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**seantully** · #1 17 Sep 2013

*I have a previous ride report called Tanning A Ginger Tip-to-Tip which (rather extensively) details all of the prep work, background story, and building of my bike. That report also tells the story of my first motorcycle trip, a 1 month ride through BC, the Yukon, and Alaska to test everything out. Initially I was going to just pick-up the ride report where I left off and continue on posting in that thread, as I had planned them to be a single adventure. However, since beginning that thread over 1.5 years ago my views about riding, and the plan for the current adventure, have changed enough to warrant a new thread. Rather than changing the old to fit the new, I want to preserve the original and start a new thread here for the current adventure. Enjoy.

Overview

A wise man once told me:

”there is no point in spending your life doing things you don’t want to do and that don’t give you joy. You can make all the money in the world but you need to learn how to have fun. You MUST learn how to play. Since I was diagnosed with cancer 2-years ago I haven’t had a single bad day. I simply don’t have time for bad days, so I make every day a good day. Life is short and if you can get started with that mentality young, you’ll do just fine.”

We really never know how much time we have here on this crazy place, and what we choose to make of that time, really is what we make of our lives. I have always been driven to travel and inspired by those with the freedom and ability to do so. I’ve finished my work in Seattle, WA and now find myself in a position to make extended travel a reality. It’s an opportunity I can’t pass up. I’ve consolidated everything I own into 4 boxes and sold off all of my worldly possessions to help afford it. I’ve purposefully gotten rid of everything that would help me call a place home and I’m now ready to ride. I now have No Moto Boundaries.

I don't know where I'm going, or for how long I'll be doing it, but I've rid my mind of expectations, and am heading out. I have no doubt that things will go wrong, plans will change, and shit may get challenging. I like difficult though, and challenges are the spice of life.

Fear of the unknown can be one of the greatest fears of all, but there are times in life when you need to value adventure above comfort and security.

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Ride Report Posts

Seattle --> ? (2013)
1: Rolling
2: Slapping Rock, Getting Hot
3: To The Shire
4: Grounded *I forgot to include this quick post, got stuck in an airport for 24hrs.
5: Fix-It, Ride-It, Break-It, Repeat
6: Ensa-"todas"
7: Finding Cortez
8: Kicking It With Coco
9. Mulege
10. Coyote Livin'
11. Where are all the PEZ?
12. El Pescadero - West Coast'n
13. Huffing Dirt
14. Cabo Wabo
15. Voy A Mazatlan
16. Guadalajara - Getting Business Done
17. Guanajuato - You Cheeky, Beautiful Place
18. Riding Guanajuato
19. Queretaro
20. Mexico, The City
21. Getting Dirty In Hidalgo (Part 1)
22. Getting Dirty In Hidalgo (Part 2)
23. DualSport In Mexico (Video)
24. Chilling In Tlalpan, DF
25. Slapping Rock in DF
26. Exploring Toluca (Video)
27. Loco Pozas de Edward James, Xilitla (Video)
28. A Run Through The Ringer, Valle De Bravo

Intro Pics

**seantully** · #2 17 Sep 2013

I’m really interested in heading South and seeing Latin America, so my bike is pointed in that direction now. My only restriction is my wallet which will eventually run dry. Other than that I’m in no rush and have not made nor excluded any future plans. I’m just going day by day and playing everything by ear. In my previous ride report (Tanning A Ginger Tip-to-Tip) I spent a lot of effort planning schedules and working out logistics, I learned that for me this saps the fun right out and now I instead I am just going to roll with it. In essence, everything is an option. Lets get started.

I had my last day of work on Friday September 30th, got dubiously inebriated Friday night with friends at our place to celebrate, recovered on Saturday, and then loaded up the bike and headed out on Sunday for the west coast of Washington. It was labor day weekend so a couple friends came along to camp out on the coast Sunday night and continue the festivities.

We got the coast in good time and spent the afternoon lounging on the beach, getting bashed around swimming out in the ocean, and kicking back some cold ones as the sun set. The night carried on and we had a good time. Glad you guys could come kick it, couldn’t have had a better send-off without you.

I even got to ride on the beach which is always a favorite for me.

The next morning my friends headed back to Seattle and I headed south down the coast, destination Newport. If you followed my previous ride report (Tannin A Ginger Tip-to-Tip) you’ll remember Sophie. She was now living in more habitable climates doing her graduate work in Newport OR.

En route at a stoplight a big orange truck pulled up, Scraper Joe was his name. “Ay you goin down all the way tuh Tillamook?”. “Fallah me, you’ll love it on a bike”. I followed him to a couple off track roads before he pulled over, gave me the lead and said “get goin!”. Sure enough, it was a great road for a bike. So good I took no pictures, too busy riding. Here’s the route on the GPS though.

Thanks Scraper Joe.

Got to Sophies in the afternoon.

I had developed a rattle that I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. While riding I had earplugs in and couldn’t locate the sound. Found it though, spark arrestor had rattled loose. I’ll give it a fix tomorrow with new bolts and some loctite.

Soph showed me around her new digs, I’ve gone through Newport before but always just blowing by. As with most places, if you go slow enough there’s always more to see.

Scoped out the beach.

Further down the beach the wind had swept the sand into foreign looking rolling hills. Felt like I was a martian chasing the mars rover.

The next day we went for a hike. We found this stone lookout at the top.
(I lie, we drove straight to the top. Ain't nobody got time for that).

I tried to teach Soph how to ‘dougie’.

Soph thought I looked dumb and pushed me off the edge.

Was a pretty swell look-out though. The crew that built it did so in the middle of the winter?! For those that don’t know, this is summertime here on the Oregon coast. Come winter, this place would not be a pleasant location to be building on.

We looked around some more and then headed into town for some grub.

“Oh haaay”

Diver was trying to escape being dinner.

There was a haul-out for juvenile male sea lions here too. These are the guys that can’t get any action yet. Probably because they stink pretty bad. They couldn’t have cared less though, this guy was ballin.

The next day it was time to head out, I’m sure I’ll be running into Soph again though, she always seems to move to cool places so we’ll see where she ends up next.

A few months ago I rode my bike down the coast in the winter time to get to some sun in Cali. I don’t like to go the same way twice so I was keen to head towards eastern Cali instead this time. Maybe hit up Yosemite and do some climbing on the way.

I ran into Doug (?) navigating his V-Ship Enterprise. He had a plethora of gadgets all mounted neatly up like a fighter pilot cockpit. Sweet rig Doug.

After Doug left I spoke to the guy at the gas station about places to sleep the night while incognito. I’m trying to stealth camp as much as possible. It physically hurts my brain to hand over $20 for a tent space that offers me nothing more than what any roadside pullout does. I prefer a rural dirt road to sleep near or an empty pasture any day to a KOA or other pay campsite. The guy at the gas station told me about a nice free camp space just a bit down the road so I headed there.

Crossed a set of tracks just in time for a good shot as a train came blowing by. There wasn’t any gate here, I think the conductor got worried as I hurriedly stopped the bike right as I crossed the tracks and jumped off the bike. He blasting his horn quite a bit.

Campsite acquired.

This shit was $3.29 for 2 at the gas station. ‘Merica!

A good book, early campsite find, and a leisure

. Nice evening.

The next day I packed up and got back on the road headed towards Yosemite, I wasn’t quite in California yet though so I probably had another days ride until I would get there. The weather was getting hotter though, and the landscape was showing the temps effects.

