Day 10 wet!
The plan was to leave after breakfast and head north on 16 to San
Juanito and then take a dirt road (23) to Basaseachic. This
would allow us enough time for exploring the national park, and
perhaps some side trips. Unfortunately, we had an unwelcome
visitor... Hurricane Paul.
Around 0430 I was awakened by a bright flash and thunder. The
rain outside was quite loud with only a screen in the window to
muffle the noise. Our room in Creel had a gas heater in the
wall... and while I am sure it was safe, I really didn't want to
take any chances with carbon monoxide poisoning, so I left the
window open.
At dinner the previous evening, we had a discussion about the weather... we'd
take the paved road to Basaseachic if it rained during the
night. Brewer and I discussed taking the dirt road regardless,
but we wanted it to stop raining first. Riding a wet dirt road
would be fun, but riding a wet dirt road in the pouring rain
produced from a hurricane was another issue. Fun and miserable
don't really mix.
With the thick wool blankets pulled up tightly around my neck, I listened to the rain get louder, it was becoming
obvious we'd be taking the paved road.
At some point I got up and
had a look outside. Where'd this black ball of shag
carpet come from? The dog from yesterday had apparently
been stalking me and camped out under the small awning outside our
door. He was wet and stinky, but still managed to talk me
into petting him. I went back into the room and got him some
breakfast from my tank bag--a cliff bar--which he wasted no time
devouring.
The group met for breakfast at a local establishment up the
street. In traditional fashion, the service was slow, but at
least we knew we had picked the right place as we watched two
truck loads of police come in for breakfast as well.
We dug out our rain gear and began our journey in the pouring
rain...
The ride would take us back through the twisties... and while fun in dry
conditions, the poor visibility, overloaded trucks, and oil and other fluids now
combined with water on the road made the trip less than optimal.
Now imagine 14 motorcycles riding through the pouring
rain. If I thought the pace of the group was too slow when
the conditions were perfect, you can imagine how slowly we were
progressing as the cross wind from the plains combined with the
relentless rain hindered our pace. I had about all I could
take (and so did Gangplank, Brewer and Thor) as we passed the
entire group along one long straightaway. Hell, we even
passed the group leader and kept on keepin' on.
The ride instantly become much more enjoyable. Once again
it was 4 friends riding through Mexico at a pace more in line with
what we were all accustomed.
About an hour later my enjoyment level began to decrease
rapidly. My rain gear was starting to have some issues.
My Sidi Discovery boots were leaking, and my feet were now cold
and wet. My waterproof BMW gloves also failed
miserably. My hands were soaking wet, but fortunately the
heated grips kept my hands toasty. On the positive side, the
Nelson Rigg rain suit performed flawlessly, so at least most of me
was dry.
We stopped for a bio-break, and somehow the 4 of us got split
up. The group leader caught us, and he, Gangplank and I
pressed on to the cabins. Brewer and Thor, along with the
rest of the group, were somewhere behind us.
We arrived at the cabins and once again my broken Spanish
proved valuable. I was able to explain to the gentleman that
we needed 7 cabins, we had a total of 14 people (11 more were on
their way), and right now we needed keys for 3 cabins, since we
all had different roommates. He handed us our keys, and we
were off to our rooms.
I unloaded all of my gear and started a fire in the wood
burning stove. There wasn't much electricity in the cabin to
speak of, only two lights, but no electrical outlets. We did have plenty
of wood and hot water in the shower, so as far as I was concerned,
it was perfect.
We saddled up again and headed back into town to find some
food. As we neared the restaurant, some of the folks were
rolling in, including Brewer and Thor. I led them back to
the cabins, where I learned Thor had lost it in a curve. The
damage to the bike was minimal, and his bike was rideable (pictures
tomorrow), but more importantly there was no damage to him.
Apparently the front washed out in a curve and pinned him under
the bike. A trucker stopped and helped Brewer lift the bike
off Thor. And yes, I already chewed Brewer's ass for not
taking a picture before freeing Thor from his predicament. :-)
We once again headed back into town and ate entirely too many
tacos. The rest of the day consisted of a nap, several
games of hearts under the single light bulb in Gangplank and
Vegas' cabin, and rotating our gear around the wood-burning stove
hoping it would dry out by tomorrow.
Brewer wanted the top bunk because he didn't have a bunk bed as
a kid.
And, check out the monster coming out of the red bag on the
table... WTF is that?
The next day we were supposed to go to
the waterfall in National Park, but the rain just kept
falling. On the positive side, all of the rain should make
the waterfall spectacular.
Gangplank and Vegas'
faces pretty much sum up the mood of the day...
As I fell asleep listening to the rain pitter-patter on the metal
roof, I was hoping the storm would pass and tomorrow would be a
better day. It was.
Mileage = 128.
