There & Back Again
Nov 25th
LB
We made it back home at 3:30 PM after a 10 hour, 475 mile, ride from Chula Vista (located 15 miles from the Mexican boarder). Being the day after Thanksgiving, traffic was not a problem. Even the rain that was falling all day in San Jose stopped for our return. The trip was a total success, with virtually no problems what so ever including the people of Mexico or our motorcycles (thanks Mr. Honda). November 25th was the last day that Steve is 29 years old. I could not think of a better way to celebrate the first 29 years of his life. Happy Birthday Steve!
Statistics
Total trip 6020 miles (9632 km)
Motorcycle maintenance for during the trip: 1981 CX500C; 3 liters of oil (oil leak that started at 1500 miles). Add air to front forks 2 times. 1980 CX500C add some air to tires, 1 time.
Total number of days for the trip: 27
Parting notes:
All of the pictures on the blog were reduced in size for speeder internet use. We will put all of the hundreds of pictures we took on a CD for anyone that is really interested in seeing them. Steve also took hours of video that will need editing before a DVD will be complete.
With some help (HELP??), we hope to publish a few magazine articles about the trip.
Thanksgiving
Nov 24th
After a very long 510 mile day we made it to Chris’s place in Chula Vista California. We started out from Santa Anna 2 hours before dawn on a well used 2 lane highway (Mexico 2). We followed a bus which made it much easier to navigate the sometimes unmarked road pavement in the dark. Somewhere in the Sonora Desert, Steve lost the battery out of this video camera while shooting videos at 65 mph. We went back and walked along the road, but never found the expensive battery.
We crossed into the USA through San Luis, a small Mexican town on the California – Arizona border. The border crossing went very smooth. As required, we checked out with the Mexican government where they took our vehicle stickers. Steve somehow talked a Mexican border guard to open up a security gate and let us in front of the half mile long line of cars waiting for US customs. Since the US customs guy was a previous owner of a CX500, all he did was talk about our motorcycles and only asked if we had anything to declare as an afterthought while we started riding away.
Chris had fixed a great Thanksgiving dinner that was ready when we got there, about 4:00 PM. Thanks Chris!
Mazatlan Again
Nov 20th
We stayed at Capt. Moes B&B for 2 days. This is a very friendly place to stay, just a short walk to the beach and restaurants. We highly recommend staying here for any length of time. Moe and Dorothy have been living in Mexico for the past 7 years and neither of them can really speak Spanish. Moe, a motorcycle rider himself, gave Steve & I a tour of the city. There are many Canadians and Americans that make Mazatlan their home. Check out their web site: http://captmoe.com/
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
Veracruz
Nov 15
We made it to Mexico´s “other coast”, the big Gulf of Mexico. One the map, if you drew a line straight down from Huston Texas, the line would intersect Veracruz. We have now traveled 3,187 miles from San Jose.
Riding in at dusk, we found this great hotel right across the street from the water for $27 a night. The surf on the water was very mild that evening, but the next day brought 40 + MPH winds that was driving water and sand onto the road (see pictures). So we are staying 2 days and getting the laundry done, plus writing to the blog.
Nov 15
We made it to Mexico´s “other coast”, the big Gulf of Mexico. One the map, if you drew a line straight down from Huston Texas, the line would intersect Veracruz. We have now traveled 3,187 miles from San Jose.
Riding in at dusk, we found this great hotel right across the street from the water for $27 a night. The surf on the water was very mild that evening, but the next day brought 40 + MPH winds that was driving water and sand onto the road (see pictures). So we are staying 2 days and getting the laundry done, plus writing to the blog.
67.8 Miles of Bad Road
We were told that taking the secret road from Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca was NOT the way to go. We soon discovered that the look of terror on people’s faces that warned us was really genuine.
On the map, the first 67 miles is a faint grey line. After that the map shows the common red line type of road that we usually ride on.
After the first few miles of giant pot holes and rough surfaces our butts felt like you were being dragged up and down cement stairs by your feet. The pot holes were so big that a VW could fit in them. In fact I think we saw a road crew filling some of the holes with old VW bugs. Some of the pot holes actually had names, like “Juan Bigass Hole” and “El Dent-A-Rim”. Once in awhile a sort section of the road was repaved. There was warning signs “Caution Smooth Road”. Just as we could pickup some speed, BANG, there would be a series of pot holes on a blind curve. Besides the road surface we climbed in elevation, robbing our poor Honda’s of what little horsepower they had. For the first time since leaving California, we got cold. Oaxaca is one of the only places in Mexico that the Spanish did not mess with, they must of tried to get there using this road.
After we rode the 67.8 miles of Bad Road in 2 long hours.
Would we ride this road again? YOU BET!
We were told that taking the secret road from Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca was NOT the way to go. We soon discovered that the look of terror on people’s faces that warned us was really genuine.
On the map, the first 67 miles is a faint grey line. After that the map shows the common red line type of road that we usually ride on.
After the first few miles of giant pot holes and rough surfaces our butts felt like you were being dragged up and down cement stairs by your feet. The pot holes were so big that a VW could fit in them. In fact I think we saw a road crew filling some of the holes with old VW bugs. Some of the pot holes actually had names, like “Juan Bigass Hole” and “El Dent-A-Rim”. Once in awhile a sort section of the road was repaved. There was warning signs “Caution Smooth Road”. Just as we could pickup some speed, BANG, there would be a series of pot holes on a blind curve. Besides the road surface we climbed in elevation, robbing our poor Honda’s of what little horsepower they had. For the first time since leaving California, we got cold. Oaxaca is one of the only places in Mexico that the Spanish did not mess with, they must of tried to get there using this road.
After we rode the 67.8 miles of Bad Road in 2 long hours.
Would we ride this road again? YOU BET!
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