By the end of the day I made it into California and just near the tip of Lake Tahoe. I came in via the Mountain Rose hwy which winds up the pass just NE of Lake Tahoe coming from the Nevada side. It’s a nice little highway but the sun was setting so I pulled off near the summit where it would be nice and cool. Cooked some dinner on the camp stove and then called it a night.

Now that I’m in Cali, Yosemite should be obtainable for tomorrow. I could see a fair amount of what appeared to be smog in the air though. This made everything look foggy and I couldn’t figure out why. I totally forgot about the big fire that has been raging in the Yosemite valley. I remember from the news before I left that it was pretty bad, something like the worst fire in 10 years?? Hopefully the areas are still open… No interwebs though so we’ll just have to wait and see.

**seantully** · #3 17 Sep 2013

I headed out onto the road again in the AM. No rushing here though, I don’t know what time it is. I guess it doesn’t matter, I have no place to be. Time of day is something that doesn’t really matter anymore. When the sun comes through my tent I wake up. When I start to feel hungry, I look for food. When I’m tired, I sleep. What day is it now? Sunday, yes it’s Sunday. No, no it can’t be... it’s definitely Wednesday. I like this. Make a right turn here, head South towards Lake Tahoe.

My stomach started asking for a heavy serving of porridge. I’m simple when it comes to breakfasts on the road. Oatmeal mixed with some dried fruit. Preferably several large helpings. A glooping gut-bomb of fuel. Add brown sugar if available. I like to cook it on the back of my bike. Scenic view optional but preferred. Lake Tahoe will do this morning.

Here she is.

I’ve never been to Lake Tahoe but I can see why it’s a destination. At a stop light I pulled up to a guy on a f650 gs. We both commented on how shitty of a place this is to ride. Really too bad we were out on bikes right now. He was a local firefighter. Said the firehouse was out of bananas, they bent his arm to ride around the lake to go get some more. Rough life.

I rode around the West (california) side of the lake and exited out south at the bottom. Continuing on 88/89 South. GPS says this place is called “Hell Hole”??

Looks pretty good to me. Maybe they are trying to deter people, keep the place a secret.

89 south then turns into a canyon heading east where it’ll bump into 395 south. This road. Is fantastic. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but picture 3rd and 4th gear sweeping turns. Long smooth lines, canyon carving. Climbing in elevation, working the motor well. the wrist generating motor noises crescendoing off the walls of the canyon. 30 minutes of sweetness.

If you are in the Lake Tahoe area heading south find it. You’ll dig it.

Bumping into 395 I’m now heading south. In a couple hours I should hit 120 west to take me into Yosemite. I've been seeing a fair amount of smoke the last couple days. A haze blanketing the region and blurring the views in the distance. As I get closer to the 120 I see big signs saying 120 west to Yosemite is closed due to the fires. Balls. Well I know there are other great spots further down the way…..mmmmm….Bishop, CA! Yep, Bishop it is. Plug it into the GPS, calculate route. Great, I’ll be there by the afternoon.

Most climbers know how to dirtbag it. It is a given that anywhere there is serious climbing, there will be climbers living in a free squatter camp of sorts off near the routes. I'm traveling on the cheap so this is what I’m looking for. I notice ambient temperature is heating up as I burn further down 395 towards Bishop. When I arrive it’s sweltering. The bike’s running temp is a full 20 degrees hotter than usual. Still within a normal range though. I pull into a coffee shop, “you guys got wifi?”, cool. 5 minutes later I have pegged two locations where there are likely to be climbers hanging out for free off near the climbing areas. Bonus, they are down dirt roads. Mmmmm I like the dirt.

Still looking...

Pretty area. Getting closer….

Shit, went too far. Are those hoof prints in the dirt?? Damnit, definitely been following cattle tracks for a while now...

Turned back and found it. That’s more like it.

I found the this beacon of 'free living' and decided to set up shop next to it.

I met another climber burrowed away in the back of his van sleeping off the afternoon heat. Meet Beatty.

Beatty’s from New York. He’s been traveling across the country climbing and visiting friends for the last 5 weeks. This place was empty during the day. He said it’s way too hot to climb with the sun up. Instead people climb in the early morning or in the evening after the sun goes down. As a ginger I am not built for the sun, waiting to hit the rock with better temps was fine with me. I’ll rearrange some of my kit on my bike that I wanted to move in the meantime. As you all may know though, one little job turns into another, and another, and another.

Next thing I know I’ve got my bike stripped and am cutting out the top of my airbox to reroute a carb breather tube (like a snorkel for high water crossings) and assessing a leaky fork seal. Leaky fork seal will have to wait though for a full replacement later.

As the sun went down behind the ridgeline to the West the temperature began to drop. Other climbers started showing up and things got into full swing. The rock radiated heat well after sunset like a warm furnace. Temperatures were perfect.The routes and rock in this area, called The Buttermilks, are great.

The next couple days were spent riding and climbing. I recommend this area to anyone that wants to do some great off roading. The lines are smooth, fast, and flowy. Plenty of berms and great views. Think 2nd, 3rd, 4th wide open. It may look dusty, but that is all fairly large granules of granite slough, so you get to fun & feel of cutting the back end loose without all the dust that you usually get with the really loose stuff. ****ing great.

During the heat of the day Beatty and I got out of the sun in the shade of some of the big trees.

Beatty used to be a tree climber for work at one point. A very old and large tree was begging to be climbed. Beatty said it was probably ~2k years old. I’ll be lucky if I experience 100 years of life on this earth (hopefully most of those healthy). This tree had seen many people and cultures come and go from this barren desert valley. People have come, places have changed, but the tree remains, ever vigilant.

Just touching this tree was an experience (2k years!) let alone being up in the top of it. Don’t worry, no trees were harmed.

Once at the top, we had a great view of the valley and surrounding area.

After a couple days Beatty recommended I go hit up Joshua Tree National Park on my way south. This sounded like a good idea to me. Hidden Valley Campground is my next destination.

Before heading out I took the liberty to clean myself and the few clothes that I have. There's something so satisfying about riding into the desert valley and walking around buck naked in a creek with nobody around, clothes left drying in the midday sun on the bank. Scrubbing away days of grime and dirt with cool glacial water. Sitting in the stream, listening to the water and wind rustle through the desert valley. I don’t know why I enjoy living like this as much as I do. But I do.

This little guy hung out for a bit too.

The next day it was time to hit the road. Bike pointed South towards Joshua Tree.

I made it into the park just as the sun was setting. The ‘trees’ in Joshua Tree are actually not trees at all, but a type of shrub that grows rather tall and slender, like a tree.

The landscape here is immense. Both in expanse as well as the prowess of it’s infinite rock formations. Big boulders full of ledges and outcroppings stretched throughout the valley in large crumbled masses. Worn away into odd shapes and flowing forms. Like giant sugar cubes worn away by water over the years. All I could think of was the lion king. Shit was pretty epic.

After the sun went down I set up my mobile home and went wandering with my headlamp around camp. I like to get to the highest point of wherever I am to get a feel for the area. I found the base of the highest rock face I could find but wasn’t sure if I could climb to the top. I put my climbing shoes on as my headlamp began to flash low-battery. The climb looked doable solo but without a light, that would be pretty stupid. The next morning I climbed to the top and got to see the view.

Not very good at self timers…

The view was way better during the day.

I enjoy free-solo things on occasion (climbing without ropes) as long as the route is well within my ability. I just have my shoes and chalk bag with me and can’t pack a bunch of gear on my bike since I don’t want to take up a ton of space.

Found some chains on the way down so it’s definitely got routes going up it.

