You can't buy a ticket for this show

I've had a lot of unexpected pleasures on this trip. The latest was the party last night in Nashville. 

I wanted to visit my friend Troyce who has a house in Greeneville TN which is on my way home. However, he was going to be in Nashville at the time I would be passing by and suggested meeting him there at his sister's home.

So I showed up to a very interesting BBQ and Pickers Party. Now being Tennessee the BBQ was only excellent. I pigged out (excuse the pun). No chicken in sight, just ribs, beans, and coleslaw. And brownies!

I would have thought I'd hit the jackpot right there but then people started getting out guitars, mandolins, banjos, and every other stringed instrument you could imagine. They gathered around the fire pit in the back yard and commenced to play and sing.

None of that phoney conuntry-pop stuff. They were playing all manner of classic country songs. When I asked, I was told that these were local players, many of them studio musicians, who got together to play for themselves. The songs they sang were both the ones I knew and ones they had written themselves. 

And play they did! There was no stage or playlist, they just passed the lead around and played what they wanted. This was the sort of music that takes you around the bend and far along to the horizon. As a person who loves old school country music I was in pure heaven.

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Mexico - Day 1 Part 2

Continuing the retrospective of my adventure south of the border.

I thought I had a plan for leaving Nogales: It looked really good on the map. However, I was quickly to learn that the map, the gps, and reality had only vague acquaintences with one another. This is compounded by the lack of street signs as we know them. Remember what I said? Mexico is different.

My plan was to take a shortcut from Nogales to Rt 2 and then on to Cananea for the night. Unfortunately, there were no signs saying, "This way to the shortcut to Rt 2 and Cananea." Or at least none in English.

So I took Rt 15 south to where it meets with Rt 2. A little out of the way but nothing fatal. Then I got to Km 21, the border inspection station where you get the travel papers that the Consul General in Boston told me I didn't need. 

"Your passport please. And 300 pesos." No big deal. In fact I was relieved to be getting the visa because it had made life a lot easier in my last trip to Baja Sur. 

Then there was the papers for the motorcycle. Disaster! They wouldn't accept the copy of my registration, only the original which I didn't have with me. I appealed to the "authorities" which turned out to be a very young girl with braces and ill fitting blue jacket and pants. The only word she seemed to know was "No".

What to do, what to do ... ? As I walked back to my bike the officer in charge of the parking lot wished me Buenos Tardes and pointed to the exit heading south. It seemed to be a message from above so I headed south, personal papers in hand but lacking vehicle papers. Stay tuned this topic will come up again.

On to Imuris where I picked up Rt 2 and headed east. Highway construction sites in Mexico consist of a bulldozed rough road next to the road being worked on and shifting all traffic to this temporary path. 

Since Rt 2 is the main road parallel to the Mexican/U.S. border it has a lot of trucks. They, in turn, make the temporary road even rougher. This makes them go slower which was making me crazy. The dust was so bad that I could bearly see or breathe. I would have loved to show them the AT's off-road capabilities but traffic was so dense that I never got a chance to pass anyone. And it was getting later and darker ...

One of the first things everyone with any experience in Mexico tells you is not to drive after dark. Various animals are apt to wander into your path with painful consequences. I was getting worried that I wouldn't make Cananea and find a place to stay for the night.

Finally the construction ended but now I was heading up into the mountains and the road was 2 lanes with plenty of twisties. Even though I had only gotten ~175 miles I was tired from riding though the construction. I was looking for a place to pitch the tent that would be safely away from the road.

Who could possibly notice me here?

This is what I picked in the dark. I thought it was a secluded spot far away from the road. To my amazement, the morning light showed that it was only about 100' off the pavement and totally visable to anyone passing by. This was my first introduction to Mexican camping - Pitch a tent practically anywhere you like. Nobody cares. Try not get run over.

So I crawled into my sleeping bag for my first night in Mexico, serenaded by the sound of Jake Brakes from the trucks decending the grade.

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Doing time on the slab

Eat your heart out New England!

