On Monday, November 12, I will be leaving to attend the 2012 Pata Salada Primer Aniversario and Saddlesore Challenge in Mazatlan, Mexico

2012 Pata Salada Primer Aniversario and Saddlesore Challenge
Mazatlan, Mexico

The Drei Team vs The Devil

Miles: 626
Time on road: 10 hours

Woodstock, GA to Lafayette, LA

As usual, first day of the ride is one of the most boring days for the ride report.

Got an early start so that I could miss the Atlanta rush hour traffic. Left the house around 4:45. Temperature was in the mid 50s, and traffic was light. Not a bad ride considering that it was interstate all of the way. I-75 into Atlanta, I-85 out of Atlanta to Montgomery, AL, I-65 to Mobile, AL. Around 30 miles outside of Mobile the rain started and continued for the next 125 miles. I-10 from Mobile and around Baton Rouge, LA got the sun back.

Tomorrow I will head down to Laredo, TX and get ready to cross into Mexico Wed morning.

Tomorrow's ride report will be just as bad as today's.

Miles: 549
Total miles: 1,175
Time on road: 9 hours

Lafayette, LA to Laredo, TX

As promised, today's report is just as bad as yesterday's.

Weather forecast had been showing for a week that after reaching southern LA, it would be clear skies with lows in the 50s with highs in the 70s. Stopped in southern LA last night. Left this morning with the sun out and the temperature was 30*. Finally reached a high of 52* before it became cloudy. Last 200 miles was on and off rain.

Finally got off the slab after taking Hwy 59 out of Houston. Got to ride some two lane instead of just interstate. Arrived in Laredo, TX after another exciting day of riding. Found the money exchange and got enough pesos for most of the trip. Getting everything ready to cross the border into Nuevo Laredo in the morning and then heading down to Torreon.

November 14, 2012

Miles: 360
Total miles: 1,535
Time on road: 7 hours 45 minutes

Laredo, TX to Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico

Left Laredo around 7:00 this morning. Drove down to the border and crossed into Nuevo Laredo. Followed the signs that lead me through the back streets of Nuevo Laredo and found Immigration. Went inside and met John. He was on his way down from PA and was also going the to ride. Immigration actually had things well organized and within 30 minutes I had my Tourist Permit and my Temporary Vehicle Import Permit.

John and I left Immigration and headed south out of Nuevo Laredo toward Monterrey. About 20 minutes later we came to the first military check point. A quick check of the bags and the next stop was the Aduana. They checked the paper work, the bike's VIN, and of course, they check the bags again to make sure that I had not added anything to them during the 200 yard ride from the military checkpoint.

Back on the road and the past two days started to repeat themselves again. Temperature drop and on and off rain. As we got closer to Monterrey we started passing through hills/mountains. Heavy fog, mist, and rain. Passing through the mountains around Saltillo, the fog became so thick at times that there was less visibility than there would have been if we had been riding at night.

The good news for today. On 11/11, Mexico reduced the toll rate for motorcycles by 50%. This saved me around $250 (paseos) on just today's ride.

The other good news. Around 1:00pm after coming out of the mountains, the fog was gone, the mist was gone, the rain was gone, partly cloudy skies, and the temperature went up into the mid 60s. The last two hours of the ride into Torreon was actually a good ride.

Tomorrow will be another early start. The route will be through Durango and into the mountains down to El Salto. We will meet Marco (founder ot the Asphalts Rats) in El Salto, ride across the Devil's Backbone during daylight hours, and on into Mazatlan.

November 15, 2012

Miles: 369
Total miles: 1,904

Time on road: 14 hours 30 minutes

Torreon, Coahuila, to Mazatlan, Sinaloa

Finally started getting the weather that I had been looking for. Left Torreon around 7:00 and after about 45 minutes of riding we finally left the traffic behind. Good roads on into Durango.

Arrived in the town of El Salto where we were to meet Marco around 12:00

The place was a real train wreck.

Marco was riding “The Prospector” up from Aquascalientes. The gal had been demanding a little extra TLC and they did not arrive until 3:30. A little something to drink for the Prospector, a pat on the head and we were off to find the Devil's Backbone.

Marco and the Prospector.

Back on the road so that we would be out of the mountains before dark.

But luck was on our side, and we got 2 hours of practice riding the Backbone in the dark.

We arrived in Mazatlan around 8:30. The Pata Salada Saddlesore Motorcycle Rally was more of a 4 day party with a ride in the middle of it. We located the Pata Salada MC favorite pub and soon the members began arriving. We had a great time meeting the members and talking with each other. Or, in my case, trying to understand each other. Gringo with a Southern accent. I think that I provided them with a lot of entertainment and laughs.

After too much socializing, everyone started to head out for home. Marco and I had been invited to stay at the home of Felipe, the president of the Pata Salada MC. Around 6:00 in the morning, we finally got to call it a day.

November 16, 2012

Mazatlan, Sinaloa

We got a few hours of sleep this morning, but we still had a late start to the day. Went for a late breakfast and spent most of the rest of the day preparing for tomorrow's ride.

Later in the day Marco and I meet up with Peter and John at their hotel. Spend some down time along the water's edge.

That evening the Pata Salada held a dinner and pre-ride meeting. It was a great dinner. During the meeting Marco explained the rules and requirements for certifying their ride through both the Asphalt Rats Endurance Motorcycling and the Iron Butt Association, and I presented some tips on how to do the ride. Marco had to intemperate everything that I said as I know less than 30 words in Espanol. Not sure what he was really saying, but I think he was telling them some thing about a dumb gringo that did not know how to ride.

By the time all of the night's activities were done, it had been another long night and it limited the amount of time that we had to get some sleep.

As the Drei Amigos were leaving for their much needed rest, little did they know that someone had already tipped off the Devil that the Drei Amigos would soon be on their way.