Final Agenda & Bike Preparation

Well, it is a little over 2 weeks now until launch time, and final preparations are being done. Jenn has completed her "Erin Document" which can be used for Erin's caregivers over the 19 days we are gone. Jenn's mom will watch her for the remainder of the first week we are gone, Jenn’s friend and associate from work Breau will help us out the next week, and Uncle Larry and Aunt Caroline will take her to Aiken for the last week (Thanksgiving).  We cannot say thank you enough to these folks who allow us to do these rides. This should be the last one however, as the plan is for her to accompany us in future years.

We spent a lot of time last week finalizing our arrangements with the help of our friend Andrea. Funny how we take things for granted in the US. A prime example was the Baja Northern Ferry reservation (Guaymas to Santa Rosalia). Weeks ago I had sent an email to them asking how I could arrange passage for us, our motorcycles, and an overnight cabin. I never heard back and assumed that it was either ignored as I didn’t do the request in Spanish and it came to someone who didn’t understand it, or it simply went unread. I had tried to call, but all of the numbers that I could find were disconnected. Multiple requests to ADVRider and Horizons Unlimited (Adventure rider sights) for information came back with responses about the unreliability of that service. Anyway, a good number was found and when Andrea made the call, they said that the reservation for Martin was booked for the dates we requested and everything was set. I ASSUMED they would respond with a message confirming my request. Damn western thinking! Anyway turned out this was a non-issue and the sleepless hours worrying about it were in vain.  Ha sido una putada

A lot of time was also spent arranging for Mexican Vehicle Insurance (a must in Mexico), arranging for evacuation (people & machines) insurance, and pre-registration for our Vehicle Importation Permits. Seems there is an issue with folks taking bikes across the border and selling them at a profit without required import duties. So as of June 2011, we have to post a $400 (cash or credit) bond on each bike which will be refunded when we leave the country.  

Although I have been rambling along about everything BUT Bike Prep, we did do some things this week to get them ready. As we needed to spoon on some new tires, I had heard a lot of good things about the Dunlop 606’s, but Jenn rightfully convinced me that we should stick with the tire that we have had extremely good service from in our last 2 trips, and has yet to let us down, the Continental TKC80’s. So they were ordered and installed.

We also did some basic maintenance, cleaning and re-oiling the air filters, checked coolants, and fixed some miner electrical problems. Next week we will perform a “T Clock” (thx Mike), change oil, lube chains/cables, and install the new replaceable fuel filters that I found. 

Next ............ Final Bike Prep!  

Preparation

Well preparing for this trip has been going on for 2 years but with urgency over the last 3 months. We laid out out agenda and then worked to find accommodations to match our travel days. We have that completed except for a couple of places that will require a fluent Spanish speaker to complete. A Mexican friend of ours is coming over the night of the  October18th to finally put the final touches on the agenda below:

Day	Date	Start	End	Miles	To Do	Lodging
Wed	9-Nov	Atlanta	Presidio	1356	Sleep	Three Palms Inn
Thu	10-Nov	Presidio	Creel	411	Get Across the Border	Plaza Mexicana Margarita
Fri	11-Nov	Copper Canyon			Valle de los Monjes
Sat	12-Nov	Creel	Batopilas	156	Lunch In Batopilas
Sun	13-Nov	Creel	Yecora	209	Ride	LOS CHAMPIÑONES
Mon	14-Nov	Yecora	Guaymas	252	Ferry (8PM-6AM)	Ferry Cabin
		Guaymas	Santa Rosalia
Tues	15-Nov	Santa Rosalia	Guerrero Negro	138	Breakfast in San Ignacio	Malarrimo Motel
Wed	16-Nov	Guerrero Negro			Whale Watching or San Francisco Cave Paintings
Thu	17-Nov	Guerrero Negro	Bahia Gonzaga	144	Cocco's Corner	Alfonsina's Hotel
Fri	18-Nov	Bahia Gonzaga		100	Baja 1000	Alfonsina's Hotel
Sat	19-Nov	Bahia Gonzaga	Mulege	318	Ride	Casa Grande B&B
Sun	20-Nov	Mulege	La Paz	307	Ferry (5:00PM-10:00AM)	Ferry Cabin
		La Paz	Mazatlan, Mx
Mon	21-Nov	Mazatlan			Enjoy the beach	Mazatlan Ocean Front Inn B&B
Tue	22-Nov
Wed	23-Nov	Mazatlan	Durango, Mx	192	Devil's Backbone	Best Western Plaza Vizcaya
Thu	24-Nov	Durango	Hidalgo del Parral	257	Pancho Villa's Grave	Howard Johnson Hotel Parral
Fri	25-Nov	Hidalgo del Parral	Marathon Texas	361	Get back across the border and load truck	Gage Hotel
Sat	26-Nov	Marathon Texas	Atlanta	1262	Erin!	Home
Sun	27-Nov

The red boxes are the ones to be completed. I thought that I would give you all this so if you re following along, you would kind of know where we are planning to be. As I said preparation is two-headed, the agenda as listed above, and the bikes. We have spend a couple of years getting the bikes ready and all the mods to date can be seen in out last two blogs listed to the left. However, there is always something else that can be done.

Up Next Final Agenda & Bike Preparations!

Here we go again!

Well, after more than 2 years of planning, we are finally almost ready to get this ride underway. Mexico was actually my first choice for our dual sport initiation when we bought the KLR's 3 years ago, but my lovely wife suggested we should at least stay with an english speaking country for our first trip (rightfully so), so we went up the Dempster Highway to the arctic circle in 2009 (See Link Martin's Up and About). That was a great idea (yeah I am not afraid to admit she was right and I was wrong!). So we followed that trip with with a trip on the TAT (Trans America Trial) last year where we accompanied some dear friends of ours  (The Martin Bros) on a trip from Tennessee to Oklahoma (See Martin's Out and Around). This allowed us to both continue to hone our offroad skills, and see some of America's back roads. But Mexico and Copper Canyon was always the goal, and now the time is near.

OUR PLAN:

Our plan has basically 3 goals: (1)We wanted to see the fabled Copper Canyon in northwest Mexico, (2) drive the Devil's Spine (once listed as the 6th most dangerous road in the world), and (3) to catch a glimpse of the Baja 1000 motorcycle's as they rocket past us at speeds over 100 miles an hour! Although the goals were simple, the logistics to accomplish this was extensive to say the least. We carved out some time in November to match the Baja 1000 race timing, and used that to plan the timeing of our other 2 goals. That would include timing both a northern and southern overnight ferry across the Sea of Cortez between Baja and the Mexican mainland. Unfortunately, planning couldn't be finalized until Tecate released the final race map, which only happens about 1 month before the race to help minimize security risks. Well they finally posted the map and the "Loop Race" is occuring much farther north than has been done in previous alternating year races. So I adjusted the schedule and am now trying to finalize some last minute reservations. It was totally expected, but a pain the the a$$ none the less. So the final plan has been completed!

Next up..........OUR PREPERATION