Latin America!

This picture exemplifies the entire S.A. experience.

They arent in S.A. yet....

all done pendejo. just trying to expand with some more visual images of the area so the viewers can appreciate the beauty of the area. lord, you sure are anal. you have the thread all to yourself, holmes. i'll make a note if i ever see you broken down on the side of the road to offer up a adv salute when i don't stop.

Looks like this thread is heating up.

Me siento muy celoso.

Love reading about your adventure.

Say hello to Barb from a fan from the Great White North

Beautiful and can ride ...every mans dream woman

Not taking any sides here but....


I enjoyed the pics eakins, but i kind of agree with Bman... but he doesnt have many pics up yet.... but... uhhhh...yeah...

How will you know its Bman stuck on the side of the road? What if it was Barb on his bike?

Excellent report, enjoying your trip.

Followed Wolfgang and Heidi thru the Whittier Tunnel in Alaska July 5, 07.
Glad to hear they are well and the bike is preforming well.

Not trying to be pushy or anything cuz I'm sure you've got plenty of real life stuff to do.

But...

Hey Bananaman!!

Great to have you down here! As promised, here are the pictures of you at our shop. I'll tell my wife to start searching for a girlfriend for you!!

Have a wonderful ride tomorrow to Yaviza on your TKC 80's!!

Cheers

TC

B-Man! One more pic from Bikers of Panama!

See you tomorrow 8am sharp for your tire change!

TC

I will totally abuse those TKC's tomorow and Friday. But about the girlfriend thing? Not really a good idea... I would end up in an awful lot of trouble!

Good news: I fixed my bike. I have it back. Barb got her bike fixed. I don't think she's going to ride to Yavisa though. My dad might follow in the landrover, and we might meet up at Father Kasubuski's near the edge of the Darien. Tomorow will be 400 kilometers to Yavisa (the tires should be broken in by 200k) and then back to Father K's. Bad news: my furnace at home in Madison failed, and the pipes froze solid. Ugh. Ushuaia will have to wait. As soon as I get back from Yavisa (unless some miracle fixes my pipes) I'm going to have to catch a plane home. I don't know yet what I'm going to do with the bike- fly it home, or leave it here to ride home later...

Torreno over at BMW Panama was awesome. He let me use the shop to fix my bike, and he wouldn't let me pay for anything (except for oil and filters). He has a book- if you're ever in Panama, stop by to read the comments.

I'm going to ask TC if he'll host an advrider sign-in, like the one on the corner of the Cassier and the Alcan.

Barb is out riding somewhere. When she gets back, I'll borrow her computer and upload a few photos. Barb thinks that a few of them are advrider-frontpage worthy. There's a sequence of me trying and trying to get up an impossible muddy hill... falling, wrecking the side cases... trying and trying to turn around... crossing the river (successfully at first) and then not-so-good crossing the Culebra...

As for arguments, this isn't jomamma. This is Ride Reports. Please read the rulz. My daughters (13 and 16), my friends, Barb's family, and Barbs friends- they're following this thread.

The ADV sticker on Barb's bike almost looks photo-shopped, but it's not.

Those hammocks lined the hall in front of the rooms. I tried to get a shot of a couple of adventure riders laying in the hammocks, drinking a cold beer... but the light wasn't right. I got this one after I'd gone riding on the beach. I think Barb was out for a run and a swim.

I do think this might be the nicest ride destination I've ever found... the pacific, El Salvador, and $30/night in a room with a shower (no hot water but who needs it!) and air conditioning, and beers for a buck!

I got to Panama on Saturday night, after a 500 mile day from deep in Costa Rica. Raulito greeted me in front of my grandmother's house. I was so, so tired. And Raulito goes, "We're going to Cocuye tomorow, wanna come?" I asked if they were taking the landrover. "No. The road is good. Your dad just did it. I'm taking my car." Raulito drives a Honda Pilot. Stupid me, I go, "My bike can go anywhere a Honda Pilot can go." Pretty soon he was telling me about the rivers, but he promised they were low. "Except for one that's 50 meters wide," he goes. "How deep?" "Not too deep. How deep can your motorcycle go?"



In the morning- Sunday morning- it was my dad, Raulito, Michelle, and Paul. My dad has been down the road to Cocuye probably more than anyone. Raulito is an engineer and is designing and building a new road. We needed Michelle and Paul because of the heat and hard work- Michelle is a cardiologist and Paul is a paramedic. Saul also acted as team photographer, usually with my camera and the 200mm lens. And some people say I'm a little too careful? Seriously, if you're going to try this road, bring a physician and a paramedic, and have a helicopter on standby.

We took the Corredor Norte from Panama City to Chilibre, then the Transisthmian Highway to Sabanitas, then the coast road to Puerto Bello. As soon as I pulled into the ruins, a guy ("Carlos") ran up to me and asked me if I needed a boat to Colombia.





The first river crossing was for practice. I walked it, watched Raulito drive across it, and then I went.

The biggest problem was the size of the river stones. They ranged from apple sized to football sized, and they were slippery. When I walked, the water only came up to my boot-top. The bike, though- the bike sunk between the stones, pushed them apart, and suddenly the river was an awful lot deeper. The only way I could figure out to go was to put it in 2nd, try to keep the front up, and try not to let the back end wash out. At first I wanted to ride it standing on the pegs, then I realized I needed to put out my legs outrigger-style. Not a good idea, but I couldn't do anything else. Then my camera battery died and Paulo didn't know that the extra was in the case he was sitting next to. No photos yet of the 50m river crossing, but here we are carrying gear across. I took off the panniers for this one- could you imagine trying to right the bike if the panniers were flooded?

The road was dry, and then it wasn't. The first problem was when I came around a corner- probably going around 20mph- and in front of me was a narrow stream. The stream wasn't a problem- it was the water that had dripped onto the clay from whoever had crossed the river. The mud was slippery! There was absolutely nothing I could do. I went down on my right side, slid for at least 20 feet... in the Honda everyone thought I'd killed myself. But the mud was so soft that it was actually kind of fun.

I have a kazillion more photos but after the next sequence- the mud (MUD!) that stopped me- after this, I'm off to get those tires changed. My Metzler Tourance rear and the Anakee front are perfectly fine for everything except the impossible mud that I might find on the way to Yavisa. The plan for today is to ride to Yavisa and then back to Father Pablo's. Tomorow from Father Pablo's to San Blas.

By the way, Carnival is about to start.

So I tried and tried and tried to get up this hill. And the bike would fall over. And I would pick it up and try and try. The rear wheel was just spinning. I would put it in 2nd and try to start real, real, real easy. I'd rock it back and forth, back and forth, and just barely get out of the rut and be able to make some progress, and then the huge heavy pig would want to lie down in the mud again. I was so, so tired. I was soaking wet. I was done.

There's more- I had to cross the rivers again, in order to get back. I was so tired. The road to Cocuye was kicking my butt.

It is called PANAMUD! Now you know what the Army Core of Engineeers had to deal with!!

Pleotherapy = the application of mud to the body as a therapeutic measure

Keep having fun!!!

TC

This is great stuff.

That mud must've been physically exhausting with that big pig. Lottsa work.