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GoldMember Rides Hard!
After leaving the B.U.T.T. ride from Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas, Mike, AKA GoldMember continued his trip to South America. GoldMember started in Canada, hauling his XR650 in a little trailer towed by his Honda Civic, getting 50 mpg. He’s definitely not from Texas!
GoldMember was a real hoot on the B.U.T.T. ride and with his permission we are posting his emails from down south.
12/14
I am in Guansamo Bay on the eastern shore of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.
12/15
I am not sure what day it is but I know the last malaria pill was a day late but better late than never. I rode a section of hwy 5 south on the eastern peninsula of Baja that you really could just call it 60 km of washboard and rocks... The builders have actually started paving and what they have done is beautiful, I was cruising the new asphalt without lines for miles and then it ends AND essentially does the road. More to come on that...
Two nights ago I slept on the beach it gets dark here around 6pm so I have this thing about wildlife at night that makes it unessential that I drive plus the conditions of the roads also make one rethink the nighttime travel thing....
The beach was cool just me and the waves... I woke up rode for just under an hour found another totally secluded beach and read my book until noon...
My new tires SUCK in sand, so memo to self-stay off of the soft stuff.
The rest of the day was spent tackling the nonexistent road, to Alphonsino (it should be on the map) A cool cove where the fishermen hang out with a hotel and restaurant. I had an a shrimp dinner last night and I am sure it was seasoned with a pound of butter and 10 other delicious spices... Quite Decadent.
This Is where I met David, he took the same road in as me but on a BMW R1200GS, if anyone remembers that is the same bike that in Texas Pureed the roadrunner into a mist of feathers... The virtual Winnebago of off road motorcycles, he has enough lights on the front of this thing to do a stadium during a football game...He bought it used off of an old guy and got a sweet deal on
it, already all kitted out.
David is pretty cool.. He is a retired dairy farmer and a Huge Harley guy, he has owned over time about a dozen or so of them...about 57 years old. We had supper and bunked in for the night swapping old wives tales.... This morning we assessed the damage to his motorcycle as he was coming down a sand wash on the section of 60km of non-road and wiped out. He said he was following my tracks and I remember that particular section of road, I was idling down the 100-meter hill praying for the front end not to wash out on me. He said he was doing about 35mph. Owww.
He was okay and all he had was some light damage to the crash bars and accessory lights.. We tweaked a few things and then had breakfast. We may end up riding together today for a bit, and might also hook up after xmas.
Today we are going to find a big 2x4 to retweak some of his crash bar, hit a place called "Cocoas Corner" and make our way over to the west coast of the peninsula... to do some whale watching...
For LOU. It is sunny breezy warm and I am looking forward to the perfect riding conditions today....
Loving Mexico have fun and play safe..... If in doubt SLOW Down.... Mike.
Well it was an eventful day as David and I headed towards Guerrero Negro.... On the West coast of Baja, and made it... In reverse order... a bowl full of cheese, and seasoning with tortilla's was the appetizer.. Supper was a dang good shrimp salad...The cervaisa's were flowing quite nicely... I am holding out for the burger sized Scallops... somewhere down the road... If we would have wanted beef we would have hit one on the road... LOL
We are in reverse now remember that. We checked into a crappy little motel next to a kick *** restaurant just after dark... We chased the sun into the hills and the sign on the nice hotel said 6pm and 17C As the sun had already set on our day. We decided we had enough money for tonight and scrapped the ATM until tomorrow.
We raced the sun as it was only a few hundred KM to our destination chasing whales.. The paved road was so narrow that if you went off the edge... you were done, just a white line.. No shoulder.. sometimes up to a 4 foot drop... We stopped by a wrecking yard/truck stop for a Rockola cola and some chocolate realizing that ALL the vehicles in the yard had been ROLLED.. not smashed or vandalized but ROLLED off of the narrow road.. Good point to watch out for... It was a windy day as we rolled in-between the mountains from the east to the west coast... Between the mountains it was like a cactus valley... The bikes faired better in the right side of the lane when being blown by the 18 wheelers and also the strong winds at the same time... Who said vacationing wasn't work..LOL
An interesting point is that the Federalis (military) check points all check for drugs and are funded by the Americans.... Quite honestly they are just a bunch of 20 year olds with guns playing soccer waiting for cars to show up... No Cavity searches or anything like that... Very relaxing if your not carrying drugs...
Yesterdays road was crap.... This morning after a walk on the 2 mile pure sand beach (pics coming) and a shrimp omelet for breakfast... David had pancakes... it was interesting how both meals came with fresh French FRIES ... LOL
We fueled up and hit the road...Er dirt sand and washboard.... The interesting man at the service station mentioned the road south which was still about 60km to pavement was much better than the previous 60km of .... well to put it nicely.. ****. Maximum 40- 50 km/hr. We were less than a mile out of town actually I could still see the gas station in my mirror when I noticed that David was... well not exactly upright and facing in the correct direction.. not really on the intended path, so I turned around and went back for him... LOL He was not impressed... He was OK... but his bike was on its side and facing in the wrong direction in the ditch over the berm.
Inspector Clouseau followed his tire tracks from the road... 2" deep sand into the hidden rock then veering into the burm where apparently some throttle was applied to correct the inherent directional deficiencies which really only spun the rear end around to hit the burm and flip the bike over.... OOOoooopppps.
Hence the trouble with Beemers... The R1200GS with two saddlebags, tank bag, rear top case, and big pack immediately behind the rider weighs.... Hernia weight. It seriously was not a bit of fun, the two of us were slipping in the sand and grunting to get it up... Thank heavens that BMW designed it with break away bags, at least the side he dumped it on... At least I am able to right my own motorcycle by myself.... and it weighs less than half of a loaded BMW. Good news... David has matching broken lights... Road 2... BMW 0...
Tomorrow we will straighten the other side crash bar and recheck all the nuts bolts and screw before hitting the road again... Where to tomorrow??? Unsure don't really care as long as the sun is shining and the tires are contacting the road.... On a quest for cervaisa..Tonight reeelax... let the cervaisa kick in... Maybe answer a few emails... Watch some TV
Be young.. Have fun... Drink Rockola cola...LOL That was my only advertisement for the trip, an unpaid word from our fictitious sponsor... Oh and Play safe .. Mike....
12/17
We have been making our way down the coast for the last few days and only after looking at the calendar on Hotmail I realize it is Thursday dec. 17th. We have bounced from the west to east and back again. Two nights ago we were in Guerrero Negro... That is where this story begins.
We awoke to the sound of cars rushing by the rear of the motel room... Todays mission was for me to hit a bank machine... I was down to my last $5 US dollars, and that won't fill the tank of the XR, it might buy breakfast but I didn't want to bet my cards on it. So I had an apple and an orange I had in my stash, tore David away from all 3 waitresses, and found the bank machine. The funny thing was I had to show David how to use it.... and it wouldn't accept my CARD, either of them... This wasn't good. One card the PC interact one, I should have thrown away at the Canadian border, because by the time I ran out of money a month later in Texas, it was and is still USELESS. The BMO Cirrus/Maestro card should be OK. Apparently not in this machine so I went into the bank for help.. Sorry, there was nothing they could do. I waited and hour and tried again. Nothing. Didn't I feel a bit like a ******** now, with money in the bank, I could get 0.
