SubscribeThey were on a week’s vacation, travelled a day from Mobile and didn’t know me from a hole in the wall. I mentioned Deals Gap, they changed their plan and guided me around some of the best riding I have had in months. Rain soaked and hungry after a day on the back roads of the Smokies and a rip up the Tail of the Dragon I sat back and reflected on the south’s true gem… it’s people.
May
2
Tellico Plains, TN (592 kms)
A friend recommended I ride towards southeastern Tennessee and a chat during a gas stop showed me the way to a small town on the edge of Cherokee National Forest. ”A campground built by bikers for bikers” she had told me and and as the road drew closer to the rolling hills of the Smoky Mountains that would be just what I would find.
May
8
Tupelo, MS (504 kms)
If you’re riding in Nova Scotia you might see a sign for smoked mackerel. British Columbia you’ll see signs for Okanagan Cherries, Oaxaca, Mexico it’ll be cheese and in Peru, cerviche. So while looking for a hotel in a small town along the Natchez Trace Parkway it was nice to get the confirmation I was in the south.
May
3
Choudrant, LA (554 kms)
I had seen the Texas Longhorn on hats and T-shirts and most pickup trucks I passed had a big decal pasted on the back but I never really thought the cartoonish looking image was a true depiction. Not until an alien looking beast appeared in a field as I raced through the Texas countryside. I turned back for a photo of the curious looking bovine and got a curious look right back.
May
1
Livingston, TX (993 kms)
Each country I have visited has offered unique and memorable experiences but today when I entered the United States I was anticipating something I hadn’t had in a while. My lack of fluent Spanish has made conversation difficult and brief. But ten minutes after crossing the border I was chatting with the breakfast club in Brownsville and ended the day with two more memorable conversations near Houston and a gift for both the bike and I.
May
2
Ciudad Victoria, MX (2054 kms)
I have been lucky enough to camp in some great spots over the past nine months. The Yukon, northern British Columbia, Baja and the Peruvian Sierra have all treated me well. But during my marathon ride north through Mexico I forgo the vistas and tranquil campsites for a nap behind a gas station under the watch of my motorcycle and an old stray dog.
May
5
Playa del Carmen, MX (98 kms)
Three days sailing at speeds of less then two knots had taken its toll on my patience. Even after we tied up it would be another four hours before we could leave the dock. So when I rode away I felt liberated from my sailboat prison and raced down the four blocks to the ferry terminal only to find out that it would be another two hours before would get off Alcatraz.
May
4
N 21*27,38 W081*19,76 (off Cuba’s south coast)
Until two hours before departure we were supposed to leave the harbor with eight on board. When we cast off we were seven and a member of the crew who had worked on and off with the ship for eight years stood on the pier. The big Austrian named Rollie waved goodbye and stayed behind to chase a dream.
May
6
Cienfuegos, CU (138 kms)
It was one place in all of Cuba I had been that if turned away by military or asked to leave by police I would have totally understood. I wasn’t camped on a beach or tucked under a tree in the hills like days before. I was standing unmolested in the core of an unused, abandoned nuclear reactor and was amazed at the irony of the my location.
Apr
3
Cienfuegos, CU (- Kms)
The tenuous relationship for the past 50 years between Cuba and the United States is well known. So is their shared love of the game of baseball. The ballpark in Cuba, like politics is a different animal then that of the US counterpart but it didn’t take long sitting in the stands to find a common scene shared with their neighbors north.