Didn't take too many pictures today (Sunday). Route was Taxco - Malinalco - Tres Marias - Mexico. Ready to do this again. I'd rent again from Oscar at Mexico Motorcycle Adventures www.mxmotoadv.com - he delivered and picked up the bike, and it ran flawlessly.
In this episode -- Ghostface KLR flies The Finger, Swamp Monster tops off the CRF, and Last Minute Ryan stuffs it in a puddle...
"$57." "Wait, did you say $57?" That's right. Ghostface KLR's truck and trailer combo was visualized to be under 40 feet in length at the Fauntleroy ferry departure pier by the attendant. "It's under 30 feet." It's always under 30 feet. It's measured with the roller and always comes up under 30, just. This time, the attendant measured three times, each with different measurement results -- all over 30 feet. Nothing good could come of this. Ghostface KLR threatened to just drive around (to the peninsula) unless the price dropped to the correct under 30 measurement. We watched the vehicle boarding gate close as the quibble continued. End of ferry boat story; it was leaving without us. We had to drive around. But not before Ghostface KLR threw a fit. Upon u-turn, his arm went out the window with a full left-armed The One proudly sticking up at the Washington State Department of Transportation's ferry system representative.
"Paninis are no longer on the menu." One of our favorite panini sandwich makers at the Belfair Safeway had to explain to us, loyal motorcycle/Safeway club members and all, that our pre-ride tradition of eating hot paninis was over... almost. The grocery store chain deleted them from the menu because, apparently, The Dirty Crew was the only panini customer. Our maker had saved us two loaves of panini bread, so she was able to satisfy us once last time. Next time we're bringing guns and gasoline, because if there are no paninis, the place is going down.
"Holy S**t! It started!" MotoBum was in disbelief that Swamp Monster's CRF started right up from cold. That bike has never run right... at least since the bike's second ride where it was submerged under water and Swamp Monster coined his nickname. He'd had adjusted the valve clearances to actually be within specification. And now it runs like a champ. Imagine that.
Last Minute Ryan kicked and kicked the XR250R's kickstarter. There was no life there. You could tell by the look on his face that he'd regretted eating his words about never wanting to ride it again. It turned out alright though. Once the engine was warm after a thousand kicks, it fired right up. It actually revved over 4000rpm on this day because Ghostface KLR had slid in a new air filter (with rim grease). Medivac could breathe. And with three remaining strands of throttle cable remaining, what could go possibly go wrong on this ride?
Bwaaa rraaahaa rraaarrhaarra. As MotoBum was following Ghostface KLR through a particularly sweet section of banked snaking trail containing nice tacky dirt, his keen senses could tell that Ghostface KLR was getting particularly friendly with the throttle of his extremely powerful Gas Gas EC300... uncharacteristically friendly. Then Ghostface KLR flew off the trail. What ensued next was something unseen since the Fauntleroy ferry terminal -- lots of swearing. The EC's throttle had gotten stuck open. Ghostface KLR was okay. After a throttle disassembly and reassembly, it was determined that... well... nothing was determined to be wrong. A slight clicking of the twistgrip disappeared after reassembly, but nothing was obviously the matter. Ghostface KLR rode the rest of the ride "cautiously."
MotoBum stuffs it in a puddle video:
About 1.5 seconds after MotoBum stuffed it, Last Minute Ryan did the same thing in the same puddle.
Margaritas and tacos were had at a bad Mexican restaurant in Belfair. It will never be frequented again as the food was bland.
The deer.
Max Speed: 72mph. Swamp Monster topped-off his Honda CRF250X on a dead straight dirt road. MotoBum had this idea to just go for it down an access road. So they did. Swamp Monster's bike actually hit the limiter in 6th gear!
Side bags? No thanks, just a top case. How will I squeeze between Volkswagens if I'm three feet wide? GPS? No thanks. Too easy. I'm not in a hurry anyway so I'm not worried about being lost. Note to self. When meeting someone early on a weekend, change your alarm setting from weekdays only. Oops. Mexico City traffic... It's there even at 8 a.m. Saturdays. Luckily there are not any traffic rules so it was easy to get through traffic and out of town. I wish I could have taken a thousand more pictures today. It took a while to get through Cuernavaca but the rest of the trip was on good roads through mountainous countryside. Made it to Taxco early this afternoon and got a room and secure parking at the Hotel Agua Escondida. Perfect weather, nice town, but it's on the side of a mountain so my feet are sore from walking all afternoon. Going out for dinner and a cerveza, then I'll plan tomorrow's route and hit the sack. Happy birthday MotoBum. I'll try to remember to raise a glass for you.
7:40 am flight to Houston. Exit row seat, yay. Didn't have enough time to prepare so no movie to watch. Listening to Gameface. Good.
Above the clouds where it is sunny. Won't get to Mexico D.F. until after 8. Hoping for good BBQ in Houston.
Now Band of Horses. Infinite Arms. Now Kevn Kinney and the Golden Palominos. A Good Country Mile.
From Houston I will contact Oscar and tell him yes, thanks, I'll take the V-Strom for two days. The only thing that may hold me up is the fact that I need to configure a VPN and zone based firewall at the office tomorrow. Never done a zone based firewall on a Cisco router before, so let's hope I get it going tomorrow. I guess I could ride Saturday and then Sunday morning and still have a good chunk of Sunday to work if I need to.
For those who are worried about me riding in Mexico solo, I've decided to take the route with the most little towns and paved roads. I won't get stuck out in the wilderness with a broken bike or leg. No Internet on this plane so this will get posted from planet Houston.
