south america

October 6 2015

Week 2 – Good friends and good fortune

Our second week on the road and the good times have continued. We started the trip at a pace that would have quickly worn us ragged. Our time was spent immersing ourselves in the rugged landscape of the South West, some of us even fighting it at times. As we’ve slowed down our focus has shifted from the looming monuments in the distance to people who inhabit these landscapes.

Moab treated us to our first collective hostel experience. While shedding some weight and gearing up to hit the White Rim Trail we had the good fortune to meet a most excellent couple from the UK. Ed and Rachel have been traveling on their Honda C90’s for over 14 months in North America and are currently finishing up the Trans American Trail. Meeting them was a truly humbling experience. They share the same Argentinian end goal but as Ed stated, “If you see us again, something has gone terribly wrong with your trip.”

Check out there site: http://wanderonahonda.co.uk/

On our way out of Moab, Neal’s keen love for food steered us well yet again. Although known for their pastries it was breakfast burritos all around at Love Muffin. Pat did indulge in a blueberry bacon muffin, which going off the expression on his face seemed nothing short of a mild sexual experience. We headed south to Arizona via Monument valley which was truly incredible. The unfamiliar landscape made it difficult to focus on the road but we eventually arrived safely in Flagstaff, Arizona to visit Matt’s friends, the amazing Seth & Kande.

Seth and Kande operate an overland expedition company called ADVENTURE DRIVEN.They focus on excursions to both the Grand Canyon and Baja. They graciously took us in and immediately the nerdy motorcycle banter began. We barely had our boots off before Seth’s kitchen exploded with maps of Baja, Mexico. The beta session quickly sidetracked from intel and route planning to stories and gear. Finally unable to formulate sentences, we needed to refuel with our proven dietary choice….more burritos.

The sobering morning cleared our brains of the cobwebs left by tortillas and cervezas. We finally hit the books and planned a route to include amazing beachside campsites, neat towns, and great eats. We spent a little while tooling around Seth’s favorite room in his house, his immaculately kept garage. Unable to resist another night of amazing motorcycle nerdom, we crashed yet again and set out early the next morning.

From Flagstaff it was onward to Las Vegas. This stop was strictly business, we had zero intention of having a “Vegas experience.” I (Patrick) will be starting a firearm manufacturing company when I return home and had set up a meeting with the legendary, Bob Irwin of The Gun Store.

I walked into the shop, decked out in sandals, the latest in vagrant hiker attire, and cordially asked for Bob. After a few head turns I was directed to Bob’s assistant who kindly paged him and allowed me into his office. From there on it was a stream of non-stop conversation for three hours. I was given a tour, saw the guns Bob designed, and ultimately learned a great deal. I hope our paths cross again after this trip.

The gang reconvened for dinner at an unassuming Korean-Mexican fusion place, on the outskirts of Vegas. It was a hidden oasis, buried in the vast wastelands of strip malls baking in the desert heat. Aptly named Ko-Mex, it was freaking incredible. With our bellies full and our eyes tired from the constant raping of pulsing lights we set out to the Mojave desert.

After one last seizure inducing stop for gas we left the mind numbing landscape of Nevada and entered a Dr. Suess like landscape ]of California’s Mojave desert. After a bit of searching and avoiding the suicidal kangaroo rats, we stumbled upon a war memorial which past travelers had camped near. While setting up the tent, we attempted to hide from an approaching vehicle. We cut our headlamps, but failed to realize our ultra reflective TRON suits could be seen from space in the desert darkness. After watching the vehicle fumble through the surrounding jeep trails, it eventually turned and stopped directly next to us. Blinded by their headlights, a figure exited and a soft feminine voice inquired “Hey can we camp near you guys?”After agreeing neither of us were serial killers, we decided they could camp.

Around 2am we were woken up by howls, screeches and chirps. Hyena, chupacabra, jersey devil? Nope, just a pack of coyotes celebrating a kill. We awoke to a beautiful morning and realized there was bouldering nearby. Tim and Pat donned their shoes and got a bit of climbing in.

