Bellingham to Brazil, not coming back

Ryan,

This is about as cool as it can get! Thanks for taking the time to do it up right. Good luck with whatever your next moves are. This was/is great reading, even for an old man!

Gary

Bump! Ryan, watcha up to these days?

Thanks for asking man, Ive just opened a bank account in a Spanish bank, yes I know.

I just got an email this morning from two friends, Bob and Rebeca who I met in Panama, they saw my bike in Ecuador! The new owner, from Canada, has been cruising around the Andes on my old girl and seems to be happy with her.

I start work soon as an English teacher, I will be drumming up some extra cash on the side tutoring and all that, Ive got a badass apartment on the Mediterranean for 350 a month, split 3 ways. I live in Mazarrón, Murcia and so far its great. Im trying to pick up a used bike to explore the bad ass canyons and cliffs and coastal dirt roads nearby. Its like the forgotten coast in Spain and ive got it all to myself. Spanish life is REALLY nice, I got a 5 year green card so we will see what happens.

I rode a Honda XR125 yesterday and the damn thing has some power! It took me and my girl down the road comfortably at around 80kph with plenty of pick up. Tank is full for 11 Euros and will go for about 300k. The only problem is the 600 euro EU drivers license. I wonder how long I can fudge the date on my INTL drivers license and just tell them im a tourist? hehe, I learned a few tricks in SA.

Im really hoping to get you guys some more material, as soon as i get back on two wheels.

I picked up (probably stolen, spray painted black) mountain bike and damn there are some breathtaking roads around here.

Ive been in contact with Carlos, the guy I met in Antigua, Guatemala, he shipped is bike (Aprilia 1000cc V-Twin) to Germany and is now in Bulgaria planning an overland trip through the middle east and India, into South East Asia. Heres a pic of his bike in Guatemala with me in the background.



Hopefully he will get a site up and running so you guys can follow his journey, hes not on ADV. RTW trip on a 1000cc street bike, should be interesting.

Ive basically been trying to solve my problem of wanting to travel but getting bored of wandering without purpose. Now I have a job in a totally new place and I like the rhythm here I like Spain a lot, from Mazarrón I can get to Morocco faster than I could get to Barcelona or Cadiz.

And when Im not travelling, I chill out on my porch which wont get boring anytime soon:




My dream at the moment is to do a trip around the South of Italy, land of the Mafia. Andalucia, Spain is nice too, and maybe ill dive into Morocco on a bike sometime.

Badass trip through America Latina though. Ive never had so much fun on a bike. If I were to do it again (which I will) I would take a smaller bike and take it slower, blending in a little more, just enjoy riding and seeing new sites. Ive learned that it doesnt matter what bike you take. The best bike for any trip is the bike you like.

I will update my website soon with a little bit on my time in italy. I flew to Liguria from Spain for 24 Euros and found some work with the communists, bussing tables and working on a farm. The next section called Italian Communists should be a good one, although no motorcycles involved. We made wine, ate well, butchered rabbits and I learned some Genovese curse words. Ill post the link.


-Ryan

3 old Beemers, 3 crazy French guys, good music...

http://vimeo.com/49445992

You guys might like this

That's awesome.

Huh?

Very nice little film! Well done boys! Loved the music too ...
I loved their funky BMW's. Excellent. FUN FUN FUN ... that's what it's all about!

Austin Vince would be proud of those guys!

Great vid, glad you're still at it!

Bump, news?

Update, I got a bike again. Yes my friends I'm on my way to Brazil right? Ok so I am in Spain, not exactly on the way but the world is round right? The whole idea of this adventure riding thing is to ride one of these machines with 2 wheels and an engine and have a hell of a time.

So, I bought a bike, I have been working as an English teacher in a little coastal town and I finally scraped together enough €uros to buy a little Yamaha SR250. 1985, 3400km I know I was suspicious too but the gas tank isnt rusty and the engine is sound, carbs a little dirty but no big deal. This region of Spain is known as one of the driest and very mild temperatures so I plan to ride all year whenever I have time off. With all the strikes and chaos of the Spanish education system in times of crisis I have plenty of days off. The crisis is serious but as far as being a 26 year old and having no real direction I dont want to be anywhere else. The crisis is real, but its also a fascinating time to be in Spain.

