Day 11-13 – January 15, 16 & 17

We departed Taxco and headed for Oaxaca where we spent the night. The next day we went from Oaxaca on to Tehuantepec and finally to Tapachula near the border of Guatemala. There was a large variety of riding - from excellent road surfaces in the mountains with twisty-turnies and smooth banked turns to riding smooth straight highways through near desert conditions to lush agricultural supporting sugar cane. The road went from altitudes near 8,000 feet down to 3,000 feet. The take-home from these three days was that Mexico has a wide variety of ecosystems with the vast majority of rural inhabitants in the valleys. However, Mexico is predominantly an urban population with 76% of its 111 million people living in cities versus the US with 81% of its population living in urban areas.

The city of Oaxaca is at an altitude of 5,084 feet and is situated in the middle of three valleys.

We drove through some fertile areas – it was sugar cane harvesting time and the cane was being harvested one stalk at a time – one man, one machete. The cane was delivered to the refinery in large trailers hauled two at a time by one semi and a variety of dump trucks. There was thick smoke in the air from the burning of residue in the fields. No doubt that at some point in the future some smart financial wiz will put some cash in his pocket by selling some carbon credits from not burning cane in the fields.

As we travel further south the land is more fertile and therefore larger farms which are more aggressively managed.

We broke our own rule about sticking to low calorie lunches – but I refuse to eat salads (the source of the dreaded Montezuma’s revenge) – something the rest of my group is neglecting.

Oaxaca also had a town square packed with people. Public displays of affection are commonplace, walking hand in hand, hugging and nuzzling - and statistics bear this out – Mexico has a crude annual birthrate of 21 births per thousand compared to the US – 14 births per thousand. This is due largely to the youthful population – 30% of Mexicans are under 15 versus 20% of the US population and 8% of Mexicans are over 60 versus 17% of the population of the US.

In the US the mall takes the place of the European style town square. There is not a lot of parking available near these squares - - people mostly walk to them and don’t mind walking 15 minutes to meet a friend.

As in Taxco, the square was active long into the night.

Our hotel in Oaxaca was a beautiful remodeled antique but unlike on the Silk Road, we could not park our motorcycles in the courtyard – they were unloaded in front and stored in a garage around the corner – you definitely do not want to leave it outside with the rampant petty theft.

The hotel had a lovely courtyard

And modern art

As we headed out of Oaxaca we again ran into heavy traffic

That included cramped motorbikes (no helmets)

Picturesque, patriotic art

The ever present mountains and puffy clouds

We spend much time adjusting helmet cameras – Roger, Vincent and I each have one. Helge may use some of our final video sequences for his DVD on our trip.

Helge takes some long distance shots with his tripod

At lunch we meet an 88 year old man who two years ago fell from a roof and had a compound fracture of his leg. Because his son is in the armed services, he was able to go to the “big hospital” in Oaxaca and his leg has healed nicely.

My lunch – I polished off an entire fish (not something I’m proud off)

The proprietor’s children watching television

We arrive in a fishing village near Tehuantepec


And camp on a beach in front of what we hope is an abandoned building. The wind was howling and it was difficult to both set up and take down the tents.

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise

We find it’s easier to ride your bikes into the sand than to get them out

We head out towards our next stop in Tapachula and for a while share the road with some cattle.

We see that the Mexican government is taking advantage of the high winds as we pass a farm with hundred of wind turbines.

We ran into a couple of Brits who have cycled all the way from Prudhoe Bay – they will stop in Panama. Another group of Brits, to whom they are affiliated, will head from Panama to Tierra del Fuego. I can’t imagine doing this on bicycles – they have already been on the road five months and have another five months to go. Mexican roads do not have bike lanes so trucks are passing inches from their handlebars.

On this section of the ride my motorcycle begins skipping and then stops. It will run for 10 minutes then stop and when it cools it will run for another 5-10 minutes then stop again. It seems like a fuel flow problem but a mysterious one – the same sort of mysterious problem happened to me on the Silk Road on a different motorcycle. We drain the fuel and we have the same problem. Finally Helge concludes that we need to take the motorcycle apart and we find a partially loose connector in a heat sink area. We hypothesize that as the fuel pump runs, the heat sink increases in temperature and something inside expands acting as a shut-off switch. With the connector back in place and the bike reassembled, everything is running as it should.

