U-Turns, Tumbles, and TV

Day 10 - Monday, November 11th
Cruising around Guadalajara (David and Gary)
Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara (Jim, Alex, and Jay)

We (David and Gary) opted to forego the wake-up call, so the sun was high in the sky when we cracked our little eyelids. We dilly-dallied around the hotel and made some calls to our Mexican contacts to try and arrange an interview for later that evening. A few years ago, while doing a music video in Tijuana, Gary befriended a Mexican filmmaker, Omar Vetya. Omar gave us the name of Galo, who forwarded us on to Mauro, a producer for a Guadalajara television station. We made a plan to meet later that night at the TV station after we would be reunited with Alex, Jim and Jay

Gary Meets Mauro
David and Gary went down to the bikes to try the satellite phone. The night before they had tried to connect for an e-mail session, but the phone did not seem to work. The power came on fine, but during its startup routine and self-diagnostic, it went blank and never came back. Well, this morning it still didn't work. It seems for the phone, unlike the riders, a little rest is not all it takes. A quick call to SkySite in Los Angeles was not very encouraging. To Seth, it sounded "critical." He suggested undoing all the connections and hooking everything back up, but to no avail. Sadly, we knew that until we shipped it back, it would be nothing more than dead weight. Oh well, it was great while it lasted.

To kill some time until the others arrived, David and Gary went out into the city for some shopping. First stop was the Plaza del Sol mall. Attention professional shoppers: Guadalajara should be your first stop in Mexico. The mall was modern and well stocked with the latest fashions. The Christmas decorations were up, reminding us that wherever we found ourselves during the holidays, there would be no White Christmas this year.

Is That Buddy Holly under those Foster Grants?

David went looking for a pair of regular, no-prescription glasses. All of the riders while riding use their Scott goggles with a tinted lens. Due to the dust, bugs, and wind, they are imperative for riding. However when we are riding around at night, the shaded lenses are less practical (and look funny). To increase night vision, switching from the goggles to a clear, non-prescription pair of glasses offers eye protection and makes it easier to see. And since there are absolutely no lights on Mexican roads, clear night vision is crucial. Often the only warning of a bump in the road or a cuve ahead is from the brake lights of the vehicles ahead.

We went downtown to look for a bilingual dictionary and ran head-on into Guadalajara's finest. "Por Su Seguridad," as it says on the sides of their vehicles, is absolutely right. To protect the rest of the general public from us reckless American motorcyclists, they pulled us over for making an illegal U-Turn on a six-lane road with no oncoming traffic. While they were looking over our identification, David occupied them with tales of cancer and children in need. They began to intimidate us with talk of fines and confiscating our licenses, and even insinuated paying the "fine" on the spot. Whether it was our story of selflessness, our friendly faces, or our insistence that "no entendemos", we soon were laughing together and swapping helmets for photo opportunities. (Sorry, but we didn't have the Ricoh digital camera, so you'll just have to believe us.) Overall, our poker hand was better than theirs.

So far, the police in Mexico have been very hands-off. We were mentally prepared for shake-downs at every checkpoint and in every city, but the only times we've interacted with them have been by our prompting - asking directions and usually getting a blue-light special escort (as in Mexicali). The letter we have through Omar has so far remained dormant in Gary's dusty tankbag. This letter, written by the current head of the Federales, the National Police Force of Mexico, asks all state and local officials, law enforcement officers, and the like to assist us in any way possible as we travel through Mexico. The letter is on official stationary and mentions us individually by name! Omar got this little gem for us; his father was a high-ranking officer in the police force, now retired. Just goes to show you, it's all about who you know. Thanks a million, Omar!

Back at the hotel, Jim, Jay and Alex arrived from Puerto Vallarta with a foursome of German motorcyclists in tow. Immediately, it was a cacophony of road stories from our days apart, and it was easily apparent that Jim, Alex and Jay's stories took the prize.

Their Story

Alex, Jim and Jay had to tear themselves away from the Westin Regina Hotel in Puerto Vallarta, which wasn't easy. They knew things could only go downhill, in terms of comfort, but the road called and David and Gary awaited. They took the free (libre) roads from Puerto Vallarto to Guadalajara, travelling via Compostela. Just past Compostela, they rode through a beautiful stretch of land formed by relatively recent lava flow.

The ride was tough - lots of turns, wind, fast trucks and busses and aggressive passing. And then came the first moving mishap. Worst of all, or best of all depending on how you look at it, it only involved our own riders.

Jim was approaching a stretch of road under repair where a flagman stood signaling. Alex was riding behind Jim. The signals the flagman gave were ambiguous, so Jim continued to slow and finally stopped when it was clear that was what the man wanted him to do. Alex, not seeing the flagman's furious signals, was under the impression Jim was going to slow down and then continue around the roadwork. But since Jim stopped, Alex tried to pass around the left side of Jim's now stationary motorcycle. He missed.