I knew nothing about Spain before coming here and what a surprise, I love it, its a great culture. Considerably less stressful than anything I could expect from the US of A. The Spanish take it easy. Im not sure whether to start a new thread for my wanderings on the 250 or keep them on this one. For now, heres a few pictures of my bike, some back roads and life on the Mediterranean.

Me on the bike.








From left to right, my bike, my lady, and my buddy Jose on his XR125. Here we are at an abandoned mining town.



The abandoned minging town







The town I live in is called Mazarron in the state of Murcia, Andalucias little brother. Its in the south, its dry and hot and right on the water. There are also miles of canyons and old Spanish towns that are way the hell off the tourist map. There are mountains too, and I cant believe how many routes are available to get from point A to point B. I will never get bored. I plan to explore the hell out of this area and as soon as I can I will also explore Castilla de la Mancha, the land of Don Quixote and windmills. With so much history its hard to find a place in Spain that does not have things to see.


The dirt road at the edge of town that winds down the coast to Almeria, where I could potentially take a boat to Morocco.









Some mountains about an hour away.





The beach near my place.



Elevator to the 8th floor. In the summer rents triple but in the winter the town empties and you can pretty much take your pick of places to rent, we have a bad ass place for just €116 each per month. Leaves me some to spare for gas.




Spanish tapas, delicious small plates to accompany your drink.



Weird food of the month: Fried blood






Mazarron has kind of a faded 70s feel to it, like a fishermans town that blew up with tourism and then faded. But in the summer it comes alive again. The winter has its charms though and on an average night, due to the warm wind and the Spanish eating scheule (dinner at 10pm) there more people out at midnight, taking a stroll, drinking in a bar or watching a game in an open air cafe than even a city twice its size in the North. More adventure on its way.

Let the Spanish motorcycle diaries begin!

-Ryan

You have direction...it just changes frequently. Bought you a tank of gas, now go somewhere already. It's going to be a long, cold winter for the rest of us if you don't!

Thanks Matt! Gettin pretty good mileage on that thing, and it handles fine on the open road (as long as theres no wind). Ill do my best to keep things interesting.

Sounds like you found all the places I wish I had done when I was there on my 955i Tiger. Fantastic stuff! I always looked up into those mountains figuring there would be some good riding. Being solo, I never went exploring.

I did go to Morocco, but left the bike in Spain. But you should do it ... Take your bike! Getting a bit cold now for the Atlas mountains but lowlands and coastal areas should still be OK. ??

I'd wait till late Spring ... then make the Maroc dash.
Takes just over an hour on the Ferry, IIRC.

Love to hear more about your impressions of the very serious situation in Spain ... sadly, most Americans are 100% clueless about what's really going on. Even the so called "educated" just say "... they need to adopt more austerity programs."

I believe they might consider kissing off the Euro and flip off the banks regards their debt. (the way Argentina did). Nationalize oil companies and re-build from the ground up. Regain power from the Multi-Nationals who now have too much control and give things back to Spaniards.

It would be a HUGE risk with no guarantee of success, but what else can they do? I doubt any of that would ever happen ... but one can hope.

Suerte and safe travels!

Every day I go out for a spin on the SR250 I am amazed at what I find. Giant old aqueducts, crumbly little towns and excellent rural highways. I love it. I cant wait for the next long weekend.

Its raining today so what a day for a little writing. Ive had a few excellent rides since buying my bike. Ive been getting comfortable on it and testing its limits for some longer trips this winter and spring. I dont work mondays so all it takes for a 4 day weekend is local holiday or a good strike on a Friday or Tuesday.

Riding an old bike reminds me of riding my first bike, a Honda nighthawk. I took a few week long trips in my early days. Maybe because it too was an '85, the Yamaha is more like the nighthawk than the BMW. Heres a shot of the Honda on my very first motorcycle tour near Condon, WA.