I spent the next couple days hanging out with people that had come into town for “Bhakti Fest”. Supposedly it’s a huge yoga festival? I don’t really partake in the yogas but apparently there were thousands of people all doing yoga together in a mass undulating chanting group. Murray, a friend I met in camp said the ratio of females to males was 10/1. Yoga anyone?

Murray and I went tromping around in the desert exploring. Pretty wild place. Here’s a coyote.

I told the mother-unit that I would come see her before I die in mexico next week so I’m flying out of San Diego to the east coast to see her for a few days. My flight is in 2 days so the next stop is another ADVriders couch in San Diego where I will also store my bike for 7 days. After that, pointed towards Baja. The land of dirt and beaches.

Catch you in a couple.

**seantully** · #4 18 Sep 2013

To the shire Frodo! I had been meaning to go see the parental unit that lives on the opposite coast before I left but didn’t get to it in time. Flights are super cheap when flying out of San Diego so I said I would go then. While on the flight I played musical chairs with a family so they and their fresh-out-of-the-cooker twin babies could sit together. Nice stewardess 'thought that was just so sweet' and decided to get me liquored up in appreciation. Why thank you very much kind flying-bartender. The flight went quickly after that.

Welcome to the shire. Lots of people packing heat, lots of corn, and lots of rolling hills. No motorcycle helmet laws here either?? “Live Free or Die” till the end I guess.

Mmmmm Atlantic ocean.

Isnnn’t that sweeeeeeet.

Caution, gear rant ahead → My zipper on my riding jacket decided to take a shit and stop working several weeks ago. All of the velcro also gave up and left their work posts. Now, #BMW, if you are going to build a purpose-built jacket for the top of the market price-tier, please, pretty please, with sugar on top, put some ****ing quality pieces into it. The design and layout of the jacket is tits, well thought out, and the designers have obviously gone through a thorough iterative process. Even put in some pretty creative purposeful features. But if you cut corners on the build quality of the materials, you’re gonna have a bad time. I know I beat the piss out of my gear, but your ads make me feel like I’m supposed to be able to. Now that things are breaking, I just feel like a sucker for some well done adventure marketing. Damn you Ewen McGregor!

I’m not angry at you BMW, I’m just disappointed. #KLIM, you’ll have my business next.

With that said, there is a solution to every problem! Some may say don’t try to fix it, send it to BMW they’ll fix it for you for free and it’ll be done professionally. As 'professionally' as it was built in the first place? I say thank you, but nay nay.

I don’t give a shit about how my gear looks or that I paid a pretty penny for it, if it doesn’t function it is useless to me. So I tore the jacket apart and set out to customize it to fit my (apparently) absurdly demanding needs. I went to a outdoor fabric/equipment store and purchased a REAL zipper. One that could probably zip shut the continental divide. Also picked up some quality velcro. Now, my Sussie-homemaker skills are decent in the kitchen, but I’m about as delicate with a needle and thread as a rhino trying to do palates .

Luckily though I have a mother and fixing things for her son makes her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

She did a marvelous job. Her concentration was impeccable.

The zipper zips firm and tight and the new velcro stuck like cement. Perfect.

I hadn’t washed the jacket in at least 6 months (I ride every day, aint nobody got time for that) so it was dirty, and ripe. I refused to wash it though. It’ll just be dirty again tomorrow! She found sand inside the pockets.

She was not amused.

Hopefully she doesn’t ask how many pairs of underwear I brought for the trip….

Flight back to San Diego tomorrow, then time for some huevos sucios south of the border.

**RobD** · #5 19 Sep 2013

Great photos and report - keep it up

**seantully** · #6 21 Sep 2013

Finallllyyyy back at my bike. Why hello pretty lady, que es tu nombre?? So good hearing her purr again, I definitely mean that in a creepy way. Love this bike.

Every lady needs some TLC after being gone for a bit so we got to it. It was time for some new shoes so we got those taken care of. Keith, another ADVrider inmate is who I have been crashing with in San Diego (Thanks Keith!). Keith said that if you are going to be riding offroad in Baja, sliming the tires beforehand can go a long way towards avoiding flats, so we did that as well. Pesky cactuseses.

This was a good chance to address my leaky fork seal and change my oil. In regard to the weepy fork seals, I have another gear rant. My Happy Trail fork brace will not be continuing on the ride with me. I’m sorry but I’m going to have to let you go. “But why, what have I done?”. Nothing, that’s the problem. I’m sorry fork brace, but you have a negative net effect on this team.

After having several instances of weepy fork seals over the last few thousand miles I have come to the conclusion that my abnormally high rate of leaky seals has been largely instigated by the design of the fork brace. When you bolt it to each of the forks, there are two C-shaped pieces that you bolt together around each fork. Unfortunately when you put these around the forks the C’s don’t meet flushley. This leaves a ¼ inch gap (⅛ if you split the difference front and back) where the pieces come together. The brace is designed to clamp on at the point where the fork boot usually clamps on to the bottom of the fork to keep grit/dust/mud etc out. They thus designed another lip on top of the brace for the boot to attach to. BUT, because the brace doesn’t completely ‘shut’ around the fork, you have a slim slit front and aft where dust can get in and this cannot be prevented due to where the fork boot now connects on top of the brace. This may not be an issue for everyone but it appears to have been the root of the systemic issue. To be fair to Happy Trails, I get that if the pieces touched they wouldn’t be able to tighten as tight, and maybe they have to account for factory variations in fork dimensions (mind you the KLR is not a precision engineered machine). In any case though, for me it's just not going to work and thus must go. Alright, I’m done complaining.

Keith said he was going to go riding this weekend in the mountains outside of Baja. Get in the dirt? Count me in! After we finished up we headed out east on I8 towards an area called Fred’s Canyon. Keith has a sweet rig that he can throw all his camp gear and bike in so he took that up there. It’s a bit slower than a bike on the loose stuff so I went ahead to do some riding and then meet-up later at the camp.

Fun place, less flowey, bit more technical and up on the footpegs than Bishop CA. Better temp too since you are up around 4k - 5k feet in elevation.

Unfortunately the ‘up on the pegs’ part was a little too much and my left boot came off the peg. I fumbled the bike, managed to keep it upright though, but there was no longer any place for me to put my left foot. Foot peg wasn’t there anymore.

Woops.

Found the bolt. It was stripped out.

After further inspection of the way my centerstand works, I believe this to be the cause of the eventual bolt failure. This bike isn’t designed for a centerstand, it’s aftermarket, and quite heavy. If you use it often with a fully loaded bike it puts a lot of pressure on the footpeg mounts (where it attaches). That coupled with a lot of offroad battering, which causes the heavy centerstand to overcome it’s springs and bounce up and down as you whoop around, eventually wears the footpeg bolts out (which are quite incompetent in the way they attach the pegs to the frame in the first place). Don’t worry though, this is not a rant nore a fault of the centerstand. I just shouldn’t have purchased it in the first place given how I ride my bike. If you are mostly on street I would still recommend it highly, just use it sparingly and try to unload the bike before pulling it up on the centerstand. For me though, the centerstand will be coming off as well as the fork brace now.

I rode the bike back to a highpoint where I could look across the canyon and see Keiths rig rocking back and forth as it crawled over the rocky terrain towards the camp spot.

I pointed the bike towards the rig and rode her back. Sweet basecamp Keith.

Since my bike was out of comission for serious riding for the moment, Keith bent my arm to take his KTM 530 for a spin. Sure thing, I’ll warm it up for you Boss.

Damn that bike is saweet! When I stop vagabonding I need a trail bike like that in the garage. Got back and Keith had camp set-up deluxe.

