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The Great Escape!
By John Altman
The old Saying goes, "If you wanna make
God laugh, just make a bunch of plans."
So the "plan" was to ride North out
of Copper Canyon, and then west on MX16 to Hermosillo. Last
yr we wanted to drive the trucks and trailers home that way,
but all the reports were that it is a super twisty and slow
mountain route, very slow going, but great for a bike!
The first bad sign was while lying in bed, just
before dawn, as a bit of snow blew thru the drafty window
onto my Bald Head! The next bad sign was the 5" of snow
on the ground! I wasn't going anywhere on the bike, and waiting
it out seemed hopeless as it continued to snow. But again,
a bit of dumb luck, as Creel is along the famous Copper Canyon
rail line, which runs Northeast to Chihuahua, and Southwest
to the sea of Cortez. So I made a deal with the guy at the
train station to take the 2nd class train as it has a boxcar
on the back for cargo. $40 for the bike and $21 for my ticket,
and while its south, and Im ridin north, SEA LEVEL is what
I needed.
So we put the bike up on a cart kinda thing,
high as the train floor, with wheels and next to the tracks,
and the local kids used it as a shield for their snowball
fight. But when the train arrives, it stops for only enough
time for passengers to embark and disembark. So with the help
of the loclals, we wrestled the bike on and I desperately
looked for a place to secure the tie downs. Just a couple
of rusty wires hanging off the walls will have to do. "ANDELE
ANDELE" Shouted the train guy as the stop was running
too long. Bit my gear was still in the station, so the bike
was as well secured as it would be and I was full sprint into
the staion, grabbing my helmet and bags, and sprinting and
leaping onto the train as it started to pull out! Whew!
As it rolled out of town I felt like I was in
a movie. And as it lurched along, I was also sure that my
bike would break the wires and be on its side by the time
we got to El Fuerte.
So I finally got to ride the famous train thru
Copper Canyon, and eventually found myself riding around Dark
and closed El Fuerte at 11pm, after hoitsing the bike off
the train (no ramp) with the help of 4 fellow travelers who
had been watching my little show at the station in Creel.
I Eventually found an $8 room (cave) and prepared
to ride long the following day, Friday, as I had to met the
guys in AZ on Sat. And it was long, since the train put me
300 miles south of my original plan. So yesterday it was a
bit of an endurance test, 675 miles, mostly in mexico, took
12 hrs, stopping only for gas, and I'm glad to park that bike
for a while.
All the while, Ive been wondering how Mr Magoo was doing,
as it was obviuos that this storm was big, and surely hit
wherever he was. Ill include his adventures. And perhaps hell
show up here in AZ today to wach the D200 with us.
Tomorow We head for Baja so no rest for the stupid.
Hasta la proxima vez, Juanillo
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