Re-Tired

I finally got my tires and left in a snit. Actually, it was a Ford Explorer but I was not a happy camper.

The tires are fine but one of my metal valve stem caps is missing. In fact, no cap at all. Little details like this make a place look bad.

Under the fair-is-fair policy I want to say that Jess, the store manager, called me and offered an apology. She realised that I was really unhappy and wanted to see what she could do to make it right. This goes a long way with me. Mistakes can happen and we all need to recognize that and move on. I thanked her for taking the time but said that I couldn't drop by the store because I needed to be far down the road by the time they opened. We left it on friendly terms.

Now I have to make Little Rock by tonight so that I can make Nashville tomorrow. 900 miles in 2 days. Not my idea of fun trolling down the interstate but it has to be done.

I'll get back to the Mexican retrospective in a day or two. Stay tuned.

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Tires - Part 3

After this morning's post I called Cycle Gear - Austin at 1:30 to see if the tires were in. The first person said they would check, put me on hold, and 10 minutes later I hung up. 

I called back and got another person. They started to tell me about 4-5 business days for delivery when I hit the roof. I explained that I had been told 1-2 days. I told them that I had visited the store yesterday and was told that the front tire was already in. Basically, I told them to skip the BS and go find my tire. I wanted a tracking number and specific delivery date. I was not happy and told them so!

Suddenly, the rear tire appeared in today's shipment. Nobody had bothered to look. The tire mounting guy said he would have them ready by 3:00. I'm leaving in a few minutes to pick them up. 

Stay tuned. If the evening news mentions a thermo-neuclear explosion in Austin you'll know that I got jerked around again.

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NOT Flying

This picture my look familiar.

Cycle Gear has really dropped the ball on this one! I ordered the tires last Thursday (10/30) and was told it would take "2 to 3 business days". That would make it Monday (11/3) or Tuesday (11/4). I made it very clear that I was on the road and the bike was unable to continue. They said they understood.

I didn't bug them on Monday thinking that if the tires came in they would call me. Tuesday, nothing ...

Yesterday I went down to check and was told that, "The front tire is in and we are hoping that the rear tire will come in tomorrow or Friday." I'm supposed to meet a friend in Nashville this weekend and it is looking decreasingly possible.

The people at the Austin store are very nice. They're Texans, they couldn't possibly be otherwise. But nice doesn't get me back on the road. 

It seems that Cycle Gear has no Vehicle Down program to expedite orders for people who are stuck on the road. Nobody offered priority delivery options if any exist. My local shop, MotoConsult, gets tires either next day or the day after from Parts Unlimited when I order them. I thought that a company as big as Cycle Gear would have this sort of thing well developed but their responsiveness seems to be very casual at best.

By now I wish I had ordered the tires from Revzilla, Rocky Mountain, or Motorcycle Superstore. By now I'm thinking that even Amazon could have been a better choice! I would have gotten a better price and free shipping.

Customer service is what makes or breaks a company. This time the system is broken.

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Flying

Seems to be a common theme for me. Notice the very nice motorcycle stand from Harbor Crates.

6 minutes into Mexico

Note: I finally have my pictures from Mexico organized and I'll be posting them with comments today and tomorrow.

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This is a 6 minute video of getting into Mexico at Nogales. It starts out on I-19 and ends up in the streets of Nogales.



As you can see it was no big deal and there was nobody waiting to jump me on the other side. In fact, it was just like any other city with lots of shops and traffic.

I stopped at a bank to try to exchange money. I was told that they only did that for bank account holders and the woman took me out on the street and directed me to where the cambios were. 

There are a couple of streets off the main road that house many cambios (money exchanges). These look pretty seedy at first glance and all those Uncle Henry stories come to mind. However, I parked the bike and stood there to get some idea of what was going on. The cambios each had a sign that said Compra 12.70 Venta 13.25. 

Just as I was figuring this out (buy US$ at 12.70 pesos, sell US$ at 13.25 pesos) this guy walks up and strikes up a conversation. Hmmm ... What does he want. Not much it turns out. He just wants to talk about motorcycles.