After a late morning start we hit the road for our last stop in the US, Fallbrook, CA. An advrider.com member named Carl reached out to me a month ago offered us a place to stay and ship necessary parts. I accepted his offer but I’m sure Carl was second guessing it when the mountain of tires and parts arrived at his door.

The road to Carl’s house was curvy and fun but we took it slow, precious fresh California IPAs were aboard. Not a drop was harmed. We were greeted by the entire Hixon gang, Carl, his wife BJ, their two dogs Duke and Remmy, and their feline companions Ranger and Abby. They immediately got us settled into their beautiful home and treated us to excellent carne asada tacos. Two friends, Matt and Zoma, joined and we all had a great night of stories and jokes. I sort of felt like a real adult for a little bit. Ultimately BJ’s chocolate chip cookies stole the show, or was it the chocolate chip pancakes in the morning?

Sunday was not a day of rest for us. We left Philly on old chains, sprockets, and tires so these all had to be replaced. Now this would normally be a lot of work but it was made even more tedious when we realized Matt’s counter sprocket was torqued to infinity and held a healthy dose of red Loctite. Ultimately a combination of Tim’s “MacGuyver-ness” and Matt’s ogre strength broke it free while I changed the tires. 7:30 rolled around and we were treated to another fantastic home-cooked meal. Just a bit more preparation is needed before we cross the boarder.

After another week of of wind blistered faces, and everchanging surroundings, I am truely humbled by the vast generousity, kindness and selflessness we have encountered by the amazing people we have met on this trip. We are only two weeks in and my faith in humanity is slowly being restored. While I am excited to see what beautiful terrain lies ahead, I am realizing that it is in the hearts and smiles of those who we meet along the way which will leave the mostly lasting mark on our collective memory.

September 30 2015

One week down

Pat south america, USA Colorado, Corkscrew Gulch, Crooked Stave Brewing, Great Divide Brewing, John Brown highway, Offroad, Ouray, Switchbacks

The night before departing on a six month trip is a weird combination of feeling very surreal while also panicking that an important detail will be missed. This trip that was once just a concept, idea, or even fantasy was quickly becoming a reality.

We assembled at Pats house, mulling over our heavily packed bikes trying to see if there was anything we could offload, trade, or begrudgingly add. At the same time, Pat was feeling somewhat somber as he confronted a necessary task, assigning beneficiaries within his will.

Around 1am, Matt headed home to try and get a few hours of sleep before his longest day in the saddle to date, Tim was passed out on the couch, and Pat laid awake in bed in somewhat disbelief that this was all happening.

September 22nd had arrived. We met on Drexel’s campus at a small park with a spectacular view of the skyline so that we could document leaving for a long while with drone footage. Unfortunately the drone was uncooperative which ultimately lead to us heading out a bit later than expected.

The journey from Philly to Denver was familiar to Pat, a trip he had completed several times before. However, these trips had one major difference, he was alone. He wondered how it would be to travel with Matt and Tim. Would they be able to keep up? Would we make it there by our deadline? Was he worrying over nothing?

Our first day of riding was exactly what what we were hoping for, uneventful. The weather was consistently nice, we hit little to no traffic, and at the end of a long day, we quickly found a suitable campsite in a desolate part of Illinois.

Pat’s alarm sounded off at 5:50 and his two comrades resisted his efforts to get them to moving. Once up we acted with relative efficiency and maybe even a hint of excitement despite the upcoming 940 miles of boring highway that lied ahead.

Unfortunately for us, the weather didn’t cooperate as well as our previous day. We passed through sporadic bouts of intense rain, lightning, and heavy wind. Of course it hit quickly so we were soaked and opted not to cover wet clothes with rain gear.