He geared up for a sunset ride.

I stayed back and took in the scenery. Pretty rough out here.

After sunset we spun the chairs around and watched the moonrise from the opposite direction.

Next morning I woke up, mind and eyes pointed towards Mexico. You can see it right there in the distance.

I’ll be en Ensenada in the afternoon. I’ll fix the peg there. This will do until then, that’s why we have hwy pegs anyways right?

Mapped out a dirt road towards the border and took it.

Picked up a new knife, definitely sharp, cut my tongue on it licking it clean.

I crossed at Tecate and took Hwy 3 to Ensenada, called the Ruta Del Vino. Welcome to Ensenada.

I’m crashing with Damaso, another ADVrider who lives in Ensenada, gracias mi amigo.

Viva Mexico!

**seantully** · #7 6 Oct 2013

It’s the morning of 10/5 and I’ve been in La Paz now for 3 nights. This is a fun city. I’ve gotten a feel for it, met some people, and had a good time. This is a city that seems to have a bit of everything. You can have anything you want here, for the right price. Do you want a nice family vacation on the beach, or wild nights of debauchery? Maybe a historical getaway, or some time with the darker seedy underworld that quietly pulses throughout the city? If you look in the right places, it can all be had, and quite easily. This seems to be a Mexico thing.

The Hostel where I’ve been staying is called Baja Backpacker. For anyone wanting to stay in La Paz, this is a great place. Typically priced for hostels in the city ($250 pesos per night, current exchange is about 12.5/1usd) but is very well run and very professional. The owners (Rick and Eva) are very helpful and great hosts. The location is a couple blocks from the typical bar grinds and food places.

If you are traveling by moto there is also great gated parking.

The motos also can’t be seen from the street and there’s plenty of space for several bikes.

Time to head out though. I now have my camera fixed and am ready to roll. I haven’t seen the west coast since Ensenada, which was a couple weeks ago. I’m pretty close to the bottom of the Baja peninsula now and will be returning at some point to La Paz to catch a ferry to the mainland. At the bottom of the peninsula is Cabo San Lucas, I am told that it's a show of sorts and I can't leave without seeing it. Kind of like vegas, whether you want to see it or not, you have to go at least once. I like watching lots of shows, circus shows, freak shows. I even like to play a role in them every now and then. I’ll try anything once so might as well. Lots of other places to see on the way too Cabo as well.

First stop, Pescadero. A small surf community near the larger town of Todos Santos. It’s about an hour or so drive. The road is nice and big to accommodate the hordes of people going to and from Cabo.

Just on the south side of the town of Pescadero is the Pescadero Surf Camp. This place is close to two of the best surf breaks in all of Baja, Los Cherritos and El Pedrito are both just down the road. The “camp” is basically a hostel designed around the idea that lot’s of surfers want to be here. It’s a rad place and only 10 bones a night if you are willing to camp.

Looks like the dutchies (Michele and Erica) got word of the place as well.

They have a pool for lounging.

The pool sports a swim-up bar that you can also bring your own booze to.

If you want to get all Gordon Ramsay on it there is also an open-air communal kitchen that has a full gas range.

They have a camping available so I took that. It doesn’t really seem like camping though. I pull my bike right inside.

The inside is big, with power and lights. $10 per night ain’t bad, ain’t bad at all.

I went out to drive around the area and see what the town is like. First I went to take a look at the beach.

Then went out to drive around the little communities outside of town that all reside by the beach. There is a main area that has a network of dirt roads connecting all the houses.

Beautiful place to have a home and pass the days.

If you follow the roads as they wind around, between some of the houses closest to the beach will be little paths that lead down to the water. These beaches can be just as good as the main surf breaks, but are more remote.

Stomach is grumbling for some food. Don’t know what I want?

Shiieeeeeet who am I kidding. I want me some TACOS.

Got back to the spot and kicked it at the swim up bar for a while. You can get BIG

s here for 24 pesos, which is less than $2. I ended up chatting with Michele (the dutch guy driving around in the sweet old Volvo war ambulance) for quite a while. Asking him about how his journey came about, what lead up to it, what (if anything) he plans to do next. I like asking other people about their lives and the experiences they’ve had. Him and his girlfriend have been traveling for about 7 months. They started by shipping their vehicle to the US from the Netherlands. They both resigned from good jobs in the Netherlands to go and explore. They gave up and sacrificed a lot for this trip. Through the ups and downs and inherent uncertainty of what will happen in the future for both of their lives, they are confident it’s been the right thing to do. We talked on and on about the prospect of starting over after the accounts run dry, politics in each of our countries, and what we think things will be like in the future. Really interesting guy to chat with.

The next day I woke up and went straight down to the beach to surf for a bit. The wind is really low in the early morning and the water is less crowded. One of the locals let me use one of his boards for the morning which was sweet.

Not sure how long I’ll stay. Don’t really need to know either. This guys got the right idea.

**seantully** · #8 10 Oct 2013

Been hanging out at the Pescadero Surf Camp for a couple days now.

I’ve explored the local areas.

Ate some damn fine tacos.

Adopted a new dog.

Michele got some work done on his whip.

I ate some more kick-ass tacos (this was all for only 44 pesos, less than $4)

And got a bit of lounging in.

Pescadero Surf Camp, you are a nice place. I like your chill atmosphere. I like your style. What I mean to say is, I really like you. But I also need to tell you something, you're great, but you're too comfortable. I'm a rambling man baby, and I need the unknown. I need excitement. I’m sorry, but I need the road. Goodbye for now, Pescadero.

A girl I met in La Paz and her friend are celebrating her birthday in Cabo San Lucas tomorrow at the southern most tip of Baja. I’m going to meet up with them there. I need to get my dirt fix satisfied first though. I picked up the GPX track files for a section of the Baja 1000 race route that ends in Cabo. I can pick up the trail about 10 miles north of where I’m at now and then ride dirt all the way down to Cabo. Saweeeeet.

I packed up my shit and headed north until the GPS told me it was time to get off the pavement and hit the dirt.

Right away I can tell taking this way to Cabo was the correct decision. This is going to be great.

The track is pretty remote, and runs north to south sort of near the Mex 1 hwy but a few miles inland from it. I shut my motor off to take a picture. It is beautiful and quiet here.

The first few miles are really pretty. The road is relaxing. Isn't this part of the Baja 1000? What’s so difficult about this section of the race? If I was unloaded I would flyyyyy down these roads, and I'm on a beater. They are nice and smooth, relatively solid. Seems perfect.

Oh, that's more like it. As soon as I got cocky, I got stuck in a rut.

I’m still running my 16 tooth sprocket aren’t I? Maybe I should swap out for my smaller one if I’m going to be doing more of this... I guess now isn’t exactly the best time. I unloaded the bike a bit instead to get some weight off the rear. This did the trick and got her to the top.

The route crisscrosses a few other tracks.

Again I got cocky with the weight of the bike and spun out around a corner on a down-hill section. The bike hocky-pucked on the pannier and spun around 180 degrees before stopping. I’m familiar with ejecting off a small and light dirtbike, bit different getting free of this little piggy though. I was wondering when I would start getting into some decent off road and start coming off a bit. Maybe today will be the day.

Bent the shifter underneath the case. Metal was nice and hot so I carefully bent her back into a shiftable position. Back to work little lady.

It’s really pretty here.

And real dry.

And real hot.

There are lots of little creak beds running through the area. They are usually full of deep sand, and no water.

As I got further south the elevation started to climb and drop quite a bit. The terrain got a bit greener too.