I ask him about changing money and he says he knows a guy ... Just around the corner ... 

It turns out to be just another faceless window with a sign over it. The guy I met talked through the window and then asks how much I want to change. I tell him US$300 and he talks through the window and tells me his friend will give me 12.75 pesos for each dollar. This is 15 extra pesos or about a dollar and a half.

So I give him the money, he hands it through the window, and in a couple of minutes an old style adding machine tape wrapped around a wad of bills appears. I stuff it into my pocket and walk back to my bike with my amigo. I give him a 10 peso coin as a commission.

I asked him about crime with all the tourists and money floating around. He laughs and says this is the safest place in town. The cambio owners would not allow anyone to be cheated or robbed. It would ruin the confidence necessary to conduct their business. They are a police force unto themselves.

Later, I checked the math and counted the money and it was all there. My bike sat on the side street unattended and out of sight for maybe 10 minutes. It was undesturbed. 

So Uncle Henry was wrong again. This dangerous border town was just another place along the road. I'm sure that, if I tried, I could find a dark alley where I could find somebody to hit me over the head but that day my biggest problem turned out to be finding the road out of town.

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Regulations Part 2

Maybe I should consider myself lucky that it made it as far as it did. It definitely looks fried. Compare it to the new one on the right.

Just get me to Nashville, and then get me home. That's all I ask.

Presents from heaven

Now it's time to get to work!

Just waiting for the tires now.

Tool Time II

So much of travel is preparation and waiting. The post office alleges that my new regulator will arrive today. The box of stuff I didn't want to take to Mexico is also supposed to get here today. Suddenly the scene changes from patient waiting to one frenetic activity.

Then the sole impediment to progress is the tires. Hurry up and wait.

In the mean time I've gotten Jennie's Suzuki running. It has been taking a 6 month nap and has fallen prey to the Bad Gas Syndrome. Tekron to the rescue! If you don't know about it, Tekron is the absolute best fuel system cleaner. It's available at most every auto parts store.

You have to love Texas!

This is the sign by the door at the restaurant where I am having dinner.

Help!

This is not the adventure I was planning on. My friend Jennie had me drop her off while I took the car to get oil and filter for my bike. No big deal except that this is a new, all computer car. No ignition key.

Jennie has the remote control with her so I can't get the car restarted. Worse, if I get in or out of it the alarm goes off for 2 minutes.

After not getting Jennie for half an hour I had to pee so bad I just jumped out and ran to a nearby restaurant. Everyone looking at me probably thought I was trying to steal the car. Getting back in was equally embarrassing.

I finally got through to Daniel who is coming with the spare remote. Until then I'm trapped inside this psycho machine.

I'll take my good old Chevy pickup any day. It uses real gas and a real ignition key!

It just looks like a parking lot

My friend Jennie has a couple of bikes (doesn't everyone?) and we are planning on going out riding today as soon as the battery is charged.
The tires and new regulator will be here Tuesday so I can just relax and enjoy my friends until then.

The Alamo

History as just another tourist trap. Get your t-shirts and postcards here.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

The last few days, since leaving Parral, have been nothing but chewing up miles. The landscape is generic high desert. If you have ever driven from Winnemucca to Elko Nevada you know all about it. It makes crossing Nebraska seem exciting.
The roads are designed with a straight edge and the sage brush is monotonous in its lack of scope. I waved at all the truck and bus drivers and they are only too happy to wave back. At least I'm able to roll along at 65 mph.
Tonight I expected to stay in a little town called La Pryor TX. Good luck on that. I should have done a bit more research. La Pryor is a high school and a Dollar General store. I ended up in Lytle just as the sunlight died.
Tomorrow I'll be in Austin with my friends Jennie and Daniel.
Time to order those new tires!

Welcome back

The beginning of the next phase in this journey.

Riding north

We all have our horses for our adventures. I'm hoping Don Carranza is bidding me Via Con Dias

The road that never ends

Some times you just want to ride forever.

My last night in Mexico

Out partying with the girls.