Helge cuts a hole in the fender to permit even more air flow (not as evil as he appears in this picture)

We arrive at the Holiday Inn in Tapachula were Harriet has forwarded Roger’s title for his bike (Marge had brought along Roger’s original title - - the copy of which posed a problem crossing the border into Mexico). Unfortunately, we left Harriet’s without the title and she sent it via DHL-Mexico to hopefully arrive today (we will need it when crossing the border into Guatemala).

We will leave Mexico tomorrow and I wanted to reflect a bit on our experience.

The People
Everyone we’ve met has been friendly, from government officials to peasants to business men. They are willing to help, smile and are happy to see us. Some feel threatened by the American way of life and the American pace but they like Americans. The issue of violence is overplayed in the American press – it does not significantly affect US citizens visiting Mexico.

Drugs & Politics
Felipe Calderon, Mexico’s president of the PAN party, has a strong anti-drug agenda in place. But this agenda is in jeopardy even though he has a 70% approval rating, the PRI party (the party that lead Mexico for 40 years before the PAN party gained control with Fox and Calderon) has regained more seats in the lower house (probably due to lower tourist revenues, lower tax receipts and the requirement for a smaller national budget). The people I met at Harry’s bar suggest that Calderon’s anti-drug interest is aligned with the US but also will help decrease revenues that the PRI derives indirectly from drug trafficking. In general Mexicans are not sympathetic to America’s appetite for drugs and are not happy with the 1,000 of Mexicans killed each year in drug wars. If Calderon is replaced with a PRI president, it is likely that the aggressive anti drug campaign will be sacrificed (a bigger drug problem for the US and could herald a move towards the type of lawlessness present in Columbia 10 or more years ago).

Economics
Mexico has a GDP per person of $13,900 compared to $4,900 in China, $8,200 in Columbia, 11,600 in Turkey and $46,300 in the US. With 111 million people, it is a big prosperous country with an advanced economy – by far the leading economy in the America’s south of the US border. NAFTA has worked for both Mexico and the US. Since NAFTA the two-way trade between the US and Mexico grew from $81 billion in 1993 to $231 billion in 2002. Mexico now has a $32 billion trade surplus. NAFTA’s promise to Mexico was that it would export “goods and not people” and in the 15 years under NAFTA Mexico’s exports have quintupled to $292 billion. Until last year, they were still exporting a half million people per year seeking employment in the US.

The largest pressure has been on Mexican farmers who cannot compete with large, efficient US farms that produce staple crops like wheat. 22% of Mexico’s labor force works in agriculture but it generates only 4.4% of the GDP. Mexican agriculture is notoriously inefficient – 50% of Mexico’s farmers till plots that are less than 15-20 acres and earn less than 1/3 of their income from agriculture. The good news is that 20% of Mexico’s GDP is attributable to trade made possible by NAFTA provision.

The US is graced with only two big neighbors and it is terribly important that they both remain healthy.

Day 10 – January 14

We had a fascinating stay in San Miguel – Harriet and Derek’s hospitality was superb and we thoroughly enjoyed their friends. We wanted to stay longer, but Helge has us on a “forced march” itinerary. It was great to see Marge - - she turned out to be a godsend for the trip – not only did she bring the new spring for the shock absorber on my motorcycle, but we were able to leave an entire suitcase of extra stuff with her that we shouldn’t have brought along. With any long trip such as this it’s smart to take at least a one-week pre-trip to determine all that you will need - - I clearly had not taken enough of a shakedown trip or done enough prior planning.
Our bikes in Harriet’s Courtyard

It rained last night which made the San Miguel cobblestones treacherous for motorcycles – the roads are made with rounded brook stones six-eight inches in diameter and this combined with the steep descents and inclines makes even walking challenging.

We have 250 miles to cover between San Miguel and Taxco bypassing the nasty Mexico City traffic.
Determining our route

Modern Mexican Gas Station Convenience Store

Our schedule did not allow a visit to Mary Tyler Moore, my dad’s Mexican half sister, nor my cousins in Mexico City. Ideally, that trip will happen when I can bring the rest of the family along.

Half of this current stretch is at altitudes of 7,000-8,000 feet with a much different eco-system than previously encountered.

We also came upon our first snow covered mountains.

The mountains in Mexico are mostly volcanic – here is a view of one.

