Barranca del Cobre! 4 Kamloopsians ride into the Copper canyons of Mexico.

[04klr]

Day 3 San Pedro De La Cueva to Yakora 301km, another long day ahead!

It's just after 7am with very long shadows and almost all packed and ready to ride.



almost as plentiful as tortillas are the dogs!



trying never to start a day without breaky, as you never know where the next meal will be, we timed it about perfect for a yummy gut stuffer right across the street from the hotel.



not sure how big bass (?) get but closing in on 10 pounds sounds big to me.



while the usual plan is to fuel up on arrivial at the end of day our arriving after dark negated that option. there was lots of help fueling up here at just after 8am.



On the road and mere minutes later we passed by the first puebla of the day.



the last pic was taken up on the hill almost straight in line with the bridge.



another of a great many roadside memorials.



the bike slid back a few feet before coming to a stop for this not so terribly good pic.



taking a break in the shadows on this warm day.





there were paved sections at times when approaching the larger towns, and they are all very twisty.








from the chicken scratch notes for the day. "Stunning riding, almost a repeat of the day before. The almost section was 1st and 2nd gear for hours. One of the days sections was freshly graded marbles in very steep country B+ or better riding for hours!"



my now repaired glove. dental floss and seal-all.



a rather scetchy cattleguard.



just after touchdown, as Floyd shows the best method of dealing with a cattleguard.







Flat tire number 1, and surprise surprise it belongs to Floyd. Ended up there was a pretty good cut tire involved with the flat. Fortunately he's very proficient at changing flats. No surprise as he seems to get more than his fair share of practice.






nearing Yakora and getting closer to the actual canyon area of the Copper Canyon.



while the pictures may not portray the terrain very well in respect of steep and twisty. Robins face on the other hand shows very well the sun baked pooped out look of someone who has been wrestling a 690 around all day long. On the bikes before 8:30 and here now in Yakora at just before 6pm and it was a challenging day for most of it. While the rooms here are nice enuf they are so cold at this high elevation that sleeping tonight under very thick blankets will be in full clothing including touques!



bikes all locked up for the night.



As the hotel is essentially at a truck stop, dinner was just across the parking lot. In the restaurant there was a plexiglass covid shield dividing the tables in half so you could sit beside someone but not sit across without the screen between you. odd. and a bit frustrating.
and that, tiring as it was, was day 3.
a shorter day tomorrow and a visit to the 2nd highest waterfalls in Mexico.

thx fer lookin

 

[04klr]

day 4 Yakora to Basaeachi 168k.

This morning at breakfast I told the boys that I had been keeping a count of the tight "S" bends and switchbacks we'd ridden over the last three days. If you were there, you would've like them, laughed heartily when I said there'd been 20,000! as there had really been so many of them. Interestingly nearing the end of the trip I actually did a rough calculation and 20,000 by trips end would be a pretty accurate number.
The usual morning mutt.



less than 40 min into the days ride and the faint antifreeze smell coming from Robins bike became much more of a problem.



might as well take some pics. while repairs are being made, on this perfectly straight road.



a roadside memorial on a more grand scale.





todays refreshing beverage.



I call this picture "cows beside road"






my notes tell me that not long after leaving Yakora behind we arrived into the canyonlands area.



about three stitched pics. with two Stu's in it.



the hills we'd been going up and over for the last three days are now much deeper by far.






a suspension bridge for pedestrians, and small bikes i suppose.






another of a great many little pueblas we passed thru.






we arrived at Bassaseachic falls in the late afternoon and took the 1.5k hike to the top of the falls, not perhaps the best spot for viewing the actual falls themselves, but wow what a view!
We would be standing at the very top of the falls pictured.













in this shot the heavy mist that keeps the foliage dripping wet is floating up from the depths of the canyon.



Robin, Floyd and the old boy we hired to watch our bikes and gear.






and before 5pm we were at our shack for the night.



all locked up before we were off for a great dinner of Asada tacos just down the road.



and that was day 4.
By the end of day 3 our tires were already really showing a lot of wear, enough that it seems there was little chance of them making the whole trip. Floyd is running a Heidenau that should easily run almost 10k and Stu and My Kendas should easily make 8k any day of the week and yet we've barely gone 850k and there's a LOT of wear, it certainly gives perspective of the rough nature of the rocky dirt roads. We (Floyd/Stu) have come up with a plan B detour in search of tires. Tomorrow we head towards Creel and maybe tires. If we make it......

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

day 5, Basaseachi to Creel 130km, sounds like an easy day...

Nescafe and huevos rancheros con frijoles for breaky and we were off to our usual relatively early start.
Not a lot happening at 7:30am.



my bad, I cut off the "H I".



