upwithit

La Antigua, Guatemala to Santa Rosa, Honduras to Tegucigalpa, Honduras We got an early start out of Antigua, leaving our lavish hotel behind us as we rode down nearly-deserted cobblestone streets.

We departed Taxco and headed for Oaxaca where we spent the night. The next day we went from Oaxaca on to Tehuantepec and finally to Tapachula near the border of Guatemala. There was a large variety of riding – from excellent road surfaces in the mountains with twisty-turnies and smooth banked turns to riding smooth…

We had a fascinating stay in San Miguel – Harriet and Derek’s hospitality was superb and we thoroughly enjoyed their friends. We wanted to stay longer, but Helge has us on a “forced march” itinerary. It was great to see Marge – – she turned out to be a godsend for the trip – not…

We started the day by changing out the spring on my rear shock absorber. Vincent pulled the shock out in only 15 minutes and we ended up using a moderately heavy spring replacement. We couldn’t use the entire shock assembly because it made the bike too high (I like to be able to touch me…

We left Zacatecas and headed towards San Miguel. It was 36 degrees with heavy fog at the time and my 5 layers of clothing was still insufficient – – 36 degrees at 80 mph – I hate to think what the windchill is. To make matters even worse, it was drizzling – the first rain…

The ferry arrived in Mazatlán where we gassed up the bikes.

We awoke and had a leisurely breakfast – I had gone to bed at 5:30 last night and woke at 7:45 assuming I had missed breakfast (but it was still night). Packing a leisurely 12 hour sleep, I woke up amazingly refreshed, without back pain and ready to attack the world. Here is the view…

We had a relatively short trip today (as the crow flies) – – we went south along the coast for a short distance and then turned inland over a mountain range (approximately 1,500 feet) with a lot of twists and turns and steep hills and descents. We reached a straight boring road on a desert…

We left Guerrero Negro in the morning amid a pea soup fog and it was difficult to see more than 200 yards ahead. The road was wet and the fog collected on the helmet visor like rain.

It’s interesting to me that the Orcas (killer whales) that frequent the areas north of the Washington and Oregon coast don’t follow the gray whales south for easy pickings (more fat, bigger families, and the expansion of the herds). Apparently they are satisfied to knock off a few salmon appetizers chased by a seal or…