Which Way Did They Go? Daze 1-4
The trip begins simply enough. Rather than the 'slab' we decided to take secondary roads from Arlington to Presidio TX, with the exception of I-20 to get from my house to SH377. That wound us down past Granbury to Stephenville where it became RT67, our pathway for the rest of the US portion of the trip, then through Dublin past the Dr Pepper Plant and finally to Brownwood, our first night's stop - Lake Brownwood SP. The Park is on the north side of the lake, up RT276 from town about 15 miles. It is well marked, and the primitive camping facilities are right on the water. By the time we got there and set up the restaurants in town were closing, so we ate just outside the gate at Bubba's Grill, 3$ membership required for beer. Cowboy hats and shorts separated (more and more as the evening wore on) by a beer gut seemed to be the dress code.
In the morning we pressed back into Brownwood for a friendly and filling breakfast and gas-up, and continued down RT67, eventually joining I-10 west just before Ft Stockton and separating again just after. This, if anywhere, was the the doldrums of the trip, and my biggest gripe about riding in Texas - you have to pay some monster dues somewhere to get to the good stuff. Hour upon hour of flat, hot, windy terrain. Things start picking up around Alpine, where 67 puts a little wiggle in its walk. In Marfa we stopped at the Pizza Factory - an unassuming building right on the highway - for a monster 'za and some killer slushes. HIGHLY recommended! Now the mountains were drawing us forward and we could see the true beginning of our trip. Just north of Presidio is the Priata Inn Hotel, a clean, typically American structure with a 10X20 pool (no diving) inside a 15X25 iron fence that is locked approximately 5 minutes before you arrive. For a cool 65$ you can unload your bikes and lay in airconditioned comfort while watching 30 channels on TV - half of them in English.
The next day was the border crossing, where 67 becomes MEX16 or so. I say "or so" because no two maps will agree with the signage on the roadside, and the only real way to tell where you are is where you get to (bad grammar, but it's the truth). A traveler should gather as many maps of the area in Mexico as possible, as each will have not only different route numbers but different villages, towns and cities as well, and the most consistent route guidance was an arrow and a name such as - --->CUAUHTEMOC 249km, usually positioned on the other side of a bus or 18-wheeler as you are passing or at the apex of a tight downhill turn. Another method is to take a pair of dice, roll them, and either use face value or add them together to get the proper number of digits to match the choice of roads with which you are presented. My strategic planning was done from GuiaRoji Por las carreteras de Mexico 2004, available at Mapsco, but tactical path-finding came from a Mexican Tourist Council state map of Chihuahua (supposedly available at border crossings and toll-booths, but in fact presented to us over breakfast by an ex-pat who heard us lamenting our situation).
MEX16 quickly ascends and descends and twists and turns and welcomes you to Mexico. It crosses Canon del Peguis, a fissure reminiscent of the Rio Grande near Sante Fe NM, just before the first military checkpoint. You will soon notice that at the apex of many turns (right next to the ---> sign) is a shrine of varying size - from simple white cross to full scale one room sanctuary. These usually have no pull off nearby, and so the only reflection you can make for the departed is to pray silently inside your helmet that you do not join them as you swerve back onto line from trying to read the ---> sign.You can enjoy this part, as there are few, if any, route deviations possible. Arriving in Chihuahua, however, the way is immediately disguised by city traffic - with crossing streets, crossing pedestrians, inviting avenues, and reversed signage. Don't be afraid to take your wife's advice for once and stop at a PeMex Gas station to ask directions. Ask often and take a consensus, for the Mexican people do not want to disappoint a traveler by appearing ignorant so they will always answer your question, correctly or not. Having made it through city center, MEX16 winds out into country quickly and at Santa Isabel you will have a choice of 16Cuarto or 16Libre. Cuarto means "toll" and a straight-ish shot on good pavement. Libre has something to do with Rum and Coke; why that applies to a road I'm not sure except that 16Libre twists and turns and hunts down a path like a drunk in search of a banos through some breath-taking hills between Chihuahua and Cuauhtemoc north of the more sedate 16Cuarto. Take it and enjoy it. When you get to Cuauhtemoc relax in a Mennonite run hotel that is clean and cheap and the very definition of austere.
My plan took us from Cuauhtemoc to Basaseachi Falls (Cascada de Basaseachi) to Creel, so the following morning we were back on MEX16 towards Guerrero, but following the arrows where it splits from CHH16 at La Junta some 46Km later. Km, kilometers, clicks. How do you convert? I'm no math whiz, so BMW specially designed my speedometer to double as a calculator. 100km/h is 62mph, and 200 is 124, with all the 10's in between marked out. So I could find 46km as 27miles. Or multiply km times .625 to get miles, whichever was easier. Anyway, at each stop, each segment of the journey, my traveling partner and I would look at each other and say 'It CAN'T get any better!", but it always did. This section into Basaseachi was just awesome and dispelled any myths about the quality of Mexican roads. The danger was simply that while the road begged to be ridden hard the scenery demanded appreciation and the laws of physics required a choice. There was no way for me to balance without the risk of shorting one or the other. So I lagged behind and rubbernecked.
Another military checkpoint at the juncture of MEX16 and what is shown as MEX23 rural to San Juanito opened up a new world to me - dirt road riding. This was a bladed, relatively smooth and clear hard-packed dirt road that I think virtually any motorcycle could travel in dry weather, albeit at a lower than normal speed. There was something about having to keep an eye for wandering livestock that made it spicy, and the views were indescribable, so I won't try. The road signs were faded out, but looked like Capt. America's shield, with a blank spot where the road number should have been. The mileage, er, kilometer markers were clear, however, and are your best (only) indication that you took the correct fork at the white cross 5 minutes ago. San Juanito appears like a Wild West town, half paved, half dirt - dust and burros everywhere - but with a PeMex station. From there CHH23 (Chihuahua State Highway) lets you cruise and appreciate the scenery (rather than your dentistry) to Creel, our destination for the day.
