Sunday morning and hopefully traffic in Mexico will not be that bad.

I set out riding solo this morning. Rest of the group had less than a day's ride to get home so they were having a late breakfast. I had a four day ride ahead of me and I wanted to get on the road and through Mexico City before the traffic started.

I left Cuernavaca and was riding back up in the mountains again. Usually the road was headed in a NE to East direction so I was having to contend with the sun. It was especially bad in the curves that were heading back in a NW direction.

It was a relaxed and scenic ride when I was not having to ride facing directly into the sun.

I made it into Mexico City and the traffic was running fairly good. It only slowed down in a couple of spots.

It took me only 45 minutes to go from the south side of Mexico City to the north side. Once north of the city I was on Highway 57D and riding mostly through a wide valley with mountains in the background.

I crossed a few hilly ridges as I continued north and the terrain was gradually becoming more arid.

The landscape continued to flatten out and the mountains gave way to hills. The flora was soon changed into desert plants and continued to become more arid as I got closer to Matehuala.

Made it into Matehuala in the early afternoon and found a motel for the night. From my motel room I could see the next mountain range that I would be crossing tomorrow.

On the road before sunrise. It was not long before it started getting lighter. Good ride this morning heading north out of Matehuala.

For the next few hours I was running in and out of fog. Sometimes light, sometimes very heavy with almost zero visibility. My camera does not take pictures of fog very well.

Just south of Saltillo I began to enter the edge of the mountain range.

Passing through Saltillo and heading toward Monterrey.

One last little ridge just south of Nuevo Laredo and then the landscape becomes flat again.

Made it to the Aduana in Nuevo Laredo. It was 110F in the parking lot. 20-25 minutes and all of the paper work was completed and I was headed for the bridge to cross back into the US. Got to the toll booth at the bridge and there was almost no line. Another couple of minutes the toll was paid and I was rolling across the bridge. That is until all five north bound lanes came to a complete stop. However the three south bound lanes had very little traffic. Waited for a break in the traffic and crossed over the river on the wrong side of the road. Pulled back into the north lane just as I was on US soil again and barriers were blocking my way so I had to wait in line with the cars.

It was just a little over 100 yards to the border guards. Heat from the sun was being reflected off of the black payment. Almost all of the vehicles kept their engines running so that they could stay nice and cool in their AC. Thermometer was now showing 120F. The bike was too wide with the panniers on to split lanes so I had to wait it out with everyone else. 45 minutes to cross the 100 yards. Very friendly border agent and soon I was making my way through the Laredo traffic.

I had been sitting in the sun too long and was beginning to experience some mild symptoms of heat exhaustion. Found a convenience store and went inside to rehydrate and cool down. Stayed inside in the cool temperature for about 40-45 minutes and I was starting to feel OK again so I primed my AC system (closed all vents on the jacket except for the ones at my wrists and wet down my shirt with water) and left my oasis.

Back on the road and in the traffic again. As I was leaving Laredo I was catching every traffic light red and was sitting in the hot sun again. Between lights I could not get up enough speed to get my AC to kick in because the traffic was moving too slow. After about 20 or so minutes of this, I finally got through the last traffic light, was able to pick up some speed, and my AC system begin to work and was cooling be back down.

After leaving the heat and traffic of Laredo behind me I was finally back on the open road and the temperature was at a reasonable 90-95F.

Easy ride on into Beeville, TX for the night.

Headed NE on Hwy 59 out of Beeville and toward Houston. Just outside of town I ran into heavy fog again.

The fog lasted for about an hour and then it started to clear up.

Made it to Houston and decided that I was not ready for the interstate yet. I continued on Hwy 59 NE out of Houston and stayed on the back roads across SE Texas heading toward Jackson, MS.

Continued on the back roads through south Louisiana.

Crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez, MS.

Mississippi offered a few good back roads before I had to return to the harsh reality of life on the interstates just south of Jackson.

My objective for the night was to stop in Pearl, MS just on the east side of Jackson. Reached I-55 and went north into Jackson and then headed back east on I-20. I decided to fore go the Pearl stop and continue on into Forest, MS for the night. I was about 10 miles from Forest when I heard a metallic pop and the bike seemed like it was running in neutral. Pulled to the side of the road and checked out the bike. The chain that I had bought less than 2k miles ago in La Paz had decided that it would be staying somewhere on the side of the road in Morton and would no longer be continuing the journey with be back to Georgia.

Called my roadside assistance company. Long story short, the woman who answered the phone was about 4 beers short of a 6-pack. She was not sure that she would be able to find a towing company that would be able to tow a bike. An hour later she calls me back and said that she had a tow truck on the way. When she called I was talking to a local who had stopped to see if I needed help. Within 15 minutes he had found 3 different companies that could tow the bike and had a 4X4 with a trailer on the way to pick me up. We canceled the 4X4 and I thanked him for all of his help. Received a call from my wife. She had started searching the internet and within 10 minutes she had a towing company that was ready to come pick up the bike. I opted to let the "experts" do their job so that I did not have to pay the towing fee.

Couple of minutes later I get a call from Ken Fannin of Fannin Automotive & Towing (one of the tow companies that the local had recommended). He was south of Jackson but was on his way. 45 minute later Ken and his better half, Tracey Hester, have come to my rescue. In almost no time Ken had the bike loaded, strapped down, and we were on our way back west to Pelahatchie to a bike shop that was suggested by the roadside assistance company. By now it is after 6:00pm and the shop is closed. Ken calls the phone numbers on the door but is not able to reach anyone. Ken does not want to leave the bike at the shop in an unsecured area overnight. Ken is a motorcyclist and says that in all probability this shop will not have a chain that will fit the bike. He knows of a shop that will be able to fix the bike. Of course, it is back in Jackson.

We drive the 30 miles back to Jackson and arrive at the bike shop. Ken's job is complete. I am glad to be off of the side of the road. Of course the shop will not be open until in the morning. Nearest motel or restaurant is 5 miles away. I am not looking forward to spending the night with my bike outside of the bike shop.

However, once again, Ken does not want to leave the bike in an unsecured area overnight. Ken has access to a body shop about two miles from the bike shop. We take the bike to the body shop and unload it into a locked fenced in area. Then off to find a motel. Closest one was 5 miles away in Pearl, the same motel that I was going to stop at originally. Ken drops me off at the motel. Next morning Ken picks me up at the motel and we drive to the body shop and load the bike on the truck again. From there it is back to the bike shop. All of this at no charge to me (however I did pay him for all of his extra effort).

Major thanks to Ken and Tracey for all of their help. They went way beyond the scope of their job and turned a bad situation into a minor inconvenience. If you ever plan on having a break down in the Brandon, Pearl, or Pelahatchie, MS area, Ken is the guy to call.

Bike arrived at the bike shop around 9:00 am and was unloaded by the shop employees. They had the required chain in stock and got started to work. By 10:30 wheels were rolling and soon I was back on I-20 heading east. Bike was running much better now that it had a chain again.

Just a typical slab ride back home.