There were significant farms at these high altitudes with running streams, corn and other vegetables and big healthy trees. I am still marveling at the tremendous differences between the dry Baja and the rest of Mexico and these lush fields.

At one point there was a two-mile traffic jam apparently caused when large 40-foot semis squeezed onto this tiny mountain road.
Prelude to the major traffic jam

Helge maneuvered between trucks and cars, dodging oncoming traffic to work his way to the head of the line and find a bypass around the blockage. I would expect that this gridlock lasted most of the day.

We rode through a town lined with street vendors – this man was holding up a well-endowed sweater and quickly ducked behind it when he saw my camera (Mexicans are generally modest).

Yet another issue with my motorcycle – the HP2 does not have a balance shaft which causes it to vibrate substantially more than the standard BMW Adventurer. I discovered that one of the three bolts had vibrated out of the kickstand causing the two remaining bolts to bend. So now to park the motorcycle I have to lean it against something – not real convenient.

My bike troubles thus far: a broken kickstand, fasteners which have vibrated out of the windshield, insufficient shock absorber spring, a stance on the bike which crouches backward and changes the rake and the trail of the front suspension and the leather-covered seat absorbs water. In addition it’s difficult to take pictures on the fly – I need to have a sheath to securely hold a camera which is easy to access even when wearing gloves. Helge has this well figured out with a helmet mounted camera that can take stills and video.

Side note – at some point I was served some fish soup for lunch that was so strong that the one teaspoon I had upset my stomach for days.

We arrived in Taxco, a beautiful silver mining town, with San Miguel-type houses tightly packed together.

The city is heavily associated with silver, both with the mining of it and other metals and for the crafting of it into jewelry, silverware and other items. This reputation, along with the city’s picturesque homes and surrounding landscapes have made tourism the main economic activity as the only large-scale mining operation here is coming to a close.

Everything is walled with no yards visible from the street. Our hotel is on the quaint town square, filled with people young and old, a band playing and boys and girls holding hands and snuggling. I was wondering if our public square in Cleveland could ever have this ambience and be a go-to location. We agreed that the culture of hanging-out on a public square was something South American and European – only rarely American.

We sent off one of the hotel personnel to locate some replacement bolts for my motorcycle and he returned an hour later with everything I needed. They are hardened cap screws of a specific length – easily found in Cleveland (Seitz-Agin or Sutton’s) – but I was astounded that they could be found in a small town such as this. I will install the new bolts early tomorrow.

We had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the square and I turned in around 9:00 p.m. When I awoke at 2:00 a.m. there was still activity and music in the square.

Day 9 – January 13

We started the day by changing out the spring on my rear shock absorber. Vincent pulled the shock out in only 15 minutes and we ended up using a moderately heavy spring replacement. We couldn’t use the entire shock assembly because it made the bike too high (I like to be able to touch me feet flatly on the ground and with the new shock assembly I would have been on tip-toes).

It poured rain last night and my fancy leather covering on my seat absorbed a lot of water (it’s going to be a wet fanny for a while). I swapped GPS’s with Vince – so I will now presumably be able to follow the route more effectively.

We did a quick tour of San Miguel first stopping at Harriet’s art school and saw some of the sculptures on which Harriet is working. The teacher was sick so we didn’t hear from him but there were a number of students working on projects.

The school was an attractive structure and it’s a wonderful place to study.


We went on to the institute where Harriet has a series of pictures on show – extraordinary vivid colors with a cubic feel to them. She shares this space with some exceptional artists.
We then went to the botanical gardens – high on a hill overlooking San Miguel.

The gardens feature mainly desert plants like prickly pears.

A collection of trees and cactus:

And one of the nasty little cactuses that deposited a quill in my leg through my leathers:

Harriet had a cocktail party tonight with a variety of interesting people – including some Clevelanders, Ali Eilers, Bill Edwards, and Dave and Sandy White, in addition to a bunch of Derek’s friends from Stonington CT. They were a group of vibrant and active people, a number of whom spend part of the year in San Miguel and others, natives of Mexico City, and this is their “country place.”

