Canada to Cancun on the 250$ Venture - The full ride report

[jfman]

Day 17 and 18 - Jalpan to Boca del Rio

 

 

 

 

I woke up at around 9am after a pretty crappy night due to food poisioning. I was not cold anymore but I really felt like crap. All of my muscles ached a little and my stomach was fragile. I could not eat anything. I could only manage to drink some flat diet coke. This is going to be a long day on the road. I felt weak, I was barely hanging onto the bike and every topes made my back muscles want to throw in the towel.

 

 

On this day, moral was low and I dont think I took a single photo with the DSLR. Even getting off and on the bike felt like a task.

 

 

I arrived in Jalpan where I managed to get lost for 30 minutes trying to find the correct way out of town. (my brain was not all there)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some more of 120 east of Jalpan

 

 

 

 

Feeling like crap but at least the views offered a little bit of comfort.

 

 

 

 

I crossed back into San Luis Potosi on 120

 

 

 

 

Near Axtla de Terrazas

 

 

 

 

On the eastern side of the mountains, the climate is changing. Warmer temps and more humidity.

 

 

 

 

Just crossing a bridge near Atlapexco

 

 

 

 

After this I reached 180 and I rode along the Mexican Gulf Coast to reach Boca del Rio. It was getting dark and I did not feel well at all. I was just making the miles to reach Boca so I could recuperate from this hamburgesa fiasco.

 

 

I got the cheapest room I could find in Boca (I think 500 pesos) and I got two nights because I needed to recover in a place with easy access to reliable food.

 

 

 

 

I crashed at my room and I sleep for 12-14 hours.

 

 

 

 

The next day I went outside and took a peak at the police motorcycles(the station is next door) A Honda CB500 and Wee Stroms

 

 

 

 

I wonder if they would trade with me?

 

 

 

 

I went to the beach near the hotel but it was very rocky. After a 20 minute dip, I left the playa to grab something to eat. Boca del Rio has a lot of American restaurant chains and it seemed like it was the only thing I was willing to eat that day.

 

 

To be honest, nothing exciting or nice happened in Boca.

 

 

 

 

The next day I would be leaving for Oaxaca and I would be feeling well enough to start taking some decent photos for the report.

 

 

Saludos

[cowpuc]

JF, those mountain shots are absolutely GORGEOUS = talk about a Touring delight!!!

 

When I first saw the plushness and tightness of the flora to the roadway the first thing that popped into my mind (besides the overwhelming feeling of wanting to ride it:big-grin-emoticon:) was "wonder if they got deer down there?".. That said - could you give us some insight into what type of wildlife (the animal type ) you may have seen on your epic journey here brother?

Thanks

Puc

[jfman]

JF, those mountain shots are absolutely GORGEOUS = talk about a Touring delight!!!

 

When I first saw the plushness and tightness of the flora to the roadway the first thing that popped into my mind (besides the overwhelming feeling of wanting to ride it:big-grin-emoticon:) was "wonder if they got deer down there?".. That said - could you give us some insight into what type of wildlife (the animal type ) you may have seen on your epic journey here brother?

Thanks

Puc

 

 

No deer there. Just Burros and cows. I did see a few small monkeys when I got all the way south but I did not get a chance to take a shot of one.

[jfman]

Day 19 - To Oaxaca

 

 

These rides are a lot of fun and some of my best memories. Scratch that; They are my best memories, period! That being said it's not all fun, all the time. On that particular trip, I encountered something that I had never encountered before. This was my fifth multi-week trip and for the first time I got the feeling I did not want to be on the road anymore. I realized I was doing the miles because I had to do the miles. For the first time on the road, I sort of wished I was at home.

 

 

Is my love affair with long distance motorcycle traveling withering? Am I doing these trips to prove something I no longer feel the need to prove? Was I running away from something I no longer need to run away from? Who knows... One thing is certain is that I overthink sometimes.

 

 

I blame this partly on the hangover from getting food poisoning but clearly there was more to it. Another factor was the Semana Santa. There was an incredible amount of cars on the road and that made traveling less than enjoyable at times. These details dont show in the photos because I wait for the cars to clear before I start hitting buttons.

 

 

On that morning I left Boca Del Rio and rode on 180 for a little while.

 

 

 

 

I ran into a few of these trucks carrying wood.