In the morning we pressed back into Brownwood for a friendly and filling breakfast and gas-up, and continued down RT67, eventually joining I-10 west just before Ft Stockton and separating again just after. This, if anywhere, was the the doldrums of the trip, and my biggest gripe about riding in Texas - you have to pay some monster dues somewhere to get to the good stuff. Hour upon hour of flat, hot, windy terrain. Things start picking up around Alpine, where 67 puts a little wiggle in its walk. In Marfa we stopped at the Pizza Factory - an unassuming building right on the highway - for a monster 'za and some killer slushes. HIGHLY recommended! Now the mountains were drawing us forward and we could see the true beginning of our trip. Just north of Presidio is the Priata Inn Hotel, a clean, typically American structure with a 10X20 pool (no diving) inside a 15X25 iron fence that is locked approximately 5 minutes before you arrive. For a cool 65$ you can unload your bikes and lay in airconditioned comfort while watching 30 channels on TV - half of them in English.
The next day was the border crossing, where 67 becomes MEX16 or so. I say "or so" because no two maps will agree with the signage on the roadside, and the only real way to tell where you are is where you get to (bad grammar, but it's the truth). A traveler should gather as many maps of the area in Mexico as possible, as each will have not only different route numbers but different villages, towns and cities as well, and the most consistent route guidance was an arrow and a name such as - --->CUAUHTEMOC 249km, usually positioned on the other side of a bus or 18-wheeler as you are passing or at the apex of a tight downhill turn. Another method is to take a pair of dice, roll them, and either use face value or add them together to get the proper number of digits to match the choice of roads with which you are presented. My strategic planning was done from GuiaRoji Por las carreteras de Mexico 2004, available at Mapsco, but tactical path-finding came from a Mexican Tourist Council state map of Chihuahua (supposedly available at border crossings and toll-booths, but in fact presented to us over breakfast by an ex-pat who heard us lamenting our situation).
MEX16 quickly ascends and descends and twists and turns and welcomes you to Mexico. It crosses Canon del Peguis, a fissure reminiscent of the Rio Grande near Sante Fe NM, just before the first military checkpoint. You will soon notice that at the apex of many turns (right next to the ---> sign) is a shrine of varying size - from simple white cross to full scale one room sanctuary. These usually have no pull off nearby, and so the only reflection you can make for the departed is to pray silently inside your helmet that you do not join them as you swerve back onto line from trying to read the ---> sign.You can enjoy this part, as there are few, if any, route deviations possible. Arriving in Chihuahua, however, the way is immediately disguised by city traffic - with crossing streets, crossing pedestrians, inviting avenues, and reversed signage. Don't be afraid to take your wife's advice for once and stop at a PeMex Gas station to ask directions. Ask often and take a consensus, for the Mexican people do not want to disappoint a traveler by appearing ignorant so they will always answer your question, correctly or not. Having made it through city center, MEX16 winds out into country quickly and at Santa Isabel you will have a choice of 16Cuarto or 16Libre. Cuarto means "toll" and a straight-ish shot on good pavement. Libre has something to do with Rum and Coke; why that applies to a road I'm not sure except that 16Libre twists and turns and hunts down a path like a drunk in search of a banos through some breath-taking hills between Chihuahua and Cuauhtemoc north of the more sedate 16Cuarto. Take it and enjoy it. When you get to Cuauhtemoc relax in a Mennonite run hotel that is clean and cheap and the very definition of austere.
My plan took us from Cuauhtemoc to Basaseachi Falls (Cascada de Basaseachi) to Creel, so the following morning we were back on MEX16 towards Guerrero, but following the arrows where it splits from CHH16 at La Junta some 46Km later. Km, kilometers, clicks. How do you convert? I'm no math whiz, so BMW specially designed my speedometer to double as a calculator. 100km/h is 62mph, and 200 is 124, with all the 10's in between marked out. So I could find 46km as 27miles. Or multiply km times .625 to get miles, whichever was easier. Anyway, at each stop, each segment of the journey, my traveling partner and I would look at each other and say 'It CAN'T get any better!", but it always did. This section into Basaseachi was just awesome and dispelled any myths about the quality of Mexican roads. The danger was simply that while the road begged to be ridden hard the scenery demanded appreciation and the laws of physics required a choice. There was no way for me to balance without the risk of shorting one or the other. So I lagged behind and rubbernecked.
Another military checkpoint at the juncture of MEX16 and what is shown as MEX23 rural to San Juanito opened up a new world to me - dirt road riding. This was a bladed, relatively smooth and clear hard-packed dirt road that I think virtually any motorcycle could travel in dry weather, albeit at a lower than normal speed. There was something about having to keep an eye for wandering livestock that made it spicy, and the views were indescribable, so I won't try. The road signs were faded out, but looked like Capt. America's shield, with a blank spot where the road number should have been. The mileage, er, kilometer markers were clear, however, and are your best (only) indication that you took the correct fork at the white cross 5 minutes ago. San Juanito appears like a Wild West town, half paved, half dirt - dust and burros everywhere - but with a PeMex station. From there CHH23 (Chihuahua State Highway) lets you cruise and appreciate the scenery (rather than your dentistry) to Creel, our destination for the day.
posted by Randy Masters at 8:07 AM
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