The day started with pavemiento which is always fun, and of coarse dangerous as you absolutely never know what's around the next tight corner, a rock slide perhaps, a broken down truck with no warnings in place, or ? could be anything at any time. Fun to ride yes most certainly but you need to be always always on guard!
And around that corner was a truck full of lumber laying on it's side, on the wrong side of the road!








the inside of a roadside memorial. really like the gate.



that memorial is just out of this pic. on the left and the viewpoint was at very steep jut out of land with spectacular views.



looking over the edge just past the bikes in the previous pic. down the extremely steep point of land.





a peek at Floyds Gps showing the elevations we are riding at.





yep, this is a lousy taken on the fly pic.. The take away is the smashed thru guardrail.



It must've been both spectacular and quite likely deadly, the explosion of carnage it strewn all the way to the bottom of the canyon.



entering the town of Uruachi another on the fly goofy stitched pic. with 1 floyd and 2 Stus and 2 Robins in it.





while in the main plaza, Floyd took a moment to ask the local Police dude if the track we plan on taking, as it was plotted on Google earth, goes thru to Creel. The answer was yes.



more questioning of the locals about the road, yup it goes thru.



Leaving town we were on the dirt track towards Creel.
a particularly bad day for some family.



with not the best camera you should expect not the best pictures. bad color contrast but you get the point. stunning canyon views.








at a break along the way, I must've taken a dozen pics. here as that peak was stunning.





sadly, hard to see in this pana. pic. are the ruins scattered along the mid portion of the shot. Unseen is a crazy long rock wall that encompasses the whole plateau and has many crumbling buildings amongst the brush.



Lesson #2.
From my notes, "we followed a donkey trail until we reached a very washed out bridge.." If the "road" you are following downgrades to a donkey trail just suck it up princess and turn around.
If not a single vehicle has gone thru and perhaps for quite awhile, then neither can we. Period.
Also from my notes, "Not much closer to Creel today, was mostly an out n back day". Being the super smart adventure types that we are, we made our way across to the other side without much drama, only to haver Stu/Robin carry on and recon what was up ahead as we were only something like 9k from pavement, when they returned with our tails tucked in we turned around crossed back thru the river and headed back to Uruachi. ho hum.
Lesson #3 We also learned that whenever the locals are asked, even the official locals, if a road goes thru, the absolutely useless answer will always be, yes, whether it does or doesn't!



here now on the wrong side of the river is Robin cooling down after determining that we would go no further.



Stu, after putting some clothes back on after a cool down in the river.





now why would we think this didn't go thru, DOH!



Floyd figured this was as good a spot as any to have another flat.



note the heavily terraced hills on the left.



not the same terraces but, gives a perspective of what must be years of rock piling can build for walls that when backfilled creates flat land for agriculture. I personally am far far too lazy to even comprehend the amount of work required to build them.



here's an excellent pic. of Robin rounding one of the uncountable number of turns on this day.



safely back in town after our failed mission to get to Creel, we will now have a bit of paved backtracking to do tomorrow.



tonites lock-up.



two small upstairs rooms were ours for the night. I personally haven't much been noticing the high elevation that we've been living in. That said I most certainly noticed it when carrying both gear and luggage up to the 2nd floor, a bit of a workout!



a bunch of teens were performing for us on their quads, one of which flipped his (not a good flip) just downstream from where this was shot. Um, yea that's what I want to do, ride my machine thru deep standing water that is highly likely being added to, one flush at a time.



Floyd schmoozing with some local kids.





a calm before storm pic. of the main side street.



clearly been sitting here for awhile, on very flat tires.



While in Uruachi there were celebrities in town for the night, Gringo celebrities, Us! Sadly there are no night shots to show it but seemingly the whole town was driving around the streets in circles all night long. We saw the same rigs many many times, from an impossibly unaffordable pimped out Can-am side x sides with booming music and more flashing disco lights than any disco, to quads with giant speakers mounted up front blaring away and all manner of cars from rolling crap to pretty nice rides and all driving past our hotel and waving at us. It was a very surreal scene that went til well into the early morning.



