Oregon to Ushuaia on an XR650L

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by alvincullumyork

Spud you have been a great help both during and before this trip started. I almost got around to making some chain rollers before he took off but ran out of time.

+1. Spud, I think I owe you a beer or three when I get back.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by uberaudi

Awesome ride report, I can't wait to take one of my own once I get out of the navy

Nice! Good to have another fellow military man along. When are you done? What do you do?

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by endurorazor

Ulyses, this is by far one of the best ride reports I've ever read!! As a former 650L owner and one that has lived with and worked with Marines for my entire life, you have my utmost respect. Awesome, once in a lifetime trip you are on, one I doubt you will never forget!! Recent close calls and budget aside, take some time to smell the roses, every day life pales in comparison to what you are experiencing right now.

Thanks man! Good to have you along for the read! What did you do with the Marines?

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by Ed Zachtamundo

Good work, you crazy bastard. Thanks for keeping up on your ride report- I just wish I were there to help!

20 hours of surgery so far and my pelvis is fixed. Tomorrow morning I'll go under so they can rebuild my femur and fix what they did in El Salvador. As it is, my right femur is 2" shorter than my left.

Stay safe and stay in touch!

Justin

Man, hit me up when you get out from under the knife!

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by purpledrake

I know that this isn't you (and, that you have of course seen this before). Sorry, I couldn't resist reminding you.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by Brown Falcon

I'm glad I could come up with a useful idea for once! You really need to stop getting hit by things. Boats, cars, dogs, wandering livestock... what's next? Hang-glider? UAV? Tank?

Yep, just sitting here drinking a pale ale reading the last couple days reports. Wishing I was out riding...

I'm pretty sure it's going to be a low flying aircraft. That's going to require a lot of food to recover from.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by turnenem

"The rapid transition between glaring desert sunlight and the inky blackness of subterranean shadow often left us blinded and I nearly ate it a few times while charging madly through the tunnels at high speed."

A freakin poet!

Been following all along and your writing just keeps getting better! Keep up the good work and "Bueno suerte!"

Haha! Thanks!

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead

BTW whenever you get back to Portland,, there oughta be a celeb meet at the Widmere or Lucky Lab / Or......

Dave

Agreed!

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

Glad you came out of that one unhurt. I think Peru was where I had the most close calls for sure, generally with trucks and busses.

I was lucky during my travels. I only got hit by one pickup which did a fair amount of damage to the bike, but I was unhurt in that 70 mph get off, lucky. The rest of my crashes over the 45,000 miles were self induced.

Yeah, Mario was telling me that you ate it pretty hard on a ride to Nicaragua.

[CleanWatt]

Did they have a tire selection at that shop? I spent too much in cab fares running around yesterday in search of them...

What hotel are y'all staying at? Maybe we do dinner tonight somewhere?

[ONandOFF]

Originally Posted by ONandOFF

.... how do you "piss off hippies in Corvallis" with his HD? That sounds like an interesting story...

Originally Posted by alvincullumyork

...Right next to campus there is a really hippie/hipster coffee shop and when ever I make a pass by it I give the bike a lot of throttle and shake the windows a little bit. It's loud enough to set off car alarms so I figure I'm rattling some patchouli stinking hippie.

Sounds like an alternate motto on how to live, instead of 'treat others as you wish to be treated', perhaps you prefer a more barbaric society where everyone disrespects others and takes whatever they want with no regard for others. Or perhaps you are merely too young to have thought about it deeply yet. Here's to coming around!

Well I for one happen to love the smell of patchouli on people, and am thrilled to hear there are people still using it. I will have to include Corvallis and find that shop when I get together a riding trip out West some day!

It's interesting to note, at least to my perception so far, it seems that when people report on the trips they do, it comes across that the older folks are more into the experience itself, while the younger ones seem more into gettin' it done. I wonder if it comes down to one of the two suppositions that this could be the last/only chance to enjoy it, or that there will be time to do this again.

[bubbletron]

Originally Posted by CleanWatt

Did they have a tire selection at that shop? I spent too much in cab fares running around yesterday in search of them...

What hotel are y'all staying at? Maybe we do dinner tonight somewhere?

They has about 6 tires at the shop. ..2 of interest... Pirelli MT 90 and a (I believe) Mt60, not 100% on size...possibly 17".

And up for meeting later... Deb was in town last night but headed off this morning.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by CleanWatt

Did they have a tire selection at that shop? I spent too much in cab fares running around yesterday in search of them...

What hotel are y'all staying at? Maybe we do dinner tonight somewhere?

Well, I have been staying at "La Quinta de Alison" in Barranco, but it's 60 Soles a night. I'm trying to move over to the "Barranco Backpacker's Inn" tonight; we would have stayed there when we arrived but it was full. Where are you?

[CleanWatt]

hitchhikers hostel. Great place, 25 soles for a bed, and a bunch of parking. In the Miraflores neghborhood.

They have three overland vehicles here and two couples from the states traveling by truck as well, pretty cool group.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by ONandOFF

It's interesting to note, at least to my perception so far, it seems that when people report on the trips they do, it comes across that the older folks are more into the experience itself, while the younger ones seem more into gettin' it done. I wonder if it comes down to one of the two suppositions that this could be the last/only chance to enjoy it, or that there will be time to do this again.

You know, I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've had a few discussions about it with various people as well. There are lots of different mindsets about this trip; there are some people that are blazing down south as fast as possible and there are people who are taking two years to do it.

I don't necessarily think that age is the determining factor. I just met four older gentlemen (read: retired) from Canada on KLR's in Huaraz. They had left Yuma Arizona on December 9 and had made it all the way to Peru in about 30 days! Conversely, I know a guy who is 26 and is currently doing this trip who plans on stretching it out for a year at least so that he doesn't miss out on anything.

I think that personality is the biggest influence on style in this endeavor. Some people love to rack up big miles and ride hard every day. Some people love to stop and smell the roses at every corner and spend a month in Oaxaca taking cooking clases. There's nothing wrong with either approach, they're just different.

I think I trend towards the first group. I have a very choleric and driven personality and I love to set goals and then go out and accomplish them. It's part of what makes me tick. It's why I like doing things that are difficult, it's why I will do things that I don't even consider to be necessarily fun or pleasant and will willingly suffer and be miserable for long periods of time if I know that it's all contibuting towards a larger experience or accomplishment.

That being said, I do appreciate the experience aspect and as I've grown older I've begun to see the intrinsic value in doing activities just for the sake of doing. I love climbing mountains; even if I don't reach the summit, I enjoy the simple act of being outside, seeing the scenery, and being up high where the air is thin and clear. Still, it's the summit that really makes me tick most of the time. And I suppose it always will.

I originally started this trip thinking that I would be done by January. Then some things changed in my personal life and I decided I would slow down a little. But not too much because I don't have the money to really drag this thing out. I enjoy seeing the sights, meeting new people, and exploring new areas. But I also really love riding hard and making some progress towards Ushuia.

I think that what it really boils down to is that there are many different motivations for doing a trip like this and no two people will probably undertake it for the exact same reasons. Personality really drives style for a lot of people and there's nothing wrong with that; everyone has a different approach and a different method. Sometimes I find myself mentally criticizing someone for their approach to this trip. I'll think things like, "Man, that guy is riding way too fast." or, "That guy better get his ass in gear if he wants to finish this trip before the snow flies". But then I have to remind myself that In the end, no one way is right. If it's different from how you would do it, it's not wrong, it's just different.

P.S. that doesn't mean I'm going to stop making fun of people who pull over to take pictures every thirty minutes.....