In this region of the country (Western Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska) the terrain is comprised of endless fields of ethanol producing corn, variety non-existent. In trips past, we have found it best to try and escape their grasp as quickly as possible, which is exactly what we did. 1750 miles over roughly 30 hours of riding made for long days but the finish line was worth it.

We pulled into Neil and Jordann’s (Denver, Colorado) late Wednesday night with our asses sore and our faces beaten by the wind, but our hopes were high. They greeted us with open arms, three sheets to the wind, after being at the Great American Beer Festival all night. We invaded their home and quickly passed out. It had been a year since we had last seen them but we instantly felt comfortable. Our first stop on the trip had set the stage for what promises to be an amazing journey.

The next day Neil took us off-roading up to a glacial lake in the shadow of Berthoud Pass. Matt being the newbie, and the the least experienced rider, got his first taste of dirt, rocks, and off-road fun. He held on tight and recited the mantra “When in doubt, throttle out” the whole day. He made it to the top, and had a blast.

Everyone but Neil dropped their bikes, there were no injuries, and fun was had by all. Neil’s best bud from Georgia, Craig, was also visiting and they rushed off the trail ahead of us because they had tickets to another night of beer festivities. We unfortunately caught up to them a few miles down the road after the trails, Craig’s rear tire had a flat. We stashed Craig’sbike behind a tree and he hopped on the back of Neil’s bike. We would deal with the flat another time, beers were the priority.

Tim and Matt decided that while motorcycling and culture are important parts of this trip, visiting as many awesome breweries along the way would also be an integral part of the journey. We geeked out at the amazing funky stuff at CROOKED STAVE, and then walked directly across the street to Great Divide Brewing, boy their IPA is waaaaay better fresh. We picked up Neil, Jordaan, and Craig and then went and got late night munchies and a night cap at Illegal Pete’s. Did Matt need a huge baby sized burrito at 11pm? Nah, but it was delicious.

The next day we messed around Arvada, got breakfast, and went to Lowes, all with Neil’s pup Lilly guiding the way. Tim and Pat went to fix and retrieve Craig’s broken bike in woods, while matt hung back and immersed himself in iMovie, a nightmare of a program to edit with. After deciding that throwing the laptop out the window was a bad idea, he met up with Neil and went out to experience my first legal weed buying experience in Colorado. Insert “WHOA” in a Keanu Reeve’s voice. Super professional, potent stuff…Nuff said.

The entire crew reunited at Neal’s house, we headed out to get some excellent BBQ food at a place Neal informed us was run by people from the great state of Georgia. Our last meal before departing from Denver and continuing our ride west. In a somewhat hail mary move, Neal decided to join us to ride out to Ouray.

On Saturday September 26th we awoke after a late night of food and drinks to pack up for a full day of riding. We said our goodbyes to Jordann, who might be the nicest person alive, and it was kickstands up at 8am. Six hours of surprisingly beautiful and engaging highway were ahead of us and temperatures ranging across the board.

After stopping for groceries for the night’s dinner, we arrived to a burger joint in Ouray around 2 and gorged on copious amounts of comfort food. This was entirely necessary since we had been surviving on granola bar(s) for the last 8 hours or so.

Riding the passes in Colorado is unlike anything Matt had done before. Pat had described it as incredible and high consequence which proved to be fairly accurate. At the advice of a local Jeep tour company we rode Corkscrew Gulch. On fully loaded Vstroms, this was no simple task. Both Matt and Neal dropped their bikes numerous times navigating the rocky switchbacks. At every turn we encountered people insisting that we turn back, clearly they didn’t know us at all.

The sun began to fall, clouds started appearing, it was becoming apparent that we needed to get down to Silverton and set up camp. We made it before nightfall to a perfect campsite, cooked a delicious meal and fell asleep.

Traveling on motorcycles has a lot of advantages, the biggest one being that we’re approachable. This point was proven when we met up with a GS rider named Rudy that joined us for breakfast and then gave us some excellent information about his home state of Utah. After we parted ways, we headed out to some old mines above Silverton and did some exploring with Neal as our guide.

