of the mountain we are headed towards now.

We left and were riding up to "Puente de Ojuela" at the old mining town of Ojuela. Many movies have been filmed up here, mostly westerns, and John Wayne was rumored to have a ranch nearby after filming some of his movies in Durango.

My uncle following up the small and very pot holed road to climb the 9km up the mtn on a single track stone and mortar road to the top.

 

[machete]

Couple of shots of myself with the mountain in the back ground.
My uncle with the bikes. There was one other vehicle that went by up to the mines. Not many visitors. The road used to be two way. If you came upon someone, whoever was closest to a turnout backed up their car and moved out of the way. You can see the suburban in front of us on the second to last photo.

I guess they've moved them, cause last time I came up here in the early 90's they still had old car wreckages down at the bottom of the canyon from vehicles that had gone off the small road. Wish they'd still been there, as I didn't get photos way back when.

Was literally in 1st gear, 20mph, and the bumpiest road ever!

last photo is at the top, and I rode the bike right up next to the bridge. The bridge was started in 1892 and finished in 1898. 300 meters across and not sure how far down...but pretty far down. (Puente de Ojuela is the 3rd largest suspension bridge in Latin America)

 

[machete]

Picture of me in front of the Suspension Bridge. After it was built it was used for a long time, and then was out of service for a many years, and then restored in 1991 for use.

Shot of the bike and valley in the background.

Warning sign: "Caution: For your safety, no more than 10 people should cross the bridge at one time" and of course, there is no one there to monitor it. awesome. Every man for himself.

A shot as I crossed. There was the other family already half way across.

 

[auntiebling]

no more than 10 people should cross the bridge at one time"

does it say anything about how many motorcycles can wheelie across at one time?

 

[LuckyStar387]

I like your helmet. The colors and lines on it remind me of a certain racer's helmet. (Sylvain Guintoli's Shark)
You have a beautiful family, Rick. Awesome pictures so far!

 

[machete]

I don't know B, I had a hard time counting the family that was already crossing in front of us.

Thanks Kristi.

The first photo is just to show as a reference that there is no safety barrier on the way this bridge was constructed. Yep, the railing is about my chest level, and the cross members are so wide I could fall through if I squatted down. makes for a nice walk across the bridge. 300 meters I think. 3rd largest suspension bridge in Latin America.

On the bridge

Some planks that NEED a repair. They just creaked as I stepped on and off of them.

and last shot on the far end.

 

[machete]

The cave at the end of the bridge didn't use to have this wall and door for access last time I came here, sometime in 1995 I think. So last time we had just walked in as far as we could with some lighters. stupid, of course.

Anyway, you can take tours inside the mine now.

A shot of my uncle as he was talking to the Mexican guy selling his wares. I'm glad I got to ride with my uncle, this was actually a good day out on the bike, mellow, with some great scenery and history. He had talked to me on Thursday night and asked when I planned on coming up here. I said in the morning, but he sounded dissapointed and said it was too bad I wasn't going at noon, cause then he could come out. I said, no worries, I'll go at noon. He was so damn excited to get his bike out and ride that I was as happy.

He lives, breathes, eats, sleeps motorcycles. The family all says they are tired of him talking about them, but they let it go, cause he loves them so much.

The Mexican dude with his display of stones that they mine on the side. I was looking for fire opal but they had sold all that they had. bummer, I wanted some of that especially. Next time.

A giant cavern that is just to the left of where the dude was selling trinkets.

A nice panoramic view of the bridge from the mine side.
What's funny is that there is an old western where the hero rides across the bridge into the sunset (from the other side) but for those that have been here, you know that there is no way out. Hollywood magic. I'll try and figure out the movie.

 

[machete]

First photo is a line that is hung up from the mine side to the town side. Took it for a good friend of mine and co-worker that slack lines all over. And is the first woman to traverse the Lost Arrow Spire Highline in Yosemite N.P.

Anyway, as I'm taking a photo of it, the dude is like "you know we're running that today" "the zip line, we're running it today!"
me: o''''rreary!! hmmmm
My uncles first reaction, "fuck that shit, I'm not going on that"

Well, fuck it, why not, right? So I ask the guy to see the harness and carabiners (not that I know what I'm looking for, but you only live once, right)

photo of an old mine lantern

So a few photos of me putting on the harness, and then the last photo I like, cause it makes me look....uh......large! and I don't mean my gut!

 

[machete]

I don't slack line, but hell, thought it would be a good way to get back across. They just put this zip line in 3 years ago.

The guy giving me instructions

Then me going across.

Photo #3350 is probably my favorite of those as I'm looking out over the valley, thinking of a friend of mine who is gone now and I felt really at peace.

Last one is arriving on the other side.