The beautiful Peña de Ñadó is a mountain range located just West of our home base in Aculco.
We as a group can spend a day (or many days) riding this vast expanse of oaken mountainsides and deep valleys.
Whatever the group desires we ride.
We can ride the National Enduro single track or one of the many past single track races the local enduro riders have held within this spectacular area.
We can go anywhere the group desires. It’s México!
Why an enduro motorcycle touring business in México?
My very first bike was a Honda XR-80 way back in 1979 and I’ve never [not] had at least one dirt bike since then. From trail riding to motocross to hare scrambles and enduro racing, I’ve done it all. I have been fortunate enough to live all over the United States and México and experience all of it from the seat of my dirt bike.
From the unforgettable Northeast’s deciduous forests where exposed wet tree roots were to be respected or a soil sample was expected. Riding the mountainous slag heaps of the forgotten coal belt in Eastern PA where the wettest days were the best days as dust was kept to a minimum. The infinite riding of the Pine Barren sands with endless whoop-de-do’s of South Jersey. A place so vast that even the best navigator was easily lost.
Then the extreme change of living and riding in the Southwest’s barren desert of Las Vegas where not being acutely aware of the gas and miles to empty could be catastrophic. While easily riding the granite cobbled single track of Southern California where it felt like a Martian landscape devoid of any other life.
This is where I grew up and learned about the freedom ‘two wheels and an engine’ can give. Lots and lots of endless varying terrain in differing temperatures. My friends and I rode in all the seasons no matter how cold or hot.
Then I moved to México
When people ask “Can you ride?”
Whenever I’m traveling North of the Frontera I’m always asked about México. Why I chose to live here. Why I moved from my ranch Northwest of Monterrey to Aculco and always about the safety around my slice of paradise.
Well I guess I can answer these questions and add a whole lot more.
México is an absolutely beautiful country which like the US has such drastic changes in the ecosystem as you move from the North to the South and East to West respectively. When I lived and worked in Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon (which is about three hours South of Laredo) I knew very little about México as a whole. Just the area I lived which was a great place for my business but honestly wasn’t that pretty outside of where I lived. If you want just hit this link and you will see where my property was located. El Potrero Chico was the focal point for my business and I really built quite the property over the fifteen years I owned the ranch. Lots of fruit trees, hardwoods, flowers and a thick carpet of grass that covered the seven acres. A Garden of Eden of sorts in a sea of very angry cactus. But outside my front gates which is the mountain gap in the photo above; not so nice, and after twenty years of developing the area and watching everything get worse… It was time to move. When we meet I can relate all the reasons but be sure, I am where I belong now.
“Can you ride?”
The move to Central Mexico enrichened my soul in so many ways. First is the change in the ecosystem from the North which was 100% cactus, lots of rocks and either very hot or very cold depending on the season. It was ugly desert.
Central México by contrast is so utterly different one would think they are on a totally different planet, no lie. The riding we absorb ourselves in is less than 5% cactus (usually planted specifically to ferment Pulque), rocks only when we go specifically looking for them and the daytime temperatures are in the high 70’s to low 80’s every single day(365 days a year). We live in the San Diego of México where it is always Springtime.
Also contrasting is the mix of cultures that the North was wholly lacking. Here is a mix of Mexicans that can trace their lineage directly to the colonization of México by the Spanish and the Native Otomi that have been here for thousands of years. Both cultures make for really delicious restaurants and extremely considerate farmers. We eat delicious food and we ride a lot of wide open territory.
“Can you ride?”
Lastly and most importantly is the question of security, and feeling secure when in visiting Aculco and the surrounding mountains?
I understand the media and how México is portrayed. Gang violence whether in México or the US is always a concern for people who might be involved. I agree wholeheartedly, and I do not ever want to be a victim of any violence. I’ve been driving back and forth from the Northeast to México for eighteen years. No lie… that is a lot of miles and time in the seat of my Sportsmobile.
My area? Violence? Never going to happen. We are a farming community way far away from anyone looking to commit any criminal activity. As far as I know(and I ask) there has never been any organized violence anywhere near my town. Why would anyone cause problems for farmers or a tourist town that focuses on a historic church and dairy products?
My take is that gang violence is focused between gangs and territory. The border towns are surely unsafe and there is no way I’m going to be hanging out in a bar, intoxicated, at 3am in a any big city. These rules apply to the US as well. If you go looking for problems, chances are you’ll find them.
It only takes a few seconds in Aculco to realize the nature of this area. If anyone comes here to go drinking, well…. you best bring a funnel and pour it in mass quantities as the bar(s) close at 9:30….. The cheese stores at 9:45. This town is really special and a great place to come and twist the throttle.
Whenever I tell people about my slice of paradise I ask “Can you Ride?” because their answer can certainly change everything.
Below are photos of some of the people I’ve ridden with over the years. Mostly all were taken after the advent of the cell phone camera. How I wish I had the ability to take photos of every bike I’ve owned and all the great people I’ve ridden with. As I find more I’ll add them. Life has been so very good to me. Fortune, not luck.
“Nothing compares to that area of central Mexico. It is truly beautiful in every way. I’ve ridden there twice and look forward to going back. It is endless good times.”
Skip Pack, PA
Searching for gas in Coal Country
A lifetime ago. Joey; friends forever.
The YZ 250 of years gone past. All engine, no suspension.
Riding in Northern Mexico.
Riding Coal Country Pennsylvania
All the bikes I've owned. This one was clapped out for sure....
Hurricane Hills. A very agreeable track.
Paragon shortly after it closed. A huge improvement really.
Cycle Stuff working my suspension.
Nada Tunnel. What a great place to ride.
My buddy John. That 520 was too big for the trails....
Paragon years after it closed. It's so much better now....
My 2003 Sportsmobile. Great to travel in.
Shani's first bike.
The Quarries of Mordor