David was cool enough with the situation, and threw me 500 Pesos, the equivalent of $50. So we rode off to the next town, in search of a bank machine. Now when your in a foreign country, far away from the nearest US border, at least 4 gas tanks away with $55 to your name, and a bank machine that tells you to F-off, you begin to think. Before I left Canada I went out and got 2 new bankcards so there wouldn't be a problem. It reminded me of a conversation that I had with my Sister while in Vegas. "What happens if you need money" she asked... I replied "you'll send it!!!" Of course that was only to be in DIRE emergency but the hour and a half drive to the next bank machine lets you ponder all possibilities and options.... When we arrived in the next town I was somewhat reserved in my mood. When I left the money machine I was doing a Mexican money dance, and Vacation Mike's attitude was restored.
Last evening we were in Santa Rosalia, which is a very authentic Mexican coastal town built in the early years on the riches of Copper. We stayed at the "Motel Victor" which was a local treat. 150 pesos, about 12-15 us dollars. $6 each. Well apparently everything is an option in this motel, a free option but you had to ask for it. For instance I had to ask for toilet paper... and then towels, which were two different colours and sizes. The bed I threw my bag on was right beside the door and luckily was bigger and had no springs coming through the mattress... David was a little peeved at that but I gave him the pick of beds this evening. Oh and there is one TV station and no remote....
We toured the little town for hours and David was shooting coffee and expressos like crazy, I mentioned he may have a problem sleeping but was told to mind my own business... Not a problem.
For supper I had some pretty **** amazing Scallops fried in garlic butter, rice and a salad. David insisted on eating what the locals were eating... Off of a hotdog vendor he had deep fried hotdogs wrapped in bacon, smothered in STUFF. I mentioned that if I wanted to eat Dog-A-Bobs I would get loaded and have them outside the Palomino in Winnipeg at 3am. he was offended that I wasn't practicing local customs.....LOL
I think I was in bed around 11ish and david wanted to get up early and be on the road after sunrise... 6ish, he also had prearranged for coffee with Amelia the coffee woman. I was pretty beat and headed right to bed. David couldn't sleep and went for a walk... (???? Too much coffee???) I awoke early to David clanging around the bathroom, I asked him if the sun was up yet? He didn't know but it was 4:30am, I recommended we catch another hour of sleep before greeting the day... Before he could contest I was asleep again.. He never did get back to sleep... and up at 5:30. This evening we are in Loretto on the eastern coast, and it is a tourist town. enough said about that.
The ride here was amazing... Bay of Conception was beautiful, and the road was twisty mountainous and fun. David doesn't appreciate the twisties as much as I do, and I would often wait for him 5-10 minutes up the road to make sure he was OK, these were great photo opportunities... The trick to these narrow roads is keep away from the centerline on the corners, because everyone else is using it. So it can still be alot of fun, if you play safe.. The views were comparable to the Cabot trail in Cape Breton NS but with sandy beaches... Tonight we are going to go check out the local tourist scene.. and have something to eat.
Anyone not doing the family bonding thing, around Xmas I will be in Mazatlan and have very nice beachside accommodations...and your all more than welcome...
Have fun.... Mike...
1/8
Last night after arriving we went for supper, I had asked for a soup, and apparently it was named Chebugo (sounds like, and may not be spelled like) using my motto as long as there were no fish eyes, I am in.... It was good. This morning for brunch Pedro thought it looked good and at a different restaurant ordered it. So did I, we received a flattened chicken breast with rice and small veggie side... The funny thing is 3 of these guys speak a little spanish, but not enough to know what we are getting for supper... Lost in translation... Oh both the soup and chicken were good.
100percent humidity, 50pct have wet weather gear for riding, 25pct want to ride today = 0pct on motorcycles. I have wet weather gear and a toque.... As should all Canadian travelers. So it is raining and I can see my breath... So what? apparently this is a tragedy to my American travel companions, and the locals do not seem impressed either considering I haven’t seen any woodstoves or furnaces anywhere since we have been in this area... Ok let them have there little beef.
I went for a run down the hill a few KM and then back up again, and it is a mountain... I may need a lung transplant as my cold was purging some vital bodily fluids and I think some intestines too... but it felt good.
So when we decided to hike the mountain in the rain it made two workouts today... and hiking it was near vertical but the locals had built in steps in many spots, many breaks were taken and the pecking order was by age.... I think if I didn’t have the cold I could have led the expedition.... I know I’m a weak Canadian....
So I picked up some fresh fruit from the market, and it is amazing how on the coast shrimp was EVERYWHERE, and cheap, inland you can only find dehydrated beef jerky like shrimp.. which really isn’t all that appealing... As say smoked salmon, or beef jerky, because they leave the heads and the shells on. Making the peeling eating process time consuming and messy. But what they do have are pineapples for 10 pesos (a dollar or there abouts) and in the restaurant they will peel and process it for you with your breakfast.
Coka Light, aka diet coke, is virtually nonexistent, where it was everywhere in all other mexican towns. The true delight comes from walking out of the market with 750ml of orange juice, a quart of the biggest raspberries ever, 2 apples, 2 bananas, and a bag of peanuts for 32 pesos about 3 and a 1`/4 dollars.
The hotel is spartan and the bathroom reminds me of a typical mexican theme, no bathtub and the whole thing is ceramic tiled with a drain in the middle of the floor for the shower. Ours is so special that you could use the toilet and shower at the same time, all the while filling the sink with the same showerhead for shaving afterwards...LOL I think if I build another bathroom it will use this no tub/ shower surround theme. Ours only had a shower curtain for an external door. Oh just in case you think it is me that is picking these accommodations....Your wrong... It is Pedro because he speaks spanish and has the smallest budget for the trip... Really what do I care I have slept on the beach and ceramic tile floors..... I could be sleeping in a graveyard under enemy fire with sand fleas... So I am grateful for whatever turns up.
So we are holed up here for another day and it doesn’t really matter, we are on vacation... If we make it to Panama, great! if not it doesn’t matter, will we all travel together forever? doesn’t matter, but I have set aside a month in the middle of somewhere to get some spanish training.
I guess the only thing that matters is I don’t go home early because I gave away my season tickets to the theater, the trip is already paid for and I haven’t seen copper canyon, the bullfights, and the nude beaches yet.... LOL
Mexico is also a make work project, there are 6 guys with pickaxes and shovels out there in the rain digging a trench down the center of the road 4 feet deep and 75 feet long, I know they are on a steep hill (I ran it this morning) but besides the military and old movies and the shed in my yard I cannot remember the last time I saw a pick axe in real life let alone used on a major construction project. Not a backhoe in sight.... No yellow crew cabs that sleep 6 either...
It is SOOOoooooo cold 2 guys are thinking about getting a cab and seeing the sights from there.... I would rather eat fish eyes and volunteer for Montazuma´s revenge, than NOT ride my bike in the rain.... I guess that is what separates the Canadians from the Americans, and the hardcores from the woooosies... Oh and because of the 2 guys without raingear I was part of the majority who said hang for another day 75pct. but the 25pct that wanted to ride now wants a cab.... I need to buy that man a teddy bear and ask him if his ovaries hurt.... LOL
Holed up in the rain in an old silver mining town....... Mike.... but still smiling and lovin it.
