Matehuala and the ride to Aguascalientes

CN - Sunday

Matehuala turned out to be a great authentic town - not at all a tourist town.  In fact we were most likely the only Gringos there.  We found a hotel across from the town center and secure parking for the bikes in a gated courtyard.  The price was right at around $24US.  We found a delicious cafe called Sante Fe for dinner and hoped to get some rest before leaving for Aguascalientes in the morning.  We noticed a party set up in the function room below the hotel rooms and assumed it was a wedding.  It turned out to be a Quinceanera, which is the celebration of a girls 15th birthday, for about 300 or so teenagers.  The speakers for the event were stacked concert style and looked like they could shake the whole town - and they did.  From 9pm until 3am the music was non-stop - pretty much shaking the hotel off it's foundation.  Needless to say I got no sleep at all that night - my 5th in a row with little to none.  Uggggh.

In the morning we grabbed some delicious Gordita's for breakfast at the cafe next door and hit the road for Aguascalientes - about 350km to the southwest.  Our plan was to stay just outside Aguascalientes at a hostel called Amigomoto run by Elena and Marco who rent out rooms in their spacious home.  We had read about them hosting motorcycle travelers through Horizons Unlimited, the adventure motorcycle travel group we are associated with.  We were hoping to do a two day layover there and swap out my crippled clutch in the comfort and cover of a garage.

Shortly after we coming into San Luis Potosi, I discovered my bike was no longer able to down shift.  I was stuck in 5th gear trying to negociate a string of topes (Mexican speed bumps from hell) constantly stalling out as 5th gear doesn't work well at 10mph.  There was no shoulder or place to pull over so had to keep re-starting, stalling, repeat.  We finally found a gas station to pull over and by that time the ability to downshift had returned - but it still felt wonky and neutral was nearly impossible to find.  Ken took it for a quick ride to confirm that there was an issue and we decided it would be unwise to continue on without opening it up to see what was going on.  This was a different issue than what had been going on since we left Virginia.  

We found a AutoZone about 5km away where we knew we needed to pick up a 27mm socket to get the main bolt on the clutch off.  We spread out in a corner of the parking lot in a shaded area and Ken proceed to crack it open for the 4th time in two weeks.  He immediately identified the reason it wasn't downshifting - the shift drum bolt had worked it's way loose.  We went ahead and put in the clutch I was carrying since Pharr, TX as well since we had it open.  Ken is getting really efficient at this with all the practice - had it broken down, installed and put back together in just over an hour!

After that we were rewarded with the best road of the trip so far.  It was a toll road through the high desert mountains with lush varieties of cacti everywhere.  We topped out at 7,300ft and the views were tremendous.  Temps in the 60's so couldn't have asked for better - and my clutch was working great for the first time since we left!

We had been trying to contact Amigomoto since Saturday but still hadn't heard back so we just decided to get to Aguascalientes and try to give them a call.  We rolled in around 5pm, called and got in touch with Marco right away who gave us directions to meet him in Jesus Maria at a OXXO near his house.  He showed up with a sidecar rig with his black dog Sunny in the sidecar - classic!  We followed him to a little food truck court where he and Elena were having dinner and drinks.  We grabbed some dinner there and followed them back to his house.  They have a great set up with lots of outdoor space - the "bird house" is super cool with a fire pit and high ceiling to keep dry if it rains. We enjoyed beers, bonfire and shared travel/moto stories until 3am.  Monday night they are hosting a Carne Asada BBQ and inviting some of their friends.  Can't wait for dinner!  Good people and good times!

Ken with a selfie.

High desert.

On the road.