Brian’s Microblog

February 28, 2026

I think today’s loop from Tasquillo was the most epic day of riding of my life!

At nine we walked over to a street with a couple of laundry services. The one we’d heard good things about did not open, but the one across the street opened a few minutes after nine. We dropped some laundry off, then headed back to the hotel where the restaurant was to open at nine thirty. We had a very good breakfast of chilaquiles and scrambled eggs, but it was not included in the room rate. The chilaquiles came with green sauce instead of the red I had seen elsewhere.

We got on the road around ten thirty and headed north to Zimapán through some interesting twisties, but we ended up taking the wrong road out of Zimapán. It started as a twisty road with a lot of potholes that were patched with gravel, then turned into a very rough gravel road. After about twenty kilometers we realized we had the wrong road, but we did get some great views and some good practice on rough, rocky roads. We returned to Zimapán and got some gas because we weren’t sure if the extra forty kilometers would make it so we couldn’t complete the loop we had planned.

Once on the correct road we headed north-west (instead of south-west like the first time) and over a ridge, then on gravel roads down toward some mines in Arroyo Chipinque. The road got rougher and then the switchbacks got crazy. Mining trucks coming up the hill have the right of way, so we had to be careful to pull over in one of the occasional wide spots if we saw one coming up.

We saw a group of bikers down at the bottom of the switchbacks. We eventually caught up with them, but then as we started driving down the road that follows the creek, they ended up passing us when we stopped to take photos. This road is seasonal, and every year after the rainy season it has to be rebuilt by the mining company. The water was higher than what we expected because it is still the dry season here. When we got to this slot canyon we might have turned around if the other group of motorcyclists hadn’t gone through first.

Me entering the first of the slot canyon sections.

A big group of locals with side-by-sides were waiting on the other side of this slot section and one driver had posed his vehicle against the canyon wall for photo opportunities.

We both made it through despite stopping because of the crazy side-by-side. After another mile or so we stopped for a break in the shade.

There were only a few slot sections - most of the seven miles or so of this canyon bottom route was more like this:

We caught up to the big group of riders at a tiny store in Las Adjuntas, a tiny town. There were about ten guys from various parts of Mexico and one Irishman who had been living in Mexico for the past several years. We had some Cokes and a salty snack while we talked to the Irish guy - he is planning to ride up through Oregon in April. They took off, then we left ten minutes or so later.

There were a few more miles of rough gravel roads to get out to a highway (MX 120) where we quickly crossed the big river that the creek in Arroyo Chepinque joined up with. The bridge ran right into a short tunnel which was fun. Then this highway started climbing. We climbed about three thousand feet in a couple dozen miles. We caught the group again as they were heading to an un-marked scenic overlook on a ridge top.

This highway is absolutely epic motorcycle riding. Eventually it came to an end and we turned to get back to Zimapán by way of La Presa Zimapán, a huge reservoir (presa means dam or reservoir).

Finally it was back through Zimapán to Tasquillo and our hotel, arriving around six thirty. We were both exhausted despite it only being around two hundred miles for the day - the dirt riding, especially all the water crossings, was stressful and the road sections were so twisty that it was just intense all day long.

We walked back to COBA for dinner and had the Hawaiian pizza - was also really delicious, but I liked the smoky flavor of the barbecue sauce on the California pizza better. On the way back to the hotel we picked up some bananas and pan dulces (sweet breads) to have for breakfast tomorrow since we need to get an early start.