|
Deane & Alex's Motorcycle Trip to Mexico | |
|
May 10, Mazatlan to Guadalajara - 330 Miles |
|
Today's ride was supposed to be an easy one. It was, for the first two-thirds of the way, to Tepic, Mexico. We enjoyed riding on the "Libre" road, seeing the countryside and the little food stands and restaurants along the way. We have found that we are getting dehydrated at a higher rate than either of us are used to. So, we would stop every once in a while to get a bottle of Fresca, which seems to available everywhere. We gassed up in Tepic (which is a good sized city) and were riding out of town, Deane in the lead and Alex following, and we were accelerating, thinking we had passed the last Tope. All of a sudden Deane saw cars slowing rapidly, and now saw the last Tope - a big one - and it wasn't marked. Deane was able to slow enough to go over the big Tope safely, but Alex, in trying to brake hard to be sure he didn't rear-end Deane, had his back tire hit some sand. The back wheel just slid out from under Alex, and down he went. Alex was shaken of course, and had some abrasions and a cut on the arm where some of the plastic fairing of the motorcycle had cut him. Of course he was wearing his helmet, and it took some large scrapes which otherwise would have been on his head. We got him and the motorcycle up and going quickly, because he was in a terribly high traffic area. It happened that a Tepic city policeman was at the scene immediately after we got Alex out of traffic. Deane had gotten Alex's First Aid kit out and was cleaning off Alex's arm when an ambulance arrived. The policeman had radioed right away and had the ambulance on the way. With the ambulance were a driver and two women EMTs who were "Cruz Rojo de Mexico" volunteers (Red Cross of Mexico). They looked Alex over, and pronounced him OK to go to the emergency room of a hospital nearby, and fit enough to ride his motorcycle. The motorcycle had some damage, but was OK to ride. By the time we were ready to ride to the hospital, three other policemen arrived, and each had to see what the situation was. Alex let them know that he also was a policeman in Albuquerque, and then they were extra helpful. No ticket or report was filed, with Alex's coaching. One of them led us to the hospital, the "Hospital Cruz Rojo de Mexico". (We weren't sure if this hospital was a part of Mexico/International Red Cross, but we thought so.) At the emergency room there was indeed a young doctor, and a nurse cleaned Alex's arm so that it could be examined. It took a few stitches, and then we were done - in all it took probably a half hour. Alex also had some abrasions and a big bruise on one hip, but felt he could ride. The motorcycle was all right, but I was concerned that Alex would not be up to riding another 100 miles or so, to get to our destination for the night, Guadalajara. But he wanted to go on, so we did. It was getting dark, so we decided to take the "Quota" (the toll road), and made it Guadalajara all right. I talked to him on the CB radio all of the way to make sure that his attention was all right, and watched him carefully, but he was OK, and we made it. This certainly is something you don't want to happen in a foreign country, but it came out all right. Just one last question everyone has, "How much did the hospital Emergency Room cost, and was it an insurance problem?" The total bill for the Emergency room, (and I guess Ambulance service was thrown in for no cost) was $88 Pesos - about $9.50 U.S. ! Unbelievable!! Alex paid the bill in cash, and away we went. |
||
