Party, Party, Party

As we are leaving Zacatecas we witness the raising of the Mexican National Flag. Throughout September the flag is raised to much pomp each day. The Army provide the honour guard and band and about 50 locals come out to stand solemnly to attention and with one arm horizontal across their chests, hand not on their heart but held flat and horizontal in salute. It is a simple act of national pride and respect that it is chastening to witness.

We ride from Zacatecas to San Miguel Allende a beautiful small town, which is firmly on the tourist route. The town is even more lively than normal as it is approaching Independence Day just before the weekend. There are Mariachi bands, folk dancers and school children performing on a make shift stage in the plaza. The back drop is Allendes unique brick built church. The party atmosphere goes down well with every-one and runs and runs.

From here we head through the Sierra Madras Oriental Mountains on our way to the coast. The ride takes us winding and twisting through narrow passes from under 200m altitude to over 2200m. We start seeing our first hints of the tropics with Banana trees on the side of the road. Tonight is definitely off the tourist route. Our small town stop over is however fully in the swing of Independence celebrations. The town square is packed with food stalls, a big stage, a fair with children’s rides and a market. By sundown it is also packed with people who either live here or have come down from the surrounding villages in the mountains. We seem to be the only non locals in town. A great evening is spent people watching, soaking up the event and atmosphere and eating tacos from the stands on the side of the square. Children are running everywhere, between the forests of legs and the party continues into the small hours.

On to the coast for us and a stopover on the Gulf of Mexico for a night on the beach. A nice quiet place on the beach to relax in? Of course today IS Independence Day and the rest of the hotel is full with one large extended Mexican family making a long weekend of the holiday and very much in party mood! A few of the group who have the energy join in and are welcomed to the group as if long lost cousins. Once again the party runs to the small hours on the beach.

Fortunately (for us at least) the celebrations appear to have reached their peak. The next few days take us down the coast and then inland and while there is still plenty of bunting and Viva Mexico signs the nights are quieter allowing the group to recover and relax.

We are in the heart of what was a 1000 years ago the Mayan Empire and we have the chance to visit several ruins on the route. El Tajin is one of the largest remaining sites of Mesoamerican ruins originally built by the Totonac Indians. We also take a day off at Palenque to visit the ruins there which are some of the best preserved, with temples and ball courts remaining almost perfectly intact. The ball courts are subject to some speculation as to the rules and rewards for playing. However the consensus appears to be that defeated soldiers from opposing armies were made to play against each other and the losers all got executed. The winners got a day of paradise with wine, women and song….. and then all got executed. Some-one suggested this might be a good incentive for their local football team although it seems a bit extreme!

The only things not to be well received in Mexico have been the Topes, Vibradores or Redcutar de Velocidad. Sleeping policemen if you are British, these humps in the road vary from smooth and nicely built to a line of bricks cemented to the road. Sometimes there is a sign. Sometimes not. Sometimes there is a sign and no topes. Sometimes they are steel half footballs set into the road. They are un-predictable and certainly do their job at slowing us all down. At least they do when you see them! Although quite why they need to put them in the middle of a section of dual carriageway toll road escapes us all?

Only another day and half’s ride away to our south is the border with Guatemala, and the section of Central America where the countries are small and the borders come thick and fast. So does the humidity as we are deep in the tropics and rain forest and jungle await us. The heat was certainly turned up in Mexico, and it’s going to get hotter.

Arriba Arriba

We are all up pretty early as we set of for the Mexican border. We leave Tucson after a few days rest and getting the bikes serviced and new tyres fitted. We are joined by some new riders, five who are with us for the rest of the trip and one just doing the Central America Section of the ride. Leaving Tucson in the early morning gets us to the border in a few hours despite a road closure on the way and a 10 mile diversion.

We cross the border at a quiet Arizona town avoiding the bigger posts that are full of trucks. The paperwork is relatively straightforward and within 3 hours we have cleared all the people and the bikes for entry into Mexico. We ride out of the Mexican side of the border and everything has changed. Twenty metres behind us is the USA. You can actually see a McDonalds sign. Yet on this side of the fence everything feels different. Wilder, more vibrant, less pre-packaged, this is the start of the Central American experience. The roads and the cars and trucks all seem to have been worn out in the USA first and then shipped south for a new lease of life with a society used to repairing rather than replacing.

The first days ride takes us through two military checkpoints. The army is made up of young men with M16’s and camouflaged pick-up trucks and they have an air of menace about them, but in fact are friendly welcoming and extremely courteous. They have a difficult and dangerous job to do, but can tell a group of bikers from the bad guys and wave us through after a brief chat each time. It is off putting to see Police and Army all wearing balaclavas to hide their identities but this protects them and their families from retribution and reprisal.

Despite what you may read elsewhere, if you don’t travel in areas advised against by the FCO and listen to the locals Northern Mexico is a relatively safe place to be. If you flaunt the advice, travel at night or don’t heed to the words of the locals then you are asking for trouble. We take the advice and our first few days in Mexico bring nothing but pleasure and excitement for the group. There are some great roads and great riding to be had, and to get to the end of a day and hear a rider describe it as “the best days riding I have ever had” and another “better than riding Laguna Seca” pretty much sums it up.

We venture briefly into Copper Canyon. The road now has 14 miles of tarmac since Trans Am was last here in 2009 and there are signs that there is more to come. We go as far down the track as we need to get a view of the canyon. Bigger than the Grand Canyon it is green and red giving it is name and it is layed out before us.

