Tricepilot's México: Off-Road Through the Sierra Madre From Durango to Mazatlán

¡Hola Jimmy!

Jimmex, our man in San Angelo, kicked around the idea of bringing his 1200GSA on this ride

OH LORD NO :eek1

Jimmex has outstanding dirt Skillz, but there isn't a rider on this planet (*) who could have done that ride on a GSA, or GS, for that matter.

Jimmy does have a stable of KTMs of which I think one of them should be brought by him to this event next year.

You're #1 on deck for this ride, bro

You'll enjoy this report Tex, if you don't have vertigo!

You should have been on this ride dude!

It's always an exciting time in México, and I will always be in love with her people and her landscapes.

I've done a bunch a trips since even the last report I did, "Oaxaca", and in fact, had been up and down the Espinazo del Diablo itself (40 libre between Durango and Mazatlán) a bunch of times recently.

But until now, all I could do was stop at the paved mid point on the Espinazo, and on a good visability day (most are), gazed off into the distance and wondered what was out there in the grey shaded valleys.

On this ride, I found out!

Often times it hurt to go! Like crashing on rocks!

Nothing beats being up there on those arches of the hacienda seen in the movie. Felt like I was in the firefight!

Since we're talking about the Sierra Madre of México, who can guess from where to where it runs?


Hint: Trick Question

Note that SR was the only smart one between us as he actually wore a parachute in the event of going over that drop right in front of him

Bienvenido TRBM, I hope the pics of the Sierra are worth two boxes! Coming right up...

Fear not, SR is aquired his Smugmug today and is loading his plethora of photos to it. He had the most handy camera gig going, which I'll comment on. There are tons of photos from the most important part of this RR - the off-road ride to the Pacific Ocean from Durango!

It is lovely! And different!

Hola Joe - hope you don't have vertigo!

Hola Paul

Very savvy to mention the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental. We can see both on the map below.

Many miss the third Sierra, the Sierra Madre del Sur. Some also count in the Sierra Gorda. Which is technically part of the Sierra Madre Oriental.

This ride of course was through the Western Sierra Madre, of Occidental.

Hey Gary

I give this one "unique" status, at least as far as what I've done in Mexico goes.

I've done dirt in Mexico before, on Richard's "Mextrek" rides, and even done some failry gnarly stuff, like "The Unknown Ride", which I'll talk about later.

But for 2 gringos to hook up with a bunch of Mexico riders and tackle terrain like this, well, and once again speaking only for me, it was unique.

Dave,

This is an outstanding question and I'll do my best to answer it from my perspective.

I hope SR chimes in from his perspective - that of a much more experienced and capable off-road rider than I.

Let me give you my short answer first:

Yes!

No!

Maybe!



First of all, let's look at the roster of motos on the ride: there was't 1 bike in the 990 class that I know of.

I was on SR's DRZ400 and he on his new fuel injected Yammy WR450R

I think this class of bikes is the way to go: lighter and more powerful.

Now, there are, IMO, plenty of sections where the 990 would be right at home. But it also depends on the skill and fitness of the rider. The 990 is about, what, 500 pounds gassed up? I think that's on the heavy side. But what do I know, maybe not too heavy.

What you have to remember are the "gotcha" sections of the Ruta DGO-MAZ. There are some, albeit fairly short, sections that will choke all but the most experienced riders.

Can you ride that bike on really, really, I mean really rocky downhill sections?

Can you ride that bike in long stretches of mud?

Can you ride that bike in long stretches of sand?

There aren't too many "choke point" obstacles, but SR and Hector Jr., both very experienced riders, had their hands full getting through one particularly gnarly section on relatively light bikes. NO WAY would a GSA have made it through without a team of helpers pushing, prodding, and lifting.

So, your 990 would make it through a huge chunk of this route, especially if you accept help in sections, but the price you might pay for a bike of that weight might exact a toll on your body. Exactly how much of a toll you would pay depends upon age, skill, fitness, and experience.

I was very lucky SR held onto his DRZ long enough for me to use it for this ride.

The DRZ had power and lightness, but for me, the one key thing it lacked was a fitting to my dimensions. The bars weren't high enough and in a perfect world, I would have had risers.

You have to stand a LOT on this ride to not punish your body, but you will see video and photos of me sitting a LOT - too much, actually, for the terrain. But I sat more than stood simply because it was more comfortable - standing meant hunching over in a just too uncomfortable position. So make sure the bike you bring is "dialed in" in terms of fit.

This ride starts just as rainy season starts in the Sierra. A truly wild card is just how much it is going to rain. This year, I think it was just about perfect - it rained just enough to keep the dust down (for the most part).

I lost any fear I might have had over deep sand sections, rocks, baby heads, etc. This ride will simply drive that out of you, because you get so tired you want to push through anything to finish.

Trust me, I started CrossFit last September to get ready for this. I cycle pretty long distances every other day. When I read your post (on my IPhone) I was in the middle of a 60 mile training ride today. I think I'm pretty fit for a mid-50s guy. To enjoy this ride, you'll need to bring the fitness for the bike you are riding. A 990? You better be in great shape and have plenty of gnarly experience on it.

You will no doubt see some of the ride photos that look like graded service roads or some stretches that look like Switzerland, perfect dirt surrounded by lazy cows and butterflies drifting about as in some bucolic scene. Do not be deceived!

I know SR is getting the "Wuss" stamp out and is ready to place the ink on my forehead - like I said - he'll have a different take given his experience level.

Since he sold his DRZ, if I do this ride next year, I'll be back on my KTM 500.

I think that's the perfect bike for this type of event.

Thanks for the question