Unfortunately this is where Neal had to head back to Denver and we were back to three. We began the long ride to Moab via Gateway, the last town in Colorado. We followed the John Brown Canyon road until daylight ran out and we made the decision to camp. Our first campsite attempt was met with a camo’d up guy on a quad who succinctly stated that we were on private land. We ended up at a better site and had a perfect vantage point for the lunar eclipse which yielded the best view of the milky way the three of us had ever experienced.

The following morning we made our way to Moab to start the White Rim Trail. The trail is a 120 mile loop in Canyonlands National Park made up of steep, rocky, and relatively dangerous terrain. The signs at the beginning meant to warn off those who that don’t belong (steep, rocky terrain, 4×4, high clearance, short wheel base, no food, water, or gas available) were a welcome invitation to us. The first 6 miles would be a nightmare for any acrophobics, a narrow trail made up of sheer drop offs, very high stakes.

As Matt began to feel more comfortable on his third day of off road riding, he picked up the pace. This is about the time his bike took a few dirt naps. The bike was a little worse for wear but Matt was fine. At the end of the day we made a decision to turn back after about 35 miles on the trail and set up camp. We had gotten our taste and it was good. Pictures or it didn’t happen?

September 5 2015

Down to the wire

Pat south america, USA

With only 16 days until departure this trip is no longer a distant concept or fantasy, it’s real. We’ve left, given notice, or will take a long hiatus from our jobs. Our friends, families, basically everyone in our lives is fully aware that we’re leaving, for definite, to ride as far South as we can get.

Despite how little time there is before we leave, there still seems to be so much to do. Valve checks, tires, oil, shocks, forks, literally days of bike work. We have videos to film for sponsors, bank accounts to finish setting up, lots of small tasks that ultimately will fill just about every moment up to the 22nd. While the work is daunting, the excitement for six months on the road is indescribable.

August 16 2015

We’ve got racks

Pat south america, USA

We’re unable to leave anything stock and so when we looked at our luggage racks, we noticed things that just didn’t suit us. For me (Patrick), the rear rack that comes with the Happy Trails SU racks is too small and the mounting points require excessively long bolts which are more prone to sheering and also just more difficult to work on. I opted to weld a larger rack I built on top of their rack, it doesn’t look pretty but it’s very functional. As for the mounting points, they were cut off and stronger ones were welded on. These ones will NOT break (famous last words).

As for Tim, he opted to use the Moose racks from his DL1000. Surprisingly they were pretty close to fitting but the two mounting points that attach to the passenger pegs needed to be remade. The end result is a beautiful set of stainless bolt-on mounts and a damn near factory finish.

We still have lots to do and only 36 days to do it. Stay tuned. On the plus side, I no longer have to go to work so this trip is now my full-time job!

[metaslider id=641]

July 28 2015

53 Days until we hit the road

Pat south america, USA 0

The thing no one really thinks about with trip planning is that you still have to manage your life in the meantime; your friends, your family, your job, bills, etc. All of these things get in the way, distractions from the ultimate goal of leaving on time and fully prepared. As I write this my mind is filled with a slew of to-do’s necessary to realize this goal. At the same time it’s all for naught if only one or two of us are ready on September 20th, all three need to be on the same page.

Despite the seemingly large list of things we still collectively need to accomplish, I am growing more excited every day. I no longer have to check the calendar to see how many days until we leave, the mental countdown is in full effect. Each morning when I wake up I’m one day closer. This proximity to departure is also finally dissuading those who doubted me for the last couple years when I would tell them about my “motorcycle trip to Patagonia.” Recently a friend told me that when she hears me say I’m going to do something, she knows that I will. That statement really meant a lot to me. We’re going to be at the southernmost city in the world in 2016 and we leave in just 53 days. I only hope that each of us finds exactly what we’re looking for on this journey.