 

 

 

 

They all seemed to be headed in the same direction.

 

 

 

 

This direction: I dont know the purpose of the factory (to make charcoals or to produce power?) Either way it seemed like the trucks were delivering wood to it.

 

 

 

 

I kept riding on 180 a little bit more.

 

 

 

 

The road was in the middle of a narrow strip of land.

 

 

 

 

I had the Gulf of Mexico on my left and the Laguna de Alvarado on my right.

 

 

 

 

I turned right on 175 then immediately up and over the river.

 

 

 

 

Kept riding for a little while.

 

 

 

 

Then I reached the nice little colonial town of Tlacotalpan and stopped for a quick shot of the centro.

 

 

 

 

When I reached San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional, I go confused and wandered away from the main road but in the end I found the correct path out of town.

 

 

 

 

I started getting into a little bit of elevation and the curves started coming at me.

 

 

 

 

So be prepared for another barrage photos of twisties

 

 

 

 

Mas por favor!

 

 

 

 

And as always the views in this beautiful country dont dissapoint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, I had never been this far south in Mexico. The climate in these mountains is a little more humid and the vegetation is very lush around here.

 

 

 

 

That vegetation is sometimes so dense that it wants to take over the paved roads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a lot of room to pull over in this area.

 

 

 

 

Here is a safe spot

 

 

 

 

Another classic shot of a Mexican road sign

 

 

 

 

In the higher elevations, I ran into something I did not think I would see down there.

 

 

 

 

That's some serious wood for Mexico. I parked the bike next to the stack so you guys could get an idea of the size of that tree trunk.

 

 

 

 

This Canadian is impressed

 

 

 

 

Photo taken in British Colombia?

 

 

 

 

Yet proof once again that Mexico is far more diverse than we are led to believe.

 

 

 

 

Ok enough photos of downed wood.

 

 

 

 

Gotta hit the curves again

 

 

 

 

At this spot I checked the elevation - 9530ft, not bad.

 

 

 

 

I am about to start going down the mountain. The shoulder is quite odd here.

 

 

 

 

Look ma! No sidestand!

 

 

 

 

The sun doing its thing

 

 

 

 

And the ride down is almost just as nice.

 

 

 

 

Pavement quality is also very good on 175

 

 

 

 

No idea what this tree is but it made for an good photo.

 

 

 

 

At this point I was about 45 minutes away from Oaxaca de Juarez. The sun was setting so that was the last photo of the day.

 

 

 

 

When I reached Oaxaca de Juarez, I turned left on 190 and stopped at the first hotel I spotted on my right. I asked the lady working at the front desk to order me a pizza from Pizza Hut(or was it Domino's?). My stomach at this point was still a little fragile but it handled the pizza and a little bit of whiskey just fine.

 

 

 

 

Going to Chiapas tomorrow

[Condor]

That no-name tree is a Wisteria. Also I can feel your boredom though out this post. It seems like all the excitement is gone by the one sentence comments... You need some excitement in your life. Go find a senorita.... :-)

[Pegasus1300]

OK I am going into withdrawal here. It has been a week and no new installments. It's winter here,can't ride so I NEED to read about somebody else's adventure.

[videoarizona]

Stunning!

 

I'm following along like a puppy following my master. Rt 175 is amazing!

Thank you....

[cowpuc]

What a GREAT way to spend these icey cold, recovering from surgery days!! THANK YOU JF for including us - gobbling up miles and miles of smiles and smiles with ya brother!!! AWESOME JOB!!

[Pegasus1300]

I went over to the Adv forum( I found out I was already a member fancy that). Anyway they are dying over there too. Your story has us all hooked.At least the ones in warmer climes can work off their frustration with a ride of their own but me and Puc and the others are sorta stuck.Living in Canada you know what we mean. Sure I can go play with the trains, but still I gotta have my adventure stories.

[cowpuc]

I went over to the Adv forum( I found out I was already a member fancy that). Anyway they are dying over there too. Your story has us all hooked.At least the ones in warmer climes can work off their frustration with a ride of their own but me and Puc and the others are sorta stuck.Living in Canada you know what we mean. Sure I can go play with the trains, but still I gotta have my adventure stories.

:sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that:

 

[Phoneman1981]

Amazing!!!

