Madera
Tuesday 3/30/2004
This morning we rode an hour to Guerrero for breakfast. The Restaurant La Cava was great, reputed to have some of the best food in the state.
Some pictures in Guerrero, and in the Restaurant La Cava.
Some beautiful country to ride through.
And some of the best twisty roads I can image to ride on… I’d do the trip again just to ride these roads again – but this time on my sport bike. There were beautiful rock formations on either side, hills, great lookout spots, and endless curves.
The waterfall (cascadia) at Basaseachi(c?). And a group picture of us at the lookout.
Group pic at the Basaseachi lookout.
After Basaseachi we were on to dirt roads for 57 miles. There were lots of great views, and a couple crazy bus drivers, one of which I had to dodge pretty hard. We met up at the other end in San Juanito, then headed up over the hills towards Creel. We saw lots of animals on this stretch, and Bob claims to have been attacked by another chicken. I believe it too, there were some mean looking chickens around.
Storm in front of us, evidently dumping snow. We got rained on for awhile, then the temp dropped as we rode up and eventually we rode through a short stretch where there were 5” of snow on the road. I can report that my riding jacket is definitely not waterproof, a T-shirt isn’t warm enough under a wet jacket, my TourMaster Cortech pants soak through the crotch like a sponge, and my gloves are not warm enough for snow. I was miserable, maybe the coldest I’ve ever had my hands. To top it off I had to cross tire ruts in 5” of slush and it splashed up a layer onto my pants, which then slid down into the front of my boots icing my feet! Then add an hour of so of riding and an hour or so of waiting around and you’ve got me about as uncomfortable as I’ve ever been.
At the hotel in Creel we moved a table and chairs out of the way and then all parked under the central gazebo. My bags weren’t waterproof and were on the top of the truck so most of my clothes were at least a little bit wet. Fortunately our room had a great propane heater, which I spent a half-hour or so in front of before getting warm and dry enough to have a beer with the guys.
The motel at Creel.
The motel has a restaurant/gathering area where we hung out by the fireplace and drank some margaritas. Dinner was great.
A shot Jay suggested to test my camera’s night capability.
A surprise shot of Dad hanging out on the porch.
Hanging out having a beer after dinner.