Time to discuss the elephant in the room. "Hey, Isn't the Copper Canyon kind of known as a big drug/cartel area?" With the answer being a quite likely, yes, it is. We are not here to look for, or have anything to do with any goings on in someone else's backyard, not interested, curious, nada zip full stop. We are just here to ride in this beautiful part of the world. Getting late into that crazy busy night a tall thin 20 something fella approached us and in pretty good english after a bit of chit chat, asked if we wanted to have pics. taken of us with an automatic weapon in our hands. I asked why would he have such a weapon in a country so harshly against such things, are you military or police perhaps, as they all have big guns. He smiled coyly and said, no. We immediately made it clear that we had no such interest, at all, and walked away. Moments later a suspiciously expensive brand new diesel dodge dually with blacked out windows rolled up and stopped beside us. With the window rolled down the large fella behind the wheel with his family inside, started talking with us, why are you here? what are you doing? We told of our bikes and where we had ridden and of our destination to the Copper Canyon and how spectacular the people and scenery are.. It was a good conversation and all smiles, and once again he reminded us of Rule #1 to never ride at night. Clearly we had just been given a test (refusing a picture with a seriously illegal weapon, leading to perhaps who knows what..) as to whether we were just tourists or up to no good, and we passed with handshaking flying colors.
We had previously been told that pretty much wherever we go there are eyes watching with radios in hand, and the, where we go and how many of us there are, is always being watched. After tonite we have little doubt of that fact. And all is just fine.

And with that, our very large out n back Day 5 adventure day ends in Uruachi, not Creel as expected, but it was one hell of adventurous day!!

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

day 6, Uruachi to Creel, 211k
Very little offroad today, mostly twisted pavement. Today's funny, or yesterday or tomorrows, was And I think it was Stu who started it. The comment was, "it's only 27k as the crow flies to get there" to which I responded, Ha! that should only take us about 3 hours! (insert laughter here)
The distance travelled from A to B is many times that of as the crow flies with all the never ending twists and turns leaving straight line distance estimates as useless. great fun!
Ready to roll before 8:30 on the now sleepy streets of Uruachi.



looking back down to Uruachi.



I'm pretty sure that rock wall is defensive protecting the house from crashing vehicles on this very steep tight almost u-turn corner.







along todays short dirt section.



not tied in , and on the ubiquitous bald tires.



lunch along the way Tacos Pastor, with a stated 7 per order though there's a 10 count on my plate, very tasty and all dressed so no need to build your own, delicious.


after creating a plateful in seconds the last move is a deft swipe past the pineapple to add a couple little morsels on top of the tacos, fun to watch as he launched the chinks probable 4 feet and caught them on top of the tacos.



.Lucio's chair and blow up punching doll roadside emporium.



and by early afternoon we were in Creel, plenty of time to wander around taking pics. and try to find tires for our bikes. Nada!



all locked up at the hotel.



directly behiind the hotel was some pretty neat hoodoo type rocks which Robin was drawn up onto.



woven goods for sale by the Taramuhara Indians.



Lo siento Pero, nada tamale for you!



a group of statues in the main plaza.



of all the dog filled towns, none were as full of em as Creel. Always watch your step as quite likely a dog was just there.... If ya know what I mean..



and last shot of the day on this easy day 6.
Pretty sure all that broken glass means, don't chimb over this wall.



Day 7 will be a day off for a bike look over, and a futile continuation in the search for tires, which will lead to a plan B to continue that search.

next, we stay at high 8000ft type elevations before the steep drop into Urique.

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

Day 8. Creel to Urique 165k, "super fun twisty pavement all between 7400 and 8100 ft".
Creel stands as a defacto entrance to the entire Copper Canyon area and it's some 450 sq km of canyons. First to be visited is the actual coper canyon, Barranca del cobre which is about an hours ride from creel putting us there just after 9.
todays sleepy dog welcoming commitee.



some stiched big pics. that you have to understand are much deeper than they look on these puny pics. It's many thousands of feet to the bottom.












following the protocols put in place for the covid, it was masks on for the visit.



what's a tourist trap without it's trinkets, or walking sticks.



Taramuhara indians selling their handicrafts.






ready for the show, all that's needed is an audience.



leaving the 1st canyon we were off headed towards Urique and it's namesake canyon. A town passed thru along the way.





Robin biding his time before bombing past the convoy of three heavily armed humvees full of men. (then it was my turn)









some biker dudes along the way.



crappy panorama shot, but you get the idea. really fing deep canyon.



Urique is way down there.



at the viewpoint.

















and not surprisingly placed along a precipitous edge of the road.




dinner time.






none of us expected our dinner to be a "caldo", soup, but it was and boy was it delicious!! (camarones rancheros and yup another crap pic.)



and the tecate tonite.



just your everyday 17th century mission is pristine condition.






and all settled in at the hotel beside the all locked up bikes..



and that was a very scenic day 8, essentially the first day in the actual vacinity of all the big canyons, and we saw two of them today!!
Day 9, might be referred to by some as a "sporting" day, so y'all come back y'hear!

thx fer lookin.