1/12
It rained for two days in the butterfly area and when we finally made it out the morning of the third it was nice... some donkeys, cows, chickens, goats on the road but then it turned to fog... Well it was pea soup thick for and it affected the riding, Pedro had the most problems and when the lexan on his helmet not only was dirty due to misty mud but the inside was getting rain when he opened it partially to clear the condensation... He has one of those motocross hybrid helmets that has a visor and a lexan shield in a motocross shape... There is a reason I have been using a motocross helmet and goggles for years... At one point he pulled over and said go on without me rather dramatically, what kind of friends would we be if we did that??? Plus I think he owed me $5... LOL
We ended up in Taxco, which is a super cool old silver mining town built in the mountains, you could almost relate it to somewhere in the alps without the snow... Narrow high streets with hairpins and cobblestone, in fact the only paved road was the highway going through it... We walked for hours.... got lost, pulled out my camera found a landmark and figured out our position form the view and the original view from our hotel on the camera... then we got lost again.
We stayed in a 4 star hotel that had a great view and alot of old world charm... Unfortunately it had old world bugs and no hot water... What do you want for $100US???
The next morning we rode the town and had brunch at a 5 star hotel, it was swanky, on the entrance level was a piano player, and in the dining room was a 3 piece string band, and it was a reasonable 17US ( a million pesos to a mexican for breakfast) for a decadent brunch buffet. That morning we wished SD well, as he was traveling to his old language school for an undetermined amount of time. Then we hit the road heading westish towards Acopulco, but not a destination. Until shortly thereafter we were ready to say our kind words to Pedro, as he was departing north for Sayulita (AKA New Years) as he was to improve his spanish skills and look for work on a fishing boat. His last task as Tour Guide Barbie was to find a bullfight in Acopulco, for Jessie and I, and then he turned over his Lonely planet central America guidebook and his spanish phrase book... I told him there are always cold beer and steaks in Canada shook his hand and he was off... Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Jessie and I quickly devised a gumball plan to make it to the bullfights by 5pm it was now 130pm. Too much road too little time. So the straightest distance between 2 points is a toll road….we paid about $30us the most for such a short distance, one hot ride and a mile long tunnel through the mountain, and we were in Acopulco.
We had a local guy who spoke English, find us a hotel and direct us to the bullfights.... It was actually kind of sad he was 47 years old and hustling tourists.
The bullfights were pretty interesting... I knew it would be different and it was... Hundreds of years of tradition goes into it and no matter what happens the bull is always going to be tomorrows supper... I would like to even it out a bit in favour of the bull... Sure he had his chances but by the time he got close to the matador he was on his way out...
So here are some rules I would like to see instigated... Feed the bull.. It looked like a skinny cow with horns... Give me a good old American riding bull, a couple of tons of pure testosterone, raging mad and pissed... and teach the bull about hitting the center of mass, hit the matador, screw the cape... Too any matadors wearing down the bull, only send in the clowns if the matador is truly in trouble, sure he got rubbed a couple of times and nudged but nothing serious....
Now let that skinny little guy with the tights on ride that bull in, Ya that's it you do 8 seconds and see how good that feels, then wear him down, and try to finish him... other rules would encourage the bulls to all be running loose in the ring with all the matadors thrown in at one time... LOL Just trying to shake things up a bit.. everyone would like to see the underdog win one once in a while.
This morning it got real hot, real early, with full riding gear it sucked... We were heading for a motorcycle shop when I met my first dirty mexican policemen... Oh joy, bliss and happy thoughts.... I had read about it in books and on the chat forums and I was prepared, stunned none the less, but prepared... The sirens were wailing and he pulled up beside me and motioned me over, then he caught up with Jessie and pulled him over also, we ended up together, and apparently we had both committed the same crime... Honestly we were 100% unaware of any such infraction but the cop set us straight. We both blew through a red light a few blocks back. We realized that the light he must be talking about was BURNT OUT, and we were following traffic and not speeding... He wanted 800 pesos a piece and took our drivers licenses... I if I thought there was any way in the world I could get away with it would have rode off, because I knew it was a farce and he had my CAA international drivers license, Jessie also had the same. Which coincidentally he never opened, just put in his back pocket.
Jessie is an ex marine and he knows a little spanish... He was pissed he was not going to be extorted for money he wanted the ticket and he was going to the police station to fight it! Right about then the cop was ready to negotiate, he said we could have our drivers licenses back and go if we paid 800 pesos total. Jessie's insurance may not be all above board and I know that if I fart on a mexican road and get a ticket there goes my 10 years safe driving and all my merits and say "Hello!" to higher insurance rates...I realized I needed to confer with my future cellmate at this time and this was the way I put it. This is alot like when we were 16 and the cops confiscated your alcohol... You knew they were going to drink it and that your parents wouldn't find out... So time to cut our losses...
Jessie still not happy because this was his 2nd shakedown by the bad cops, bargained us down to 600pesos for a get out of jail free card. Oh but my friends it gets better. The cop offers to escort us to the motorcycle shop. We blew through stop signs cut lanes and sped through behind him for 10 minutes as he cleared traffic out of the way with his siren and car. Wait a minute didn't you just attempt to ticket us for this very same behavior??? Or is something foul in Mexico????
Today we stopped for ice cream with some spanish looking Americans and they told us that there were two prices... one when they spoke spanish and a higher one when they spoke English... Oh well, in the grand scheme of life I am on vacation and short of fish eye soup it is going to take alot to piss me off. We are shacked up in a motel that charges more than their advertised price... who would have thunkit???
We are ambling south eastern-ish (along the western coast) towards Guatemala in hopes that I can get a set of sprockets and a chain for my bike in a timely manner.
Have fun and play safe .... Mike.....
1/13
The last couple of days have been somewhat amusing. I realized my last update, about dirty cops may have sounded a little bit depressing. Oh contraire mon frere! I am on vacation so I figured I would tell it like it is... I am still not eating fish eye soup in prison so all is good...
Yesterday we met 3 different riders on the road and they kept on popping up, one looked like Santa Claus and he and his riding buddy had some excellent info on crossing the border into Guatemala which depending on parts outcomes will happen soon... The other guy is a botanist, or tree lover, and when there is no work in that he is a faller for the forest fire service....???? He also teaches botanism about the rain forest in Brazil... I think he has alter egos there. The second time we saw him on the road I told him that Jessie and I hate Americans and we were going to kick his bike over...LOL Jessie is an American and we were messing with him. Jeesie and I were heading for Salina Cruz when it was getting dark and we were racing against the sun and the botanist was following us but we quickly lost him on his big BMW Winnebago.... As Jessie and I were riding the awesome twisties and sweeping up the curves apparently losing the sun because as fate would have it his headlight and taillights went out.... By the time we got it fixed it was dark... 55 minutes to Salina Cruz or 20 minutes back to the last beach???? Hit the beach, well not on an empty stomach... so we stopped for tacos... and we met the Botanist again
Ended up staying the night in a mexican truck stop, but not until we attended the party for some Saint. Which one we will probably never know because the whole town was at the party and all those who spoke English were loaded. It was a seriously cool party, live mexican band and lots of senioritas to dance with, oh and beer.... We staggered back past the taco stand at 1am, in hopes there would be a taco waiting for us. No tacos only beer for the truck drivers was the reply. Now everyone knows why I don't ride in Mexico at night .LOL
Our accommodations were basically camping out next to the highway in a carport. Mexican style, in bed at 1:10am dogs barking...... fall asleep, mexicans fighting.... fall asleep, trucks stopping right next to us... fall asleep, roosters cackling... fall asleep, the owner showing up in the middle of the night and turning all the lights on to park his truck... fall asleep, no further interruptions.. up at 6am. Oh and I slept on the concrete without a mattress, just my sleeping bag... I think I got the best sleep of the three of us, secret... No imminent danger.... Fall asleep.
