keepemflying
Butterfl ies, fi reworks and a Slash Five
By Matthew Parkhouse #13272 I GUESS
YOU
could call this the half-way point of the trip. After leav- ing Colorado Springs just over two weeks ago, I am writing this in cen-
tral Mexico. As I rode straight south into the "real" tropics, I hung out with millions of Monarch butterflies up in the mountains of Michoacan and spent a few days on the beach in my favorite coastal town, Playa Azul. More time at the beach won out over going to the volcano Paricatin, even though it was kind of close by. Right now I'm in the middle of my
stay in Tultepec, near Mexico City. I've come here for the Fiesta de San Juan de Dios, who is the patron saint of pyrotechnicians, and the Fiesta is a
48 BMW OWNERS NEWS May 2016
two-week fireworks extravaganza. I'm catching the first few days, including the "Castillo" competition, a mass launching of hand-made, paper hot air balloons (globos) and the notorious "Concorso y Quema de Torros," where a parade of paper mâché bulls make their way through the town to the central town square. The bulls, ranging in size from what a kid could carry over his head, to massive things on wheels pushed by a dozen people. They are so large that a man leading them holds up power lines as the parade proceeds to the square. There are groups of folks, sort of like the
New Orleans Mardi Gras crews, who work together to build a large bull every year. The artwork is beautiful, and it seems sad that they will be blown up and burned at the end of the day. The bulls are stuffed with fire- works and are ignited in the square where crowds of young men dance among the exploding inferno to demonstrate their
manhood, I suppose. Me, I hid behind the trees when I shot pictures of the event with stickless rockets flying everywhere. I was recalling last year, when I was struck about five times. A nearby truck trailer served as a first aid station and was well attended. It is an amazing event that we would NEVER see in the safety-conscious U.S. After the "Night of the Bulls," I'll head to
the Gulf Coast and into the Yucatan, where I hope to stay in the same Merida hotel we were in last year. Susanna will fly into Can- cun, about 180 miles away, where I'll pick her up, so we can ride two-up back to Mer- ida. We're planning a couple of day trips around the city, relaxing in the old colonial town, and after our week together, I'll take Susanna back to the Cancun Airport and then start heading north toward home. This is my 12th bike trip to Mexico since
the mid-80s, and the bike I'm riding is a ‘72 R 75/5 I picked up in 1987 as a $500 "there's
At the shore at Playa Azul. Just about my favorite beach town. This is my fifth stay there, I believe
TECH
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140