Mexico it is! What a day it was… But let’s start in Uvalde. Saturday we wanted to leave Uvalde to head for Mexico. Got up early at 6 to drive the final 100km to the border, but when we looked outside and saw the drizzle we decided to wait a few hours. We left around noon and decided not to cross the border. We drove to Eagle Pass, the US border town where we spent the night in a cheap-club motel.
Very Mexican already and we got ourselves some real super tacos morales.

Sunday morning we went to cross the Mexican border at Piedras Negras. Because it was sunday is was really quiet so it all went really smooth. The plan was to make some miles and not stay close to the border. It seemed that the temperature rose with 20 degreess when entering Mexico. All of a sudden we were riding in summer….really warm. When we stopped for a drink, Roels bike didn’t want to start again….but after some proper cursing we found the electrical problem. Everyone wanted to talk to us asking where we’re from, where we’re heading etc and wanted to take pictures of the gringo’s.

When we got to Monclova and wanted to look for a motel, Steve’s bike quit running. All day his machine already suffered from a high oil temperature… So we were forced to stop at a junction in order to make a plan. Instantly a car with family stopped and asked if they could help and after that some other guy. Roel wanted to look for a place to stay and U-turned his bike where it was forbidden. So a police car pulled him over and wanted to give him a “ticket”. But somehow when the friendly people around us started filming the situation we got a police escort (with the lights!) to a hotel. After the police was gone and we got ourselves a room, we wanted to celebrate this day with some beers but because it was sunday they were not allowed to sell us some cold beers (after we had this long day in the heat). The hotel clerk said that his uncle could help us out and in a few moments we could get our “package” from a red car…..
So here we are drinking our 2 sixpacks in some nice hotel with internet. Tomorrow we gonna look after the bikes.

Adios Amigos

A quick post.

After we left Monclova, we had a terrific ride to Arteaga. Through the desert…Great views, empty roads. Breathtaking.
In Monclova we spent a day repairing Steve´s bike (read: shorten the list with manco´s).  Spent a day in a mexican garage watching others repairing the front brake, the battery and broken rear view mirror. The high oil temperature wasn´t a problem according to them.

The day after (Tuesday) we stayed in Monclova due to the weather, so finally on Wednesday we headed for Arteaga.

Arteaga is quiet place near Saltillo. We had a walk through the village and enjoyed the view with some corona´s.

Pictures soon…hopefully

On Thursday we left Arteaga and had the best ride so far. Mountains, deserts….and potholes. Trying to avoid those and enjoying the best views. What a ride! A long day, not because of the mileage but because we had to stop several times to cool Steve´s bike and one time Steve´s bike stopped itself. The “repaired” front brake, wasn´t that good repaired after all. Going to be an adventure already.

Late in the afternoon we finally arrived in Parras. A nice little town. Found a hotel and went to bed early….totally knackered.

Today we had our rest day, got our laundry done and someone had another Mexican look at Steve´s front brake. And most important, we enjoyed the nice warm weather.

Adios

Right now we are in Guadalupe Victoria. We hoped we could make to Durango today, but Steve’s bike had other plans…..

A compilation of our last days in Mexico:

In Monclova Steve’s bike got some maintenance.

The route to Arteaga was great

After a long day we enjoyed the last minutes of mexican winter sun in Arteaga

Next day we headed for Parras. This is how the Mexican truckdrivers do it…

The route to Parras was beautiful and warm.

Every hour we had to stop to cool down Steve’s bike…

We spent two days in Parras, a nice little town. Steve’s bike needed another Mexican look at his front brake. Next day we wanted to take the yellow route towards Torreon….not knowing that the yellow route was rocks, sand and pot-holes. Proper Off-road for 80 km, but with some Black Elephant training a few months ago…we had a blast.

Not only Steve’s bike needed to cool down….

In the middle of the Sierra de Parras

All we are is dust in the wind….

That day we only covered 140 km, but dusty and tired we found a hotel in Matamoros. Only 18 euros for two rooms, including hot water…!

Today (sunday) we hit the road early to go to Durango. But Steve’s bike really needs a mechanic now. The carburettor might be the problem. Today we suffered from severe head winds.  That in combination with the height of 2000m resulted in a bike that really didn’t want to ride….well.
We stopped to help a fellow biker with a flat tire. He had been waiting for over 2 hours and no Mexican stopped for help. And all of a sudden three Dutch Dangleberries came around the corner and had all the tools he needed. He was really grateful and thanked us as if we were a god’s gift! It was the least we could do after being helped by others the last few weeks. (Dave!)

The severe head wind made us stop in Guadalupe Victoria.

Tomorrow we’re heading for Durango, to stay some days and hopefully find someone who knows about carburettors, hot engines, front brakes, and tachometers…. Good news is: all bikes are still running, maybe not as wanted, but that’s all part the trip….we guess.

Thanks for all the comments! Adios amigos…