I started seeing signs of inhabitants. A little old lady came out and stared at me after I took this picture. I waved. She looked at me like I was a martian. I waved again. She stared more confused. Maybe waving isn’t a universal thing anymore.

More greenery, more elevation change.

The killer was getting tired and wanted another dirt-nap. This time she wanted it in deep sand.

Well shit, that’s fresh water right? Forgot what that looked like.

As I pushed further south the road opened up and hardened out. I could pick up the pace a bit. Hello horse.

Nevermind. More sand.

Like a junky diving into a pile of blow, my bike again couldn’t resist a lay-down in the soft stuff. This time she wanted me to lay with her and as she went into the sand she pinned my right leg underneath the right pannier. Glad I got these big SIDI boots. I pushed the bike up just enough with my left arm to reach around and awkwardly dig out the sand under my right leg with my other arm. Leg is perfectly fine. Good engineering SIDI. Get back to work bike, quit horsing around!

Is that a mirage, or is that pavement?

Yep pavement, hello Cabo.

Found the girls and the hostel. Hey Cabo, you like to party right?

**seantully** · #9 14 Oct 2013

I would like to be able to say that I saw a lot of Cabo over the last two days. I would also like to be able to say that I took a lot of photos to share with you. Unfortunately, I’ve spent the last two days inebriated in one way or another and have thus taken zero photos, and everything that I did see, was seen through a hazy blurry filter. Luckily though, the girls that I met up with (Caszara and Ariane) are far more responsible than I, and they were able to juggle the adult task of both drinking and clicking a couple photos. Really though, we were only able to manage a few.

I pulled into the hostel parking area and was greeted from the balcony by Ariane and Casz. “How was the ride? Hurry up and get cleaned up, we are grabbing drinks!” Get cleaned up? I only have 2 shirts anyways?

Package deal for 2 margaritas, 2 shots of tequila, and 3 lobster tacos to get each of us started? Deal

We then continued the party at a series of locations. I started to pull out my amazing neolithic dance moves. The local women naturally loved it. So we partied more.

Went to bed eventually, then woke up and brushed off the last nights haze with more tequila and a dip in the pool.

Followed by yet more tequila, push-up challenges for buckets of

, and wet t-shirt contests. Sorry guys, like I said, it was the girls taking photos, so we only get the push-up contest.

Rest was had eventually and my time in Cabo was complete.

This is a place where pretty much anything goes. It’s weird, funky, and fast paced. No matter what you pursue while here, eventually the stay goes by in a blur, one way or another. For most, it's not a long term destination. It's a place to be dabbled in, not a place to settle in. For me, I’ve stepped over and into the dark side for a bit. I even drank the cabo fever cool-aid, and let me tell you, it tasted pretty damn good. But what I’m left with is having my party itch scratched and I’m now ready to step back out of this weird alter-reality that is Cabo, and back into the real Mexico. I think I’ll head back to a place where there will be more locals than tourists. Maybe back to a place where the ATMs dispenses Mexican pesos rather than US dollar bills. Thanks for the good time Cabo, I’ve enjoyed my little vacation away from...well, my vacation. Now, back to Mexico.

**seantully** · #10 15 Oct 2013

After two days of partying I’m tuckered out and ready to gas up and hit the road. It’s Thursday morning (10/10/13) and I’m pretty sure that there is a freighter ferry leaving from La Paz to Mazatlan (on the mainland) Saturday afternoon. First though I want to check out a place called Canyon De La Zorra, which can be found roughly halfway between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz. There is supposed to be granite here, and waterfalls. Which means I can hopefully do some climbing and also jump off some tall shit into water. Yes, this sounds good.

First stop, San Jose del Cabo, the next major town east from Cabo, and where you switch directions to head north towards La Paz. It’s more laidback than Cabo, and seems to have itself a nice little thing going. It attracts the less intense vacationers that want the beach and the rays, but not the mayhem that is Cabo.

They even have a nice and relaxed eco building with plants growing on it. Aww isn’t that relaxing.

After I head north from San Jose Del Cabo the road becomes nice and curvy. The plays I’m heading towards is called CanyonDe La Zorra, so I guess that makes sense.

So much greener here in the South of Baja compared to the North.

After about an hour or so I turned west onto a dirt road towards the canyon.

Here I found a little town that had, no you didn’t guess it, a Zoo. Why there would be a zoo out here in the middle of nowhere is beyond me. Also the military. Maybe they came for the zoo.

I stocked up on some food and headed further west out of town towards the canyon.

Again I found sand.

After a few miles I also found a sign that reassured me I was actually in the right place. Looks like I’m close.

DAAAYUUUUMMMNNN, someone’s got a pretty driveway.

I got to the end of the driveway and found two evil looking dogs.

They were completely black and hairless, so all their coloring came from their funky sandpapery skin. They looked super fit, they demanded fear from you, but were oddly regal. They probably were birthed straight from the underworld and spend their days hunting souls to eat. I want one.

After I was done being intrigued by the dogs, I realized they were standing in front of a closed fence. I’m pretty sure that there were people somewhere on the property. But my bike isn’t quiet, and their isn’t exactly much else out here to make noise. So if they wanted me to come in and enjoy the Canyon they would have come to the gate. I waited for a while and enjoyed the dogs eary company some more. Nope, nobody is coming, alright, well I guess I’ll just go all the way to La Paz today. There’s a free beach that I can stay at there too. That’ll save me some pesos and help make up for all the money I spent getting silly in Cabo.

I headed back out the driveway and according to the GPS at the end of the driveway I was able to go left rather than turn back right and go down the way I had come. I don’t like backtracking so this was good. This road was much sandier though. Again I dumped the bike and again I pinned my leg under the metal pannier.

This time it was my left leg, which has my bum knee from a previous injury attached to it. It’s a very weird experience when your mental state changes gears so rapidly, things go from “everything is the norm” to “well shit”, very quickly. One minute I’m grinding along in soft sand thinking about my body position, thinking about what side of the sand rut will have better traction, wondering about what breed of dog that was back there, who actually lives all the way out here, can I make it to La Paz before sunset? Then boom. I’m forcibly thrown back into the present moment. I catch a particularly soft patch wrong and me and the bike are now down in the sand, pinned together awkwardly. I start assessing the situation.

Am I badly hurt?
No, nothing hurts, it was a slow spill. But I am stuck.
Is anyone else around to help lift the bike?
Mmm (I look around hoping yes). Who am I kidding though, I haven’t seen anyone for 3 hours.
Am I pinned against anything hot, is anything burning me?
No.

Cool, so I’m not in any immediate danger.

Alright, next, I can tell from looking at my leg that this is not good. How long can I stay in this position before it gets too painful and my strength to move the bike goes away?
I focus my attention on my left knee now. I can feel the pressure of the bike, and the unnatural angle of my leg, torquing on the surgical bolts that keep everything in place. My muscles and ligaments are working hard to keep shit together. Mmmmmm, not long. Maybe 3 minutes?

Alright then, it’s now or never. I’m pinned awkwardly enough that I can’t use my arms or core for any leverage to heave the bike up. Instead I need to use my pinned leg to leverage the bike up and wriggle free. I think for one last time, do I have any other options that don’t involve putting more strain on my knee and possibly wrecking it? Nope, if I wait too much longer, my window of opportunity to physically get out on my own is going to shut. I grit my teeth together and start to point and flex my boot as much as possible to loosen up the sand. I torque up on my knee and my leg starts to budge. I can feel all the ligaments working to their limit to stay attached, but after a few more seconds I am able wriggle free of the bike. With my knee back in line and the pressure and torque removed, I crawl away from the bike and roll over onto the ground. My knee is sore but nothing popped or went out so I’m golden. Relieved that I’m out now and the situation is resolved, I chuckle to myself. It’s funny how again, your mental shift can go back from the “well shit” seriousness of a situation, to the “hah, well that could have sucked” attitude.

