Pat B
Patrick Barbar Joined: September 29th 2009
Logged in: March 21st 2011
Logged in: March 21st 2011
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Travel Blog Posts
Vineyard at Perras, Mexico
The ride from Parras to the border was pretty fast, despite the 500 km or so I needed to cover. The highway north from Monclova was awesome and I maintained 130 km/h most of the time. I arrived in the border city of Piedras Negras around 3 PM and headed for the border. I needed to cancel my vehicle importation permit in order for the $400 security deposit to be reversed on my credit card. I walked into the immigration office located just before the international bridge that crosses the Rio Grande and found a deserted office. A lone security guard stood in the lobby. I told him I needed to cancel my permit. He communicated to me that the Banjercitas - the agency that issues the permits - was actually located about 5 blocks from ... read more
On highway mex-57
I had one one stop to make before re-entering the United States. I wanted to experience a smaller, typical Mexican town. The Lonely Planet came through with Parras, in the state of Coahuilla. Parras is a bit of an oasis in the middle of a desert. It has a population of just over 40,000 and is a jean manufacturing centre, it is home to the Dickies brand clothing plant. It also has a few vineyards and wineries. Some believe that this was the first winery in the Americas. The ride there was an easy 400 km on dual lane highways, I used a couple of the toll (cuota) roads. They are operated as private entreprise and run parallel to the public highway. Basically, cuota roads are the business class of the motoring road: wider shoulders, better ... read more
burro
I left Tampico at 8:30 after breakfast at the hotel. I had decided to follow a route that I traced on the map rather than go with the efficiency of the GPS. The roads I picked would take me through the northeastern Sierra Madre mountains on my way to Real de Catorce, a little isolated town I had read about in my guide book. Real was once a prosperous silver mining town, but at the start of the 1900's, the price of silver bottomed out and the town was all but abandoned. In the last few decades, people, mostly Europeans, have been moving there and starting up quaint and artsy businesses and the place has become sort of a tourist spot. What's particular about it is how you access it. There is a 27 km cobble ... read more
Photo 2
When I finally got off the bike at the hotel in Tampico, I was on the verge of dehydration and drenched in sweat. The temperature had been in the high 30's since my departure from La Pesca at 8 AM. I refuse to ride without my gear on so I am quite an oddity out here. I will admit that when riding to dinner or somewhere local, I refrain from wearing my riding gear (other than my helmet of course which is always on my head). After I got checked in, I quickly removed heavy jacket and riding pants and headed straight for the pool. I then got myself a drink and retired to the room to catch up on my email, etc. As I lay in the comfort of my air conditionned room, I looked ... read more
Photo 12
The last 24 hours have just been a complete sensory overload for me. I crossed the Mexican border around noon on October 8th. But I should back up a little first and talk about how I got here. With Erin leaving to play Volleyball at World Master's in Sydney, Australia, I decided to make another epic trip on my motorcycle. I originally thought it would be exciting to ride to a warmer clime during our Saskatchewan autumn. I looked at Vegas on the map as a possible destination. Then I noticed something else: Mexico was right there, just an inch and a half south of Vegas. It would be silly for me not to go. So, as I always do, I began to search online to oversaturate my brain with information pertaining to Mexico. I ordered ... read more
