I had to be out
of the Red Motel by 7am so I set my alarm and had one of the earliest starts of
the trip. The road went straight into the mountains and the early morning
gullies were chilly, getting as low as five degrees Celsius.
The road started
promising good things from the beginning, winding up into the mountains.
After
thirty or so kilometres, I was getting hungry and I found a nice little place
for breakfast where a couple of trucks had stopped so that seemed like a good
place and it was. None of them spoke any English so we had a couple of fumbled
conversations then I ate in silence.
As I was leaving,
one of the truck drivers came out to his truck and gave me two large orange-like
fruits, that ended up possibly being grapefruit but sweeter like an orange, and
the juiciest thing I had ever eaten. Once again the spontaneous generosity of
Mexicans is always surprising, always welcome and certainly always humbling.
The road of 3000
curves did not disappoint. I made some video of it because words can’t describe
how spectacular not only the ride was but the views along the way.
There were
so many bends that by the second half I felt for the first time that I was
really in sync with Ziggy. As I’ve said a few times, 30,000kms in
Australia was mostly long and flat, and when I did come across twisting roads,
it didn’t last for long, the tyres were squared off from the long hot
straights, and I never really did enough to feel one hundred percent
comfortable.
Today my riding
hit a different level. Not that I was trying to go fast and scrape footpegs,
but at some point I became totally relaxed, letting Ziggy do her thing and we
rolled from side to side as one like we were dancing ballet. The bends became a
flowing motion, the leaning went further but with less effort, the tyres seemed
to be glued to the pavement and I think mostly I was no longer concerned about
the steep edges, which allowed me to relax and not restrict Ziggy’s movement. I
think I had been subconsciously fighting with Ziggy as she wanted to just roll
into the curves, the hesitation within me held back, affecting the smoothness
of the line. Now my lines were smooth and natural and it was some of the most
fulfilling riding I have ever done. I say that a lot, but the roads and
experiences just keep getting better. I really think I turned a corner today
with my riding...pun intended!
Then my day hit
an all time high. I saw another travel bike coming the other way high up in the
curvy mountain roads, so I indicated that I was stopping and pulled over at a
nearby clearing. Then a second bike came and pulled in behind me. The first
bike returned and I met Billy and Trish.
Billy and Trish
are a couple of Australians…well Billy is actually a Kiwi but lived in
Australia for decades…who have been travelling around the world by bike for
seven years – this time. As I got off the bike, a female voice said,
‘You must be
Nomad Paul. I saw the Queensland plate and thought it was you. I’ve been
reading your blog and knew you were in Chihuahua and wondered if you were
coming down this way.’
It was such a joy
to hear an Australian accent, inspiring to hear their stories of travel and
gratitude for the information they gave me in our short interlude. We started
talking and eventually had lunch and spent a good two hours exchanging stories
and laughing. We were all on the same page. It is amazing how frank and relaxed
you can be with your own countrymen compared to just about all others. The
irony was that they are from near Broome in Western Australia and we have some
common acquaintances. I had lived in Derby for a year where they were
like folklore; the mysterious couple who worked at Cape Leveque for two months
a year then continued travelling the world by motorcycle.
They do a lot of
wild camping and had stories of camping in every country I could think to ask
about. They are such an inspiration, such humble, down to earth people. I
wanted to spend a week with them to listen to their stories, but we were
heading opposite directions and we both needed to get to our destinations
before dark. I don’t normally have regrets, but I think I will regret not
following them to a camping area for the night just to continue the great
connection we found with each other.
But after two
hours, we packed up and went our different directions with each other’s contact
details. They pointed me towards Hotel Lerma in Mazatlan where they had spent
the last three months and for me it was the perfect destination to rest and
relax and get right back into my positive mind-frame. The road of 3000 curves
and the ‘chance’ meeting with Billy and Trish already had me on a real
emotional high. This was a good day.
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