[Dragonslayer]

The pic with the sun rays coming through the surrounding clouds reminded me of the day spent riding through the Taos Canyon in New Mexico back in 2008. I rode all day in the sunlight with storms going on all around me. I never got a drop of rain on me. That was right before finding the dead body in the creek pool along side the road. That was one of the adventure stories of my 2008 epic road trip.

[Pegasus1300]

Alright now Dragon you got to start your own thread and tell that story.

[Dragonslayer]

That whole story was told here back in 2008. Tx2Sturgis even did a pod cast with me describing all the adventures on that trip. There were many great stories such as:

Santa Fe to Tucumcari on a May Pop Metzler

Angel Fire

Can a man from Atlanta get a drink around here?

Kansas tried to kill me, again

OPPS, was that me snoring? Or Where did everybody go?

Amarillo by morning

Racing Herbie from Amarillo for the Iron Butt patch

Breakfast with the Moskokie, Oklahoma City Council

A man from Nebraska made a motorcycle from a Maytag

Bad times in the Badlands

Grasshoppers the size of stinger missiles

A National Forest with no trees

 

Amongst others.

[Pegasus1300]

That's 9 years ago, I can't remember yesterday let alone 9 years ago. I'll have to see if I can find those. Thanks.

[Dragonslayer]

That's 9 years ago, I can't remember yesterday let alone 9 years ago. I'll have to see if I can find those. Thanks.

I know, sometimes my memory, like the old gray mare, ain't what it used to be.

I did make a movie of it and maybe one day I'll finish writing the book.

[DarkLeftArm]

Boy, I'll tell you what-

I haven't been here on this forum in quite a while. My big black beauty has been behaving herself, and I've been riding a lot. But last night I got a friendly reminder that my membership was about to run out, and it was time to renew. I did that this morning, and was IMMEDIATELY rewarded greatly by happening onto this ride report! Thank you, jfman for making my day. I'm also on ADVrider, so maybe I'll see you around sometime.

[cowpuc]

:sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that:

[jfman]

Day 20 - Oaxaca to Tuxtla

 

 

At once finally felt recovered from the Hamburgesa de la Muerte. I had eaten a whole medium pizza and I had digested it fully. Success!

 

 

I could now get back on the road and just enjoy riding, in the heat. One thing I forgot to mention to you guyz earlier is that the Venture was acting up on the previous day. The previous day was the first day where having no second gear was a major inconvenience. Easter was quickly approaching and with so many slow moving cars in the mountains, it was almost impossible to make a pass. First gear was just too short, third gear was way too long and second gear was AWOL. To top it off I now also noticed that whenever I will run the bike at full throttle in this now warmer climate I had a new problem. The hydraulic clutch started to act up. The bike would keep moving even with the lever fully engaged which made things quite intersting. I could only guess that the hydraulic fluid was too old for the strains and for these temps.

 

 

I left Oaxaca and of course headed East on 190.

 

 

 

 

Traffic was much lighter here than on 175 the previous day.

 

 

 

 

It did not take too long before I started to hit memorable sections with tasty curves.

 

 

 

 

Nice pavement was present and much fun still to be had.

 

 

 

 

I did not really want to stop too often so I have a little bit less photos for you guys than usual.

 

 

 

 

This is getting close to Tehuantepec

 

 

 

 

After Tehuantepec, things got flat and there was not much to see apart from the mountains north of the area and a few impressive windmill farms.

 

 

 

 

The heat was becoming tougher and tougher to bear, at least for this Canadian. If I learned something on this trip is that I prefer riding in colder weather over high heat/humidity environments. There comes a point where I just get too uncomfortable and I dont enjoy it anymore.

 

 

 

 

Here I spotted a bike parked in the shade so naturaly I stopped to check up on the rider. And this is where I met Alesio, a Mexican military service man on his off day traveling on his bike.

 

 

 

 

Turns out he was just on a snack break and did not need any help. He explained to me that a motorcyclist in need of help will set his helmet on the ground behind the motorcycle. His helmet was hanging on the bike's mirror so all was well.

 

 

In Mexico, I almost never run into people traveling ny motorcycles so whenever I run into a rider, I highly cherish the encounter. Sort of like running into a relative in a far away city.

