In my last post I said, regarding Ale's e-mail: "The short version of her e-mail was 'don’t ride your motorcycle through Mexico.'”  Actually, she presented me with information about the violence in Mexico, then asked me to think about my plans.  A much more reasonable approach than what I described previously.

In my noodling about the web, I came across this blog.  It's from a group in Mexico that keeps a count, by location and date, of (mostly) narco-related homicides.  It's disturbing, though not graphic.  It's in Spanish.  And very, very sad. Menos Dias Aqui


I'm certainly not turning these notes into an anti-Mexico travel screed.  In the last few days I've had a clearer understanding of the situation in Mexico (for someone who is not there).  Merely passing along some information.

Plans Change

Go ahead and say to yourself “Thank (insert name of whatever deity you worship) he’s come to his senses.”  Just please don’t say it to me.

I received an e-mail from my cousin Alejandra this week.  Ale lives in Merida, Yucatan but grew up in Monterrey and like me, has a lot of family there.  She’s a university professor, intelligent and sophisticated to say the least.  She doesn’t fear life nor is she given to knee-jerk reactions (At least I don’t think so).  The short version of her e-mail was “don’t ride your motorcycle through Mexico.”  The violence is widespread, sporadic and happens in almost every state.  Several that I planned to visit and ride through, Chihuahua, Durango, Veracruz, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas are particularly bad. 

As it turns out, some of my relatives in Mexico and their friends have had violent encounters.  No one has been hurt, thankfully.  But they’ve been in or near areas when a shootout happens.  One of my cousins in Monterrey is part of a network that texts/e-mails each other to advise of roadblocks (criminal) and shootouts.  This is how they stay safe.  Or try to.  Another female cousin was followed by another car one night and had to pull into a hospital to seek refuge.  And the daughter of one of Ale’s friends had her car taken from her.  By guys who put guns to her head.  When she went out to pick up pizzas one night around 7:00.

Yucatan is still safe for now.  Baja California, aside from Tijuana and Mexicali, is pretty quiet.  I’m considering limiting my Mexico riding to Baja.  Or skipping Mexico altogether, as much as I hate the idea.

Law-abiding Mexicans (as in most of the country) are angry at their President for starting the drug war.  As you may know, the government started prosecuting drug lords, which led to power shifts, which led to shooting in the streets.  I am oversimplifying this to an almost embarrassing degree.  Ale asks “why are we fighting a war in Mexico to keep drugs out of the US?  This is as much the US’s problem as anyone’s, but the killing happens in Mexico. “

I could take my motorcycle trip down there, have a great time, and not have a moment’s real trouble.  But I’m no longer willing to take the chance.  As I said, I may change the trip drastically and got to Baja or I may do the original trip, just without Mexico.

Can’t say I’m not flexible.

My brother Luis says I'll cross into Mexico looking like myself, but return to the US looking like Leonard Smalls.  Probably not.

More Swag (hate that word)

New bike cover, supposed to deter thieves and vandals. Ok, I'll buy.

Really, just trying the mobile blogging app. It works.

As W said, "get out there and spend."

I've been engaging in the national pastime, not baseball but buying stuff. One piece of stuff is this handy iPhone. The idea is to combine electronic gadgets,in this case phone, iPod, and camera. I suppose computer too as I plan to blog from the iPhone while on the trip. Also picked up a pair of mountaineering gloves. On my Mojave Desert trip, I got pretty well soaked in northern California both riding down and back. My "waterproof" gloves soaked through in about 30 minutes. A rider on advrider suggested mountaineering gloves. I'll give them a try. Fascinating, huh? There's other crap to buy: a Mexico map for my GPS, sunglasses, not to mention new tires for the RS. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Trip Preparation

More Bad Press

It's hard not to take notice when I see an article like this: New York Times 01-19-2012, especially when friends forward it to me.  It doesn't change my mind.  If I wanted as little risk in my life as possible, I wouldn't ride a motorcycle.

No disrespect to the victims, but I imagine that the people on that Italian cruise ship felt that they were taking a low-risk vacation.

Who needs a GPS...

When you have a Guia Roji?

