DeadHorse to Ushuaia 2011

The trip south begins!Sara, my spouse, coordinated a going away party for Dave Rankine, my riding partner, and me on Thursday 29 September. Fifty of our friends came by the house to wish us well and enjoy some of Sara's famous chocolate cake.

I departed Reno at 09:15 on Friday the 30th. Rode to Adelanto, CA, a 416 mile day. 60 degrees departing Reno, 96 degrees in the Owens Valley of CA.

Bike (2010 BMW R1200GS) ran well. Clutch replaced at Fairbanks in August and new tires (Heideneau K76) before departing Reno.

Starting the trip south!The June/August saga of making it from Reno, NV to Deadhorse and back was completed on 27AUG. Long story but the clutch failed in the Yukon in June but I made it to Fairbanks. The HD/BMW, etc. dealer in Fairbanks wouldn't order parts until they saw the bike even though I agreed to buy the parts, etc. Thus a one day job became a ten day job as there is no overnight service to Fairbanks, they didn't order all the parts they needed and then we were into the 4th of July weekend. I flew home as I had other commitments. Flew back to Fairbanks on 17AUG.

Left La Mesa, CA at 08:40 this morning (4OCT11) and crossed in to Mexico at Tecate at 09:30. Took forty-five minutes to get the paperwork, pay the fee at the bank and return to have the passport stamped. Stopped at Ensenada for lunch and then continued on to El Rosario where we stopped for the night at 17:00. Staying at the Turista Motel, on the south end of town. Clean room, nothing fancy and the motel has a restaurant attached.

A 288 mile day. Three rain squalls but not heavy enough to break out the rain gear.

On to Santa Rosalia tomorrow, a long day at 399 miles.

5OCT11 - We departed El Rosario at 08:40 on our way to Santa Rosalia, B.C., Mexico. The temperature was 60 degrees but warmed to 83 crossing the desert. Stopped for lunch at Guerro Negro. Had a fantastic meal of abalone.
Some wonderful twisties crossing over to the Sea of Cortez. Photos can't do it justice. Three military checkpoints but they just wave motorcycles through.

6 October 2011 - San Rosalia to La Paz, BCS, a 344 mile day. Left at 08:10. Sunrise at 07:00 now that we're on Mountain Time. Stopped at the Hotel Serenidad, Mulege, BCS for a fine breakfast. Stayed here four years ago on the trip to Cabo San Lucas with Gary Smith and the gang. A great place to stay but just didn't fit our schedule for this trip.

7 October 2011We took the Baja Ferry from La Paz to Topolobampo, departed at 15:00 and arrived at 21:30, took 45 minutes to offload.

10 October 2011
Left Los Mochis at 08:45 after a pancake breakfast at the Santa Anita Hotel. 293 miles to Mazatlan. Rolling terrain, farmland, miles and miles of crops, probably bound for the U.S. 75 degrees to start with a high of 93s then down to 87 along the coast.

Mex. 15 is a four-lane divided highway. Speed limit of 110K. About $18 in tolls for this leg of the journey.

Staying at the Belmar Hotel, right on the beach. A great coffee shop next door, the Looney Bean.

12 October 2011Today was a short day, only 184 miles. A lot of traffic getting out of Durango. The highway, Ruta 45, to Zacatecas is for the most part four lane with a 110K speed limit. Several military checkpoints but they just waive motorcycles through. It was 59 degrees when we departed and never warmed up. Locals say that this is very cold weather for this time of the year.

13 October 2011Left late today, 09:40, with the hope that it would give some time for the rain to pass through Guadalajara. No such luck. As we reached the mountains it begin to rain so the twisties weren't that much fun. Then on top of the rain we entered areas of heavy fog. Visibility of about three car lengths. At least the locals slowed down.
Coming in to Guadalajara was not much fun. It's a big city and the last six miles or so was stop and go, bumper-to-bumper traffic, with a lot of horn blowing. Reminded me of New York City only worse. And int the rain.