 

 

 

 

On the stretch on 190D between Arriaga and Tuxtla, in the intense heat, there were a lot of broken down cars... It was unbelievable. It seemed like I could spot someone stranded every 5 minutes of riding. I saw a whole family of 6, kids and all, standing in the heat by a car with an obvious blown tire.

 

 

I pulled over to help them put the spare on, only to see they had no spare in the trunk. They were on a road trip to Yucatan and they did not even have a spare. The sun was beating down on them so I felt bad for them despite the severe case of fatalism. I gave them my jug of water and at their request I gave the oldest teenager a lift on the back of my bike to the next Cuota station so he could call get some help.

 

 

 

 

When I got to Tuxtla I rode past the town to Chiapa de Corzo to get some info on visiting Sumideron Canyon for the coming day.

 

 

 

 

I rode back over the bridge which gave me a slight glimpse into tomorrow's tourist attraction.

 

 

 

 

I chatted with some locals and they told me about a nice road North of Tuxtla that leads to a few overlooks for the canyon. I decided to make my way up there and to camp up there away from the town.

 

 

However when I got the park, the road was closed for the day. I do not think camping there is a possibility.

 

 

I just rode back down a few hundred feet and parked at a spot that has a panoramic view of Tuxtla to watch the sunset.

 

 

 

 

I relaxed there for a good 30 minutes to see what the city looked like at night.

 

 

 

 

I then went to Autozone to buy some brake fluid to bleed the system that operates the clutch.

 

 

 

 

Gringo heavant to the rescue once again.

 

 

 

 

I then went to the old Centro to grab a bite to eat. (this Beetle was cute)

 

 

 

 

After stumbling into a completely disgusting "hotel" (and you know my standards are low) I finaly found this place (Hotel Fernand0) for about 4 or 500 pesos. It did not have AC but it was "cool" enough to sleep there with the fan on.

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow morning I will visit Sumidero Canyon

[snyper316]

That is some expensive brake fluid talk about hwy robbery!!!! Shhesh I'm glad I only pay 5 bux I believe... For the big tall can I bet it would be 100 bux

 

Living life one curve after the other. Vroom scooting, thru the countryside.

[RedRider]

IIRC the $ symbol is also used for pesos in Mexico. Therefore, the small bottle is 30 pesos or about US$1.50 at today's exchange rate.

 

RR

[Condor]

That is some expensive brake fluid talk about hwy robbery!!!! Shhesh I'm glad I only pay 5 bux I believe... For the big tall can I bet it would be 100 bux

 

Living life one curve after the other. Vroom scooting, thru the countryside.

 

That about $2.90US. The exchange rate is right around 10:1....

 

Way back we stopped in Ensinada for dinner at a Chinese resturant before coming back to the US. We ordered the gourmet seafood dinner for three, and there were only two of us. There was so much stuff they had to bring over another table to hold it all, and I ate things I wasn't quite sure of their origin but it was good. The entire bill came to 750NP. That works out to $7.50. I left a 250NP tip.

Edited March 13, 2017 by Condor

[snyper316]

That about 2.90U$. The exchange rate is right around 10:1....

Yeah forgot have had a rough day I about flipped when I seen 24.99 lol. Didn't even think pesos

 

Living life one curve after the other. Vroom scooting, thru the countryside.

[jfman]

That about $2.90US. The exchange rate is right around 10:1....

 

Way back we stopped in Ensinada for dinner at a Chinese resturant before coming back to the US. We ordered the gourmet seafood dinner for three, and there were only two of us. There was so much stuff they had to bring over another table to hold it all, and I ate things I wasn't quite sure of their origin but it was good. The entire bill came to 750NP. That works out to $7.50. I left a 250NP tip.

 

 

Current usd/peso rate is 19.5

 

Mexico is a bargain right now.

[Condor]

Current usd/peso rate is 19.5

 

Mexico is a bargain right now.

 

It does go crazy every so often. The first time my wife and I went to Puerta Vallarta I bought $300 worth of pesos before we left, and I ended up with $100,000 Pesos My money guy said something was going to happen to the Peso, but he wasn't sure what. Right after that they printed the Neuvo Peso, and the old stuff was wall paper. Luckily we got back home before it happened, and pasted what we had left in a scrap book. I still think the printed Peso is one of the prettiest monies anywhere.