We are heading south through the central highlands when approaching us on our side of the road is a Police Pick up with all the lights going and we are being waved down. We stop and greet the two officers who seem to just want a chat and look at the bikes. The usual questions; where are we from and where are we going. When we say Zacatecas they tell us it is great town and seem to say there are plenty of girls there especially at the Teleferico (Cable Car) in town if we ride our bikes up there? A few of the single guys check this out but it seems it may have been a mis-translation. However the views are stunning – maybe that’s what he meant?

Mexico is in festival mood as it is Independence Day on the 16th and the people are already celebrating with flags on cars, concerts in town, impromptu bands and a party atmosphere everywhere. We are hoping to soak more of it up over the next few days as we will still be in Mexico for the big day itself. As I am typing this there is a choir performing in the Cathedral over the road and their voices are echoing around the central courtyard of our hotel. Mexico really is a magical place despite the troubles and stories.

As the sign says Viva Mexico.

Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona in a week.

Wyoming fades into Colorado and Utah and we start to ride through canyons of sandstone. It is difficult to capture the scale of America. Some of the canyons are vast and tower over us as we ride through them mile after mile. In two days we can ride the equivalent of Lands’ End to John O’Groats and pass only a few small towns, each of a few thousand people. At one point we follow signs for 30 miles for the town of Cisco. When we ride through it is no more than a dozen abandoned wooden homes a railway siding and two or three motorhomes, which don’t look like they have turned a wheel for a long time. Yet it is still the only town for the next 40 miles.

Having followed the Green River for many miles as it winds though valleys of sandstone we arrive in Moab. Adjacent to the Arches National Park it is a lively and friendly town with a distinct aged hippy feel about it. No cowboys here! A day off gives time to explore the park and to catch up on laundry and bike maintenance. Moab does have the best laundry of the trip as it I connected to a bar called the watering hole. Wash, Beer, Dry, Beer, Fold, Beer, oops spilled beer on this shirt – start again.

From one National Park to another. A hot days ride (22C at 9am is always a promise of a hot day to come!) to Mesa Verde where we are staying in the park. Mesa Verde was unique when it was founded because it was established to protect “the works of man” not the natural environment. The scenery is worth protecting but the real purpose it to maintain one of the most northerly habitats of the Pueblo Indians. They carved out of the sand stone cliffs a town for over 700 people and lived there until 1000 years ago. The cliff palace is an amazing site knowing it was all made by hand. Historians believe the Indians all left the site within a 20 year period having lived there for hundreds of years. The swift exodus could have been due to a drought but no-one knows for sure.

The park also has an unusual weather system sitting high on its green plateau. It very rarely rains as the heat evaporates the rain as it falls and yet it is subject to an average of ten lightning strikes a day. It has had some massive fires in its history and so keeping watch from Park Point and other sites is a full time job. I am not sure the park ranger peering through her binoculars really appreciated the face pressed against the glass of the lookout tower as she scanned around, but she didn’t through the culprit out of the park so she must have seen the funny side.

Heading on we enter the desert proper for the first time. This won’t be the only time we ride through desert and scrub on this ride. We visit the four corners monument where four states meet at a single point and manage to put a foot and a wheel into New Mexico as well. Although we are not 100% sure as they have moved the monument in the last two years and there are still arguments about if it is in the right spot! We take a circuitous route to ensure that we ride two of the best dirt roads in the region. The Moki Dugway is a gravel descent of four hundred metres done in three miles of gravel hairpins. The views from the precipice at the top are once again enormous and will not be truly captured by our cameras, although that does not stop us trying.

Once we have all safely negotiated its twists and turns we head though the Valley of the Gods. Aptly named as the mountains of weathered red rock tower over us like Gods. The road is thoroughly enjoyable gravel and a bit of sand with dry creeks and washes providing a whooping rollercoaster effect in places. This sets us up in a small town ready for Monument Valley the next day. Nearly all the group are up and out for sunrise. The red rock monoliths are dark and sultry when we arrive but behind us an orange strip of light is spreading across the horizon. Over the next hour in the quiet of the desert the sun appears and the sky, clouds and rocks change colour and change again, as they are hit first by the beams of daylight and the shadow line of the horizon moves down the rocks. Then the clouds start to cast shadows, while they themselves still have an orange tinge to them from the early morning sun. We ride back for breakfast full of awe for mother nature. Some-one commented that you hear the word “awesome” a lot in the USA, but this morning it was apt.

Then back through the valley in daylight and on further into Arizona proper. “The Grand Canyon State” the signs proudly proclaim and this is where we are heading. Not to the touristy south rim but to the north rim to stay in quiet cabins tucked away in a haven of tranquillity in the woods. Our location allows us to ride out to the canyon either on a tarmac route or on a challenging but rewarding 120 miles dirt track to a remote and un developed view point.

The group splits and some riders opt for the shorter day on tarmac and some for the longer dirt riding day in 40+C. All have a great day and the views from the quiet lookouts we visit are bigger than we could have imagined. Three thousand feet straight down and no safety rail give even the most hardy souls a touch of vertigo.

Then all too soon we are on our final days ride for the first section of Trans Am 2011. A big, hot, long day into Tucson where we are resting up for a few days while John and his great team at Iron Horse BMW service the bikes ready for the adventure ahead. It is time for a service, new Metzelers, re-stock on red Scottoil for the hot days ahead, pack all the cold weather gear right at the bottom of the panniers and bring out the short sleeve Craghoppers Nosquito shirts and shorts.

Central America is on our doorstep. First we must cross the Mexican border and put some fast miles between us and it. The border is the scene of frequent altercations between smugglers and authorities. The temperature will rise, the humidity will rise and the challenges facing the riders and their bikes will rise. I am sure they will all rise to it!