On that trip I drove to California, then back up through eastern Oregon then on to one of my all time favorite roads, the highway near Antelope and Fossil in North Eastern OR where I visited exotic locales such as:





And after 16,000km on a BMW F650 I find myself in Spain on another classic motorcycle:

Heres me on my Yamaha SR250, my girl on her new Peugeot scooter (her first vehicle) and my buddy Jose on his XR125 from right to left.




So on to the present.

I bought the bike from Motos Raul and here is the timeline,

Ride 1: (not counting test ride) I ride home from the shop taking the long way through the beach comunity of Bolnuevo. Bike dies and I think WTF did I buy? I flip the petcock to reserve and off I go (my favorite kind of break down).
I get gas the next day and the tank is no where near empty so I guess that wasn't it, I suspect a dirty carburator.

Ride 2: Ride to Jose's house to show him the new bike (aka how how my drinking buddy became my riding buddy)
He says "You're quality of life has just improved my friend" and off we go. He took me down some wonderful backroads through farm land VERY reminiscent of Mexico and Colombia and into a little town where there is supposedly a guy who will cook you badass meals in his farmhouse if you make a reservation, which I plan to do some day when I have a guest maybe. Also, he says that in that town (Balsicas) there is a contest every December where contestants try their best to imitate the neighing of a donkey. IM THERE! I said, I cant wait.

Ride 3: I cruise to Cartagena (the one in Spain) and tackle the old cobblestones in the beautiful old port city, in search of the guy who sold me my useless mp3 player. It turns out its only 26km from Mazarron even though it takes an hour on the bus. I pat myself on the back again for buying a motorcycle. On the way home I choose the inland route and take a left on a little one lane road. The rural roads here are the type you would expect if motorcycles ruled the world (everyones fantasy right?). Its clear why there are so many small vehicles in Europe, roads like this. Farmers drive 3-wheeled pick ups and stare at me as I go by. These guys are the real thing, seems like a lot of work doing it all the old fashioned way but man the veggies around here taste good, practically cook themselves. Where am I again? I feel like I never left S. America. Road takes me up a hill and then drops me into a canyon, a dry river bed actually (una rambla in spanish). This one is called the Rambla del cañar and it's cold. Evidently the sun never reaches the depths of this canyon. Rising up to my left is a giant rock face, probably a kilometer long and very tall. The road ends, can the SR250 handle the dirt? It has a much smaller rear tire than some of the newer models but I go for it. Its a smooth dirt track in parts and in others, loose sharp rocks but I move along in 1st and 2nd and no flats. A few small creek crossings add to the fun. It spits me out 10km from home in the middle of one of these "seas of plastic" that make up parts of the countryside here. Giant greenhouses as far as the eye can see with sad looking faces, Moroccons, Ecuadorians, Algerians, picking tomatos and wandering home (its 7pm).



I need to clean the carbs, but besides that the bike is tons of fun.

I think its worth writing a bit about the process of buying a bike in Spain. What a bitch, I almost gave up.

First I had to establish residence in a foreign country which was unavoidable if I wanted to open a bank account and get paid.

Once legal, I had to get the "empadronamiento" which required a signature from the landlord who lives in a different city. The lease at my apartment was handwritten which didnt help.

That took a week because things are slow here. There is a nap in the middle of the day and anything bureaucratic takes time.

The empadronamiento proves my residence here in town.

To ride a bike legally you need insurance. To get insurance you need to have a bike in your name. Catch 22.

So in short, I got residence in the country, then registered here in town, then I went looking for a bike. Once I found one I got the title (transfer costs €100, normal price unless you want to go to the DMV, but there is none in my little town) and paid for it then asked Raul if I could leave it at his shop while I got insurance. The insurance didnt like that I had an american license. American drivers licenses are kind of a joke here unless you are just a tourist, and I am supposed to get a Spanish one eventually. I tried a few different companies until I found one that would take me. In the box for country they wrote Italian (my other citizenship) and then wrote in my US license number. This was a little trick but technically not against the law. Just had to find an insurance agent who didn't ask too many questions. Just put some numbers on the form and get on with it.

