Copper Canyon Ride - 17APR-24APR 2005

Friends and surfers, this will be the site for information and photos on my April 2005 vacation ride from the Dallas Ft-Worth area down to Copper Canyon in the state of Chihuahua Mexico.
Plan: 17th) ride from Arlington Tx to Presidio Tx and camp
18th) cross the boarder at Ojinaga and ride through Chihuahua to Cuauhtemoc and spend the night at Hotel Rancho la Estancia, one time hang-out of the Rat-Pack
19th) continue west to Basaseachic Falls, third tallest in North America, then down dirt roads to Creel to either camp or find a motel
20th) Creel south to Batopilas, a silver mining town at the bottom (5500ft below the rim) of the Batopilas Canyon, part of the much larger Copper Canyon. Rugged dirt roads with major switchbacks. On the way is the La Bufa Bridge, a wooden slatted roadway slung by rope over a rushing river. Hotel Mary at the bottom of the canyon.
21st) Back up and north east to Hidalgo del Parral, where Pancho Villa was assassinated, to rest at Motel Camino Real
22nd) North to Ojinaga and Presidio Texas
23rd) Presidio to Lake Belton near Temple Tx to camp at the Texas BMW National Rally and brag around the campfire
24th) Lake Belton to Arlington TX
Total miles around 2000

Some of the remarkable things about this ride already: I started out planning to ride a 1983 BMW R65, an older street bike, with the idea that the term 'street bike' has come to mean much tupperware (fiberglass fairing) and low clearances, and that the older, more classic 'street bike' was actually very utilitarian. But then a 1985 BMW R80GS showed up for sale. It was designed for on/off road use, much like the old 'enduro' series. It was at a price I could afford IF I sold one of my other bikes, a K75C BMW. Quandry was to get my asking price before someone else took the GS off the floor. Solution: an internet aquaintance of 3 years, whom I have only met face to face once for 30 minutes and shared a beer and a BBQ, felt my pain and VOLUNTEERED a loan sufficient to make this deal happen. I cannot thank CTx enough and hope I can be adventurous enough and eloquent enough to repay in part his kindness. So I will be riding a thoroughly gone through (by me!) GS.

Then there is my riding partner, Mark. When I began planning I put out an internet blast looking for company. Mark was interested, but we both were concerned that his late model R1100RT BMW would indeed be the pure bred street bike that would have a nearly impossible time on the back roads of Mexico. Between February and April Mark wound up selling his RT and with just 10 days to go buying a 1995 R100GS! We'll be cutting the paperwork and documentation pretty fine, hoping the customs agent in Mexico will accept notorized, sealed copies of title application and original registration in Mark's name. If not then he'll stay state-side and tour off-road in Big Bend NP and I'll continue as planned, and we'll hook up at Lake Belton.
Another coincidence is Don from BMW of Ft Worth, riding a late model R1150GSA, having just returned from a week in the canyon. Don is a wealth of information and inspiration.

Sometimes it seems all the signposts point the same direction.

I hope this will be an informative, entertaining, inspiring spot - thanks for sigining on!
RTx (Randy)