 

[hawk]

I love "sporting" days! Sounds exciting. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[04klr]

yeah, that was for you Hawk.
and you're welcome.

 

[04klr]

Day 9, Urique to Choix via the ferry crossing a very large reservoir km?...
Long before the morning sun warms the town of Urique. Had a terrific dinner, tasty breakfast and a good nights sleep, all in it was a good visit here. Very quiet here with the marathon having taken place last month.




a very famous long distance marathon takes place here, in these steep canyons. The Taramuhara Indians are also famous for being exceptionally good at long distance running, and usually while wearing recycled chunks of tire tread tied to their feet, they kick ass.



Our route took us back op and out of Barranca del Urique. There's a great many switchbacks in this pic.



a cribbed in overhang of rock is a very sheltered place to start a business. across the street is a vertical drop.



inside the "shelter". Hand made woven things.



A sign in the mining town of Cieneguita, a sign which we will see twice today, which is once more than planned.



The track to the town was somewhat typical Mexico backroad, bumpy rutted loose sinuous and in some parts, just fine. The road from the town was much steeper with some climbs and descents that made you pick good lines! This track should "according to google earth" go thru to the ferry which would take us across a reservoir so we can continue on towards Los Mochis where we hope to find tires.



a usual there is always a view around every corner.









After quite awhile on a track that seemed to be getting far more unused after every km., we started to lose a lot of elevation. Might as well stop to fix a flat. This might be fix #3. While the repair was done Stu and Robin headed out ahead to see if the road actually goes thru.



From the notes, "We did and out-n-back today after the track didn't go thru". Buggah! Stu/Robin returned with the news that we were turning around, oh man it's a long way back, and some of those hills we came down,,,,
There was along stretches with these large round leaves on them. It was almost impossible to determine what was a leaf or what was a largish round rock, it make for some very scetchy riding as there were plenty of round rocks in there.





After backtracking to the mining town and having lunch of Hamburgesa especial x four please., we did an exit stage right towards Choix, which is a very long way away and it's way after noon.



after 4 pm and still a good ride from Choix, we're going to break rule #1 tonight.



with shadows growing we came down from approximately where the inverted arrowhead is.



A next morning picture as it was 8pm before we arrived at the hotel in Choix after a very long hard day, way after the time we should've been off the road. oops. From the notes "After the backtrack, the rest of the day up to 8pm was very rough" as the road had been graded by the mining companies, putting loose rock and there was silt everywhere.



also an early next morning shot. Very nice place to stay and great Pollo Asada across the street.



And that, was the very long day 9. Km's for the day, dunno, but it was way more than it should've been that's for sure!
Manana we're off on the greatly appreciated pavement to the 250k population town in search of tires, Floyd needs one NOW! and the others look like there's little chance of making the trip, they're really wearing fast!

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

Days 10/11 Choix to Los Mochis for tires and ending the day in El Fuerte. All paved and mostly fairly straight and it's a bit of a welcome change!
Well before arriving in the rather large burg of Los Mochis we stopped at this shop in search of tires. Though no tires were in stock it's always nice to see how hard people will work to assist in getting tires or whatever it is that you may be trying to purchase. A trait that exists is most none of the shops back home.



being in a town of some 250k people is a bit of a shock when the biggest place we've seen for the last week has been measured in hundreds, not hundreds of thousands of people. After some hunting we were told of the placed named Motology from the KTM dealer that had a few orange bikes but not a single part in the parts dept. (in fairness they are a newly opened shop).



Puppies in the bike shop that we went round and round the block in the attempt to find the place.



super helpful folks that in short time ordered us our small chinese tires and then went to get them from some wharehouse across town.



before 2pm we were headed back towards El Fuerte for the night.



happy to have but hoping not to use the likely super high quality tire.



coupla shots of some folks along the way.



we kinda swarmed these guys and did some vroom vrooming of motors before passing them by, good clean fun. Oiled chains are way over rated.






might as well relax on the straight road to town.



we arrived at the ancient town of El Fuerte before 4, plenty of time in the day to find a place to stay.



Robin and myself we voted to set out and find a place for the night, ug! It turned out to be the best job of the day as the boys left with the bikes were being eaten alive from no-seeums in the heat of the day, ug times two. The first and only place we checked out was a very short walk to the main plaza and was at a price that was, well on the more than we are used to paying, side of things. The nice lady who as it turns out was the owner, stated after i asked if there was secure parking for the bikes, that there was but the access was destroyed at the moment. Turns out after i explained we were on dirt bikes that the destroyed was just a cluttered garage being used as a workshop while major renovations were being done, nothing that would stop our 690's!