Its my job to license myself and the insurance company only needs to provide me with coverage, so even though I cant use my US license much longer that is my problem if I get stopped.

So, with insurance, the bike title and my license I had the bike. The only problem with the whole thing is the insane price of insurance because apparently my 10 years of driving vehicles of all sorts in the US doesn't count in Europe and I am treated like a 16 year old with no record. I am also expected to get an EU license soon now that I am a resident. A license in Spain can easily run you €600 or much more because of the strict program and many required classes. Once I get a license I can only ride bikes up to 500cc I think for two years.

Loophole: Most cops dont know the rules for American licenses and rarely stop motos anyways. Plus, my AAA international permit has the date written in pen and I think I saw a good strong eraser at the corner store...

My camera is currently being repaired by Fuji but if I take off on any cool trips I will borrow my girlfriends for now. So I hope to provide a little entertainment for my readers, I've got the time so I'll try me best to keep you entertained, my trip continues...here its warm and while my teaching job is not gonna make me rich I cant complain. I have reached my goals for now. I have a place to hang my hat for a bit while I plan my next move.

-Ryan

Thanks! If I do Morocco it will be Spring. 3 hours from here there is a ferry. My girlfriend knows her way around there a little and wants to show me some stuff so it would be the 2 of us most likely and maybe my buddy Jose, who used to live there. Cant promise it but its starting to sound like a serious possibility. Hmmm, 2 up on a 250 for 2 weeks? Why not.

Modern Spain in crisis. Yes the situation is serious. Last week in Valencia the pharmacies closed there doors because there was no more medicine. Sorry diabetics and old, sick people, hop in your car and drive to the next state. The state is so far in debt that they couldnt afford medicine. Valencia has an airport that has never seen a plane, an opera house that costs something like 40 million a year to run (with 15 performances annually) and a whole slew of other embarrassing projects that were funded by taxes from the property boom, the one that went bust.

When Lehman bros collapsed in the US it sent shockwaves across the world and that was the beginning of Spains problems.

I will include some pictures of half built buildings in my next report, there are many.

Its important to note however that some of Spains regions are relatively debt free, like the Madrid region and some Northern states. Also keep in mind (when listening to US politicians talk about it) that Spain was one of the few EU countries that actually had its finances balanced before the collapse, better than France and Germany. Its not there social programs or their inexpensive universities. Its complicated. Im not sure who should take the blame.

Was looking forward to the next update. Nice pictures of Spain. My great grandparents are from the mother land and is on my list of countries to visit. Liked how you explained the process of getting a bike in Spain and all the rules and regulations they have. We always think that we have a lot of regulations here until we read from fellow riders that settle abroad.

Later
John

This is the first of a series of posts documenting my wanderings around Spain on my new Yamaha SR250.

I havent posted much yet because my camera is broken and is being repaired by Fuji and I havent heard anything from them yet so I finally just borrowed my girlfriends old point and shoot to show you what it looks like around here. So far I love it.





Todays ride started when I went to school and found out that I was assigned to assist a math teacher. Very typical of organization around here he wasnt expecting me. So I ended up doing fractions. They seemed to get it, not bad for learning math in two languages. I havent done fractions since I was a kid. It gets better, the next class I was assigned to did not exist during that period on that day so feeling a bit useless (but getting paid for it) I decided that today was not my day in the English teaching world and the warm rays of sunshine cutting through the morning dew were calling me into the countryside.

I had ridden the bike to school so it was a simple matter of throwing my school supplies in the Givi box and starting the engine.

When the universe is telling me something, I listen. I believe the gods wanted me to ride, not to teach English on that very day, and I rarely mess with the gods.

I rolled out of Mazarron with the hills glistening around me. "It never rains here" Ive been told a million times. Well it just rained for a week non stop so the usually brown hills were covered in a beautiful green. "This isnt normal" they kept telling me "the weather is crazy right now, it NEVER rains." "Today the rain stops" I thought. And I hope it stays dry.

The change in scenery however is a welcome side affect of the mystery rain.