Day 8 - January 12

We left Zacatecas and headed towards San Miguel. It was 36 degrees with heavy fog at the time and my 5 layers of clothing was still insufficient - - 36 degrees at 80 mph – I hate to think what the windchill is. To make matters even worse, it was drizzling – the first rain we had seen.
We stopped for breakfast leaving Helge behind to reconnoiter good places to stay in Zacatecas. I took off a couple layers of clothes and switched to electrically heated clothing which provided much needed warmth to my hands and chest - - what a spectacular innovation – I’m so glad I brought them along. I was not able to take pictures during this time due to the cold or the camera being hidden under too many clothes or being unable to manage the camera with the bulky electrically heated gloves.
Roger successfully led us out of the city using his GPS but it was clear that we couldn’t let a day go by without getting lost. We headed overland, generally towards San Miguel, and soon arrived in this beautiful medieval looking city reminiscent of small villages in France and Germany. We followed the GPS to where Harriet’s house was supposed to be and found it to be only about 100 yards off.

We parked the motorcycles in a beautiful courtyard and went inside to see the splendor of Harriet’s San Miguel house. She has worked on it for nearly 25 years and it is a smashing success.

There are a number of beautiful rooms with fancy windows and six bedrooms each with a king size bed.

Fabulous detail – here is a tub which appears about 4 feet deep with magnificent tile.

And an architectural feature built into the house that looks down into a mini archeology discovery.

The house is horseshoe shaped with a beautiful garden in the middle. It surrounds another small house.




In the garden there is a large fountain that Harriet made which can be run with heated water and doubles as a bathtub.

Derek made the fitting comment that the house is very much like Harriet’s paintings with an enormous amount of detail, small alcoves with statues, a number of Harriet’s and other artists’ work scattered about, domed ceilings with elaborate brickwork and arches on four sides. The level of detail is far beyond anything that I would be capable of.

That evening we had drinks at Harry’s Bar – a hangout for ex-pats and other foreigners from all over. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant owned by one of Harriet’s friends and had a delightful time.

Helge ran into another adventure motorcycle guide and regaled us with old times. At 6:30 there was hardly a seat available in the place.

Day 7 – January 11

The ferry arrived in Mazatlán where we gassed up the bikes.

Pulling out of the gas station, I narrowly missed being clipped by a car. I was assuming that it was a one-way street – bad guess. This was the first close call of the trip and a good reminder that there is never a reason to rush and of the key safety points of motorcycling:
1)Always know what’s behind you – don’t do anything if you can’t see clearly
2)Look far ahead – even on tight corners
3)Don’t look at obstacles such as trees on the side of the road or cars coming at you – look at the space in between
4)Allow significant distance – more than 20 feet per 10 mph
5)When passing, look at the front tire of the car to determine quickly if the car is changing direction

We set out on Route 40 heading east over the mountains. Following the GPS on a beautiful super highway we came to a place where the road just stopped in front of a hillside – no warnings, the road just ended.

Turns out there are several Route 40s – but more on this later.
We headed over the mountains toward Durango and experienced the most exciting and extraordinary paved mountain riding I have ever had. The roads had steep switchbacks with sharp hairpin corners – a true roller coaster ride. Tractor-trailers coming at us required their entire lane and half of ours to make the corners (not much of a problem for a motorcycle but if driving a car, it would be a real challenge).


We traversed several ranges which appeared to be just under 9,000 feet - - I can’t imagine what it will be like later in the trip when we’re in the Bolivian Andes at nearly 16,000 feet.

A dead cow and dead horse road kill were reminders that livestock is always a problem on the road.

Approaching Durango without a functioning GPS and not obediently following the crowd (which has been my custom) I got onto the wrong Route 40 and got totally lost. Thanks to e-mail I found the crowd 2 hours later and we headed south towards Zacatecas. The delay required us to drive after dark – not what anyone likes to do in Mexico.

By this time, Vincent and Roger had gotten lost but we met up at a predetermined gas station. We found a simple hotel and ordered a ghastly vegetarian pizza before turning in for the night.

In addition to being a challenging day of riding, it also once again demonstrated the flexibility of a global economy.
-I met a man with three small girls at a restaurant who was both a US and Mexican citizen. He established a cleaning company (maids cleaning houses and offices) in Arizona and Texas. He prefers living in Durango and raising his children as Mexicans - - so the Texas and Arizona phones ring in Durango and he runs the entire business from Mexico.
-Later in the evening the President of our CNG car company called me from China via Skype to show me (from half way around the world) some new compressor components that we’re having manufactured there and we discussed several quality and business issues.

Tomorrow we drive to San Miguel de Allende to see my sister, her friend Derek and Marge and have yet another birthday party for me and Helge.