I was specially excited about this day as we would be doing one of the best roads for motorcycle riding that we would encounter in our trip. This is the Ruta 20 that connects Arteaga, MX on the West to Santiago, MX on the East.
We left the hotel just after sunrise and our plan was to have breakfast in Santiago, MX.
Just as we were entering the most twisty section of the Ruta 20 were stopped by two policemen (one woman who was in charge and a man). She quickly told us we were not allowed to travel through the Ruta 20 because they had had a major fire and were not allowing anyone through but residents. That had a big impact in our great plans so we just huddled and started to see what other routes we would take to get back to San Luis Potosi. Unfortunately without being able to go east we would have to stay on the Highway 57 (so boring …).
I then had an idea … while I was planning for this day, I contacted a number of people in the area and knew about the fire and even got to speak to a colonel in the Mexican police (all through contacts of Mexican motorcyclists) that told us that the road was NOT closed. So I went back to the police woman, dropped the name of the colonel and explained to her what he had told me and asked her if she knew him and that I would get him on the phone. To be honest, I do not know if this did it or if she just took it upon herself to be helpful to a handful of motorcyclists, the bottom line is that 10 minutes after we were stopped and were ready to turn around, she called me and told me that she had received authorization for us to get through. We were over the moon and even asked her if we could hug her with respect. She agreed and some of us did it.
Onto the bikes and onward we went and what a spectacular ride we did. The terrain is up and down, left and right and we were also presented with the devastation of the fire in part of the way.
As we were going down the mountain we saw a nice place to stop the bikes and found a house with two ladies that cooked us a fantastic breakfast … eggs, beans, bread, coffee, crepes etc, etc all for $20 for the 6 of us. Amazing !
Bo stayed behind and we went up ahead and he sent the drone up to film us as we went into a beautiful canyon.
Unfortunately towards the end of the road, the weather changed and we got rained upon and had to significantly slow down our pace to ensure we made it safely to Santiago, MX.
We have hundreds of photos to choose from and this will be a ride that will stay ingrained in my mind for a long time. Highly recommended !
After finishing the Ruta 20, we turned South towards Linares, MX and then turned back West towards Galeana, MX. This road (Ruta 58) was also very nice. Curves were a bit more wide than the Ruta 20 and we could go at faster speeds and make up the time we had lost in the rain.
We eventually met with Highway 57 and turned South again and went through Matehuala and arrived in San Luis Potosi still during daylight.
Unfortunately our hotel did not have parking so we had to park the bikes in another hotel and walk about a mile back to the hotel.
That evening we stayed in the Plaza de Armas (center of the city where the big cathedral is) and went to dinner in a nice steak house.
This is the second time we have stayed at Hotel San Francisco and we would recommend it as a very nice hotel in a great location and excellent prices.
Make Life A Ride !
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