So we were up and eating and on the road at 6:30, on our way to Salina Cruz for the Motorcycle chain that has been haunting me for weeks... The wind was just about the worst I have seen in years, but we made it to Salina and headed out from there, the wind got worse, and then it peaked while we were approaching a wind farm of all things, for electric power. The whole afternoon while on our way to San Cristobal las Casas was eventful. I broke my second bag mount and will weld it up tomorrow (memo to self, bring less stuff and quit jumping the speed bumps which are in EVERY town minimum 2, but could be lots more, they are designed to slow traffic down and are approachable in 1st or 2nd gear, but much funnier on the throttle jumping them) The winds were returning but this time on the twisties which added a whole new level of riding skill, it is a different feeling to have the wind push you through or slow you down in a corner, I was OK just ride slower and hang on.
At one point I thought an S10 pickup was going to tip over into my lane as he had a mexican rack on the back which, is usually 3-4 ft higher than the cab and over top of it. While approaching I noticed he was listing into my lane and then a couple of gusts of wind caught him... I was truly concerned for my safety.
The afternoon led into the evening and it cooled down considerably, and as we were crossing a mountain pass toll road in the dark the fog came out... It was truly not a fun experience for Jessie, he has never in his riding career had a day which so many challenges... I thought it rocked.
The infamous chain.... **** the crappy chain, I chastise the supplier of such crap. It was new when I left with both sprockets, and I distinctly said I want the good stuff. I noticed early on that it was rapidly wearing out prematurely, and was unhappy to see it unfold before my eyes. It barely made it 7500km. Oh the piece of **** chain how I loath thee.
Anyhow I lubed and adjusted it almost every day, not because I wanted to but because it needed adjusting. A few days ago while we were in Acapulco I decided it was time to take action, unfortunately Jessie got the last chain in town. So I attempted to order one from the Honda dealer and have it shipped to the next town. Not happening, they are not all linked here in mexico. So I rode to the next town and tried there, and the next and so on, and so on, and so on... each and every town said the next Honda shop was bigger and would have a chain... and I didn't just hit the Honda shops, I hit all the shops, who would have thought a 520 chain would be so hard to come by.
Well yesterday we met a man on the road who guaranteed that the Honda shop in Salina Cruz was HUGE. Well we saw the Yamaha shop first and no luck. So I hit the Honda shop next...No Anglais... and he could not order it and did not have it but he was sure the town we just passed through would... LOL I already checked and it didn't. So I walked out into the heat and the bright sunshine and blowing wind feeling a bit daunted. Jessie was talking to a guy who had a friend who fixed bikes so we were off. He has a shop full of stuff, a couple of BMW's a Moto Guzzi and a bunch of used parts.... unfortunately a sport bike chain that was obviously way too big.
So I asked if there was an industrial supply place in town as they may have the correct size 520 chain, there was and we were off. But not on my motorcycle, the old mechanic would not let me take my bike he was genuinely concerned for my safety... Chain history, yesterday Jessie asked me what the life expectancy of the chain was.... I said maybe 5 days max. after it was so bad I had to take a link out to adjust it any more, and it worked for a day, by this morning I was missing a roller and the adjacent one was galled horribly and seized, I reassessed my situation and told Jessie that TODAY was the day. So we hit the industrial supply shop and they had nothing. All the while I have Lou in Winnipeg attempting to get me a chain and a pair of sprockets, and hopefully ship them to me.
So we headed back to the old mechanics garage empty handed. I remembered that Jessie kept his old chain and a piece of his new o-ring chain about 4 inches long. I decided to use his and splice it together with a couple of master links, at least his used chain was higher quality at one time, even if he was also missing a couple of rollers maybe we could splice them out of the equation. but it was not to be... back to square one. Miraculously the old mechanic came up with a used Aprilla chain which was too short, and too wide but none the less a 520 chain. I devised a new strategy of linking his too short chain to jessies spare bit of new Oring chain which almost worked except the chains were 2 different widths and my master links would not fit... Dang that crap *** chain anyway. Things were looking like a deal breaker when my thoughts of grinding the sides of the chain to make the master link fit were jettisoned in favour of another trip to the industrial shop for hopefully some wider master links.
Success, they didn't have a 520 chain to save my life but they had a million master links that were wider to adapt the 2 chains together. After a brief test ride we realized that this was the hot ticket, I was so thrilled that I could ride again at least until I got a new chain we took pictures of all involved and I presented the mechanic with my Canada flag and 200 pesos (20 dollars) and he wanted to give me change... Not necessary. So here we are in San Cristobal de las Casas and we are at a hostel hanging with 30 of our newest closest friends form all over the world….Australia , France.
The chain is holding up well I checked it 5 times today to
be safe and it will work until my new parts can arrive from Canada, Cause there are none in Mexico.
Relaxing tomorrow and dreaming of new chains this evening.... Play safe ... Mike....
1/17
Well we made it out of Mexico and into Guatemala rather easily... Guatemala is all mountains and twisties... and they NEVER get old... The first 160km were pretty cool, narrow winding roads loaded with busses and semis. If you wonder what happens to all those old school buses and semis they come to mexico and Guatemala, the only problem is after we were done riding for the day we looked like coal miners with blackened faces from the diesel exhaust. Lots of pollution and it hangs in the mountains and valleys, it's pretty thick. When we woke up early the next morning to get a jump on the day It was cold and foggy... but in reality it was cold and smoggy. Guatemalans use their horns all the time, if traffic stops moving they lay right on the horn, if something is on the road or in the intersection... horn.
The old buses are painted psychedelic colours with lots of chrome and bling, they love the bright colours.... They have roofracks and there are usually people on top or hanging off of the back ladder, which makes one a bit nervous when following.... Darwinism or Safety first.
We got an early start to the day and decided that we would do the touristing on the way back from Panama and pretty well ride through until then. There are a couple of volcanoes in Antigua and one of them is active, apparently you can roast marshmallows on it and best to wear good boots. No flip flops. I have also heard it is a great place to take spanish languish training so on the way back I will probably stop off for a few weeks.
In an effort to steer clear of all big cities because of crime and pollution, we have taken a southern route along the coast into El Salvadore, and are in Zacatecoluca this evening. Tomorrow we will blow through Honduras and then keep going on through Nicaragua into Costa Rica and then to Panama we will probably spend 3-5 days in Panama so we can change my chain and sprockets, adjust valves, change plug, as well as Jessie and I will both need rear tires by then... After that if there is anything really interesting on the way back we will stop and check it out.
