Happy 47 th

We are in Huatulco Mexico tonight. This is a photo of the "Central" or as we would call it the towns square. Beutifull place and filled with families and people hanging out after dinner. A really great little city full of very nice people.

It has been a couple of rough days. Dale has had a total of 3 flat tires in the past couple of days, including the front tire this morning. In all my years of biking I have never had that but it does happen.

Now for the really bad news. I have had to phone Karen to make arrangements to fly me home on Sunday for medical reasons. It appears that a mix of being sick with what I believe to be the flu, heat, physical stress from the riding, etc has brought on a dangerously high blood pressure and an irregular heart rhythm. I have been to 2 doctors in two towns in the past 24 hours to be checked out. The last guy, and the best, damn near fainted himself when he saw my blood pressure was 180/100 and took immediate steps to bring it down IE drugs. I will be OK to fly by Sunday buy no more riding for the mean time till I get checked out and cleared by the doctors in Nanaimo.

I will update this blog next week when I get home.

Ibby

Tourist Heaven

Little girl on the boat ride to the island beach in Acupulco

We are back from the beach as they say. What was supposed to be a 45 minute boat tour out to a local island turned into a 2 hour marine endurance test. Nice beach and a good bar but we could have had that for a $10, 10 minute cab ride to another local beach. Oh well as they say here ¨welcome to Mexico¨

Another thing we have to deal with is laundry. Simple enough; we drop it off at the local laundry place and they do it for you. Cheap and easy. Except we dropped ours off yesterday and the nice lady said it would be done ¨manyana¨. Well, she did not open today which means we may not be able to get on the road at 6:00 am tomorrow as planned – we are leaving early to beat the traffic and heat of Acapulco – and may have to hold over for another day here.

Now that may not sound too bad to most of you but remember there is actually not that much to do in Acapulco. Other than the beaches and some shopping, maybe seeing the old fort there is really not much to do. I would rather be on the road heading south towards Guatemala and be a day closer to Central America than here in tourist heaven.

The roads her are better than anticipated but worse in some ways. One way is called Topes – or as we call them in Canada speed bumps. They are everywhere. Just north of her in La Misa (I think that was the town) there had to be 50 of them over about a one hour passage. Just nuts. And they are not small. You are talking about a speed bump large enough to take the suspension out of a Kenworth little less an old Honda ! And they are not necessarily marked or painted yellow. Why, because this is Mexico.

Don’t get me wrong. Nice people, great roads, beautiful scenery, etc but something’s really do mystify us Gringos. Like Dale say's they built it really good but they are a little shy on the maintenance department.

Well I am off to see if I can get someone to track down the laundry lady.

From Tourist Heaven

Ibby

Acapulco

"Cliff diver" from the boat tour

Well we are in Acapulco today on a day off from riding. We are heading out on one of the glass bottomed boats for a tour of the harbour and go to one of the small local islands. It would be like going to Newcastle Island only they serve beer here.

Since last update we have covered the highway 200 from Zihnaanojo to here. Great roads. Little two laners where you are constantly in 2nd or 3rd gear steering with the trottle. Great rides along spectacular vistas.

The driving is HOT. I mean bloody hot. Mid 30´s plus the humidity. It just drains you. Then when you come into a city like Acupolco with all the insane traffic, the noise, the heat, WOW

Brian if you are going to Bara check out the blues bar on the beach next to the promenade. Good band the night we were there.

Gotta goto the beach. I will try to update the blog later.

Kevan

BTW: typing in Spanish is starting to be a drag

On the road south

Wall frescoe in Governor house in Colima. Yes it is huge probably 20 ft high

Central square fountain in Colima.

We are in Bara de Navada, I think. After awhile they are starting to run together in my mind. Like what day is this, where we are, yada, yada. Gotta love it.

We road some of the best roads I have ever been on today. Imagine riding the road from Port Alberni to Tofino but for the next 5000 klm !!

The driving down here is nuts. As you round a corner at 80 kph there are cars in your lane overtaking trucks uphill on a blind corner !! You have to expect the unexpected all the time and even then I had a close call today.

The area is physically beutifull. The road is overgrown with trees most of the way so sometimes you feel you are riding in a green tunnel. Then you will crest a hill and come out on an open vista overlooking the mountains with the ocean off to your right. Absolutely stunning but you only glipse it as you are trying to concentrate on the road.

All is well with the team. We are getting along well and riding styles are coming out. Typically Dale or I will lead with Brad in # 2 position - this is because we didnt get the chance to fix his speedometer before we left - with me in #3 and Steve picking up the rear. We tend to cluster in twos that way when we are being overtaken by cars, busses, truck, donkey carts etc all they have to do is pass two of us and not all four. Now before you group riding Nazis get going let tell you that down here rules are different than in the North. We did the math last night and as a group of 4 riders our overall footprint is up to 100 meters long. So by breaking it up it makes is safer for us and the other drivers around us. We will let you know the final outcome of this theory in Panama City.

Other than some ongoing issues with Brads bike - carberuator, broken mirror from the fall, etc, mechanically things are going fine. Considering we have beaten the shit out of the bikes for the past 2500 klm it is very good. Knock on wood.

We keep running into another Canadian couple from Nelson. We met them first in Mazatland and again last night in downtown Rincon. They are a day behind us but I think they are stopping in PV.

