Launching off of the ferry I was in such a good mood. The ferry was so fun! I headed for Los Mochis where I continued north on Mexico Highway 15 which is a typical super-slab toll road. Not that interesting but it was fast and flat up to Ciudad Obregon. Turning off onto Sonora Highway 117 the road turned into a narrow rural highway. I stopped for some lunch in a little town called Rosario which had two restaurants and a petrol station. About 10 miles after Rosario the "highway" bends to head north. The reason I use quotation marks around "highway" here is where today's adventure begins. If you've been following the blog you probably remember me saying "when you turn off onto a road that doesn't have lines... you are in for a treat". As the 117 started to wind its way into the mountains, there were no longer any painted lines. About 10 miles thereafter the pavement ended. This was a surprise but a welcome one and I enjoyed the changing landscape as the desert plains gave way to rugged mountains and pine forests. Apparently Mexico is punching a much more substantial highway through this section but they were just in the beginning stages of straightening the road by blasting huge holes though the bluffs and canyons. It's Sunday so there wasn't anyone around. Just vacant excavating equipment and a lot of dust. The temperature hit 101º and I noticed that the bike was running very hot. I know this because on the Tiger when the radiator fan kicks on it pumps very hot air out onto my legs. Not that pleasant when it's already over 100. No problem I thought because I only had about an hour left to ride for the day. Then I came around a corner and saw a section of road that had not been graded. It had a rough layer of un-compacted gravel about two feet deep. The road bent to the left and I couldn't see how far this section might be so I attempted to ride it. The surface was like quicksand and my heavy bike sank into the loose surface. I looked to the edge of the road and saw that there is a thin ribbon of compacted soil just to the outside of the gravel. It was about 8" wide and I hoped it would be enough to get me past this section. It almost was. I rode the thin strip of dirt for about a half mile and I could see the end of the section about 100 meters up ahead. Unfortunately my track disappeared between two deep gravel berms about axil high. I stopped and thought about my options. It was very hot. I decided to try to cross the berm to my left and get back out onto the un-compacted road bed. What I neglected to do was to disable the traction control on the bike before attempting this. Modern motorcycles are equipped with traction control electronics which are meant to prevent the rear wheel from spinning on a slippery surfaces. Very handy when I am communing in the rain in the Pacific Northwest but it is completely useless off road because you need the rear wheel to spin. As soon as I tried to throttle over the gravel berm the traction control engaged causing the already very hot clutch to slip. Within 30 seconds I had overheated the clutch and I was stuck without power. When you are riding solo and you are in the middle of nowhere... "Oh shit!" comes to mind. Then out of nowhere two men approached. The one phase of Spanish that I have tattooed in my memory is "yo necesito ayuda"... I need help. I promptly employed this key phrase. The men helped me wrestle the bike into a better position but without power I was still stuck. I told them that the clutch was too hot and it needed to rest for 30 minutes. The next thing I knew, one man went down and jumped into a road compacting machine. He compacted the gravel so that the other man could bring his pickup truck close to my bike. Next, they tied a couple pieces of ratty rope together and attached it to my crash bars... and the pickup. I realized that my situational Spanish is little lacking. I had never been towed on the bike before and I wasn't exactly sure what might happen. I asked the driver to please go slowly. He smiled and said "don't worry". He very gently and competently pulled my bike up onto the now compacted roadbed and then to the end of the section. By then my bike had cooled enough and with some roadside adjustments to my clutch cable I was once again mobile. I paid the men $20 and thanked them profusely. It was only 6 more miles of gravel road before turning onto Mexico Highway 16. I had to be very gentle on my clutch for the next 40 miles but boy what an amazing 40 miles. Now high in the Sierra Madre, the twisting narrow road was thrilling and the towering spires lining the road were spectacular. I can't wait to explore more tomorrow. Spending the night in Yecora. Sorry I didn't take more photos today. I'll do better tomorrow.