Ok, lets bring things back up to speed here. After leaving our wonderful hosts at Amigomotonest, we started making some miles. But they will probably laugh at that statement, since they are the head of Iron Butt Association of Mexico, known for rides of 1000miles a day and more. Our 200 mile days are not quite up to their qualifications, but we're on dirtbikes.After sitting for a couple days, we tend to try to make up for it once you get back on the bikes. Chips bike was running good, for once. Marco was kind enough to lead us to a couple needed stops in Aguascalenties before we heeded out of town. He took the sidecar with his faithful companion "Summer" riding along. Its cool to see how people react to seeing a dog in a sidecar. I have already decided that I will be building a sidecar rig once I get back home(after I get other things caught up). Hopefully my dog will like it as much as his does. We stopped on the edge of town and said our goodbyes, Marco and Ellen are wonderful hosts and really added to our trip. We rode to the town of Chapala, a nice lakeside town that is full of artists and retired folks from other countries. It felt weird, and not just because of the artists and hippies, probably the most English we've heard since we crossed the border. We had a nice dinner at the local biker bar, The Iron Horse, which could possibly be a chain of biker bars, since we've been to one in Moscow Russia, and Robbinsville North Carolina. However, I don't think they are related.
Today started with traffic leaving the lake, typical Mexican traffic slowed down by "topes" (too-pays) or as we call them, speedbumps. Funny thing about topes is they show up most anywhere, some are marked, some are not, some sharp, some more gradual. We have decided today that they are excellent passing zones, since most cars and truck slow way down to cross them. The beauty of long travel dirtbike suspension is that when a car slows down to 5mph to cross a tope, you don't have to drop under 50mph when you swing around them to make the move. We rode a long and twisty road to Puerto Vallarta today, through the mountains. During which I had my first collision of the trip, apparently I rear ended a slow moving honeybee. I could tell by the stinging feel in my arm that it was not a head on crash. Oh well, since a queen bee can lay several thousand eggs a day, I'm pretty sure this one won't be missed.
We were making our way to Sayulita, a small surf town where we spent my 40th birthday last year. Apparently recent rains caused several mudslides in the mountains east of Puerto Vallarta, and road crews were cleaning up the mess. In a nutshell, I almost clipped an iguana crossing the road, had to dodge a cow in the road, and hit a rather large dirt hump in a construction zone that resulted in significant air time on the bike, all good fun. Upon reaching Sayluita, we checked into our hostel, and after much needed showers, walked into town for a variety of tacos and drinks from our favorite vendors. We are staying here for a couple nights, relaxing on the beach. This traveling stuff is hard work.
Unfortunately, as usual, Chips bike has decided to come up with a new form of ailments to torment my riding companion. A different type of sputtering has made its occasional appearance after coasting downhill. Possibly pulling extra fuel or even oil into the combustion chamber, temporarily fouling the plug. There is also the occasional high hanging idle, in the 4k plus range, and sometimes the stall instead of idle. But my personal favorite is the random total loss of electrical power, it kills everything but the engine. We'll work on that one tomorrow, catastrophic failures are the easiest to diagnose. For now, I will leave you with a couple pictures from the day.
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| Shirt sums it up |
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| Yes, this is Mexico |
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