The front side of Alex's right Pelican case caught the rear of Jim's left case. The impact sent both bikes and riders to the pavement - not to worry, even in the blistering heat we wear our riding suits, and it was a very low speed collision. The bike damage included some bent levers and case hinges on Alex's bike, and two broken latches on Jim's right case - the case which was holding the NEC laptop! The only damage to the riders was Alex's slightly bruised ego.

When Jim and Alex caught up to Jay and reported their little accident, Alex's bike fell over again! Mala suerte--enough said.

On the final stretch into Guadalajara, which ascends into the mountains, the three met up with two German riders and their girlfriends. They were really nice and so excited to meet some fellow bikers. They were making their way from Alaska to South America on Husquaverna 350s. That's right - Germans riding Italian motorcycles! And they way they were riding was absolutely crazy. They rode next to each other talking while the two women on the backs hold hands to steady the bikes, panier sidecases bumping together all the while!

They rode with Jay, Alex and Jim to the Crown Plaza in Guadalajara where, now in the presence of David and Gary, the 4 Americans, 4 Germans and 1 Canadian spent 45 minutes swapping enthusiastic stories in the parking lot.

Badly needing to clean up and refresh, David and Gary's quiet room for two became a Motel 5. The floor quickly disappeared under an avalanche of bags and clothes, and the shower ran consistently for the next hour, denying every other guest in the hotel the opportunity for more than a drip.

Mauro, Gary and Jim on Camera
On a recommendation from Galo, we went Italian for dinner for the second time in as many weeks. We have Mexican almost three times a day and a change is nice. David and Gary had gotten used to the heavy urban traffic and were worried about 5 bikers successfully navigating the labyrinthian roadways together. Sure enough, Jim and Alex got separated from the group but their incredible instincts for food got them to the restaurant before the rest of the group. Excited about catching up on the past few days, our boisterous discussions during dinner may have changed the flavor of what was otherwise an intimate restaurant. We apologize to the other diners that evening.

Late for our interview at the TV station, we split the scene and once again attempted to convoy to the first high-profile media event of the Riding to the Moon adventure. Gary took the others on what appeared to be a wild goose chase, but miraculously got the group there with no wasted travel time. (Some are afraid this has given positive reinforcement to Gary's sniff-the-air, Dominos-pizza-delivering navigation techniques.)

Mauro and a video crew were awaiting us, and in no time, we were answering questions under the glare of lights. The interview took place curbside, surrounded by our mounts. Mauro introduced us in Spanish then asked each of us questions in English about the why's and wherefore's of the trip, translating the answers into the camera. We ended the interview with some drive-by wheelies (courtesy of Jay). If any of you were lucky enough to catch Telecable de Zapopan Channel 8 at 6:00 pm Friday the 15th, we hope we didn't embarrass ourselves.

We returned to the hotel where Jim, Alex, and Jay quickly hit the sack. David and Gary stayed up to work on the journals, not getting to bed till around 3:00 am (and y'all all better appreciate it, say the Georgia Boys!)

Miles - 30 miles (David and Gary) ; 210 (Alex, Jim, and Jay)

Day 11 - Monday, November 12
Guadalajara to San Miguel de Allende (David, Gary, and Alex)
Guadalajara to Lagos de Morena (Jim and Jay)

On this particular morning, Jim was the early bird - if you can call getting up at 8:30 a.m. an early bird. The others were sound asleep in the two double beds; it was Jim's turn on the floor which may explain his getting up first. He spent a couple hours working on the web stuff in the hotel coffee shop expecting to return to a room full of riders frantically wondering where he had gone. Instead, David was doing Yoga, and Jay, Alex, and Gary had yet to greet the day vertically.

The consensus was that we owed a debt to our readers, as we had yet to post any pictures and only 4 days worth of text. The satellite phone was out of commission, so we agreed to split up again; 15 hours together was enough!

We took our obligatory photo in front of the Crowne Plaza Hotel (we really are indebted to all of the hotels that have provided us with free rooms and hot showers along the way). David, Gary, and Alex rode off on their way to San Miguel de Allende to bask in natural hot springs, leaving Jim and Jay to spend the day in the city in search of an Internet connection.

It was noon and the day was hot. Having had no meal David, Gary and Alex were starving. Well, we shouldn't say starving because in these parts many people actually are. We crammed down a few enchiladas at a small nameless restaurant. Gary glanced at "la cuenta" and noticed that it was off... in our favor! "Pardon, Senora. La cuenta no es 43 pesos. Es 53, no?" The waitress looked at the bill, took it to her boss and came back with a very confident 43. They know their math, right or wrong. She got a nice tip.