I fueled up in El Alamillo, technically a small town next to Mazarron but its hardly its own town, I call it a neighborhood on the edge of town.




From there I circled the roundabout and chose the inland road towards Cartagena. Cartagena Spain, just like in Colombia, is a cool old city with a rich history and plenty to do. Last week I had the best tuna ive ever eaten in a restaurant in Cartagena. I followed it with an "asiatico" which is a coffee with booze. I am taking to Spanish life quite well.

Heres the view from the cockpit.






Mazarron is surrounded by hills so to go anywhere you need to get up and over the hills. Heres why I dont take the toll road,

One of the free highways:






This is the smallest bike I have ever owned and I love it. It pulls strongly through the curves and up hills. The only place it lacks is on the really steep roads at 100km/h but for 28km/liter (65mpg) I will take it. Once I reached the top of the hills I was greeted with views of the flat countryside around Cartagena.





In the smaller towns and rural areas I am reminded often of motorcycling through Mexico and Colombia.



Today I am not headed to Cartagena though, the even smaller rural highways are more suited to my mood. Usually I just criss cross the countryside and end up in small towns.

On a motorcycle you get it all. When I passed through one small town today it smelled like shit, cow shit, I took a deep breath and thought to myself "This is what its like to ride a bike, and I wouldnt have it any other way." I didnt stop in that town though, I waited till I smelled food and coffee then I stopped in the next one. The cool part about the towns in the immediate vicinity of Mazarron is that once I have been there and had a coffee at the main bar/cafe in town I can then later tell my students "oh you live in Morata?" students roll their eyes and say "yeah nobody knows it" and I can reply "I went to cafe_____ the other day, the old dude who runs the bar is quite the character" and they are amazed that I have taken the time to explore and I know something about their town. This is great for earning respect from otherwise uninterested students.


Many of the roads around here look like this, keep in mind the bike is a little one:




If I'm not in a hurry, and I'm not, I can cruise all over the state on roads like this. I love it when its obvious that the highway was built after the houses were.








One cool thing about Spain is that the countryside is littered with history, these towers are all over the place:









An old aquaduct, judging by the water leaking through the cracks its still in use!








Pulling into Perin, another example of how the highway was built after the houses.



The old church in Perin.





Hey maybe we're related! My moms surname, a common Spanish last name that I assume comes from the Soria region to the North. Somehow a whole bunch of Sorianos made it to the South of Italy because theres tons of them in Puglia and Bari where I can trace some of my roots.




I almost missed this one! What looks like a driveway is actually the road to another town, I will save it for another day though, I am headed North to the old Castillo.



The highway widens.



Back into the hills.




The SR250 comfortably does 80kph and ive taken over 100kph with no trouble but I think the sweet spot is 80, at least with no fairing anyways.

Warming up now I begin to sweat a little under my heavy coat. I had stopped to take pictures and decided to take off some layers as well. Used to taking afternoon rides I looked at my watch, it was only noon! I dont know when I left the school but I thought "this is great!" I still have most of the day to mess around on the roads to the old Castillo.


"todos tienen miedo de esa carretera" my co-worker told me. Everyone is afraid of that highway. "really? WHERE IS IT!?" I asked.

I like everything that has curves.



Good thing I have my lucky metal phoenix bird thing, or whatever it is.




I take the turn off for Campillo de adentro towards the old military base or "El Castillito" as it is known around here. The road is nothing short of BADASS


The castle over looks the Mediteranean so those blue waters are never far.





Road could be better, but then again, there could be more traffic too, and there isnt, I will take it.



Some parts are without pot holes and are mighty fine.


As you can tell, it hugs a cliff that drops off to the left.





I decided to take a detour to another little road that headed up to a radio tower.





Down below is the bay of Mazarron and directly below is the small beach community of "la Azohia"






And finally, the highlight of the day, el castillito. Fully open to the public, you can climb around on the old guns and into the passageways and rooms.


Moving on, and making a circle back to town. I have been noticing a slipping/clunking/shifting feeling in the corners coming from the rear end, I inspected the bike and cant tell where its coming from. I will run by Motos Raul later in the day to get a mechanics opinion.








