An insanely long and frustrating day. I rode many more miles than I should have, with bike problems the whole way. The weather and scenery were great though - I'm back in the high altitude desert where it is very chilly when the sun isn't directly overhead.
My brakes continued giving me problems. First the front, then the rear started getting really, really hot and making funny noises. On a suggestion from Alan, my mechanic in Winston Salem, I took it into a Honda motorcycle shop I found in Durango to have the brake fluid changed (in case you're wondering, it's liquido de frenos). The guys there were very nice, interested in the trip, and tolerant of my poor spanish. They did it right there in the parking lot and refused to charge me anything. I wish I could say this helped, but a couple hours later, the same problems started coming back, although only in the rear brake this time. Fortunately, the gas stations here all have water hoses near each pump, so I can occasionally stop and spray the rotor to cool it off.
Remember back in Honduras when the weld on one of the bars holding the top luggage box broke? Well, the other side took its turn today. Now I need to find another welder (solduradora).
To add to this, as it started getting dark I was in the middle of a really long road between Durango and Hidalgo del Parral, about 400km long. The only towns on this road were really small and run-down. I stopped at a hotel, but the people there kind of gave me the creeps and it was 180 for the night. I decided to make a run for Parral, about 100km in the dark. Driving in Mexico at night is usually considered really risky and dangerous - I didn't think it was that, but it was certainly not fun.
When I got to Parral there were few signs or indicators of where the city center might be, or really any place for a hotel - I was getting desparate. As I was going in circles trying to find something besides gas stations and convenience stores, my brakes started making more noise and the back case bouncing more. A guy in a parking lot helped point me in the right direction and after a few more circles I found the downtown area, and a drip of old, dirty, cheap-looking hotels - just the way I like 'em. I went straight for the one with the driveway, and got a room with nothing but a bed, wardrobe, and sink for 90 pesos. The woman offered to open the front double door so I could bring the bike inside the building, but I was so tired and frustrated, I didn't want to deal with that, and told her it would be fine outside.
I stumbled into an Antojito place(that's a shop where you get tacos, burritos, gorditas, etc) and through my exhaustion didn't understand a single thing the guy there said until I was done eating, when we had a nice conversation. My spanish seems to be the first thing to go when I'm tired.
No official plans for tomorrow, except getting this bike back to normal.
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