The place was simply fantastic, and at it's roots was over three hundred years old! Great spacious rooms and a toilet seat, whoo hoo!



wall decorations.





bikes all safely settled in for the night. This pic. was taken from the roof that has a nice stairway leading to it. There were no railings or guards of any sort preventing an accidental fall the two+ stories to the ground. In Mexico you are responsible for your own safety.



that hopper is about four inches long!



and that was an easy day 10. While we feel some relief having a back up tires in hand we are not overly proud of those tires.
The next pics. are from our day off in El Fuerte where there is a large carnival/festival happening, the largest in Sinaloa state and attracts a large contingent of motorcycles.
The place we are staying at is as previously stated quite amazing. This is the nondescript smallish front of the building.



and this is a 3 pic stitched pana. that shows the immense size of the place, it has the depth of an entire city block.



this is the original three hundred year old wall at the base of the place.



taken while at the museum just uphill from our hotel, looking towards the main plaza.



perhaps all our modern societies "PC" correctness hasn't fully taken hold here. Many decades ago while dirt biking that description was for a round rock protruding from the ground or sand, then it became a "baby" head, now I would think you just have to call it a rock.



please Feeed me seymour!



as we are a day early there weren't many takers for the rides that were set up all over the main plaza. Tomorrow night this place will be packed.



a surprisingly decent night shot pana. of the main plaza and it's many palm trees.



last shot for this day off, taken from the roof of the hotel, where in the dark you really should watch your step!



next we are off to Batopillas which should take us back onto the dirt and all it brings.

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

day 12, El Furte to Batopillas, not sure of km's.
A bit of a later start than usual and stalled even more thanks to a Stu front flat, that needed to be fixed, a couple of times. Next was a rather late for us 9am breaky. While waiting for our rancheros and instant cuppa we took advantage of the bug dope that was placed on every table. While El Furte is very beautiful and filled with so much history, it's sadly in close proximity to a large slow river that makes it a stunning breeding ground for No-seeums! brutal!
take 1, or 2... at 7:45am.




As with all best laid plans, todays plan went sideways with the early delays. The road to Batopillas is likely to be a bit of a challenge requiring more hours than we have in the day. So at the crack of 11:42am here are the bikes parked in front of the Hotel (again) in Choix.




Nice that there was a conveniently placed Pollo Asada place directly across the street from the hotel. Yes, very tasty.



and taken before 6pm, is the last pic. of what was scribbled in as a "very short day, Lots of relaxing"
Not the toughest of days but that was it, Day 12, done.




We actually make it to batopillas next time, really.

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

Day 13, Choix to Batopillas (second attempt), 158k.

It turns out that we could've made it thru yesterday, oh well it was nice to have the afternoon off yesterday so we could concentrate on staying properly, hydrated. We did get a very early start after our, yep, huevo ranchero and nescafe breaky. The day was though a "very scenic canyon day".
just after 8 we came across this ass just walking down the road, "Hey, you lookin at me, you lookin at me?"
just noticed the odd shadow the donkey is casting?)



Just a few minutes later. Though not likely the cause of death, that is one hell of an exit wound.



as from Choix we first need to backtrack several hours towards the mine that we rode past on our late night ride. We are now at least for a while back on that hammered silty dusty road, but at least this time we can see it!.
It's from the wrong day but to give an idea of some of the dust, silt.



When trucks approach it's best just to aim for the ditch (or close to) and wait for them to pass. These trucks have regular large sized cabs on these purpose built Dump Trucks and have a very short wheelbase and several feet shorter boxes than your everyday Dump truck. Without that short wheelbase the trucks would be forever making 3 or 4 point turns quite literally all day long. As it is they turn quite sharply and make tight switchbacks with ease. Just get out of their way.
Mexican rules of the road certainly apply here. There really aren't that many rules, which mostly works well. But. The most crucial rule of all and essentially the only rule is Rule #1. If it's bigger than you it has the right of way, always. Might is right. Do not expect any yielding from an approaching truck, not that they would just run you offa the road, if they can move they will, but it's up to use puny bikes to get out of the way.
and even puny-er bikes than ours must get out of our way.
note that the truck is using all the road.



On these epic rides there's always something that should be checked out a little more thoroughly but at the moment just gets a quick pic. This ruin of what is likely a 16th century Mission is one of those sights that only got a quick pic. Next time I will stop and go for a walk and check it out up close. Boggles my mind to think how the arched roofs are built. First build the walls. Then fill the entire thing up to and over the top to form a smooth sandy arch, then lay the brick "roof" on the sand. Then simply remove all the sand. voila. easy peesy,, a weekend job.



into the afternoon now and the canyons are getting deeper. Not sure who that is.