Guadalajara, it seemed, didn't want us to leave. As we tried to get out of this culturally diverse and affluent big city, it seemed that all roads led back. Althought it is customary to ask directions many times to minimize our lack of understanding or their lack of ability to admit they simply do not know, on this day nothing but sheer blind luck and insanity guided us out. Only when we were a good 15km outside the city did we feel confident that we were headed in the right direction.

A quick note about getting directions in Mexico. As noted above, out of an abundance of courtesy, people will try to give you directions even when they have no idea how to direct you. After learning the hard way a few times that the person who gave detailed directions with the certitude of a map maker was completely clueless, one develops the ability to separate the pepper from the flyshit. That and asking again when approaching the destination.

For Whom the Bell Doesn't Toll

Seeing the sun well on a downward trend toward the horizon, David, Gary and Alex opted for the quick but expensive toll roads. In the past, kind toll-booth operators have agreed to allow two or three bikes to pass through for the price of one, but we hadn't succeeded doing this for a few days. Today, however, we tried with a vengeance. We pulled out the letter from the Federales and the one David acquired from an honorary Mexican consulate in America. Lo and behold, it worked and then some! We didn't get a discount, we got comped completely. It took a few minutes but it was ultimately well worth saving the 57 pesos each ($8 US). Ditto on the next toll booth. We learn a little faster than rats, but the cat got us on the third toll. No hay nada, no discount, no freebie. Bummed but still richer for the effort, we raced against the setting sun to San Miguel de Allende.

As usual, we spent the last 30 miles in darkness. But when we finally reached the city, it was a complete joy. The narrow cobblestone streets, colorful stucco facades, and old-style feeling dissolved away the cold and fatigue. Brilliantly navigating from the memory of his visit three years ago, David led the two others to a cozy hostal where he stayed before.

Before we even stepped foot in the door, the attendant-in-charge read off the rules and regulations for staying there. "We have to do what? Work?" It felt like summer camp - sleeping in a room with 7 bunk beds and chores in the morning - cleaning, mopping, and emptying the trashcans, etc. But what the hell. Not like we're on vacation or anything.

O Solo Mio....

After dumping our stuff, we headed out into the night and were immediately swept up in the romance of this exquisite villa. We wandered aimlessly for blocks, found a beautiful restaurant, and ate sopa de Azteca (highly recommended by David) while being serenaded by a sweet-voiced mariachi.

For David, it was a moment frozen in time, being the same restaurant and mariachi from his previous visit (where he had gone to celebrate the success of his chemotherapy). Unfortunately for him, this time his companions were two burly bikers instead of his beloved Yolanda.

The evening conversation back at the hostel with some fellow travellers kept David and Gary up for a few more hours while Alex decided to call it quits.

Jim and Jay spent the day at the Universidad Autonomo de Guadalajara. Jim got directions to the computer center, schlepping the notebook in one hand and his helmet in the other; meanwhile Jay took off to run some quick errands. At 1pm, the technical director told Jim to wait until 4pm at which time he could give Jim access to a computer to meet his needs. For the next 3 hours Jim feverishly finished up some some journal entries and pictures, and Jay entertained the Campus police with his newfound, albeit limited, Spanish vocabulary.

At the appointed hour, Jim and Jay, escorted by some pretty female coeds, made their way to the computer center. Jay waited in the lobby composing e-mail on the laptop while Jim met with Jorge Covarrubias who was amazingly helpful. He tore apart one computer to add memory to another for Jim to use. After using Telnet, two versions of FTP, and multiple e-mail servers, the task was complete and we had uploaded 4 more days worth of our journal and our first digital pictures!

Jim and Jay finally got out of the computer center at 7:30pm. By the time they gassed up and headed out of Guadalajara it was past 8:30pm and fully dark outside. Exiting Guadalajara was a nightmare of smoke, crazy drivers, fires burning, and people running in the streets.

They decided it was best to take the toll roads and get some miles under their belts and rode 153 freezing miles to Lagos de Moreno where they arrived at 12:30am at the Hotel Victoria. The room was cold and dirty, and the shower had one temperature - scalding. This was their reward for staying back to do the web work while their compatriots "basked in natural hot springs."

Miles - 222 miles (David, Gary and Alex) ; 153 miles (Jim and Jay)

Well everyone, we're halfway through Mexico and we hope you are enjoying the trip so far. If you are, or even if you aren't, think of those less fortunate than you and us, and make a donation to one of the charities. Click below to find out how. Thanks.

(This entry uploaded from the home/office of Chris Clarkson of Island Expeditions in Dangriga, Belize. Thanks Chris)