"Itinerary," Subject to Change

Date Days  4/1 1 Home Alturas, CA 412 412 4/2 1 Alturas, CA Eureka, NV 420 832 4/3 1 Eureka, NV Torrey, UT 363 1191 4/4 1 Torrey, UT Gallup, NM 359 1550 4/5 1 Gallup, NM Weed, NM 374 1924 4/6 1 Weed, NM Alpine, TX (via Van Horn) 274 2198 4/7 2 Alpine, TX Presidio, TX (via BBNP) 244 2442 4/9 1 Presidio, TX Parral, Chih (via 67 and 30) 235 2677 4/10 1 Parral, Chih Durango, DGO, via 23 315 2992 4/11 1 Durango, DGO Zacatecas, ZAC 183 3175 4/12 2 Zacatecas, ZAC Tequila, JAL 230 3405 4/14 1 Tequila, JAL Guanajuato, GTO 221 3626 4/15 2 Guanajuato, GTO Patzcuaro, MICH 146 3772 4/17 1 Patzcuaro, MICH Iguala, GRO 273 4045 4/18 1 Iguala, GRO Veracruz, VER 356 4401 4/19 1 Veracruz, VER Xalapa, VER 70 4471 4/20 2 Xalapa, VER Xilitla, SLP 298 4769 4/22 1 Xilitla, SLP Real de Catorce, SLP 303 5072 4/23 2 Real de Catorce, SLP Monterrey, NL 266 5338 4/25 2 Monterrey, NL McAllen, TX 157 5495 4/27 2 McAllen, TX San Antonio (via Goliad) 299 5794 4/29 2 San Antonio Austin (via 281) 99 5893 4/30 1 Austin Big Spring 293 6186 5/1 1 Big Spring Ruidoso, NM 306 6492 5/2 2 Ruidoso, NM Taos, NM 262 6754 5/4 1 Taos, NM Estes Park, CO 366 7120 5/5 1 Estes Park, CO Vernal, UT 342 7462 5/6 1 Vernal, UT Jackson, WY (via 89) 318 7780 5/7 1 Jackson, WY  Livingston, MT (via Yellowstone) 235 8015 5/8 1 Livingston, MT Orofino, ID (via US 12) 417 8432 5/9 1 Orofino, ID Home 411 8843

Motopathology

Having owned two BMW motorcycles and having had major repairs on both, one would think I'd sour on the marque.  The R1150R's final drive blew out near Boise--the repair process made more dramatic by the Boise BMW dealership botching the job, which had to be repeated by BMWOR.  The RS required a top-end rebuild at 25,000 miles.  Then the clutch took a crap outside Yakima last summer.

I wrote the craigslist ad, never ran it.

I finally recognized my dysfunctional relationship with the RS.  It's like having an extremely beautiful, brilliant, fun girlfriend who's addicted to prescription drugs.  Things are beyond great until she absconds with my credit cards and disappears for two weeks.  But I take her back, because--I love her so much.

The Unnamed One

The bike, a 2003 BMW R1150RS.  Visions of riding a dual sport in Mexico danced through my head.  But I realized that riding my current bike would save me many thousands over buying a new or slightly used GS or Tiger 800.  I am going to be without an income for a good part of this trip, after all.

Some of you know that I have  love-hate relationship with BMW motorcycles.  My hope is that this one doesn't strand me.  I got AAA for my riding in the US.  If something happens in Mexico, I'll be tempted to leave it where it lies and let the fates take it.  In all seriousness, I'll get it checked over and put dual sport tires on before leaving.

Since I won't camp on this trip (sleeping on the ground after riding all day stinks), I hope not to have to carry the duffel on my passenger seat.   I'd like to fit everything in the cases.  We'll see.

Life, Risk, Motorcycles

I've started this blog to document my six-week motorcycle trip, scheduled to begin April 1.  The plan in brief: Ride from Portland down Nevada, cross it via Highway 50.  Stop in Torrey, UT, then on to southern New Mexico where I'll meet up with George Faust and possibly Dale Weisman then ride down into the Big Bend area.  I'll cross into Mexico at Presidio then travel to Parral, Durango, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Patzcuaro, Veracruz, Monterrey and back into Texas at McAllen.  I'll stop in San Antonio and Austin for a couple of days before making my way back through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.  It will be about 9000 miles.

I have been daydreaming about this ride for years and over the New Year holiday decided that if I kept on daydreaming, I would never actually do it.  I would continue taking one and two week trips around the West but never the big one.  Thoughts not just about mortality but the inevitable decline in health and mobility pushed me to make this happen.


Most of those I've told about my plans have expressed concern about my riding alone to Mexico.  I've just started a wonderful book, God's Middle finger, by Richard Grant.  It chronicles his travels around the remote areas of Mexico's Sierra Madre.  The book was published in 2008, but the narco-violence was already in full swing in that part of the country.  I take heart by what he says about acceptable levels of risk: 
Statistically, one of the most dangerous things we do is drive.  The United States averages fifty thousand traffic fatalities a year--sixteen times the death toll from the September 11 attacks--but to be afraid of driving is considered a pathology.

My intention is to document my planning and eventually the trip itself.  I hope that those of you who decide to follow this find it in some way enjoyable.