The Mountain Recon: Oct 11-14, 2007

[Richard Gibbens]

Adventure and dual sport riders are invited to participate in The Mountain Recon, Thursday Oct 11 - Sunday Oct 14, 2007 in the Sierra Madres mountains south of Monterrey, Mexico.

The ride reports from other adventure/dual sport riders who have ridden that area indicate there is an abundance of excellent adventure riding there and it could be a great location for an annual adventure ride. So, my objective with the Mountain Recon is for us to fully recon these mountains to learn the area well enough to be able to host an annual organized adventure ride there.

The plan is to spend 2 days conducting a recon of the area. All adventure / dual sport riders are invited to attend. The general plan is for all riders to meet at ride HQ in Galeana (south of the city of Monterrey) on Thursday, Oct 11 at 6p.m. local time. Riders will organize into 2-6 man recon teams and spend Fri & Sat, Oct 12-13, exploring the various roads and single tracks in the area. Each team will have an assigned route to explore each day. Multiple recon teams are needed to ensure that all the roads in the area are explored by at least 1 team. Each evening the recon teams will meet back at ride HQ to report on details discovered during that day’s recon.

If this sounds like your kind of adventure then I invite you to attend.

Here are links to some of the ride reports on this area:
South Texas to Mexico’s Sierra Madre (Rayones-Potosi-Galeana)

S. Texas to Sierra Madre (Mexico) Mar 2007



Additional details will be posted on the texasadventure web site.

A friend of mine designed a logo for this trip. If you would a t-shirt or sticker, you can order them from cafepress

Here is the logo:


The other side of the t-shirt has this logo:

[Richard Gibbens]

I've located a hotel for us to stay in during this trip. It is the Hotel Jardin and is located in Galeana. This is a 26 room hotel and I understand they are motorcycle friendly.

Hotel Jardin
Intersection of 5 de Mayo & 15 de Mayo streets
Galeana, Mexico
telephone [phone]
(if dialing from the USA dial 011 52 826 213 0420)

[Richard Gibbens]

Here is a link to a ride report that has recently been posted on advrider. A father & son rode the Sierra Madre mountains we will be riding in and posted up a really good ride report, with pictures and google earth maps. Check it out.

1100 miles / 9 days Sierra Madre, Mexico

[Richard Gibbens]

I have written a ride guide to help those attending prepare for this recon. The ride guide is posted to my web site so anyone who wants a copy can download it.

The Mountain Recon

To save a copy to your computer, right click on the ride guide hyperlink and select "save link as".

[Richard Gibbens]

Here are some excellent pictures of the area taken by Milton Otto. Milton is a veteran rider of the area and told me this evening he will be joining us for this trip. Check out all his pics posted on his smugmug account here.

Between Los Lirios & Laguna de Sanchez


Between Casillas & Laguna de Sanchez


Between Laguna de Sanchez & Casillas


Cascada Chiptin, Potrero Redondo


The Road to Raices, between Trinidad & Raices


Fellas, this is gonna be a great ride.

[Richard Gibbens]

I have posted some topo maps of the area to the Mountain Recon page on my web site that you can download. I recommend that you print out a copy of each map and bring it with you.

The Mountain Recon

[miltonotto]

admin said:

Hotel Jardin
Intersection of 5 de Mayo & 15 de Mayo streets
Galeana, Mexico

[dannya]

Hello guys.
Do you guys think this is something I can try on my 2006 KLX250 D/S.
You know it's funny that I ran into this because I have a couple of friends that where born in Monterey. They live here now and always talk about how they rode in Rayones. They say it's awsome.
You also mention , all the best info about getting your vehicle into Mexico , but what about if you want to take your bike on the back of your truck?
Last question, how would a 2 stroke MX bike hold up?

[Richard Gibbens]

dannya,

I think a KLX250 will generally be fine - better than most of our bikes on the unpaved roads, a little slow on the paved roads. My uncle is hauling his DR 350 down in the bed of his truck. You will likely need to bring all the paperwork for both vehicles so you can get stickers for both.

A 2 stroke MX bike isn't likely to like extended road riding.

[chimp]

KLX250 will work fine..... I'd like to bring the Ol' Bultaco . But , will have to settle for the
R80GS . OYE Richard !!!!!! I'm leaving the Ural at home for this one ! F.Y.I. going
down to the area within the next two weeks and check on legendary mountain trail to Real
De Catorce (via Galeana) .
Regards , James in Sealy

[Richard Gibbens]

chimp said:

F.Y.I. going down to the area within the next two weeks and check on legendary mountain trail to Real De Catorce (via Galeana) .
Regards,
James in Sealy

Looking forward to your report!

[Richard Gibbens]

An updated version of BiciMaps Mexico Atlas GPS just came out that auto routes!

I purchased Bici Maps Mexico Atlas for my Garmin GPS earlier this year so I could use it during a recent Mexico ride. It was a decent mapset and certainly helped me navigate during my ride, but one thing it was noticeably lacking was the ability to autoroute.

An updated version was recently released that now autoroutes. Here are the other features that have been added:

Highways updated to 2007

Street detail for 44 cities in the country including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Cuernavaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Pacuca, Acapulco, Leon, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Villahermosa, San Luis Potosí, Hermosillo, Chihuahua, among others.

Auto routing and automatic navigation in highways, city streets, unpaved roads and trails throughout the country

More than 280,000 rural locations and towns

Extensive POI data base with over 45,000 geographic reference locations such as beaches, mountains and hills, lakes, rivers, dams and so forth. Also urban points of interest such as hospitals, government buildings, shopping centers and more.

Over 1500 gasoline stations along the highways network

International and state boundaries

Lakes, rivers, dams, national parks, biosphere reserves

Contour lines at 50 meter interval in Baja and 100 interval for the remainder of the country

In short, if you are looking for a Mexico map for your GPS for the upcoming Mountain Recon, the updated Bicimaps seems like it could be the best choice.

Here's the link to the web site: Bici Maps

[chimp]

Ok , I had to avoid Monterrey area due to flooding . Went West to Cuatras Cienegas Coah.
There is plenty of sandy/dirt access roads leading off in different directions to small
pueblos . These roads are on more of the desert floor than in higher altitudes.
There are locations that are marked for protection of plants , fish, etc. unique to
the area . However , appears to be plenty of areas for Jeeper's and 4x4'ers.
We then traveled to areas of Torreon and Durango . I also was looking into
finding a decent area for Mountainous Trials riding. LOTS of rain, wind, and
high water on the way back .
Well, I'm ready for the Mountain Recon and those high mountain trails S. of Monterrey!