Looking down towards Batopillas several thousand feet below..



a wider pic.



Floyd got a pic. of this large mausoleum like memorial, what caught his eye (and not mine) was the stained glass doors. One of which is slightly opened in a welcoming sort of way.



Is that the grip reaper waving in the middle section? er, Like, "hello, welcome, glad you could make it." And the other two are looking like, "oh goody goody, so nice to see you"



Robins fender fits in well here.



Stu hated that chinese tire so much that he insisted that all pics. be taken on the left side.



the last few switchbacks before town.



staying at Juanitas and riding in thru her house to get into the courtyard.



which is here.



the view from the back of Juanitas.



There was a huge mountain bike race happening in town we were very lucky to get a room. As a cyclist I can appreciate how friggin difficult it would be to have a race here. Wonder what the up/down elevation change would be for the day? There were riders coming in after 10 pm at night and it was most likely an early start in the morning.



night time in the courtyard with a few new friends.



There was a raucously loud band playing well into the evening. Lots of people, both locals and imported here for the race.



last pic. and it's lopsided. The pinwheel design pictured must be the theme or philosophy of Batopillas as the design is plastered everywhere. This was the only one that I saw that had the description of what each section of the pinwheel means.
Gastronomia- Gastronomy
Naturaleza- Naturalize
Artesanias- Handicrafts
Gente- People
Cultua y tradicion- Culture and tradition.



And that fun filled scenic day was lucky day 13.
and tomorrow, for some the adventure really begins

thx fer lookin

 

[DRuZer]

Great stuff!
Can't wait fot the next installment....

 

[04klr]

Thx. Next one is coming soon!
It's been awhile, good to hear from you.

 

[04klr]

Day 14. Batopillas to Moreles, 91.7k, and it was a tough one.

Another day described as "another up down around and over canyons" all day long. Another day where a great many km's were ridden to go where a crow could fly in a few minutes.
but first we need fuel.





There's tough gnarly terrain days, and then there's another physically tough type of day, which was my day today, tough. About mid morning the vomiting started followed not long after with the other end, thankfully there's a good supply of butt wipe on the bike or the day would've been even worse. By the time I muscled the bike to Moreles I was utterly spent. Did not assist in the least at the gas "station" and on arrival at the hotel, the bike was essentially left on it's own. Necessary gear removed and thrown on the bed I climbed in it immediately. The vomiting and diarrhea continued almost non stop, a tough day indeed. The next day Floyd and the boys went in search of assistance and were fortunate (er, I was) enough to find and have a doctor make a House call (hotel room). He immediately got me on some fluid drips, and pills for the other two problems. Took the next day as a bit of a recovery day leaving the boys to wander around and sight see for a day. Many thanks to the crew that I ride with for taking such good care of me, and many thanks to the Doctor. (with mask under his nose?)



the Lady who made me some tasty chicken soup with vegis as my recovery meal, thanks also.



pictures taken while the boys were sight seeing.
con gangas todo se puede, "with desire everything is possible"



safety second, or third.



the rooftop view where the boys loafed around for a day and and half.






and those were days 14,15,16, whew they were tough ones. Next day we're back at it and off for Bobargamie.

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

Day 17, Moreles to Baborgamie, 120k.

Yippee, feeling pretty good and happy to be back on the bike! From the notes, " the day started at low elevation and ended up at just over 7000ft. back to chilly nights again".
The climbing started almost before leaving town and the up this side down that side would go on all day. This pic. taken minutes after leaving Moreles, our approach to the town was down the hill about tin the middle of the pic.



easier to see the switchback laden canyon wall on the far side. (Some of it with barf scattered here and there).



the not often seen Mexican tree eating cow. It was popping a wheelie just a moment before.



Todays ride was about a 6/10 technically but was an 8/10 scenic wise. Lots of vistas overlooking the canyon area.



we gathered quite a crowd at a refreshment stop along the way. Robin is there behind the boys as they naturally crowded him as he has the best grasp of the Spanish language.



though the riding was not particularly technical, there was a reasonable amount of silt. Which made for some interesting sections as the silt settles level hiding the holes and rocks that are most certainly there. From my chicken scratch notes, "lots of talcum powder dust"



yea yea, crappy pic. and out of focus.



there were a great many of these views.






Stu on final approach arriving in Barbogamie.