If Guatemala was easy to get into then El Salvadore was... well lets put it this way, you can drive through the country in 3 1/2 hours but it takes 3 hours to do all the paperwork to get in, I am glad it wasn't a busy day for border crossings, I found some shade and read my book while paperwork was being processed, and it was dang hot.
Our thoughts and desires not to become statistics, have helped mould the route for our trip. If either one of us doesn't like the look of the area or the inhabitants, we just leave, and find another place to stay or another route... Jessie and I are on the same page on this item and we have both at one time or another expressed our concerns, whether it be too many young hooligan looking type boys with nothing to do, or agreeing on the local intelligence from the 50 year old guy with a chrome plated pistol saying you don't want to go see the big city trust me. So we don't go. It is that easy.
Last night we spent near the beach in the Tortuga surf lodge. It was my first experience with black sand, and it was pretty cool, we hit a beach party and they had a live drum band, and fire dancers, and a million backpackers from different countries, who all had nothing nice to say about the interior of the busses they were riding in. It is good to be on a motorcycle. We met people from Spain, Switzerland, Israel, and while in the hostel in San Cristobal de las Casas we met people from Denmark, Britain, Germany... there were some pretty interesting stories, and really enlightening people. One of the highlights of the trip for sure.
El Salvadore has its own interesting culture, the cows are herded in the middle of the highway, they dry out the harvested corn on the sides of the highway, on the paved shoulder, so your whipping down the highway and they is a guy with a rake turning and drying out his corn, as if there wasn't enough to worry about with all the dogs, cows, sugar cane trucks... The sugar cane trucks are either single or B trains, today I saw my first B train, as I put my signal on to pass I was about to pull out when I noticed exactly how long it actually was, so I pulled back in.
The problem with sugar cane trucks is unsecure loads, they basically chop the sugar cane into 2 or 3 foot pieces and throw it onto a flat deck with uprights, the actual weight of the load is supposed to hold it all into place.... In theory, but today as I was about to be passed by one going in the opposite direction I saw a piece fly off, into my lane and I was able to dodge it but it has made a new protocol when being approached by one... get into the far right side of the lane... It would suck to get hit with a 1" stick at 100km/hr. I am actually chewing on the very piece that almost got me today, so I can mark that off of my list of things to do. They still use wooden carts and Oxen to pull them here also, they are not prevalent but they are here.
Everyone here carries a machete... because they are farmers? It doesn't really matter. There are also guys with shotguns on virtually every truck that has value. The first one I saw was on a beer truck. Which makes sense to me, the 2nd guy was on a propane truck. If you don't know where the bank machine is... look for the guys with shotguns, they are keeping the peace. Today at a service station I asked to use the Bano (spelling wrong has a spanish sound like Banyo) for bathroom, and a guy with shotgun showed me the way and opened the door for me... I joked to Jessie that he was guarding my family jewels.
Today I took half an hour to do an oil change on the bike and it was quick and easy, I bought some oil and hit a carwash/ speedy lube and asked If I could use a catch tray and do all the work myself, buddy said no problem and seemed more fascinated with my bike than actually doing his own work, I offered to pay him something for his trouble but wouldn't accept it and wished me well on my trip, the oil change was so fast Jessie had bought some chicken and barely got the first piece done before I was finished. It's always a good feeling when I get my bike serviced just right, and it gives me confidence that it will make it the whole trip. I can't elect a governing party but I can change my oil...LOL Actually I have just never actually had the people I voted for get in. So I think I have every right to complain, but choose not to.
We spent the rest of the day searching out the back roads taking pictures of huge trees and eating fresh shrimp, while drinking cervaisas by the beach... It was alot of fun.
Have a great day an play safe.... Mike...
1/18
Well we blasted out of El Salvadore this morning and we ended up staying at a pretty swanky resort last night for about $22 dollars...Somehow we always manage to wake up to the sound of roosters.... I wonder if we are being stocked. Besides the roosters it was pruning day and a barefoot local was climbing the palm trees to cut off the coconuts, and they are loud when dropped from 50ft, and he had alot of pruning to do. We had an awesome breakfast, and I ordered it all in spanish... while the waves rolled onto the beach. We then rode into the sunrise.
We hit Honduras before the heat but it didn´¨t matter, the customs officals took 3 hours. There were some Americans before us and it took them 4. So I was grateful, and they made the cardinal mistake of giving their paperwork to some young kid who runs around and does everything for you. Quite honestly these people are like parasites jumping out in front of you in the middle of the road and hounding you to death, ¨´I can help, I make it go fast...¨´ Most of them don´t even speak English so how do they think they know what I need? After customs we hit no fewer than 8 police check stops, and were stopped at 5 and had our papers checked, You would think that after you spent $40 to enter a country only 180km long they would give you a break, but no. At one of the check stops we were pulled over and they took our licenses, International of course, so they could keep it if they wanted it was $15 at CAA.¨
They didn’t even check the credentials as usual but proceeded to check out the bikes. One guy had the gnads to put my motorcycle gloves on and check them out ??? Ok that really pissed me off. Then they turn to Jessie and demand $20 for not having enough reflectors on the back of his bike. I had already read somewhere about this scam, and it is a law in Honduras, but I told Jessie it was Bull. He said to give him the ticket and he would pay it at the station, Oh no buddy wanted cash then and there. The cop was doing OK until he demanded $20 from me too. Well the back of my bike has no fewer than 4 extra reflective decals not including the license plate, but he pointed to my soft bag holding my tent.
Well I lost it screamed ******** and holy murder and began slapping all the decals on my bike as well as the reflective strip sewn into the back of my Jacket. Then I pointed to the back of Jessies jacket, the cop was insistent for about another 30 seconds and then he relished we called his ******** bluff... Then he came over and admired my Kiss Army boots lifted one inch so I can touch the ground flat footed on my bike. I wasn’t really pissed but I wasn’t paying F-all to a dirty cop without a shred of evidence, who’s friend had the gnads to try my gloves on. Jessie was real pissed and led the rest of the way out of Honduras... as fast as his KLR650 would go.
Once in ..... the leaches were at us again, if it wasn’t for money exchange it was to help us, so there are 3 to 4 windows to go to about 50 ft apart, and I don´t need help so I told him no gracious, the lad was persistent and short of removing my papers from his hand and saying no gracious, he was difficult to get rid of.
Apparently we needed 12$ worth of Nicaraguan insurance which the fine gentleman had no idea what it covered, but was required by law, then someone tried to get a dollar for some cause which looked official because it had a stamp on the ticket but couldn’t quite explain what it would do for me, so I rejected it, customs took less than an hour. For some reason Nicaragua seemed brighter than Honduras, and they also served salad for supper, what could be wrong with that.
Upon reaching a hotel and hitting the shower my joys were short-lived, the water ran out before I could finish, or for that matter really start... The TV has a European plug and there is a north American outlet, so it will be book night.
Tomorrow we have grand ambitions of making it into Panama....LOL depending on border crossings, and dirty cops.
We met no fewer than 5 Americans in 2 groups today who were so upset with the border crossings they were going to fly their bikes home. Obviously they didn’t have a good book to read at the crossings.
ALL is well and we are hoping that my parts will arrive into Panama by the time we get there. Must go pay the crabby internet cafe ladies, apparently I am the last one in and they want to go home.
