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Mexico Ride Partner?

Yup, I wanna go

But, we all have to listen to the little voice inside us and mine says,"It's not a good time for me." And , I wasn't trying to talk you out of it, just adding my two cents. I hope you have a great time and come back safely. If you need any assistance in Texas just give me a call (830-822-7977). I can jump on my horse and come to the rescue if needed or stop by New Braunfels and share some coffee, lunch and tall tales.

D.W.:wave
 
All in good spirit! Hope your little voice doesn't say "too much" to dampen your fun. Also, you need to stay away from the naysayers and get out there!:laugh

P.S. I can tell, way down inside, past that pissy little voice, that you really wanna go,right? FYI, I am/was a trained counselor for years and can read peoples minds:whistle
 
Yes Doc, you're right

That pissy little voice says, "Don't go, you'll be killed." And then, that MACHO VOICE says, "Don't listen to that pissy little voice; be da man." And then, my wife says, "get off that damn computer and fix somthing." So, then I go outside, hide out for a while ,clean on bike some more, maybe change the oil, since I put uhhh 200 miles on it since I changed it last:nyah.
 
Mexico P.S.: I lived to tell this story. Had a great time and made several new friends along the way. The NCAA's got in the way of staying longer as I just had too many teams in the mix that matter to me. Is it a dangerous place? Probably, but having asked my new lawyer friend if he had ever seen a "narco" or did he know where one lived or anything of that sort, the answer was no idea on either count. He did say that you could probably "go down in the valleys" and get close to some areas where they live and grow the stuff, this being said in the state of Michoacan which is supposed to be "very dangerous". Obviously, my experience is limited to my exposure and not that of many people. I'll ad that many Mexicans are also afraid to travel in their country. I traveled in every state that is known to have a narco problem, except Sinaloa. I did not enter through Reynosa as in past trips and avoided lingering in border area, which is not the real Mexico anyway as very USA influenced.
I had a ride partner lined up and chose not to ride with him after a short "get to now you" session. Yes, it is hard to match up for such a trip & not because I'm some sort of out there type, either! Once I'm caught up on my chores I may post some pics. Suffice to say for now, that even though it was my 3rd bike trip there it was a great time! I did several mtn rides that topped my previous "best rides in Mexico" list. The coast from Puerto Vallarta south is awesome! Not much Pemex there either... The road from Cadereyta northward to Jalpan is even more spectacular! That said by a guy thats traveled all over the Rock Mtns many times. More later...:wave
 
Sounds like a great trip, and I hope you post some pictures. I would love to make that trip, and since I haven't yet, would enjoy living vicariously through your pictures for now.

Greg
 
We've had several visitors come through Big Bend on the way to Mexico and not one has had any edgy experiences at all.

Just raved about the great country and its people!

Voni
sMiling
 
It would have been fun to stop and see you guys , but a bit out of my line of travel back to Kentucky.
I'll share the only edgy experience of my whole trip: I got to within 25 miles of home and was pulling up to a stop light in Mt Sterling, KY. There are two lanes, one a left turn lane and the other a straight or rt turn lane. I'm going to turn rt, but lay back about 20-25 ft. and what a lucky thing for me I did! The idiot in the old Chevy van in front of me in the rt. lane, decides to back up! I start to backpedal my bike as fast as I can (not easy at a short legged 67 yrs old and what with the bike loaded with luggage,etc.,I am really frantic. Luckily they stop and turn towards the left turn lane about 6" short of my front tire. BTW, my horn had quit during my long trip. Once the van gets angled up and toward the left turn lane , I go into gear and pull up beside the van and knock on the passenger door. There is a teen kid drving and an older fat guy on my side.I flip up my helmet and holler"what in the hell are you trying to do?" The old guy on that side says, "You better get out of here or I'm getting out and you wont like it". To which I reply, " I don't much like getting run over either"! I decide that a retreat is the best recourse and as the light has changed, I head for home.
And there was the Mexican hotel that waxes their concrete going back to the 1st floor parking area, that caused me to dump my bike due to it sliding out from under me on the slick floor.
Mexico has some very serious problems going on and the simple fact is that you best avoid those areas where the narcos are active.This is mostly along certain parts of the border. This means different things to different people.While tourism is noticeably down in many places in Mexico, I never observed that people were avoiding going to any particular locations. E.G., at the pyramids north of Mexico City, there were thousands of school kids & others there seeing the sites. I had a hotel person(in the north) tell me they are getting almost no one from the large city of Monterrey, once a primary source of their business, as people say they are afraid to leave their homes. That same person told me a list of places in Mexico not to visit, all of which I went to with one exception and found to be peaceful and safe. Much of the tourism in Mexico is really hurting and in many locations. Between the economic factor of recession and the narco killings, it is trully a sad thing. The west coast areas are really down on tourism-there are people there but far less than normal. The "Striking Viking", left his home of Mazatlan due to the killing going on. He has commented that passing through that town as a tourist is a far different thing than living there. I was told to not go to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan as it was a hot spot. My lawyer buddy invited me to come, I went & found that it was a neat city with much to see. I just missed a chance to see President Calderon leaving a reception there. I was also told to not go to that state and enjoyed a 3 day visit there in Patzcuaro( a very nice Pueblo Magico) and more days to other towns in that state.
Another anectdote:I was walking with my host(a fellow rider living in Mexico City area) and we were in one of the really rich parts of the city and had just passed the Caddy and Bently dealerships, when I observed a number of guys in suits gathered around various nice cars at the curbside. I asked if he thought they were salesmen or what, and he says, no, those are body guards for the rich. I don't suppose the bad guys know I get a pretty small teacher retirement check, but sure hope I don't resemble what rich looks like!
When I pulled up to the mid-50's customs officer in Eagle Pass, TX, he said "do you know how lucky you are to be alive?" I asked him if he said that to all the people crossing the bridge. or just old bikers like me? He says," don't you know whats going on down there!? I say yep, I read the paper, watch TV and have already been to Mexico many times. Fact is there were 5 lanes of alive people behind me entering the USA. I think that contributed to my oil sight gauge starting to seep as it was hot and too much idling on the international bridge! And say, does Texas really come out financially on the 75 cents they collected from me on a six pack? Hard to imagine it pays to have full time people in a bldg collecting pennies on booze coming in from Mexico.
If amazing mtn roads, scenery in abundance and a vibrant culture with friendly people everywhere are attractive to you, GO! I'll post a few pics later.
 
Welcome back

I'm glad you made if back safely; sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I'm sure everyone looks forward to viewing some of your pics. :usa
 
I'm glad you made if back safely; sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I'm sure everyone looks forward to viewing some of your pics. :usa
Thanks, I'm anxiously awaiting my fate as I "took up Texas" on their "pay by mail" offer on the 2 toll roads near you; Texas 45 & Texas 130(they go around Waco/Austin to the west and north). Hard to imagine that the camers can read my plate# down under my topcase and what with me , lets call it "whizzing by". I hit them late in the day and hardly any cars on them ,also never saw any law enforcement types either. Really nice safe slab that saves much time and aligns well with trip NW towards Texarkana.
 
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