Coming back into town I pass through Isla plana one of my favorite spots to stop for a drink. They have a little "social club" which is basically a bar with no table service. The tables and chairs are scattered along the plaza on the edge of the sea. Its full of old guys playing cards and its cheap, they just have someone making basic drinks and coffee and snacks and they give you a tray to carry stuff to your own table. This is perfect for a guy on a budget, I dont mind carrying my own drink...to a table that looks out over the rocks out into the sea. Back home I did this too but we always had to bring our own beer in a backpack if we wanted to drink cheap by the sea. Here they have saved me a step.



Having taken my time all afternoon it was getting late when I finally pulled back into town. The nice thing is that the Spanish siesta = later business times. They return from the siesta and open up about 5 or so, then stay open till 8 or 9.



Motos Raul, where I bought the bike. They seem like cool guys, Raul and his brother Daniel. They also guaranteed the bike for 3 months so I can bring it buy and small repairs are really cheap or free.



The shop, with Daniel on the left.


I spotted this old Kawasaki Z650 in the corner. It was imported by an English guy who babied it for years and wants to sell it. Hes asking 4000€ which is a bit steep but its in perfect shape, with 22,000 miles. I sat on it, its a heavy motherfuc*** though. Probably a sweet ride. There was also an old Honda FT500 which they said has the same engine as the XR400. Its basically a road biased dual sport and seems like the perfect touring bike. Its got nice big tires, a luggage rack, its a single cylinder and also in good shape. Imported from outside of spain they are having trouble getting the emissions test past. Maybe they can pull a few tricks and get a "friend" to run the test. Maybe this added hassle means a cheap price. I didnt dare ask how much they wanted, i just bought a bike, im not about to switch it for another. Once I get a little more money in the bank I really shouldnt ask how much, or maybe its the next logical step up from the 250?...





No mechanics shop is complete without...



Turns out the rear sprocket is slightly bent causing the chain to make some noise and the bike to pull funny in the corners, makes sense, I mostly noticed it during acceleration on the corners anyways. The bike was cheep so I was expecting a few issues like this. The previous owner must have been a real klutz! He drove this thing a mere 3400km (2000 miles +or-) since 1985 and he managed to bend the rear sprocket, perhaps backed into a curve? and he spilled gas all over the gas tank. Some bikes look good when they are beat up and I dont mind.

Chain and sprockets will set me back 90€ which is not bad at all, they wont charge me for labor. A couple of private English lessons and I should be able to scrape together the euros.

Next week my girl and I will be taking a little trip into Andalucia so I want the bike in good shape. Then, in December ive got some time off so I plan to make a big loop around Castilla de la mancha visiting Toledo and Cuenca and everything in between.

Im very lucky to be able to store the bike in my friends garage down the street so it wont continue to rust so quickly, everything here rusts but parking it outside is bad news.

Hopefully my camera will be fixed soon, if not maybe I will look for an old film camera with a vintage lens and start snapping away.

Stay tuned!

Oh yeah, the guy who bought my F650 in Colombia is now back in Canada after a 3 month tour and he left the bike in Lima, Peru, he is looking for a buyer and I think the bike needs to be out of Peru in 90 days or something. Its probably cheap. So if you are starting to feel that winter chill, this might be an opportunity for you to quit your job, let me know and I can put you in contact with him. He says its still in great shape!

That's a pretty kick-ass fender ornament Ryan. But, considering you're in Spain, where the running of the bulls takes place, can't help but wonder what the reaction of the fine folks there would be if you swapped it out for a nice set of bull horns. Do Spaniards appreciate the same hood ornamentation that say, a Texan might embrace????....I don't know, but I'm willing to donate money for this type of social experiment.

Hey PLT, great RR so far and I'm sure there's more to come. I really dig your can-do attitude re being willing to take "odd" jobs to earn a living and finance your riding. You're livin' to ride! Hope you, your g/f and your new pal get in some good rides this winter and take us along. Big ups to your parents, too! Thanks again for taking us along!