Time to Make Payment to the Adventure Gods...

Dear Family & Friends,

Today was the day we paid our sacrifices to the Adventure Gods.!!  Today was a LONG difficult day. We only rode 145 miles but it took us close to 10 hours! Very difficult terrain.... 

The dirt roads we rode on were cut in the 19th and 20th centuries and many of them are in very poor condition and very steep and slippery. We had lots of crashes today. Many broken mirrors, bent handle bars, dented tanks, bruises and scrapes, a sore shoulder, a few broken ribs and a lot of damaged egos..!!

I rode the whole day with no problems at all. I would like to think my many years of dirt bike racing helped me out, but it was probably dumb luck....

Not only did we have crashes we got lost a couple of times and worst of all we missed our lunch!! By 3pm we were all tired, hot, hungry and had run out of water and close to running out of fuel..... not good.

We eventually figured out where we were and rode about another hour over another mountain range. When we suddenly came out of the canyon onto a pave road we were all so excited!! Now some of the riders desperately needed fuel. Luckily we found a station about 5 miles down the road. We topped up our tanks, drank lots of water, and some of us even had our photos taken with the local law enforcement wearing military uniforms, face masks and carrying machine guns.. Very welcoming...

Now we  were all smiles knowing the hotel was only about 45 minutes down the PAVED road!!

A wise man (Duane Lieb) once told me the difference between adversity and adventure is attitude. I really enjoyed it all. The physical and metal challenge of it all was very rewarding..

Tonight we checked into a first class hotel with a pool, electricity, TV, and internet.. We checked in and here I am enjoying a margaritta and the internet..

Now  you are totally up to date with all my travels.

Jason

Motorcyclist have to be creative. This rider burned out his charging system so he strapped a car battery tot he back and rode all day on it...

Our hotel full of motorcyclist. We met many other riders from the US riding in the ares staying here.

A road side chappel

It is ironic that the Mexican truckers violate every known rule for safety yet build these beautiful road side chapels so they can stop each day to pray for a safe trip. .. That is faith.

This is how a GS BMW should look, DIRTY!!

According to the GPS this was SUPPOSED to be a town, no lunch today and we are now lost...

A beautiful ancient abandoned church at the bottom of the canyon.

Wed in Mexico...A A

Dear Family & Friends,

Today is Wednesday and I have to say I got my ass kicked today…..

We got up early and had a nice b breakfast at the lodge we stayed at. It is amazing how comfortable a place can be with no internet,TV, or even electricity.!!

From there we rode about 2 hours through what they call a "Magical" town, Creel. This is the term for an old town with charm and history that the Mexican government hopes to promote as a tourist attraction.

Creel was quaint but we did not stay there long. Creel is located on the edge of Copper Canyon. So we left Creel and rode to the top of the Sierra mountain  range up some terrific motorcycling roads, good pavement and lots of twists.. At the top we reached an elevation of 8500ft and stopped at an old mining train station. From there we had a spectacular view of the Copper Canyon System, a collection of giant canyons covering 25,000 square miles.!

As we looked down into this giant hole in the ground our guide told us tonight we would be sating at the bottom of the canyon, 8000 feet below us….. 

We took off and soon the pavement ended and we had 5 hours of rough dirt roads, streams to forge, and exhausting riding!! I knew his was going to be a very physically demanding ride. So for months before I planned to start working out at the gym to get into shape for it. That is a I THOUGHT about it for months, then suddenly the ride was a few weeks away and I thought oh well, to late know to get into shape…. BIG mistake. Tonight every inch of me is tired and sore….:(

About 6pm we arrived at the bottom in a little Indian village of Urigue.  The hotel we are staying at is clean and even has electricity… I peeled my self off the motorcycle and took a nice cold shower and watched the mud and dirt wash away.. 

A shot of tequila and a good dinner and all was right with the world...

Jason

First thing Wednesday AM we had to scrape the ICE off our motorcycles and jump several of them because it was so cold they would not start!

A morning stop in the town of Creel on the edge of the Copper Canyon area.

From Creel we rode over the Sierra range right to the edge of the Copper Canyon and looked down 8000 feet to the valley below where we would ride for the next couple of day.s..

Copper Canyon is inhabited by several Indian tribes. Here at the look out they sell their arts and crafts..

A LONG way down. We all thought how the hell are we going to ride to the bottom ???

A beautiful hand  carved door to the local inn at the Copper Canyon train station..

A group of local Indians all on their lap tops "surfing" the internet! IT is truly a world wide webb

The local Copper Canyon train station.

One of our guides is name Ivan and is a scholar. He works for the government to promote Copper Canyon. He knew an amazing amount about the area and keep telling us fascinating stories and facts..

A loca Fast Food Restraurant. The cooked GREAT food on the lid of a 55gallon oil drum.. We had a wonderful lunch there for about $3..

The Copper Canyon shopping district..

Time for the "Adventure" part of my trip. Riding down, down, down into the canyon.

Near the bottom of the canyon we rode through a small Indian vilage. The kids were so excited to see so many motorcycles..

Even the most remote areas of Mexico have churges..

Did I mention the riding was not all dry..???

Almost all made it through without falling into the stream.

We had one rider lose it and fall over in the water but the most embarrassing was one rider was so excited to make it through without falling over once he got out of the water he popped a "wheelie" and promptly crashed!

You definitely wanted to keep your eye on the road and not do anything stupid, it was a LONG way down...

A moment of relaxation....

We made it! Our hotel for the evening! It was a most welcome site. It even had electricity but no internet or toilet seats...

Dowtown Urique..

Our hotel in downtown Urique.