3′7′05

Mexico at last. It took hours of phone work and struggle, but Chuck finally got his paper work in order and we successfully crossed the border at about 2pm. Gee it seems like it has taken a long time to get here. We charted a route on the Touratech GPS unit that had us going right through old Nogales. It was just like we expected. Buses belching black smoke, trucks spewing blue oil smoke, taxis racing every which way, total chaos. Then when it was .5 kilometers from our turn, the road was out to construction. We went around the block, wound up on the side walk with pedestrians pressed flat against the buildings as we made our way through the construction. The GPS was totally cool, it had us back on track easily and soon we were zipping through the junk yards and garbage dumps! Really trashy, maybe the worst I´ve ever seen.

We finally broke free of the town and were on a rough gravel road heading south east. The road was difficult because it has lots of traffic and the pot holes were deep and square edged, not really a lot of fun, but we were making good time and finally on our way.

Even at 50mph the stutter bumps were teeth jarring and after about 50 miles of this we were glad to hit some black top.

This was Hwy 2, check your maps, it runs east and west about 60 miles south of the border.

Chuck took off, boy does that 950 run, we drag raced and were even through first and second, but once he hit third, he was gone, I mean he was shot out of a cannon. I didn´t see him for maybe 30 miles. Twisty mountain roads with many dangerous curves, but loads of fun on a bike. So when I finally caught up with him sitting next to the road, I check the GPS and told him we had passed the turn 11 miles ago. It´s tough to lead when you don´t know where you are going. So we reconfigured our route and kept heading east to Cananea.

Cananea is where we stopped for the night. We got a room over the grocery store, we park the bikes ¨¨IN¨¨ the store, it was $20 American, so that´s in the budget!

We got cleaned up and rode up town for dinner and found a little taco place, they spoke enough English to figure out we were hungry and put out the spread for us. They had roasted green onions that we dipped in a cucumber sauce. Carne Asada Tacos, and Cervasa, umm good. Then in our honor, they played Santana on the stereo. It was the best! I am already tired of the Spanish music, that took about a minute, so to hear some classic Santana, it was a treat! I was singing along and every one was enjoying it. Well at least I thought they were enjoying it. I think I am a very good singer.

We came up the street to a small Internet Cafe and are doing our work. It´s fun and I hope every one at home knows we are having a good time and every one has been super nice and friendly, no worries.

Tomorrow we head south towards Creel then the Coppery Canyon.

I´m sure I´m forgetting a thousand things but at least you know we are alive and living our lives.

So good night and I´ll write soon

Charlie

Oh yes, one more thing, it is the smells that is so different here than in the states, every home has a fire going with some food cooking, you can smell a house before you see it, it really reminds me of Peru. Wood smoke, and burning flesh, it´s good to be on the road.

The following is written by the Rising Sun himself

Hey Guys,

Darin hooked me up today! My faith has been restored….Just rode 100 miles to Cananea, Sonora Mexico mainland and got a room for $10 ea….sweet….One thing about not doing any research is being surprised…. rode a dusty back road dodging bull horns that popped out onto a sick twisty pavement road…Signs showing Pelingro Curv gave an indication that fun was ahead (Spanish for dangorous curves ahead) that brought out the Supermoto in me and the 950….Awsome…..I had no idea that all of this was going to be at the lofty alltittude of 5000ft plus…same as Denver…Keep up the good work for the KTM team. Your the man….

By The Way….Hey, if you would please forward this site on to the guys to say that I look forward to banging bars with all of`’em again and I’ll never forget the Reno round-up! I’m looking into representing products in the M/C Industry as a Manufacturers Rep….Ideas are welcome! Have agreed to announce the Supermoto event scheduled for April 2-3 at Stateline Nevada with top riders coming in including Ward, Drew etc. Any KTM guns coming out? Make sure to check out Trailrider.com for posts on our adventures here in Mexico whenever Charlie Williams (Trail Rider Magazine editor 640 ADV) and I can find a computer. Plan to venture to the bottom of the famous Copper Canyon (6000 ft. deep-Larger the the Grand Canyon) then on to Mazatlaun and who knows…. The 950 I picked up is working great.

Later…Chuck Sun on the loose…