A note to those reading tomorrow is my annivesary. Karen and I have been married 17 years on January 19. And let me tell this trip would not have happened without her input and encouragement. You gotta love a wife how tell her husband ¨ ok dear, bugger off on a 5 week motorcyle trip to Central America. Take lots of pictures and come home safely¨. I know I do.

Well gotta go. Dinner is next and I am starved.

From the road

Kevan

Mazatland

Interior view of the Cathedral in Mazatland

The view from our balcony in Mazatland

Well we are in Mazatlan. Three hard days of riding and we made it last night after dark. Yes I know the golden rule is no riding after dark in Mexico but we were in a bit of a tight spot so we sucked it up and road about 2 hours on the Autopista to Mazatland. We road something like 14 hours and 900+ klms in a day. In Mexico. On 25 year old bikes. Yes we are ´èl stupido´´

The actual riding on the highway was fine, the road puts American interstates to shame, other than we were very low on fuel. Acutally we were on researve and looking for a Pemex for the last 50 klms or so. But we made it. Then we had to deal with night time Mazatland trafic. The only way to discribe it is some thing like a wild video game where there are no traffic lines, cars buses and motorcycles jockey for position and tail gaiting is an art form. But we made. Did I mention that we made it ;)

The ride down was basically a blast through the Sonora desert area through all the agricultural areas. It was flat and beutifull. People wave and smile when they see you and will come up and ask what we are doing and where we are going.

OK, so road stories in no particular order:
· Steve found out you cannot put Deisel in a KLR
· Mexican restaurants that have english on the menu serve crap food
· Check expiration dates on Ding Dongs when you by them in the Oxxo (7-11)
· Road side food vendors who have patrons sitting in them searve great food
· Toll highways are fast but boring and expensive - $43 in tolls so far
· I was first to drop a bike - actually I did in the first 5 minutes – see ´èl stupido´above

I will try to upload some photos later as I am having trouble at this computer - photos added when I got home and I still cant get them to align properly.

Now I could spend time on this computer or I can head out and see Mazatland so guess what I am going to do

From the road…………….

Ibby

BTW: if you think my writing, grammar and spelling suck normally try doing this on a Spanish keyboard :)

6 sleeps

I have packed and repacked. Sorted things. I have added to my list and taken stuff off the list. Into the flight bag and out again. Back and forth, back and forth. Jesus, I am driving myself and Karen nuts.

I did the final packing run through yesterday. Everything fits fine in the small carry on case I am using for clothing. All my maps, documentation and day to day paraphernalia fits into my day pack. Actually I have a little room left over but I am fighting the urge to add anything at this point.

The fine line is to pack only what you need, plus enough for an emergency, and not anymore. The old traveler saying “ take half the clothes and twice the money”. Well I am trying to adhere to that.

Well at this point I have only 6 sleeps left till I am in Phoenix. I can hardly believe it and can hardly wait. We will cross the border to Mexico on Monday January 14 and then the trip will really begin.

So till my first post from on the road wish us well. Talk to “ya all” from Mexico.

Just light the fuse and lets go !

Waiting, and therefore patience, is not one of my fortes. Actually I suck at it. I am more the “come on lets get going” type. I think this comes from my father, another man not well know for his patience in certain matters, and the fact that with prolonged waiting comes fear, apprehension and procrastination. No, I would rather “just on with it” as the British saying goes

Now a healthy dose of fear is good for you. This keeps us from doing stupid things, like say parachuting – oh right we did that J. Ok it keeps us from doing truly stupid things like going parachuting twice. But fear is one of those things that must be recognised for what it is and then dealt with in such a manner as to control it so that it can be used as a form of motivation. Fear should not paralyse you to inaction but motivate you to take action.

I have had many friends ask me if I am afraid of going on the trip. The simple answer is yes; but cautiously so. I fear failure – as in not completing the trip. I fear letting my fellow companions down by my lack of physical or mental stamina. I fear the separation from my wife and children and how that might affect me emotionally. I fear, after a year and half of planning and training, of being hit by some little old lady in a Cadillac in Phoenix on the way to the Mexican border!

What I am not afraid of is being robbed or physically assaulted while in CA. So many people who I have spoken to about the trip have expressed their fear that I will get mugged or shot or something. I have had numerous people as me if I am taking a gun with me! This is Central America not Bagdad.

I am at much greater risk of being robbed or shot in any major North American city than where we are going. Remember in the southern USA it is legal to carry a handgun so long as it is not covered up. So every Tom, Dick and grandma in Arizona, Texas, etc are all carrying pistols for “personal protection”! Now that is a dangerous place to be !!

I have apprehension of the day-to-day living on the road: finding adequate lodging nightly, the food, how my health will stand up (I am an asthmatic and “worry” about how I might react to some of the physical environment) driving an busy narrow roads. There is apprehension about dealing with border crossings with my limited Spanish. There is some apprehension about dealing with corrupt cops and officials wanting a bribe of some sort – actually I am sort of looking forward to this.

As for procrastination – nope. I just want to get going. I feel like the actor portraying one of the original astronaut in “The Right Stuff”. The astronauts in the rocket strapped in and ready to go. After years of training and numerous false starts they again cancel the rocket launch. The astronaut gets on the radio and tell the control centre “ to hell with the engineers just light the fuse on damn thing and lets get going ”.

So lets just light the fuse and get this trip under way !