14 October 2011Today was a rest day in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Pleasant city once you get to the hotel. Terrible traffic in and out of town

Tomorrow we're off to Toluca. Want to bypass Mexico City.

17 October 2011We departed Peubla today at 09:20 with the hope that traffic would clear. No such luck. Hectic city with much horn-blowing. Too many cars for the city streets.
Once on what we'd call the Interstate things move very well. Of course there are Tolls to pay. The trip today came to $16.53. There are non-toll roads but the going is very slow and they take you through every little village, all of which have toppes (giant speed bumps that would take out the bottom of a car). Thus Toll Roads are the way to go unless you plan to be here a month.

18 October 2011Today is a rest day in Oaxaca, Mexico. We're at the Anturium Hotel, right in the heart of the city. Secure parking for the bikes. I'd highly recommend the Anturium.
Walked the six blocks to the city center and toured the Musea Nacional de las Culturas. Great museum showing the history Mexico and the Oaxaca area. Rated one of the best regional museums in Mexico.

19 October 2011Today was to be a 170 mile day, from Oaxaca to Juchitan, so we departed at 09:30. Got to Juchitan and couldn't get a hotel room due to a festival of some sort. So backgracked to Sto. Domingo Tehuantepec where we found a room at the Hotel Donaji Del Istmo. Secure parking, AC and Wi-Fi too. Had dinner at the hotel restaurant.

The day's ride was a real treat with fantastic twisties crossing the mountains to get to this side of the country. Had to keep a real close watch for pot holes as they are motorcycle killers.

20 October 2011Today, due to a wrong turn, a 260 mile day became a 361 mile day. Missed the turn and followed the GPS not realizing we were do a 'great circle' route. Anyway, we did get to experience some pretty serious road construction. Once we got past that we encountered some of the biggest pot holes I've ever seen. Big around as a bushel basket and about a foot deep. Motorcycle killers. Cars and trucks were all over the road trying to miss them and the speed dropped to about 15mph. Quite a few miles of them. No fun. Left at 09:30 and got here at 18:30. A very long day.

21 October 2011Today we rode sixty-five miles over to Tonina to see the Mayan Ruins. Narrow two lane roads with pot holes and crazy Mexican drivers. We made it. The ruins were impressive but the view from the top even more so.
Dinner tonight with some local BMW guys.
Tomorrow we're off to Guatemala. Had planned to take the coastal route, Hwy. 2, but the bridges are washed out from the recent hurricane, so we'll take the Pan American Highway, #1, at least for a few days.

22 October 2011Today we were joined by Carlos and his son on the ride from San Cristobal to Chimaltenango, a 291 mile day. Departed at 08:00 and did a very fast paced ride to the border. Painless crossing, took about 45 minutes.

23 October 2011This was a 209 mile day, left at 08:05 and arrived at 18:30.
Ran in to a political struggle between two Guatemalan bureaucrats departing Guatemala. The long and short of it being that a 90 minute process took 3.5 hours and required us to provided written statements, in Spanish, that the bikes are our property and that we're taking them out of Guatemala. Thus we again violated Rule Number 1, NEVER ride at night in Central America.

I was leaving San Marcos after spending 2 relaxing days at Lake Atitlan. The road out of there is a steep climb. I was in first gear going around a sharp corner when three masked men jumped out of the bushes, one threw a rock and missed me. I accelerated but was hit from behind in the right shoulder with a very large stone. This sent the bike into the embankment and threw me off. The men approached with machetes, one held me up while the other cut the stuff away from the bike.

25 October 2011Today was a short ride from Santa Ana to San Salvador, El Salvador. We left at 09:00 and were met by Ricardo Olivares, BMW Moto Club of El Salvador, just outside of San Salvador. He led us to the Comfort Inn. We'd have never found it without his help.

