i am looking for advise on best route to take from brownsville texas to panama i would like to hit belize i an looking for a adventure not just a ride .what town should i look to get to on my first day after crossing into mexico? thanks i will be leaving around nov 20th.

I can help you out for a large potion of the trip.
How much adventure can you realistically handle and what kind of bike will you be riding? I can give you maps and up to date info. I live in Veracruz.

We can help you with some routes in Guatemala if you're looking for adventure.

I assume you'll come from Belize over to Flores. From there instead of taking the main road down to Rio Dulce, you can take the more western route which takes you south through Sayaxche, Chisec, and then towards Coban. Skip Coban and take the 5 east towards Pajal, at the end of the pavement turn right and head down the dirt to Lanquin. You're now at the doorstep of Semuc Champey - one of Guatemala's top adventure destinations (google image search will give you a sneak peek).

1 option from Lanquin is to take a really nice mountain pass (dirt) Southeast via Cahabon, and down to the road running along the northside of Lago Izabal. Keep riding until you dead end into that road (7E) and then turn left to head to Rio Dulce.

Other option is to head Southwest towards Antigua where we are. You can either go highway via CA-14 and then right onto the main hwy to head through Guatemala City to Antigua. Or you can go more adventure route: Coban - Salama - Rabinal - El Chol - Montufar - San Juan Sacatepequez - San Pedro Sacatepequez - Santo Domingo Xenacoj - Chimaltenango - Antigua. This is a mix of dirt and pavement, nice route.

Once you make it to Antigua, Guatemala (definitely a popular spot to relax a few days), be sure to come by Moto Cafe and share some stories with us, join us for a ride, or just have a !

Always great to meet fellow riders.

Moto Cafe
6a Calle Oriente #14
Antigua, Guatemala
14°33'19.50"N
90°43'52.43"W

Safe travels!

Chris

Pemi , get an AAA paper folding map of Mexico , even if you are relying totally on some thing electronic.The AAA map is really adequate detail for your plannning
On the map select and mark out your GENERAL desired path , This cannot be done as effectively on those little electronic srceens.You want theBIG PICTURE folde out in front of you. .
Now decide which highways fit your wishes and do this by also keeping in mind current WEATHER situations in Mexico.
As it is cooling off into winter there you may find that theGulf coast plain area has some grey rainy weather ( dirty pavement, drab scenery in the wet) which can run up into the eastern mountains.
So pick two ways to go, maybe down the east coast area and one farther inland and west of the mountains in the higher ,usually drier but colder interior desert
If you cross at Matamoros you could go as far as SAn Fernando for the night where you decide your next stage depending on TV weather reports. Do not worry too much about the bad news you have read in US sensationalist press.Just ride only during daylight- horses and cattle , broken vehicles and potholes on the roads are the real concerns y'know
If the coast zone looks as if weather is goung to be nice then you head south to Tampico,
If the Gulf plains are suffering with dreary wet weather brought by a cold front then head southwest to Cd Victoria on Mex 101 and follow that road up over the scenic mountains out of the city. This gets you hopeflly on the dry sunny side of the mountains to Jaumave
Take each day in this fashion, establish where the nice weather is on possible roads for you and plug away at it

If all of eastern Mexico is enjoying clear weather then consider taking any highway like Mex 85 south or Mex 105 from theTampico area.
These bothe travel up through great scenery, valleys , and onto the interior high country.
Mex 85 from Pahuca south a bit turn off to see TEOTIHUACAN,
See the smoking volcano Popo , head down to Oaxaca on Mex 190 ...
but there are so many choices for you to make .
Back down to Mex 180 around Veracruz or Acayucan and east to Palenque.More choices to make .
"Do I do the Tucatan Peninsula loop ? Uxmal ,Merida, Chichen Itza ,Cancun Tulum before heading into Belize...."

__________________
http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

thanks all for info so far mike i am on klr650 i am alone traveler . sjoerd i have sent for your lodging info if you have any maps with route can you copy them for me ?cris thanks i hope to see you at moto cafe thanks all

Veracruz weather is as follows.
We are entering the norte (north wind season), this means that when large low pressure systems drop down from Texas into the Gulf, a couple of things happen. First, the weather becomes quite a bit warmer, hot in fact, about two days prior to the winds coming through. The hotter it gets, the stronger the storm will be, as a rule of thumb. If you are a barometer user, you will see the infamous "falling glass/rising glass" quite dramatically if it will be a big event. If the north winds come in slowly and build in strength, the weather will be windy for a couple of days. If they come in strong and fast, the norte event will blow itself through very quickly, in a day or so. Sometimes a large event will last almost a week from the two hot days, two or three windy days, and the gran finale. The gran finale is usually cloudy and wet weather that signals the end of the norte. This will usually last a day or so.
This season runs from roughly the start of November to the start of May.
We usually get the first real norte around Todos Santos and the last one around Cinco de Mayo. We will usually get less than 50 cold fronts moving through during this period of varying strengths. It is rare that we get miserable wet rainy weather on the coast during this period, sure you will get a day or two here and there, but nowhere near the conditions during the rainy season that runs from May to October with intense rains usually in this period along with very high humidity and temps that can reach 115f in certain areas.
The mountain areas are usually north wind free, however the conditions there are usually damp, with low lying clouds and mist, sometimes heavy fog. Real heavy fog. Fog so damn thick you literally won't see your boots on the ground from the seat of your bike. That is when the real fun starts in the mountains.
The norte events are more of a pain in the ass than anything. Sometimes you will get gusts in the 100 to 115kmh range but usually they will blow from 60 to 80kmh and just blow sand and debris around. This creates a hassle on the coast highway #180 as blowing sand creates slippery conditions and also trucks can sway into your lane.
The north winds blow through and then down through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and into the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific coast. The winds gain strength blowing through the Isthmus and can knock you off course or right over if you are not careful.
I've been living here for almost 20 years and know the area since 1978 and last winter was the wettest I can remember, also this year, it was wetter in the September/October period. Some insects that usually are gone by August, lingered around into October this year. Who knows why? Some people might enjoy riding in the rain, I know I do in spite of not even having rain gear, but riding in a tropical downpour with torrential rain and lightening is not something I really enjoy.
Mountain riding in the December to February period is dramatic. The cool clear conditions make for amazing photos and views, you can usually literally see any fronts that will be moving through. From a couple of places here you can see all the way to El Popo.
There are two distinct seasons here: wet and windy. The other times are regular tropical warm and humid. In the sierra, you've got cool/cold with a chance of snow high up on the Cofre de Perote and agreeable and dry conditions outside of the December to February timeframe.

Do I do the Tucatan Peninsula loop ?

I think you mean "Yucatan".

yes YUCATAN peninsula, my typo'.... on keyboard the T sits right next to the Y and I did'nt check after hitting send.
.... although.... you will see an occasional TUCAN flying among the treees if you look carefully, and parrots are a sure bet.
Pemi - a pm on the way

__________________
http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93