Three hardy adventurers and one local liquor pig.



the little snip of a building at the far right was just raw blocks being glued together when we were last here in 2018.



all rounded up and locked together for the night inside the courtyard of the hotel where we had a late lunch of Carne Asada that was generous enuf to double as dinner as well. The fact that we struggled to find another open restaurant was another reason.



and that was the very scenic relatively easy Day 17. the next day will be epic!!

thx fer lookin

 

[04klr]

Day 18, Baborigamie to Batopillas, 180k.

from the notes "perhaps the best day yet! challenging never ending switchbacks and corners with an elevation change of over 38k ft for the day, steep up/down for hours".
just after 8 and ready to ride.



the smoke from forest fires serves to highlight the layers of canyons.



our first view of what we will soon be climbing up on the far side of the canyon.



a couple of Floyds in one of a great many switchbacks ridden in the span of a few hours.



if it's a bush or tree, it's pokey and best stayed away from!



note the sinuous road descending on the left. clearly steep and twisted. easy to see that.



and this is looking back up at the switchback laden road, impossible to see any road at all. crazy!






about 1/2 way up the far side a well hidden waterfall was discovered, great place to cool down and soak the shirt.



note the flattened tree truck pasted to the vertical rock face. Also note Stu madly waving in front of his bike.



perhaps Stu, or Floyd.



stu, doing the back and forth switchbacks which are piled on each other.



we came from almost exactly in the top center of this big wide pic.







Kamloops Motorcycle riding fools were here.



the bigger towns get fancy metal ornately painted signs. The smaller places get plainly painted surplus drain pipe .






not a great shot but the haze serves very well to highlight the many canyons.



it's a long way down over the edge.



there's two crosses at the base of the tree near the center of the pic. and it would be hard to imagine that there wouldn't be as it is a near vertical drop over the edge and a seriously long drop! and a great place to have a bad day.



almost in Batopillas.



just outside town.



Actually a tomorrow morning shot but in any case we are here in Batopillas again. Stu is grinning now, but it was his day for trouble as he flatted and had his shock bolt back out and chew 3/4 through the swing link of his rear suspension. Fortunately it was discovered before anything broke and or the bolt was lost.



there's far more days behind us than in from and the end of trip is nearing, sadly as it's been utterly fantastic. Next day we are off for Creel again.

thx fer lookin.

 

[04klr]

Day 19, Batopillas to Creel 130k day, most all paved, a big change from yesterday.

The morning view from beautiful downtown Batopillas looking way up to the plateau above.


.
Muchas gracias Senora Juanita. As always, a great place to stay, very gracious host with a stellar river view and located across the street from the main plaza. Floyd departing down the main hall of the house. (ok, I admit this is an entering picture not exiting)


As always after fueling the bellies (rancheros n nescafe, right?) we fuel up the beasts! from large barrels siphoned to smaller containers then to the bike.



just out of town looking back towards it. the fella with the horse used to be right in the plaza.



and in a minute we were back into, not that we left, more amazing roads and scenery. Great place to take a pic. right Stu?
note the pedestrian suspension bridge for river crossing.



The steep road up and out of the batopillas valley bottom has miles of road laid like taffy into 45min of back to back to back switchbacks. This pic. is likely approx. 1/3 of the way up already.



Robin.



wicked view over the edge of that top right corner.



While there's not a one in this picture there were on that day a great many goats being walked on the road. lots. As perhaps evidenced here by the tell tale, wee marks. And there were parts of the road with way more leakage on it than pictured here.






at about the 1/2 mark.






Floyd, with likely with a big grin on his face.



there was a viewpoint pullout that had two indian ladies selling their handiwork, baskets and such. Really great view down to the valley floor.
I think the truck had a mechanical break down, so it wasn't those bald assed tires that stopped the rig! Also notice the rock all over the road, which was pretty much a constant for the ride up.



no ice today thank-you. At these elevations ice is a threat on most any morning.



an on the fly shot of just one of the countless turns in the road.






Actually stopped for this one. While here in 2018, I saw a truck doing essentially the same thing in the same spot and I got a crappy picture, this one isn't great but works. What caught me was the hard working tenacity of the workers! Not that it might not be there but I can see no power saw or items for a saw, in any case even if there is a saw the logs are cut up where they stand (stood), delimbed, bucked up in 8 foot lengths and rolled/skidded to the truck, then loaded on that truck. No winches or other gadgets for assistance. It's all done by hand! or rather several hands.
Shoots all to hell the foolish notion of "those lazy Mexicans"



In the Valley of the Monks.
The Taramuhara peoples are very small, as you can see from the teeny weeny girl standing just behind Floyd.









Chick magnet.
strapped on canopy, the doors belong to the truck but all fenders are from different truck, 4 different wheels, yes all bald.



there's a lot of very old dead stuff in this pic.



