Huajuapan de Leon and the Venado Bikers…

For once, I was lucky enough to find the exit to a city and be out on the open road within a few minutes of leaving my place of lodging… Normally, we have to run the gauntlet of heavy traffic and take a few unexpected detours before we can pin the throttle back…

I took the main highway which ran all the way north to Puebla and Mexico City, wanting to get to the turnoff to Nochixtlan as quickly as possible… It was there that I was meant to meet up with members of Roberto’s biker gang, who would lead me back to their home town of Huajuapan de Leon…

We lit the afterburners on the highway running north from Oaxaca...

The eager growl coming from beneath me encouraged me to give the Big Fella his head, and once clear of the toll gate just outside Oaxaca, I let him loose… It had been a long time since I last felt the “need for speed” and soon we were up over the 160 km/h mark and loving it…!!

The Federales that passed me going the other way, flicked their headlights and wagged their finger at me as we zoomed down the highway, forcing us to wind our necks in a little… They have onboard radar in their cars, as well as a small arsenal of weapons with which they could start a war, and I did not want to tangle with them…!!

I did not see any bikers waiting for me at the turnoff and after contacting Roberto, was told to continue riding as they would meet me along the way…

“You are riding too fast for them…!!” he said, “They are on their way towards you…. Keep going, you will son meet up with them…!!”

The monastery at Tamazulapam...

The Mex190 was an unpainted narrow strip of country road, leading up into the mountains… The area was a lot drier than what I had become used to, and small villages and settlements along the way showed that this was a part of the country where life was a lot harder…

About 50 km further down the road, I passed the 16th century monastery that Roberto had told me to look out for, and then cruised into the town of Tamazulapam…

Just as I was exiting the town and wondering where the guys I was supposed to meet were, a pair of bikers came into view and began flashing their lights at me…

I pulled over while they made a u-turn behind me and minutes later was being hugged and welcomed by Emiliano and Gever…

We chatted for a few minutes, which wasn’t easy, because neither of them spoke a word of English…!! Then we mounted up and with Emiliano in the lead and Gever tucked in behind me, we rode out along the winding road to Tuajuapan…

The bear-like Gever; and Emilano, current president of the Venado Bikers Club, met me before I reached Tuajuapan...

For guys who supposedly don’t ride fast, these guys kept up a very quick pace as we ducked and dived around trucks, buses and slow-moving cars, and took the twisting road at more than a gallop…!! I had never ridden with a Harley rider before, and when Gever passed me so that I could film both bikers in front of me, I was surprised at how fast he went through tight corners…

Roberto's home town, where many members of his family and boyhood friends still live....

Emiliano led us into town and directly to the main square where we parked up on the pavement and were immediately met by other members of the Venado’s…

First to arrive was Martin, a very close friend of Roberto's, and who could not wait to "sit" the Big Fella....

Then it was Emiliano's turn to feel what it was like to sit on a fully loaded tourer.... Everybody had a turn to do this, and many a photo was taken while we discussed the bits and pieces that were not part of a standard GS....

While Emiliano, who does not drink, sipped on a Coke, Gever and I enjoyed a michalada or two... This is a beer, to which is added Worcester Sauce, Tabasco, Salt, Pepper, Lemon juice, and Tomato juice...

Then we retired to a small restaurant across the way and sat down to have a welcome drink…

A few more members of the gang wandered in and joined us, and I was introduced to the only fluent English speaker so far, Eloy, who had studied fine art in the USA for a number of years… With his long hair and handlebar moustache, he stood out from the other members, who were mostly clean-cut guys…

He has that “devil-may-care” attitude about him, and a sense of humour that I was immediately drawn to… We would get along just splendidly…!!

For the next few days, Eloy would act as interpreter and facilitator and made sure I was always kept in the loop of what we were doing, or where we were going…

By mid-afternoon, we were all in a happy-frame of mind and left the main plaza and rode over to Emiliano’s home where I would be spending the night…

I noticed as we roared through town, that none of the riders wore helmets, and were never bothered by the municipal police who were hardly what I would call “thin on the ground”…!!

Following Eloy on his Vulcan.... The noise from the group of Harleys and Vulcans made me wince as we rode through the narrow streets of Tuajuapan... Riding with these guys and keeping a low profile is impossible...!!

In almost every Mexican town I have been in, there is always a very strong police presence… There are the municipal police who seem to patrol the streets looking for traffic offenders and dealing with small crimes; then there are the Provincial police who deal with more important matters and travel all over the province they stay in…

Finally, there are the “Federales”, dressed in black jump-suits, who ride about in large black, super-charged cars, and have jurisdiction over all other police officers…They go where they like, when they like, and brook no interference with their activities…!!

