3 Days in Mex., Coco and a bit of dirt.

[ssaint 0]

So my buddy Mike and I just got back from 3 days south of the border. We took our "bigger" bikes, mine a V-Strom 650 and his (get this) a Honda Shadow 1100!

We headed out the first day from San Diego and after many margarita stops, ended up in San Quintin. We stayed at the Old Mill. Also, about 20 miles north of there we ran into a cool couple on a Triumph Tiger that was on their way from Seattle to Panama. They were doing it on the cheap.

Second day we ran through El Rosario and on to Chapala Junction. There are rumors of that road being paved but, while it was decently graded for a couple miles, there was NO heavy equipment in sight. So we continued on to Cocos corner. We had heard Coco was not there, but there he was! He has recently had his second leg amputated, and is wheelchair bound now. He told us he was away for 8 months and while he was gone the place was totally ransacked. This was so sad to hear. While he did seem a bit sad to me, there he was hanging pictueres on the wall and saying "I start over!" What a guy.

Coco still has his campers for rent and is planning on staying, so please...go see the guy.

Coco took one look at our bikes (again, think Honda shadow here) and said "----, you f%&^ LOCO". With that, we continued on to Gonzaga bay where they actually did have gas this time. We ran into Gonzaga about 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon so we quickly got gas, and started up toward puertocitas. We had only managed about 25 miles when it was totally pitch black outside, which actually made the riding great! That road is NOT as bad as everyone claims, but at the same time it is totally inappropriate for a shadow. My V-Strom was fine, but I sure could have used some tires with actual tread on them (my trailwings look like racing slicks). We were able to average about 15 miles an hour over the 90 miles of dirt from Chapala to Puertocitas, but we did NOT stop....that is pure riding.

As most of us have heard the road is being paved south of puertocitas. It is currently 5 miles south of the town with heavy equipment woeking another couple miles past that. This did NOT but a damper on this part of the trip, but it will at some point. Oh, we made San Felipe about 9pm after starting out that morning at 8.

Day 3 we left San Felipe and rode north (they are repaving about 10 miles of highway 5, be careful) to highway 3 and turned left. We rode into Ensenada and then up the free road back to SD. All in all a great trip!

I suck with photos, so these attachments are the best I could do.

[bikeslut 1]

----! shadow boy is &^$&^%* loco

[Dirtdiver 2]

I think I saw you guys between San Quitine and El rosario. I was headed north and the 3 of you were headed south. I was on a ktm 990 with an HID headlight and 2 up. Good for you!

steve

[christi20 0]

Glad you had a good ride.

Coco is a character. He hasn't had his leg for many years now.

These photos are from 2002.

Coco and the Girls

Christi and Coco

[ssaint 0]

To DirtDiver....YEAH! I remember seeing you guys. If I remember correctly there were a few of you. I was the lead rider and the white Triumph Tiger with us was the couple going to Panama.

To Christi20....Actually it is his OTHER leg that was recently amputated. Coco is Diabetic and it was complications with that rather than the original trauma that got his first leg. Ill tell you what though, he seemed to be getting around OK. He was hanging pictures when we were there, all sitting in his wheelchair. Even more sad than his loosing the second leg is that while it was happening he was robbed. People broke into his house and stole EVERYTHING. I guess everybody wants a bit of memorabilia, but wow, what a way to get. Makes you mad, you know.

[christi20 0]

To DirtDiver....YEAH! I remember seeing you guys. If I remember correctly there were a few of you. I was the lead rider and the white Triumph Tiger with us was the couple going to Panama.

To Christi20....Actually it is his OTHER leg that was recently amputated. Coco is Diabetic and it was complications with that rather than the original trauma that got his first leg. Ill tell you what though, he seemed to be getting around OK. He was hanging pictures when we were there, all sitting in his wheelchair. Even more sad than his loosing the second leg is that while it was happening he was robbed. People broke into his house and stole EVERYTHING. I guess everybody wants a bit of memorabilia, but wow, what a way to get. Makes you mad, you know.

Oh. Wow. What a bummer. But, nothing seems to phase him. What a great guy. Next time I go I will bring him something for his place!