Have a great day and play safe ... Mike
1/19
This morning we were out at 8am. That was the most efficient part of our day. We were up with the roosters again, where the heck they are coming from in a city residential area is beyond me? Maybe there is one hitching a ride in my saddle bag. That compiled with the 4am drunks fighting with there spouses was part of an interesting hotel experience. Oh I almost forgot the early morning air raid siren??? Why they have one I don't know.
We rode for an hour or so before breakfast... The interesting thing is the food changes with the regions, they are now mixing rice and beans together for the meals, a little bit of both worlds I suppose. The garnishes included pickled onions with some heat... they were good but haunted me for a few hours afterwards...LOL
We have had a few breakfasts with mystery vegetables that we didn't know or could figure out what they were... But they were good, and we ate them, we will probably never see them again but experienced them. It sounds dumb but you can't Google what you don't know.
We rode about 330km today in 10 hours.... How sick is that? It could have been the extra hour stuck in traffic in Mangua, and then getting lost because they were not sufficient signs. If you don't know where you are in central America just go backwards, because every time we have been misdirected the signs have pointed to points NOT on any of our maps??? How messed up is that? The other day we were looking for a beach and ended up traveling through a roundabout to a Port... NO Signage, until we backtracked the signs were for the people who knew where they were going never for us to figure out where we wanted to go... This phenomenon has worked for us on a few occasions. This is not a place to be shy about asking for directions.
Then a few towns later the main roads out were blocked off for a festival, rental cops directed us everywhere but out of the city, and most of it was dirt roads.... I had to laugh a bit because frustrations were getting high and we ended up on the same street we started on 25 minutes later.
A half an hour later while still in Nicaragua the winds picked up and we were riding the mountain tops, they were so bad that we just followed traffic at 80km/hr. We were waived over at a police check stop, and the cop immediately began to point out something was wrong... I was unsure what? We were following traffic and doing the speed limit, but Jessie deciphered that we had passed someone illegally. So I really had to stop and think about it while the cop was writing up the ticket, I asked Jessie if he remembered doing it? He didn’t really care he was flustered about the whole day as it was. If I have been riding for a bit in order to concentrate on the road and what’s ahead, I brain dump what’s behind me. Then it came to me we were following traffic for miles and it was real windy so we couldn't have passed anyone for fear of being blown around. So I called ******** on this cop. He was adamant and kept writing the ticket he wanted cash on the barrelhead. Somehow he finally got it in his head that it wasn't going to happen and he let us go... These dirty cops are getting to be a pain in the butt.
Nicaragua is actually a beautiful progressive country, they are building wind farms, have lots of agriculture, we rode by a few rice paddies, and they still ride horses and bicycles. I plan on doing some serious touristing on the way back through.
We finally made it to the Costa Rica border, but not until we checked out of Nicaragua, the leaches were in full force...'We can help you, make it faster', two of them surrounded Jessie before he even got off of his bike, I quickly lost patience with them, and I am pretty sure Jessie got bilked out of $20 for nothing. Enough said. The Costa Rica border was eventless and there were no leaches attempting to guide us, or sell us Municipal taxation donation tickets for a dollar, of which Jessie has bought 2, I am 0 for 2.
Then we stood in a line with a bunch of truckers for 2 hours, waiting for clearances to be issued. I finished another book, relaxed and had a cold beer, it was a steaming hot afternoon.
We were doing OK in the single line that looked like a bank line until you got to the front, and it fanned out into three windows, well I turned my back and the whole line turned to chaos, everyone was in front of me all of a sudden. I don't have any spanish but my strong English let them know this was not on. I didn't stand in line for two hours to have 3 guys cut in front of me... So I reassumed my position and nothing else was said. I noticed someone had gratified the wall with " Efficiency at its finest"
We made it into Costa Rica and the foliage is thicker the roads are new, it is like traveling into another dimension compared to Honduras and Nicaragua, the first city we hit as it was getting dark is Liberia. The unfortunate part about it is that the first sign we saw was the McDonalds arches. So we knew there would be no cheap hotels and everywhere would accept the American dollar. We had a nice supper and one of the interesting things about Americanization is Coke Zero, and Coka Light, water was really going out of style.
Jessie lost his link to the outside world. The bank machine ate his card. In a regular English speaking nation this probably wouldn't be a problem but here, we now have the language barrier, 1-800 numbers don't work and if he doesn't get it back what does he do for cash back to the US? Why does a bank machine even swallow a card? I don't know it has never happened to me.
All in all it was an adventurous day, saw some neat stuff was seen and valuable lessons learned...
Still on our way to Panama for Chowder.... Until we meet again ....Mike....
1/21
Another early morning, no chickens but something crawling around the ceiling tiles could have been a Gecko. Jessie is back in the game with his ATM card. Before we hit the road we checked out the topographical map at the hotel. Lots of mountains and 2 major cities, makes Jessie a nervous boy...LOL
We checked out the bikes, and I did some chain work... Then we hit the road.
Jessie has been stung 3 times this trip, twice by Bees, once this morning and again this afternoon by the cops. An hour later they had us again. This time it was actually legitimate... Kind of.... Jessie was clocked doing 95k in an 80k zone. Which is an offence. But we were going the same speed as traffic but were singled out, the cop didn't stop the bus or the 18 wheeler, just us. I mentioned this to Jessie before he went for his private talk with the radar wielding madman, and when he returned he also mentioned that the bus driver probably didn't have as much money as the tourist on the motorcycle, and the cop took his $50US and didn't issue a ticket or receipt... So who is in the right now???? Jessie 2 cops 3 Enough said.
To hopefully lesson his internal mourning I paid for supper and beer this evening...
We got lost in San Jose, and there were some 4 letter words coming out of helmets. We were lost again and the lack of signs was not helping, the directions we asked for led us in all the wrong directions. I was used to it by now, and as someone had said before ¨{Embracing the heat} It was hot again and muggy, We stopped for some refreshments and I found some chocolate covered coffee beans, by the time I got them out of the store, I had to eat them with a spoon... I had just finished drying the sweat out of my Jacket from yesterday, and we were at it again, I am consuming alot of water.
We hit a couple of toll roads but they were actually cheap and productive, By the time we arrived in Cartago J was almost done for the day and looking at hotels... I talked him into another hour or so of riding, even though I knew there were some darker skies ahead he took the bait.
Well it was hot and dusky when we hoofed it into the mountains... and the ride made the Day worthwhile. We climbed for about 45 minutes passing trucks and busses, the temperature dropped it was refreshing and it was getting dark quick... The fog rolled in and it looked alot like rain, the fog came and went, rolled and swirled, I am unsure of the elevation but the forest was awesome, vines and thick foliage... Looking over the mountain ridges was spectacular scenery, we were above, in and below the clouds, the forest would block out the sun, and then illuminate the road at another peak or opening.
It got cold towards the summit and that combined with the vibration from the bars, was slowly numbing my hands, I shook them out and got the blood circulating and warmed up again. The wind-chill on my face was bearable and I didn't put my facemask on but did do zip up the vents in my jacket. There were many emergency vehicles and every 10-15 minutes we would see an ambulance patrolling the roads looking for accidents. The road was narrow and twisty and washouts were common. Unfortunately they were also poorly marked. They would put some rocks around them and detour you into oncoming traffic with NO signage whatsoever... LOL not exactly a North American safety standard.
