July 14, 2013

Miles today: 0

Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes

Marco and I took a taxi down to Centro in Aguascalientes. Of course I forgot to take my camera with me.

We visited the monument marking the center of Mexico.

Spent some time at a display for the Mexican Army and did a short tour of the Centro area.

I did not have internet when I stopped in Cedral. Was planning on catching up on the ride report when I got to Marco's. His internet had been down for the last two days. We found a cafe with wifi but the signal was too low to do any work on the RR. We did get to check email and then headed back to the house to get the supplies for the rally packed and ready to go.

That afternoon Eric, a mechanic stopped by and checked out the bikes for us. A couple of minor adjustments and they were ready to continue on the trip.

Felipe arrived later from Mazatlan and will be riding with us down to Morelia.

That evening a few people stopped by for pizza and beer. Marco is an English instructor and he had also invited a couple of his students to come by so that they could hear what "Southern" sounds like. Later we put the bikes to bed and called it a night.

Luis, Eric, Marco, me, and Felipe

Always have to have a picture of a lovely Senorita (Tere) on your bike.

As most of them do, she came with baggage attached. (Tere and Luis)

Miles today: 213
Total miles: 2,112

Time on road: 4 hours 30 minutes

Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes to Morelia, Michoacán

Today's plan was to be on the road around 11;00. And like all plans......

Marco had been sick for the last few days and was not up to riding. A quick trip to the Doctor and a few prescriptions later and he was back to the house. He was going to take a short nap and we would leave around 1:00 pm. Luis arrived soon after and finished getting his bike ready.

Marco was in a deep sleep and around 2:30 we woke him up. Felipe's wife was going to meet him in Morelia and he needed to get on the road. We decided that the best approach would be for the three of us to start the trip and give Marco more time to recover. He would ride down the next morning assuming that he was well enough to ride.

We were on the road around 3:00 and made our way through Aguascalientes.

Everyone needs a chicken or two.

Traffic light entertainment.

Luis:

Felipe:

Finally on the open road and heading South.

Reached the hotel around 7:30 thanks to Luis (my GPS was sending me about 3 blocks in the opposite direction) and Lupeta was out front to greet us, or at least to greet Felipe. Checked in to the hotel, unloaded the bikes and then headed out to dinner.

Felipe and Lupeta:

Lupeta trying to convince me that beef spine soup is actually meant to be eaten.

Morelia, Michoacán

Luis, Felipe, Lupeta, and I headed to Centro for breakfast and a short tour of the area. I'm thinking that it is the middle of July. T-shirts are fine. I needed my jacket. I stayed cold almost the entire day. Temperature finally got up into the low 70s.

Morelia's ancient aqueduct system was built in 1785, has 253 arches, and is the heart of the city.

Fuente Las Tarascas was built in the year 1937. It was constructed of cement and clay on wire, decorated with snails as a representation of man (in hieroglyphics native) declaring their handmade nature, as well as the three women impersonating Graceful Indian princesses: Atzimba, Erendira and Tzetzangari.

To get inside the restaurant where we had breakfast, you must first go under one of the arches in the aqueduct.

Lupeta and Felipe

Lupeta, Felipe, and Luis

Some people believe that Lupeta is really an angel.

We returned to the hotel and had already chosen the restaurant for dinner later on.

Marco was at long last on his way down. My wife (Lois) had been following his progress by way of his SPOT page. Later I received a call from Marco and he said that he would be in Morelia within 30 minutes. Over an hour later, still no Marco. I called Lois who was over 2,000 miles away from us to find out where Marco was. Marco was only 17 kilometers from the hotel.

Marco finally arrived, unloaded his bike, and we were off to dinner.

July 17, 2013

Morelia, Michoacán

Most of the time time today has been spent helping to get the hotel setup for the rally so there is nothing really to write about. Vendor booths are ready and they should start setting up in the morning.

Registration for the riders will open at 12:00 tomorrow, rider's meeting at 7:00 pm. Next two days are going to be busy with very sleep.

Stopped in for a quick lunch

A few pictures of the hotel

Morelia, Michoacán

Early morning breakfast, a short board member meeting, and then everyone started finishing up getting the hotel ready for the rally.

The Pilotos (riders) begin arriving.

Bringing in the display bikes.

Lupeta is getting ready to open the registration table.

Registration is open and the pilotos are starting to line up.

Lupeta with her happy face on.
Felipe thinking "Should I be brave and stay or go ahead and run now."

Getting ready for the press conference.

Pilotos pre-ride meeting.

Mexican Desire was really, really, really happy when she found out that she had three lovely senoritas watching out for her.

First bike out will be tomorrow morning at 3:00 am.

Morelia, Michoacán

Wake up call was at 2:45. It had been raining most of the night and was continuing to do so. First bike was to start at 3:00 am.

The gates were opened and waiting on the Pilotos.

The Pilotos soon began arriving.

Pilotos waiting for their odometer reading and start time. Rain had almost totally stopped.

Odometer and time check and they are ready to go.

Two hours later and they were are gone. Staff can now retire for some sleep.

6:30 and we received a call that a bike had gone down. It seems that the piloto had gone into a curve too hot, hit the guard rail, resulting in a broken leg.

Rest of the day will give us a short break while waiting on the pilotos to return sometime during the late hours of tonight.

Morelia, Michoacán

After a couple of hours of sleep we were up at the crack of dawn, or, maybe a little after.

Went on a little search for breakfast/lunch.

Barbque goat sounds good.

Marco, me, and Eric

Marco, totally wide awake after last night.

Our new neighbors sharing the table with us.

All is still quite in the staging area.

I had a little free time and used it to walk back down to Centro. Met Luis and Tere while I was wandering around. We continued the walk until rain came in and we had to take a taxi back to the hotel.

End of the Aqueduct