puerto escondido

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Well what a time its been over the last twenty four hours. I found my way relatively easily through acupulco...sort of. As i was leaving town(and town is really spread out) my electrical system died completely as I rode. So i pulled over and asked about a taller de motocicletas (motorcycle shop) and then paid a cab five dollars to pull me about two miles through town to a small cycle shop...it didn´t look promising. But the mechanico went to work with a multi-meter and diagnosed the battery as the problem.$90 and two hours later i was on my way with new battery (cost 75 dollars). But wait, there´s more...

But first be aware that mexico uses ¨topes´ (pronounced toe-pays) which are speed bumps of varying heights, to control speed through small pueblos, little communities that are little more than wide spots in the road. So basically a motorist can drive these twisty coastal roads however fast you want (bascially no speed enforcement down here) then all of a sudden there will be a set of speed bumps, not always marked. Some of those bumps are so high that they scrape the exhaust pipes under the bike.

So i´m doing a reasonable speed and i see a tope ahead, clearly marked, as i approached i noticed that it was very high, probably enough to scrape the pipes or worse...so i approached at a sharp angle and pipe not only scraped but hung the bike up so the rear wheel lost traction and the bike pitched over. Chinga! Several locals were nearyby but really didn´t look twice. I suspect that particular tope has provided the locals endless times of amusement watching vehicles try to clear it. No damage, the bike fell in the handle bar end and the rear saddlebag...oh yeah, there was a good scrape on the side of the engine case. Thats four times the bikes been down in its life, and all were in mexico. I suppose i´ll just have to be more careful.

I am now in puerto escondido, a surfers mecca (i don´t surf, however) and i may stay over tomorrow if the weather looks threatening. I got into town and found a hotel (15 dollars) just before the rain began pouring down and its raining steadily now. Did i mention that i hate riding in the rain. I have what may have started out as a waterproof riding suit, but over the years it has lost its waterproof layer. Basically, i put on the pants and jacket and after a short time water seeps inside, top and bottom. However, its a ¨warm´type of wet, for what its worth.
hasta luego, kevin

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Comments

[Steph]

hmm
its mecanico Doyle not mechanico, hehe just wanna let u know that