These are the days…

[ian408]

Originally Posted by CodyY

Your M3 is fun, btw. Now I'm gonna have to get one.

Feh. There are faster & better cars

[neduro]

I sweat getting out of the shower, and the sun is barely on the horizon. It’s hot like August and I’m not ready for that in February. I know that the closer I get to home the more I’ll miss this feeling, but it’s time to leave the coast.

I decide to pay for the toll road, I’m ready to make some miles. Immediately we start climbing, and I accelerate until things feel right, which happens at about 160kph. I’m leaned deep into a curve when I spot the Federale. I decide to wave. He waves back, unconcerned.

My tires are getting worrisome, it’s time to deal with them. There’s a KTM shop in Valle de Bravo, and I’ve always wanted to go there. Any town that hosts a world class race every year (the Funenduro) and WEC this year and Six Days next gets my vote, it’s time to check it out. I turn North and start weaving through the mountains, at first on fast main roads, then on nadgery little ones, then on dirt.





I come to a town and stop for food, a kind of pizza-esque thing made on top of a 55 gallon drum, with loads of beans, cheese, and so on loaded on a very thick tortilla. Cheap, tasty, nutritional, fresh… why is this hard to find in America?



The temperature is perfect again. Warm but not hot, with a dry altitude crispness that cannot be replicated on the coast. I feel perfect. My GPS indicates a turn that is not there, but I can see a roadcut on a distant hill. I make the turn despite its nonexistence, a philosophical impossibility that results in a beautiful run along a ridge.





I emerge onto a disused little track that matches the GPS, so I decide to head north. I’m grateful for the rear rally tank because I can afford for this road to dead end. We emerge, my bike and I, into the back side of a little town that lacks pavement, street lights, and self-consciousness. Everyone smiles and waves and children run along behind me. Why is this so hard to find in America?

Gradually the roads get bigger again until I emerge in Valle de Bravo. I do my best to ask a woman on a quad where a motorcycle store is, and she responds in crisp English with directions to the KTM shop. Off I go, with 20 minutes till closing.

I walk in and ask about tires. No, we don’t have any responds the woman behind the counter. The shopkeeper next door wanders over to look at the SE and inquires about the race numbers as I walk out. He lets me try in Spanish for a few moments before he reveals his perfect English. We discuss the Baja race, the tour I’m on, and he asks if I know Gaspipe. Small world…. Turns out he was on the volcano ride with Gaspipe, leewildwater, and Ibarra last year (Santiago or Tin on the 450XCW).

Tin owns the outdoor shop next door to Avandaro KTM, which is convenient because he spends all his time thinking about motorcycles as far as I can tell (takes one to know one). Right away, he offers to call Ibarra, whom I’ve always wanted to meet, and Ibarra offers his house to me over the phone, unmet. He’ll be home tomorrow but I should spend the night there, he urges, and I accept. Meanwhile, Tin negotiates to buy a set of scorpions off a customer’s bike, and gets me invited on the after work tour of the local trails.

Imagine someone from Mexico turning up in your town, and a distant internet connection being enough to offer your home, tear the tires off a friend’s bike, and change your plans for a ride. It can’t be done, and the warmth of friendship and camaraderie is something we are poorer for missing.

I’ve been here 20 minutes, and gone from zero to hero. I unload the bike and we’re off. Chris is the nephew of the shop owner, he’s leading the ride, and we’re joined by a friend of his visiting from Mexico City.



First thing out of town, we come to a tricky climb used in all the enduros. They warn me, I decide to take off at the front so I’ll have help if I get stuck. I clean it, they are suitably impressed, I’m relieved, and we’re off to the races.

The trails are great fun, singletracks that weave around and use the terrain, sometimes technical but mostly not. There is no problem with access here, we ride across a soccer field mid game to cheers and pick up the trail on the other side. Why is this so hard to find in America?









A few hours of charging later, I’m out of gas. Chris gives me a few cupfuls from his bike, we make it to the gas station, and call it a night. I find Ibarra’s house, crawl into a bed, and sleep feeling that I am among my own.

[bpeterson]

wooot!

great writing, great riding and paragliding.

Hey, that's a nice rhyme.

good stuff Ned.

I so want to be closer to Mexico.

[cRAsH]

I'z wif mah peeps.

[the darth peach]

I love your writing skills.
Great pictures too.

[Milhaus]

Originally Posted by neduro

… why is this hard to find in America?

It does happen, but it is oh so rare that you must cherish it when you find it!

Great writing Ned! Thanks!

[rallybug]

Excellent stuff, Ned - loving it!

[wachs]

Nice composition Ned - cool shots too.

[Sourjon]

Definitely worth the wait! Welcome back. I stole a line from earlier for a sig. Hope you don't mind. It just seemed right.

John

[gaspipe]

There's some darn good riding there, and Ned's in it. Lordy, I wish I was back there *right* now.

[Shaggie]

am so pleased i subscribed to this RR!

was a nice surprise to see a new post.

Cheers n thanks mate

Shane

[InfoManiac]

[Geek]

[jimbee]

ahhh NEd. you're making working life very difficult. why must you remind us that there is sooo much more to life than the grind? i suppose evoking emotions is a sign of a good writer.

come visit - i have been eyeing a ridge with your name on it

[dirtrider]

Awesome, but man, you can really drag it out.