If you are ever looking for a beautiful, tropical destination to get away from it all, consider Costa Rica´s Nicoya Peninsula. We spent three days in Santa Teresa where I got to see my old friend Tomas Ritchie whom had met on a previous trip there. Consistent surf, tasty food, friendly people, diverse wildlife, amazing waterfalls & pristine beaches - Costa Rica has it all. Upon ferrying back to the mainland, I got reacquainted
with two very good buddies. Fourth Gear & Fifth Gear. It seemed like it had been so long but as always, they didn't let me down.

There is a nasty disease going around Costa Rica. In fact, I already had it and quite honestly, I think I passed it on to my dad. It comes when you least expect it but luckily it only lasts for about three hours. Its symptoms are quite noticeable - it absolutely robs the power of your 1200GS and renders it completely useless. A couple days ago, my dad´s bike would barely move. It could hardly climb a hill while the rpm´s were
cranked at 7000 in first gear! It was as pathetic as my facial hair. We had bought some fuel additive to boost our octane levels but it didn´t seem to have an immediate impact. We even contemplated the notion of putting it in the back of a truck and going back to the dealership in San Jose. It wasn´t supposed to be like that...what a disaster that would be. However, we let his bike sit for about an hour and when we mounted up again, she rode like a freakin´ dream...We were back in business, ´Let´s Ride´!

My dad and I came along on this trip with two very good friends that have been instrumental in providing for our overall well-being. For my dad, it is the Garmin BMW GS compatible StreetPilot 2610 GPS Navigation System that is mounted between his handlebars. This thing is cool! They have such pinpoint accuracy and tell you precisely where you are in the word, where you're heading, how far and how long it will take. It's unbelievable and for him, it makes for a pretty damn good co-pilot.

For myself my favorite recent technical advancement simply comes in the form of an iPod. Tragically, I lost mine at Whitewater two weeks before my departure date. Luckily, a certain somebody lent me hers and I don´t know what I wouldve done without one. I certainly owe her a single at
Mike´s Place when I get home...I have put together a beautiful medley of Ryan´s All Time 500 Greatest Hits that serves as the soundtrack of my life. I just get lost in my music when the likes of Nada Surf, Bloc Party, Interpol or those new Swedish alt rockers The Shout Out Louds come blaring through my headphones. I´ve created my own hi fi helmet stereo
surround soundsystem!

I have gotten completely sun-kissed as I even rode without a shirt on the other day sorrymom and found it quite liberating. I felt like a new-age Lady Godiva or something like that. I realize that´s kinda weird but let´s just go with it...

I learned a fairly common sense lesson of the road yesterday - Don´t Follow Too Close Behind Other Cars! I was behind this guy and all of a sudden - KABOOM! - I nailed a HUGE pothole. My dad said my top case launched about ten feet in the air and slid along the asphalt for another fifty. Of course it sustained some cosmetic damage but functionally everything was in tact. Lesson learned.

Shortly thereafter we crossed into Panama. The first song that randomly came through was Tom Vek´s ´Nothing But Green Lights´ and I couldn´t have planned a more perfect song. The roads were mint and we were stoked.

It wasn´t until Panama that I was greeted by the most infamous of them all - Sixth Gear! We were in the zone and the bikes were just ripping along, getting pulled and accelerating faster and faster. Of course like everything thus far this elation was short lived as the song should´ve been called ´Nothing But Grey Light´. The nastiest downpour suddenly beat us senseless. The rain drops were like needles, pelting us so hard that we felt like human dartboards. We were forced to pull over and put on our jackets - we just looked at each other, gave the thumbs up and hit ´er bound for the town of David. My dad felt as though it was calling his name.

We then hit Panama City. A very beautiful and modern looking city that reminded me of Miami. It was here that we were meeting a girl my brother had met on his journey. A girl that he was absolutely smitten with. Her name is Ginette Nunez and we managed to stay in touch through an email
of hers we had found. She is an orthodontist now, still single and married to her work. The three of us went out for a quaint dinner on the Causeway where we enjoyed some mariscos and had a great talk. She toured us around Panama City where the highlight was crossing the Bridge of the Americas which goes over the world famous Panama Canal.

Today, we went to a place. If you are ever driving, riding or walking south, you will arrive at this place. It´s inevitable. It´s where freeways and interstates are eventually funneled and even the renown Panamerican Highway is long gone as it dissipates into a lonely, windy country road. It´s a place where few other cars or people are even seen. This place doesn´t even have a name on the map, nor should it. It probably means something different to the few that actually make it here. I made up my own name for it, El Fin Del Camino. The end of the road.

There we were in front of a big lake and the Darien Gap off in the distance, an area so gnarly and full of crocodiles and druglords that they gave up building a road through it years ago. We were so far from home. By land, it´s the farthest we´ve ever been. In fact, it´s probably the farthest you could possibly go. We exchanged some words, we hugged and shed a tear. It was time to point the bikes north. We´re comin´ home.