Central y SurAmerica Moto Adventure - Mexico
by Todd Peer

Octobre 2002 - Abril 2003


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    October 19 - 20, 2002: Parrar - Durango - Mazatlan

    Odometer: 12,577

    The rest of the ride to Parrar was fairly uneventful. It stopped raining and actually warmed up a bit. As we approach Parrar, we were stopped at an army checkpoint. They always ask the same question, "Donde Viene?" Where are you from. It was getting dark and we had just ridden through a bunch of cold rain and I was getting tired. I answered, "Vieno de Batopilas". "Batopilas!". The gaurd gave me a quizzative look, "Si, Batopilas"..damnit!

    Only after getting down the road a bit did I realize he thought I was actually from Batopilas! LOL!

    Oh, as far as the checkpoints go, they'r not that bad, at least in this part of the country. I expect we will be unpacking and packing for the more southerly authorities soon :(

    The roads in Chihuahua State are fantastic. I wish we had sport bikes for this part of the trip and that someone was carting our 80lb loads ahead of us. There was one long stretch toward Durango that is what you would typically expect from the desert. About 40 miles of straigt road for as far as the eye can see.

    Ah well. We arrived in Durango early (around 5:30pm) and had no trouble finding the hotel we were looking for. It's an old colonial called the Pasado San Jorge. Very large room and all the accommodations you'd expect from an American $100+ hotel. We paid $66 and free parking. Sweet!

    The next morning we got an early start, around 11am ;) Hugh decided to go out but I was bushed and knew we were headed towards Mazatlan over route 40, known to motorcyclists as The Devils Backbone. Even Hugh was expressing his desire to stay in Durango the evening so we could get a fresh start. Or, in his case, stay out until around 3:30am and then get a fresh start. I just couldn't, I was beat and am just now getting over the cold I picked up around Austin. Beddy bye for me.

    Route 40 was actually more of the same typical roadway we had been riding the evening before. Only until after we passed Salto did the road begin to put a big grin on my face. And it was about time too as I had been playing catch-up with Hugh, generally pegging my throttle as we climbed in altititude. His DR650 is factory set at the pilot screw and doesn't seem to have any real trouble. I punched mine and adjusted it for altitude in the DC area which really helped, there. Here, with the incredibly shitty Mexican gas (at nearly $11 for 6 gallons!), the bike was sucking. Sucking gas, sucking in performance and sucking in general. I was getting pissed.

    But like I said, as I hit the backbone outright, big smiles. First through third gear was about all you could muster on this road. It is definitely one of the twistiest trails I've ever been on. Think Deals Gap (not kidding here) and make it around 95 miles long. Arm pump, ass burn, muscle fatigue and a WHOLE lot of adreneline produced during a number of scary corners. Wow!

    To you moto riders reading, I can't even begin to explain what an incredible piece of work this road is. And to make it even better, the scenary from so high up is more than enough reason to stop every now and then to take a break. One of the coolest things I noted was the drastic and dramatic change in climate as we crossed the Tropic of Cancer while on this road. From conifers and evergreens of the higher climes shifted big leafy palms and other exotic plant life. And it definitely got hotter and more humid real fast.

    Hugh suggested we somehow get a MOFO expedition down here for this road. It's a great idea and the MOFO's should consider it. Either Durango or Mazatlan is a good starting point/ending point.

    We've been in Mazatlan for a couple of days relaxation. It's a beach town for sure and a very busy one at that. As a general comment, most Mexican cities we've been in are very busy. Driving in these towns is quite an experience too. Where we have arguments about lane splitting at home, there is no concept of lane splitting here. Everyone is out to get the best position relative to one another. I wouldn't say the drivers are any crazier than at home, but they do tend to accept one anothers bad and discourteous driving habits better than we do. Hmm

    One other thing I'm happy to report is, I found a tire in Mazatlan and it was not nearly as painful a process as I had expected. I began by trying to call the local shops. You can imagine how hopeless that was. No hable, you know? So I went to our motels desk and asked if someone could call a shop and ask for me. Jose, the local maintenance man here did that and got the shop to send a couple of guys over with two tires to choose from! Awesome! I've been worrying about my tire since Texas and now that I have one to carry along, the weight of worry has finally lifted. I had a great day today!


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This page last updated 09/23/2002