The pants that were strapped onto the back of Robins bike all day long, suddenly wanted to get off the bike but didn't just quite jump far enough on exit. It took a little while to get it all out of the wheel, DOH!



yes, he had a 2nd pair of pants with him.



home sweet home tucked well under the rock. Just outside Creel.



Arriving back in Creel mid-afternoon, here we are back at the same shack as the 1st time. but in a different and perhaps even better part of the place, at least for us.



After checking in and getting organized Floyd n Stu headed out for a bike wash, and gear wash, all at the same time.
The fella with the sprayer was finding the job funny.



as usual all coralled up for the night. just before we headed out for food.





Last shot of the post. The proper number of poles have been used to hold up the concrete pads being poured above them. Mexican engineering at work, and it does.



and that, was a very fun day 19. great paved roads and scenery all day long. From my sparce notes, "Very twisted pavement all day long".
nuff said.

thx fer lookin

 

[04klr]

Day 20, Creel to Yakora, 281k and to likely what will be another very cold sleep!

From my notes, "another full day of twisted pavement". 281 km to go or, 140k as the crow flies!
Floyd has now replaced his rear tire and the rest of us (me and Stu at least) have our fingers crossed that the skinny Chinese tire can stay strapped to the side of the bike. I'm not doing the math, but we've likely not even gone 3000k and his Heidenau that should go 10k is completely done, bald as me, or in other words, perfect for sale to a local for his/her use for another year!
Certainly gives a visual insight to the grittyness of the backroads and pavement.



there were quite a few of these today as we rode from town to town.





certainly true. Pretty much across the board they all are! Whether it's from a tour bus that happens to be in your lane or a few giant rocks in the way, or chunks of pavement gone, they are all, "Curva Peligrosa"



Note the way Robin has his cabeza (head) crooked a bit left. My hunch is that he is trying to get a bit of a better peek around the corner.
Or he's just a little bent.



We are sadly down to one more day here and the picture count shows it, for that reason and the fact that the day was 100% paved road, not a lot of pics. were taken.



We arrived back in chilly high elevation Yakora in late afternoon with plenty of time before dark to get checked in to the refrigerated rooms at the hotel. Dinner was just down the road where the happy lady, assisted by her equally happy Hubby (?), prepared us some sort of fresh thawed very tough but tasty meat. Not a good meal but a fun meal for sure.



returning back to the icebox, we were sitting outside have a brew when this large grasshopper (?) fluttered by like a biplane running out of gas, and crashed headfirst into a very solid stone wall. Drunk perhaps?
easily three inches long.



a big bug indeed. Unfortunately for him (her?) but quite fortunately for the chunky Siamese Cat that guarded the place, all that was outside in the morning was the wings, that will flutter no more.



And that was a fun easy-ish paved day and again ridden under stellar blue skies.
Next post will be the last as no-one wants to hear about the truck ride home,,, or will they?.....

thx fer lookin.

 

[hawk]

If the truck ride home was sporting and you have pictures, why not include it if you have the time. Always interested in living the whole trip through the pictures. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[04klr]

It was more surreal, than sporting, and I was mistaken there was more of Mexico left.


Day 21, Yakora to Uris, 320k. The elevation change for the day was a mere 40k ft, rather average for this trip!
The ride took us through many small pueblas with amazing scenery along the way. While a mostly dirt day the terrain is gentler than most of what we've been riding on.
the view doesn't suck!



time for lunch, we were directed to this very small place that doubled as their home and they made a darn fine burger!



one of a many small places passed as we weave our way through the Sierra mountains.






afternoon break, our guard dog was a little lax on the guard portion of the job!






and with the wayneing (ha) picture count we are now at our end of Day, the not so pretty kinda grubby Uris where we've checked into some not so special rooms. Think, no shower head just a pipe out of the wall and no toilet seat etc.



Dinner was at this rib place which from the street smelled terrific. Never seen ribs in Mexico. So, yeah you bet lets get some they look great. Lots of things look great, which of coarse has nothing to do with actually being great. Imagine being at an organized bike ride and, that dude over there, has some very racy looking gear on, oooh he must be fast. nonsense, could be a huge poser or a new rider, looks have no bearing on "good". And this was very much the case with the ribs, smelled good, looked good, tastes good-check. But the word tough is a weakling compared to the tough of those ribs, and fatty!! so, not good.
From my notes. "Uris is not the prettiest of places, and the ribs! sooo greasy and tough" when in Uris do not try the ribs.



Tomorrow we end up in Imuris on our last full day in Mexico. Ho Hum.

thx fer lookin.