29 October 2011A day to remember. They are celebrating the founding of the city with all sorts of stuff going on in front of the hotel. Walking back from getting a haircut I was pushed from the back by what I thought was a drunk. This was about noon. Stopped at a local coffee shop for a coffee and discovered when I went to pay that my wallet was gone. Then it became clear to me what had happened with 'the drunk'. And this was with all kinds of cops working the event.

27 October 2011A 262 mile day and enty in to Costa Rica. No rip offs but 3 1/2 hours due to long lines at every window. Gas is very expensive in Costa Rica.

27 October 2011A 220 mile day including a side trip to Lake Arenal to see the volcano. Clouded in, couldn't see a thing.
Stayed at the Best Western Motel in Quepos.

26 October 2011A 240 mile day with two border crossings. The crossing from El Salvador to Honduras was OK but slow. The real problem was the crossing from Honduras to Nicaragua. We were ripped off by the police with a phony $45 road tax. Fancy paperwork and all. This was the Honduran police. Once we cleared in to Nicaragua I went through the paperwork and realized they had pulled all the 'fancy' paper work. A real slight of hand.

30 October 2011Today we rode 113 miles from Quepos to Ciudad Neily. Came down the coast on Highway 34 and then merged with Highway 2 to Ciudad Neily. Departed at 09:15 and arrived here at 12:35. No rain but clouds building for the afternoon showers.

We're staying at the Hotel Centro Turistico Neily. Its about the only decent hotel in town. Good Wi-Fi. The hotel restaurant is closed on Sundays so we ordered chicken dinner from a local chain we're seen for the last few days. Good dinner and not too expensive for Costa Rica. The gasoline is very expensive.

31 October 2011Today was 67 miles, in heavy rain, from Ciudad Neily, Costa Rica to Boquete, Panama. We departed at 09:00 and arrived in Boquete at 12:30.

The border crossing from Costa Rica in to Panama took 2:10. We were just ahead of the swarm or it would have been maybe 3:30. Dumb luck.

They required a $2 fee to fumigate the bikes, in the pouring rain, so they could be brought in to Panama. Go figure.

We staying at the Valle Del Rio. Nice place and good Wi-Fi but only in the lobby.

1 November 2011Today is a rest day in Boquete. We tried to make it to the volcano but when we got to the view point, about 8 miles, it was clouded in. To get to the base of the volcano was another 7 miles on a very poorly maintained, twisty mountain road and we figured it just wasn't worth the risk. And it was no fun to ride.

Had a great Italian dinner with Dan Porter at his favorite restaurant.

We stayed at the Valle del Ria Inn. Nice place but the Wi-Fi only worked in the lobby. No fun.

2 November 2011We left at 07:00 today to beat the afternoon thunder storms. Its about 25 miles from Boquete to highway 1 and the road is being made from a two lane to a four lane. Slow going but it'll be great when its done.

Heading to Panama City we saw National Police Moto Cops every three to five miles. They have handheld radar guns. Doesn't much matter as they decide to pull you over and come up with a reason. We were five miles under the speed limit and most everyone was passing us and they'd pull us over for 'speeding'.

2-8 November 2011We'll be here November 2-8.

Tired to go to the airport (PTY)_on 3 November but its their Independence Day and so many of the roads were blocked for parades that we couldn't make it. Hard to believe but the road to the airport was closed. We tried again on the 4th and made it. I spoke with the Girag Air Cargo folks. We'll bring the bikes out to the airport on Monday, the 7th, pay the $902, (cash only) they'll put them on pallets, do the paperwork, etc. and the bikes will 'fly' to Bogota (BOG) on the 8th at 06:00.

7 November 2011Took the bikes out to Girag Air Cargo today for shipment to Bogota on Tuesday. The process took from 10:00 to noon. Not bad as some border crossing have taken over four hours.

Total cost $902 (cash). Required two copies of: title, registration, passport and aduana.

The fee is set so they don't weight the bike. Put it on a pallet so the windshield, mirrors and panniers can stay on.

Easy process. No help needed. The hard part is finding the air cargo area of the airport.