With everything in the just peachy again, I stand up carefully and go over to pick up my bike. With the bike upright, again I chuckle to myself at the juxtaposition of how close a fun time and shitty time can reside. Glad I came out on the ‘fun time’ side on this one.

Irony aside though, having low-speed tumbles in the dirt is normal, getting my leg stuck under the bike (now twice) however, is not normal, and can be a serious issue if I’m all alone in a place like this. It’s something that really shouldn’t be happening. I thought for a while about what it was that I did when going down that caused it, and how I could possibly have done with my body position to prevent it. I have an idea of what to do differently for the next time, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice. Hopefully I won’t be writing anymore about getting stuck under my bike.

After several hours I made it to La Paz and made it to the beach just after dusk.

By the time I got in I was exhausted and my body was sore. It felt good to be on a nice comfy beach with a cool ocean breeze and soft sounds of waves lapping on beach. I layed down on the beach and put in my headphones to listen to a full Alt-J album and take in the killer night sky. The milky way galaxy is pretty clear tonight. The music flowed and my body relaxed. Hard to find a concert venue this good anywhere else. Not too shabby, mother nature. Not too shabby at all.

The next day I lounged at the beach.

At some damn good ceviche.

And accidently put a whole in my sleeping mat.

There are two ferries that go from La Paz to Mazatlan, one is predominantly a commuter ferry (more luxurious) and the other is a freight/cargo ferry. I decided to take the freight ferry as this seemed more interesting than a posh commuter ferry. It’s a 15 hour trip so maybe I can interact with the locals a bit more too.

The next day I went to the terminal and booked my spot on the ferry. There were some paperwork issues but I was actually able to work through it with my broken spanish. Holy shit am I learning spanish?? There was a guy that I met and spoke to for a while at the docks. He offered to just load my bike into the back of his semi trailer, pay the passenger fee, and then ride across with him on the ferry. In hindsight this would have been a good deal, but my spanish wasn’t good enough at the time to really understand what he was offering and work out the specifics. I aired on the side of caution and just paid the individual motorcycle toll instead. This is the exact reason why knowing more spanish can be so helpful. Next time, Jhonathan.

Here’s the water steed we’ll be taking.

Hey, look who else is catching the same boat. The Dutchies and their dog Dunya.

We loaded up.

The dutchies (Michel and Erica) black rig on the left looks so small compared to the other rigs.

Dunya seemed pleased with her spot.

I got my bike strapped in.

Got some goats for neighbors.

Looks like things are lax in terms of where you can and can’t go around here. There’s the other commuter boat.

We took a look around the deck and then the boat set off.

Dinner was basic ferry food, but it’s pretty hard to mess up tacos. Nom nom nom nom.

The ferry is a night ferry which makes the 15hr commute really reasonable. This is the cargo ferry and there are few actual passengers, the majority of the cargo is just semi containers without their drivers. This means there are no real passenger accommodations, and those that are on board just sleep in their rigs. I found a nice spot on an empty gangplank above my bike to sleep.

Pretty top-notch sleeping spot if you ask me. Even have an open air window straight out the side of the hull. It’s maybe 30ft off the water and the breeze is perfect.

Being an island boy it’s nice being on the ocean again. The slow pitch and yaw of the boat as it rocks across the sea is comfortable and calming. Relaxation sets in. With the boat now well under way, headed away from Baja and towards the mainland, it feels like I’m moving to a different place, a new chapter. Although I know I could easily spend MUCH more time in Baja, I’m ready to go to the mainland. The Baja peninsula has served as a great set of training wheels for me. Baja is sort of like a watered down Mexico. It’s super safe, it’s very easy to travel, and there are still lots of people that speak a bit of english. As a person who doesn’t speak much spanish and has never been to Mexico, These are all good things for me. By traveling Baja first, I’ve been able to slowly dip my toes into the culture and get a feel for how things are done. Baja has given me a preview of Mexico, and I like what I’ve seen. I want the real thing now though. Catch you tomorrow Mazatlan.

**seantully** · #11 21 Oct 2013

In the morning I awoke and found birds. Birds? Birds don’t live far from land, we must be getting close.

My camera battery was low so I went to swap it with my spare and plug the dead one in to charge. Usually I have it somewhere in my pannier or tankbag. Nope, definitely not in either of those. Yep, definitely left both plugged in to the wall in the Cabo hostel. The cabo wabo haze strikes again.

Because I had no charger or spare battery, this meant the end of my picture taking. When the ferry arrived several hours later I said by to the Dutchies and we unloaded the ferry. I wanted to get to Guadalajara and the Erica and Michel (The Dutchies) where headed some place near Mazatlan for the beach. Guadalajara is about 5 hours east of Mazatlan via the toll roads (cost money but are faster). By dusk I was in town, booked into a hostel, and eating tacos on the street with my new friend Farah. Guadalajara is the second biggest city in Mexico and is very multifaceted in what it brings to the cultural table. For one, it’s a historic city. It is full of big public squares, grand old spanish era buildings converted to museums, and lots of effigies to individuals involved in progressing Mexico forward. It’s also a lively place with lots of young and newly employed people which contributes greatly to it’s overall feel as well as it’s economic potential. In fact, a few years ago it was ranked as having the second strongest economic potential in all of North America and has been called “the city of the future”. This has helped bring a large number of recent foreign investment deals (according to Wiki) making it a very attractive destination for people on the up-and-coming and on the grind. The city feels like it’s bustling, hustling, and alight with activity. But this isn’t New York and people are still really chill and approachable, we are afterall in Mexico remember.

What this meant for me was that I could scope some old architecture, shop for the electronics I need, and feel like I’m a young professional again while reading the paper in a public square and sipping on a chai-latte-macchiato-soy-nesquik-cafe (or whatever it is that the cool kids are drinking now). After a couple days of walking through the city I found the charger that I needed, or a compatible knock-off that would work. At this time the weather showed me what my friends were probably seeing back home and reminded me what rain looks like for the first time since I left Seattle.

I didn’t get many pictures while my camera was out of commission, in fact, I got none (funny how that works). I also hate backtracking, so I refuse to go and take pictures of stuff that I’ve already gone to. Thus I only have a few photos to share.

Here’s my bike parked on the sidewalk outside the hostel.

Here’s a picture with some of the common architecture, also horses for bonus.

I spent a fair amount of time shooting the shit while grabbing food and drinks with other people at the hostel. This is a great way to practice my spanish and to get the lowdown on other places to check out in Mexico. I prefer to get my info through osmosis and some light internet research, I have yet to look at a lonely planet or other travel book. I like chatting with locals and other travelers about places they have been and what they liked. After I get a feel for what type of person they are I can then decide how I want to weigh the info they provided. It’s like reading 12 travel advice books rather than one, it may be slower but is more entertaining and engaging.

With all the youth the city is pretty hip and artsy, here’s some cool street art from the trendy Chapultepec area.

I had my camera battery for just a little bit before I left so this is all I have of Guadalajara. Farah, a girl I met my first night told me that I should definitely go check out a place called Guanajuato city. She’s the first person to mention the place but I trust her taste. I’ll head there next. On the road again.