After the summit we found more light, on the other side of the mountain and through the fog the sun looked like a round globe of a 100W bulb trying to burn its way through... It didn't make it and we ended up descending the mountain following an SUV at somewhere between 30 and 60 km/hr... Which was just fine, as I was coming off of a high from the ride I didn't need to be racing down the mountain in the dark. Again, It Was Spectacular...
Tomorrow we should be out of Costa Rica and into Panama. It really only seems a short time ago I commenced another trip and then ended up on this one... I honestly don't know what day it is, but I realize I have been gone since about Nov 1st. So about 2 and 1/2 months... Wow... I am almost tempted to find Revenue Canada’s email address and ask for an extension on my taxes, so I can return later than April.
Doing some figuring we have 791km to Panama city almost half a million people, and about 2 days to get there knowing the shape of the roads, traffic, border crossings, and tainted constabularies. In Canada 791km is a 1\ 2 day ride and if on hwy 1 or an interstate 1600km on the BMW is a full days ride when fully prepared... Kind of an interesting comparison. Trust me no one wants to ride an XR650L 1600km in one day. OR would that just be a Baja 1000?
Heading for the Panama Canal for chain, tires, and some chowder..... Mike.....
1/22
I really didn't have time to take pictures on the way down cause we were attempting to gumball it ( Hee Hee Hee on 650cc dirt bikes), but since we are 2 hours from Panama city and just about ready to search out some Chowder, we are officially Japanese tourists snapping photos like Paparazzi at a gala opening.
We have probably been traveling for a week now? Actually I just looked back a bit and I would say about 10 days straight on the road. This brings out the best and the worst, in my motorcycle seat, the best being that I have it all to myself and can slide forward or back almost 2 feet. The worst is that it is VINYL. So while in Panama I am going to search for a chunk of sheepskin. I have had one since the 90's that Athol, Roy's father in law set me up with,
and I absolutely love it, it makes 16 hour days on the BMW like heaven with the stock seat. It has been fairly maintenance free, and SOoooooo comfortable, but it is in Winnipeg. OK I know it seems soft of me just 10 days straight and I am already looking for a sheepskin, but really it has been 10,000km on the stock Honda vinyl seat. So if I can find one I will treat myself, OK my butt. LOL
Today went rather well, the borders were quick and easy, and the last 200km of Costa Rica were nice roads... Once in Panama we realized that most of it was freeway. So we made excellent time, Panama has the best PEOPLE MOVER roads in Central America, without a doubt.
The plan is to hit Panama city tommorow..Friday. Pick up all of our parts and both do a MAJOR servicing to our bikes, check out the sights and catch a hockey game Saturday night and a football game Sunday, since Panama city has 500,000 people and alot of Americans it shouldn't be too hard to find a place. Jessie misses football and I haven't seen the Leafs in a few months, so they probably need my morale support. Plus I am sure they must be about ready to kick the Habs butt, and I could use an extra $5.... LOL.
Then we will head North on Monday, and turn into tourists. We have ridden past alot of stuff and now it is time to check it all out. We are in a swanky hotel, that originally was supposed to be $65US, before we even walked in I mentioned to J that we may not be happy with the price by the look of all the high end cars out front. When the clerk told us how much it was we giggled... Then Jessie asked if there was another hotel in town, the woman did not understand him, and showed us the price sheet again, then another woman showed up behind the counter, and J asked again, is there a cheaper hotel in town, the 2 women bantered back and forth a bit and then said we could have the room for $38US. Jessie didn't realize that he was a master negotiator..LOL and also just because American is the currency it doesn't mean they can understand an American attempting to speak Spanish.
I can understand why Americans like it here, it is inexpensive, we have eaten 3 meals and they have all been under $4us each, and they were pretty substantial, also the beer even at the hotel bar was less than a dollar.
Exciting news and a prediction. When the earthquake happened in Haiti J said that they will somehow find a way to blame the Americans, immediately I used the conspiracy theory about underground weapons testing. We laughed, then today Hugo Chavez actually is blaming the Americans for the whole deal, with support apparently of the Russians. I could be a dictator of a country if I only had some ambition. LOL
Looking forward to Panama city and some chowder.... Mike....
1/24
We rolled out of the swanky hotel (just inside the Panamanian border) late cause too early would have put us into rush hour in Panama city... No thank you. It took about an hour and a half, with only one bit of excitement, Jessie rolled into an 80K uphill turn doing about a 100k, and was doing Ok until he reached the peak and caught the 90k crosswind. I saw his bike do a little funky chicken and I am sure his shorts fill up.... I led the rest of the way into Panama city.
It was also nice to see the local constabulary out giving citations to real law breakers and not shaking down the tourists for milk money. We were spared that wrath today but looking at the map it is a long way home yet. We rolled into the big city on the newer northern bridge, I think I heard it called the confederation bridge but could be wrong. We have no accurate maps, but picked one up so we could find the airport this morning.
Luckily for us we rode an hour through slow traffic to the airport where the email told us the parts would be. Only to find out they were not. Oh another chance to get lost following directions over the phone. Whoopy. Ya, after paying 2 tolls and stopping for a coke I called back for redirections... "Oh you took the first exit marked Casa del East, you should have taken the second one...." was the response. Ok now I was real happy... As in the rest of Central America if there even is a road sign it is probably not on your map, now we have 2 exits marked the same.. Highly improbable, but it happened, A man named Carlos was getting an earful from me... but he went above and beyond the call and left the DHL office to come get us so we could follow him back, I apologized profusely.
We picked up the Moto parts and he then asked if we wanted an escort to the motorcycle shop for the other parts we needed to purchase... WOW!!! We spent the whole day bombing around behind Carlos's car and then he showed us where to get some awesome seafood for supper. Mark chowder off of my to do list. We will probably head out to have a few beer with him tomorrow night also.
It was dang hot again, and getting stuck in the worst traffic we have seen thus far this trip didn't make matters any better. I drank all of my 2 liter camelback, my riding jacket is soaked in sweat and will hopefully find a drycleaner tomorrow.
So we actually hit 2 motorcycle shops, because as popular as the Kawasaki KLR is, from Panama to Puerta Valarta there were only 2 oil filters, and they were both here, at a Kawasaki shop. So bad that J didn't change his oil filter the last oil change because he couldn't find one. I picked up some necessities also and thought it would be ok to use my MasterCard for the purchases... NOT. It would not work, luckily it isn't my only means of cash, in fact I have 2 bank cards and only one works in these machines and a MasterCard NONfunctional as of today and a backup visa that I haven't even thought about using in years... So if I call asking for money you know the story in advance, just because I like rejection I think I'll call my ex first...LOL
It's late and we shacked up in a bed and breakfast for the night. it is highly probable that we will spend the next 2 days here also... it is hot and muggy, and the AC gets turned on at 1030. Can't wait.... but it is close to the heart of the city and a nice area...