They are the guys who are not only very well equipped, (some of them carrying not one, but two mini machine guns strapped to their waists…!!) but patrol any part of the country they are sent to, and keep themselves busy by nailing drug traffickers and dealing with other serious crimes…

It is best not to make too much eye-contact with a Federale…!!

On arrival at Emiliano’s home, where his other bike, a Harley, is parked along with his enormous Chevy pick-up truck, I noticed that a large crate of beer was being carried into the house…

Moments later, a few more Verado’s arrived, and while we watched the video footage I had taken of our ride into town, we settled down to have a “proper welcome”…

Somebody went out and came back with a few roast chickens and a huge pile of tacos, and we tucked into lunch with gusto…

Over the next few hours I discovered what a great bunch of guys Roberto’s friends were… We laughed and joked about experiences we have had on the road; exchanged hair-raising stories of wipe-outs and routes we had ridden; and of course, through it all, we kept our throats well lubricated…!!

Eloy, Gever, Emiliano, Hernan and Jorge... We enjoyed a happy afternoon together around Emiliano's dining table....

Eloy opens a second bottle of Tequila.... Things went Cactus-shaped from there on....!!

The Venado’s (named after a wild deer) are fiercely proud of their culture and their heritage, and have members in various provinces throughout Mexico, but are mainly from Tuajuapan and Oaxaca…

Emblem of a proud bunch of motorcyclists, the Venado's....

They are not the hell-raising type, but rather a cool bunch of middle-aged guys who enjoy being out on their bikes and experiencing the freedom of the open road whenever they can… Which seems to be often…!!

After a few dozen beers and a bottle of Tequila had been imbibed, Emiliano brought out yet another bottle of cactus-juice, and we sampled that for the next half hour… Then we decided to go back into town to continue the festivities there…

I rode on the back of Emiliano’s V-Strom and we ended up in the same restaurant we had been in earlier that afternoon… There I met Davit, Roberto’s older brother, who joined us at our table and talked about his work with Rotary International…

He invited us to assist him at a small village which he would be visiting the next day, where free medical care would be dispensed to all those in need…

I had planned to ride on to Mexico City, and the Venado’s were to accompany me for the first 100 km or so… After a long discussion, we changed our plans and agreed to put my ride off for another day, so that we could go out and assist Davit…

When thr restaurant closed at midnight, Eloy was dead keen to move on to another venue, but knowing that Emiliano’s wife and young son were waiting at home, I begged off and called it a night…

We rode back through the dark streets of Huajuapan, and after unpacking some of my gear, I fell into bed and slept like a log…

The following morning we were up early, and heading out to rendevouz with some other bikers whom I thought were going out to the village with us… I was wrong…!! This was another outing that had been arranged by the Venado’s and turned out to be a “breakfast run” to a village about 40 km away…

Out and about with the guys and the gal of the Venado's....

We were joined by the only female biker of the group, Angelica, riding a Kawasaki Vulcan… She had been riding for only a year but handled her bike as though she had been riding for much longer… Mucho respeto, Angelica….!!

We rode out into the early morning sunlight, sweeping through valleys and climbing up over a few low mountains until we came to a stop at bwhat was actually a crossroads more than a village…

There, under the plastic awning of a roadside stall, we enjoyed a traditional breakfast of meat and vegetable soup…

A simple breakfast in a simple setting, shared with a great bunch of fellow riders... Sunday morning could not have been better....

After breakfast photo with a small part of the Venado Gang... Gever, Hernan, Emiliano, Gac and Angelica...

We rode back to Huajuapan, with me bringing up the rear so that I could film our ride from my onboard camera and take photos of the group ahead of me… They all all been very excited the day before to see themselves riding their bikes and the many photos I had taken… I felt that the least that I could do was add to their video and photo libraries…!!

Sweeping through one of the many bends on the road to Huajuapan....

I thoroughly enjoyed the short ride we made together… I watched how the guys boxed Angelica in, Gac “looking out” for her from behind, while Gever kept an eye out for her from in front… Whenever we came across a large pothole or a rock in the road, the guys ahead would indicate the danger with either an outstretched leg or an arm…

Back to town after a great ride through the countryside....

There is something about a big group of riders that always seems to grab attention, and this one was no different... And being a rather small community, we received many waves of recognitions as we rode through the streets....

The Big Fella always bucked the trend by parking where he could keep an eye on his adversaries...!!

Eloy was waiting for us at Emiliano’s house, and surprised me by telling me to load up all my gear, as I would be moving to his brother’s house… We tossed all my kit onto Emiliano’s pick up and then rode into town where we spent an hour at Eloy’s mothers home, and then began the ride out to the village of Amatitlan, to assist Davit and the members of Rotary International…

©GBWT 2012