**seantully** · #12 21 Oct 2013

After a couple hours of riding I made it to Guanajuato. I don’t really have any expectations as I literally know nothing about it. All I know is that a friend recommended it and that there’s NO availability in the entire town this weekend. Something about a 3 week long festival? I could only find one place that had one night available. Make do with what you have.

Hello Guanajuato.

Alright Guanajuato, that’s a little bit of a grandiose entrance don’t you think?

After entering the city I set out to find my hostel. I had my GPS but there is no normal city grid, so it took quite a while.

Lots of the streets are one way streets, and are small enough that you can’t just bomb down them and squeeze by if a car comes. This one is on the larger side for example.

The city is made of hills and terraces so there is a pretty neat tunnel system. The tunnels are also really old. Busses, cars, walkers, etc all use it and there are lots of little entrances to them throughout the city for walkers. Pretty rad. The problem for someone who doesn’t know them though (like me) is that they are elaborate enough to have stop signs in them and lots of options for turns etc. My GPS goes dead when I go into the tunnels, so I end up guessing which ways to go. I guess I’ll make a left here. I guess I’ll head up this tunnel, and down this one.

Most times I pop out in a totally different place than I thought I was going to. One wrong turn and the reroute adds 20 minutes to get you back to where you were ****ed up just so you can give it another whirl. Sometimes I make the same mistake, sometimes I make a different one. Getting lost is a great way to see a place though, and this one just happens to be beautiful. These streets are very old and very interesting.

Eventually I found the hostel.

And found a spot down the street for my bike.

After I got settled I started to learn about the location I had found myself in for the day. Guanajuato is a colonial-era city. Back in the day it had mines that did very well and made the city have a very affluent upper class. These people wanted to be entertained and have things to throw their money at so the city developed a rich cultural art scene. Plays were performed in the plazas and artists flocked here to perform their crafts. Eventually a festival came about called Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC), mix in a lot of federal support to bring in international artists and you have what it is today, a three week long extravaganza of international culture and arts. FIC is seen as the most important international festival (key word is international, there are many other great festivals that are not international in nature) in all of Latin America. In addition, there are only 3 other major events of this type in the world. Fun fact, among other big Latin American sponsors, good ol’ Microsoft in the US of A is also a sponsor.

Alright then, looks like I stumbled upon a good place to be. I just have a night so I left to go explore. Although it feels like a city because of all the activity and interesting things to do/see, I should really call it a town. It has all the culture of a big city, but is very condensed into a relatively small area and population. Walking is the perfect way to get around.

Today is just a Thursday and only the second week of the 3 week event. Even so, performers are everywhere and it feels like a Friday night in any other big city.

Everywhere you turn there are alleys that lead to other areas, and little hole-in-the-wall bars and restaurants. The entrances to these places can be very small and obscure, but once you step through the door they open up and can be huge inside, sometimes with several floors and many rooms. Here in these places you can find a whole other world of people and activity. I follow the noise and keep my head on a swivel for alleys to go down and check out.

The night goes on and I meet up with some locals and new friends from the hostel. We grab more drinks at a locals apartment, getting a feel for what it would be like to live here. Later we grab more food and then head to a club type place. Buildings are packed close together and everything is built up rather than out. It’s hard not feeling like you are still in the colonial era, besides the bass heavy electronica music of course. Really cool to party in architecture like this. Whether in the colonial era or the modern day, we are still doing the same thing, getting drunk, meeting other people, and dancing the night away.

Bars don’t stop serving alcohol until around 3 or 4 in the morning here it seems. If the party is good and the drinks are flowing, they’ll keep selling them past that. I don’t exactly remember what time we headed back, but the sun wasn’t too far from rising. If this is on a Thursday, I wonder what Fridays and Saturdays are like? Although I just have the one night it was still a good one. Topped it off with some bomb food.

In the morning I woke up early to walk around more and see the town in the daylight. The girl that ran the hostel said she could show me the good spots to see the city from so we took my bike and went for a ride. Man is it helpful having a local guide for these roads. “derecho aqui”, “izquierda aqui”, etc, etc.

From a high vantage point I can’t capture the place in one photo. Is it a town, or is it a city? I guess I’m not sure. Here it is in two photos from right to left though.

She had to get back to work so I dropped her off and set out to see more of the area.

Everything is colorful.

Being a cultural arts hub, it’s a big city for art students, obviously, and there are several universities. Lots of young people.

Little corridors lead to places, all unknown. It’s impossible to see them all.

I met an older lady while walking around the steep streets. We chatted (still in broken spanish for me) and I walked with her as she went to the market. Really nice lady. She told me about the history of the town and what the different areas have. As we chatted she would constantly pause to greet other locals as they passed. An embrace with a kiss on the cheek was the most common. Everyone seems to know everyone here.

Eventually it was time for me to check out of the hostel and find a different place to go see. Maybe I’ll head SE to Queretaro, I heard it is also a pretty old town.

I brought the bike down the alley where my hostel is and parked it out front. My panniers are heavy and it’s easier to load the bike when it’s close. After finishing packing I came outside to leave and found a Honda 230 dirtbike parked near mine in the alley. A guy was standing next to my bike and we said hey and shot the shit for a few minutes. Said he had a KLR himself and just came to say hey. He asked how long I had been in town for, I said that everything is booked so unfortunately just the one night. He said that’s ridiculous and not enough time for Guanajuato. He said he grew up here and his parents have a place near town where he was staying for the weekend, I should just come stay there. Tomorrow he can show me around the area and show me the other side of Guanajuato that travelers don’t normally see. The offroad riding side :-)

Deal. Meet Jose, his amigo Dano, and his pops who just so happens to be an ex-competitive enduro racer.

Tomorrow, time to hit the dirt.

**seantully** · #13 22 Oct 2013

I spent the night at Jose’s parents beautiful home just outside of Guanajuato last night. Today I woke up to a delicious and traditional mexican breakfast prepared by Jose’s mom Laura. Our plan was to do some riding up in the hills around Guanajuato and get a feel for what the area has to offer in terms of dirt riding.

Taylor, Jose’s neighbor and childhood friend, showed up on his Honda 350 for the ride (he’s got about 15 bikes, mostly sweet classic road bikes. Also, if you are interested in some great quality riding boots, check out his families boot company Gasolina Boots, hand crafted here in Guanojuato). Jose’s dad hadn’t seen this one so he gave it a sit, he seemed pleased.

We took off and headed out of town, climbing higher and higher into the hills that encircle Guanajuato.

Once we climbed to the ridgeline we followed it into a small town and stopped for a bite.

The menu had Tostadas but they were only 20 pesos (about $1.50) so I figured I should order two. Definitely too much food. I love eating in Mexico.

Satisfaction

Just a mile or two down the road again we turned off and hit the dirt.

The riding was fun and the pace was good. The terrain varied quickly and widely. Some areas were full of green trees.

Some areas where much more open and scenic.

The bikes were happy and so was I.

Shit yeah, here comes the rain!

The shittier and more difficult the terrain the better, as far as I’m concerned.

It dumped rain for maybe an hour, and even hailed for a brief minute. We soaked it in and kept bombing. Eventually we came to what is normally a pretty dry creekbed.

All the rain had changed that though. Saweet, my first decent water crossing!

We walked it with a stick to see what the ground was like underneath. No big rocks just heavy silt, perfect. The water was about up to our knees so we cracked the throttles open and let em rip.

Bikes across. The locals waiting for the water to die down seemed impressed.

Taylors bike had lost some power so we stopped for a bit and let stuff dry out.

The sun came back out and you could see it baking the water right out of the hills again. Weather seems to change here pretty fast.