Day 2 Panama. Up at the crack of it's not too hot yet went and did some exercise. Then we tackled our motorcycles for maintenance. it all went smoothly and while installing the chain, all I had to cut a link out of the chain was my Gerber multitool with a file integrated into it. I was actually going to wait for Jessie to get his bike back together and then take it somewhere with a grinder because I wasn't relishing the thought of wrestling with it even though we were in the shade and it was before noon, with a 2 1/2 cutting surface of the file attachment. J had problems in that he needs to go to the dealer for shims to adjust his valves (mine are adjustable with a wrench feeler gauge and screwdriver) and his rear caliper seized and took out his rear shoes... So I clamped the chain to my muffler with a set of Vice grips, and started filing... I am truly amazed of the quality in the Gerber multitool it worked perfect, plus it is good practice should I ever be deep in the bush and really need to repair something to get out.
Yesterday afternoon Carlos graciously offered to show us around the city, since we were starving we hit the fish market first, and after we waded our way past all the fish vendors and our senses took a beating of dead fish I wasn't sure I was really all that hungry still... The fish market is in a big open warehouse and on the second floor is a restaurant open air also... I was beginning to wonder if the smell of raw fish was going to spoil my meal.. but it didn't, somehow the wind was just right and we dined in an odor free, pleasant area and the fish dishes were great, as well as the beer to wash it down.
We spent a few hours touring about in Carlos's car and there is alot to see, lots of history, and Carlos knew it all, much more than the typical Canadian about their own city or country... lots of history from the French trying to build the original canal and failing, to gaining independence twice from Spain and then Columbia.. To the Americans invading.
Carlos had mentioned earlier that his family wanted to have us for supper, and he said we couldn't refuse because they wanted to meet us. So I have a motto about free food and graciously accepted. Supper was simply elegant his family owns a modern 4 bedroom house, and we ate drank and chatted for hours, it wasn't until after desert and a few rum, that we realized it was 12:30am and decided it was probably time to get back to the hostel rather than wear out our welcome. In retrospect I am glad that DHL screwed up delivery points and that I don't speak spanish because we would have never met Carlos, or his family. They truly made Panama one of the best experiences of the trip.
Day 3 Panama. We are going to do some shopping attempt to get some money from one of my unused bank accounts and watch a football game this evening.
Living the good life.... and playing safe... Mike...
1/26
It was Sunday and the Vikings let their super bowl dreams fade away with a field goal... Jessie was heartbroken, even the Hooters girls couldn’t cheer him up. So in usual fashion we got lost on the way home to the hostel... We stopped and asked for directions and the oriental people at the store were not much help, but the police were. Jessie said they were either going to lead us back to the hostel or shoot us, I was hoping for the former not the latter. Well not one but two different police cars lead us home... Now if that isn’t the royal treatment I don´t know what is.
The hostel was AWESOME, we met all sorts of people from all over the world with "The Spirit of Adventure" the two most notable were a Greek couple and a couple from Luxemburg. The Greeks were on an around the world tour driving a land rover, coincidentally so were the couple from Luxemburg. Both had about 2 years planned to complete the trips... The only difference was that the Greeks were working, writing articles for magazines and covering the Dakar rally... etc. The Greeks were much more stressed out than the other couple who had no planned itinerary but to be back home in 2 years... I choose to travel like the couple from Luxemburg.
During our maintenance Jessie found his rear brake pads were almost metal on metal. He called the Kawasaki dealership right away and found they had a set and were closing until Monday, so our Monday morning was set... and I was not looking forward to it.... Riding through Panama city sucks, you know there will be traffic jams and it is going to be dang hot, on top of the getting lost factor... I recommended Jessie catch a cab... He didn’t bite on that one so we were destined to burn up the morning in our riding gear... and we did only to find they did not have his pads in stock... So now his rear brakes are for emergencies only... We were so deep in the city we now had trouble getting out, but when we finally did we were fortunate enough to get some nice pics of the new bridge, and IT was kind enough to take a bite out of one of my saddlebags... When it is hot muggy and midday the best way to get rid of aggression is to get out on the open road... So we did and it was a 500km day in the end.
From the thought you had seen it all files. The drivers here surprised me when I was about to pass a large truck and he put his signal on to pull out into the left lane... but didn’t, after a few bouts of this behavior I realized they were signaling to me it was safe to pass. This is a common practice here but one never knows if he is signaling me or signaling that he is going to pass someone else? So last night I was about to pass a grain truck on a 2 lane highway and he puts his signal on and pulls out into the left lane... No one else is on the road but the 2 of us. So he sits there a few seconds then pulls back into my lane??? A short time later he does it again... I hammered it down 2 gears and headed for the shoulder, passed him on the inside and got out of there, although I am unsure where he learned how to drive I knew I had seen enough.
We stayed in David Panama and ended up hanging out at a baseball game for the evening, Crackerjacks and cold beer, what a way to finish up the day.
This morning we were close enough to the Costa Rica border that we caught it early before the rush... and it was absolutely painless... smooth...
At breakfast we discussed the trip through either taking the coastal route or back through the scenic mountains we had already traveled but didn’t get prior pics of... I was ready to flip a coin when J pulled a quote from the guidebook that the 3500M ridge was called "The mountains of Death" Well we had to ride "The mountains of Death" and we did.
This time they were even better... If you want to have a great experience on a twisty, winding mountainous region for over 250km, do it during the day and eliminate 90% of the traffic... and that is exactly what happened.
With the smell of fresh cut sugarcane lingering in the air, the pineapples growing in plantations surrounded us, The fog rolled up the mountain over the road in sheets, fighting against the sun all the way, the trees stretched out over the road, vines and moss were prevalent, flora everywhere, and no animals... It was hot and humid at the bottom but by the time we were half way up for our second set of photos we needed to close up the vents in our jackets and put on warmer gloves... When we would hit the odd expanse of open road where the sun was shining the warmth was a good friend to have. I had the "4 None Blondes" song in my head and was enjoying every second of it. It wasn’t until about the third set of cars that I passed that I realized that whenever I needed to concentrate on passing, the music in my head would stop...LOL
I guess flowing through the turns was less tasking than concentrating on passing. The reason they call it the "mountains of death" must be because Big white Mack dump trucks license plate number ….seem to have a tendency to take up more than their share of the road when in oncoming traffic and cornering. Little red Honda motorcycles Brake extremely hard and move right.
Also when I mentioned before that the washouts of which we already knew there would be two from the week before, which reroute traffic into the oncoming lane... Have NO markings or warning signs, the 4 cars in front of me, were almost in a pileup and the oncoming semi was not impressed... Jessie and I waited for the smoke to clear and worked our way around the chaos onto the open road.
On our way down the leeward side we stopped for lunch, and discussed the prior events, I decided that it was on the top 10 list of riding roads, and I better start keeping track of where they are because I have found 3 of them this trip. The bad part of the mountain roads were that they led to San Jose, where we became hopelessly lost on the way to Panama. And in fine fashion the roadsignless city is up 2, motorcyclists 0. A nice cab driver showed us the way out of the city, after his seemingly simple directions seemed to be baffling Jessie, and thank our lucky stars he did, or we would still be there now.
Now holed up in San Ramone, after turning down a $90US airport hotel, we did the $50 breakfast included instead. Tomorrow we have our sights set on Leon Nicaragua, as it is an older city and has some historical significance, and I am sure it will have a flavor of beer that we have not at this time tasted.
It’s Late and I need my beauty sleep...
Have fun play safe ...Mike....
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