Hidalgo del Parral, Guachochi, Batopilas, Creel
I have embarked on what I hope will be a 4 month, 17,000 mile motorcycle ride through the US and parts of Mexico and Canada to visit family and friends and to benefit Children International. Please consider supporting me – learn more here Will's Charity Ride for Children International - PledgeIt
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April 14, 2024
This blog post covers this itinerary from my arrival in Hidalgo del Parral late on April 7 after 415 butt numbing miles from Matzatlan through the adventures riding in the wind to Guachochi, down the canyon to Batopilas and back up including what happens when an 850lbs motorcycle stops moving forward going up a rocky steep incline, to the adventures in the Copper Canyon Adventure Park, meeting 3 cool young Chihuahuahenses on April 12.
Hidalgo del Parral
I've arrived! Last long day 415 miles y me duele el trasero. Upon arriving in Parral, Chihuahua México, I went to a cafe to chill and get my bearings of Parral and was gifted this dessert after an employee asked why I had come to Parral. I explained that I was on a charity ride for Children International and she gifted me this dessert.
I visited the Pancho (Francisco) Villa Museum
Anyone recall this slogan used in 1980 in a US Army recruiting advertisement?
Guachochi (Brief stop over on my way to Batopilas.)
Batopilas
Here is a nugget!
I was going to narrate this, but I don't have a quiet space in which to do that. So here's a bit of descrption of what you're going to see here. It is a video of the worst section of the hairpin turns on the road into and out of Batopilas, Chihuahua. Briefly, it is a town that was founded in the early 1700s when a silver mining claim was made. Since then, for about 150 years, it has produced millions of USD in silver. As a testiment to the wealth it was creating, in the late 1800s, Batopilas was the 2nd place in Mexico to get electicity after Mexico City.
Flash foward, the video has 2 segments, in the first segment I am riding down the Batopilas canyon, a very steep canyon with a road that was paved more than 40 years ago. So today it has a LOT of potholes, and deep ones, and assorted rocks that continue to fall from the steep sides of the canyon, as well there are various places where there have been repeated rock slides, to the extent that whatever pavement eve existed, it is buried deep ounder the rubble.
Youll see that I traverse this particulare rockslide segment pretty easily on the downard side.
The 2nd segment of the video is just that section as I climb out of Batopilas canyon. This section challenged me more climbing than the previous day. That said, what youll is all on me. While the bike is not designed for this kindf of terrain, it can totally do it. So as youll, it was not my best work. Unfortunately, the camera overheated and stopped recoridng before I eventually resolved the challenge. At the end, youll see me walk ahead of the bike to clear my head and calm myself.
Creel
On Friday I arrived at the Copper Canyon Adventure Park and decided to go on the 7 zipline and 2 suspensión bridge tour.
Flying over the 7 canyons on the ziplines is where I met these 3 young men from Chihuahua, Oscar, Gabriel, and Andres who were there celebrating Oscar's 25th birthday.
Afterwards we chatted about life in Mexico, the US, marriage. We also drank a little beer.
Copper Canyon Adventure Park
This section alone would have been enough of a trip for me. From riding those dirt roads (good job getting the bike up right but more so not sliding down that cliff) to the drinks with new friends and then the ziplining........sheesh you've already done more than most!!!! Keep the stories coming!!!
ReplyDeleteI just figured out how to put my name in instead of anonymous....That was me commenting
DeleteYea, I appreciate knowing who is commenting. But for sure prior to falling, I did NOT take the best line. Totally my bad performance, not the bike.
DeleteFun! Did you break early 😉
ReplyDeleteNo, I did not. It happened to the others as well.
DeleteThe suspension bridge looks very high from the ground and you walking across gives me a fright . I would be crawling access😂
ReplyDeleteYea, I did not like it at all. For me, it was more frightening than the ziplines.
Delete