Taylor pulled the plugs, drained his carb, and had her running again lickety split.

We cracked the throttles again and burned back up in elevation towards the ridgelines.

Beautiful riding up here.

I see a telephone pole. We must be getting near town again.

Jose said this is the last highest point, from here it’s all elevation drop back down into Guanajuato. Having a blast.

Vanity shot.

A few more miles and we were winding our way back into town.

When we made it back to Jose’s house we were all both soaked and satisfied. I feel like this was the most fun day of dirt riding that I have had. I’m not sure exactly why though. If I look at it on paper it was a pretty straightforward afternoon ride through the hills. It doesn’t feel like a normal day though, I feel like I had an absolute blast. Maybe it was because we had a little bit of everything? Good twisty tarmac, good dirt, fun shitty weather at times, and problems to solve (getting lost, sucking water into a motor, etc). Maybe it’s the whole package of Guanajuato, the riding, and the people that is making it so good here. Or maybe, just maybe, Mexico is just starting to soak it’s way into my bones, and color everything slightly differently.

When we got back home Jose’s mom had cooked us up an amazing authentic mexican dinner. Thanks Laura! After dinner we shot the shit for a bit then rolled into Guanajuato to partake in the saturday night festivities. FIC was still going on so the place was packed. We found a little bar and knocked a few drinks back and laughed about the day. After a few rounds of mescal we decided it was best just to get a bottle (PS apparently I really like Mescal). Here the bottles are pretty cheap. It’s likely made and distributed locally as the bottle appears homemade and has no labeling of any kind. Once again, hard not to feel like you are in a colonial era pub. No way to know what it is until you drink it, but damn is it good stuff. Tastes like mildly spiced tequila.

The night went on and the drinks flowed. Eventually our bottle was done and it was time to head to a different place. Walking around the alleys and twisty streets there is a cacophony of smells from all the food stands that line the streets. With a head full of mescal, each stand is all but irresistible. We choose wisely and go with a Guanajuato staple. Apparently this lady can be found here every Friday - Sunday, without fail. All the food is cooked by her during the day and then brought down to the street in buckets. The types of meat and toppings are many and the combinations of the options are endless. We ate here twice before the night was done.

Well Guanajuato, tomorrow I am heading out. Not sure where yet, but the time has come. Thank you for the good riding, good food, good people, and good times.

Guanajuato, congratulations, you are doing it right.

**seantully** · #14 24 Oct 2013

Time to hit the road again, I figure I’ll head east right now (for the most part) towards Mexico city. This is about 5 hours away though and I’ve heard there is plenty to see in between. One of those places I heard I should check out is called Queretaro. So this is where I pointed my bike.

Catch you later Guanajuato.

The roadwork here can be fairly elaborate sometimes.

Key word is sometimes. Other times it’s just good ol’ el natural.

I think I made a wrong turn though somewhere. This doesn’t look like a major road.

Yep, made a wrong turn. Here we go, this is more populated.

I stopped off at a restaurant up in the hills for a road-sammy. $1.50 for fresh delicious bread and fresh ingredients, hard to beat.

Heading up into the mountains the weather was chilly. Still no need for another layer yet though.

The road was twisty and scenic.

I stopped off in a small town called Atotonilco, about 20 miles before Queretaro.

I’m told that it’s a cool old town and there is a church here with a cool painted ceiling. Psshhhh, I’m in no rush, sure why not.

The outside had a patio that must have taken quite a while to make.

Honestly, I don’t know much about this place, or the paintings, but as an opinionated person, I can tell you that they appear to be old.

And elaborate.

I’m told that the entire ceiling, and all of the paintings on the walls in here, were hand done by a single person.

Place also had some pretty old word-work on the floor.

Outside, there were several families milling about. They appeared to be here touristing the location as well.

As I’m mounting my bike I feel something gently tug on my pant leg. I turn around and find two little boys and their grandmother. The boys were too shy but grandma told me they wanted to come see the bike and say hey. She said that they loved motorcycles. Little kids are the shit. I picked both of them up and plopped them on the bike.

I chatted with grandma for a bit and then turned around again to see a bunch more people. This is exactly why I want to know more spanish, knowing even just a little allows you to interact so much more with people.

Again more people showed up, so we got another photo with everyone. Not sure if they all knew each other or were just friendly? Fun group though.

Leaving Atotonilco there’s some cool stonework.

The town seemed pretty historically rooted in catholicism.

A little while later after being back on the road I came into San Miguel. I had been taking my time and it looked like weather was going to start rolling in so I didn’t really do much besides blow through it. I’m told though that it’s another interesting place to spend some time in.

Much bigger than Guanajuato.

As I head further east and inland the weather seems to be on average cooler and rain a bit more. The greenery and lakes are good giveaways.

Coming in to Queretaro it seems smaller than San Miguel and has a small feel too.

I found a hostel where I could pull my bike inside and unloaded my stuff.

Queretaro, like many of the cities in this region, is a very old place. Back in the day people didn’t have facebook or the internet. So instead people would gather in plazas and squares to chat, eat, socialize, and get up to speed on the recent going-ons around town. The plazas still exist today, but now there is free wifi in them, so people seem to gather to use that instead.

Here’s one of the plazas, pretty empty at night.

There are still people that use the plazas for socializing though, especially the younger people. I took this photo on a Sunday night. These kids were practicing a form of Brazilian martial art called Capoeira. Capoeira was developed by slaves in Brazil back in the 16th century. Slaves were not allowed to practice self defence or develop fighting skills so instead they developed a martial art whose techniques are masked as dance moves. It’s very acrobatic and is practiced to traditional Brazilian berimbau music. As the two boys practice-fought with each other the others (on the left) sang and played traditional string instruments to set the speed/tone of the fight/dance. Very rhythmic and easy to get lost in watching.

There seems to be lots of respect in latin culture for scholars and revolutionaries who helped move the country forward. This is a statue of a poet that was near the hostel.

Over the next couple days I explored the city more and got a feel for what the place is all about. The historical district is where it’s at and as expected, there is lots of history here.

Some of the buildings are private residences though. The homes usually have a central open air courtyard in the middle, like their own little oasis in the heavily built historic district. This old lady was greeted by her rottweiler as she came back from the market.

The vast majority of the buildings are public or retail though. There are many small gardens and they usually are surrounding a central square or plaza.

The sound of church bells tolling and pigeons flapping away as kids chase them is a common sound here.

There is a strong shopping community here as well and the area is apparently a purveyor of fine leathers and shoes. Many housewives in heels roam the streets in this part of town, hands toting freshly purchased bags of clothes.

Food can be had everywhere, and because of the clientele there are plenty of more expensive sit down restaurants whose outdoor dining spots encircle the prime locations around plazas.

I’m on a budget though and prefer to eat what the locals eat anyways. I like street food and usually will order whatever I see that I haven’t seen before. This time, my taste buds tell me that this is some sort of fried chicken with potatoes and a chile relleno. Of course one never really knows though, but it tasted good. I sat and gorged myself on two more types of tacos after this and people watched in one of the plazas for a bit.

A brazilian girl who's living in the hostel while teaching portuguese in town found out that I was into climbing. She was kind enough to show me the one and only climbing gym in town. It was tiny, but had a rad underground vibe. The people here are definitely into the scene and really do a lot with the little space that they have. I’ve now been here in Queretaro for 3 days and I’ll be leaving tomorrow to head towards Mexico city. Should only be a couple hour drive. I wonder what the largest metropolitan area in the entire western hemisphere will look like?

**Danko** · #15 24 Oct 2013

I like your ride repot very much

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