SubscribeI stopped saying “never again” years ago. I’ve done it before and it will happen again. I was out too late having a good time and now I was suffering. But now I stood in the hot sun waiting patiently for the Italian tourist to figure out my camera, sweat pouring from my helmet and thinking I was going to pass out. It was time to pay the piper and for the next seven hours the piper was collecting.
Archive for February, 2012
Feb
1
Itajimirim, BR (656 kms)
Gas stations are a constant in my travels that for obvious reasons are necessary. There are the large multi pump oasis’, the small family run two pump joints and everything in between. Most bathrooms are dirty, the food is usually suspect and curious people can’t stop pressing buttons on my bike. All this in mind I am as gitty as a kid at Christmas when I pull in and explore each like they are Mayan ruins.
Feb
7
Salvador, BR (667 kms)
Guimaraes and Henderson worked the phones for an hour trying to get me tires. Guimaraes owns the Suzuki dealership and Henderson was in for a service. Afterwards we had a beer in the service area and they warned me to get to a hotel quick. I asked why and learned that the police in Salvador went on strike. The city of three million had no law on the streets and they figured the gringo with the Beemer should lay low.
Feb
12
Salvador, BR (- kms)
When I pulled into the little pousada the night before I couldn’t see a thing. When I woke the sun was bright and it was scorching hot. I sat in the courtyard for a moment drinking a coffee and clued in to the sound coming from over the walls of tall fence. A short 50 meter stroll out the security door confirmed my suspicions.
Feb
7
Filadelfia, BR (373 kms)
Traffic was insane on the way into the bike shop to look for my tires. It was 38C, the streets were jammed and everyone seemed tense. It would be another five hours before the delivery truck would show up with the new rubber and I would wait it out in the back lot of a bike shop.
Feb
1
Caxais, BR (875 kms)
The heat was intense when I crawled into the tent the night before and I got little rest in my roadside campsite. I woke well before dark and stared at the ceiling of the tent before deciding to pack up just before dawn and get on my way. It would be a long day one the road with little to see and little more then roadsigns to keep me occupied.
Feb
10
Belem, BR (856 kms)
In the book “The Uneasy Rider” author Mike Carter describes his new found philosophy on life and compares it with motorcycle travel. He figures that like riding a motorcycle it is best not to focus on life’s pitfalls, dangers and disappointments (the ditch) but rather down the road, where you are going. This connection between method of riding and philosophy on life identifies is an interesting relationship just like my motorcycle and my body.
Feb
11
Belem, BR (- kms)
For the past two days the skies have been dark grey with looming rain clouds threatening and today was no different. A half hour deluge followed by a couple of hours without seemed to be the pattern as I ran errands in the early morning. The weather in northern Brazil was up and down much like the day I was having.
Feb
6
Amazon River, BR (- kms)
I didn’t sleep much in my cabin on board the ferry that first night. The room was hot, it smelled a bit like a sewer and the bed was built of someone a foot shorter then I. I got up early to go for a stroll in the cool morning air and was treated to another show that you just don’t see everyday day.
Feb
13
Macapa, BR (33 kms)
It has bothered me since I passed through Ecuador. I remember looking down at my GPS the day after I left Quito thinking “how could you miss that one?” It wasn’t too big a deal, I had to pass over it again on the way home but it was a bit embarrassing. So when I found out there was a marker in Macapa I rode over to the site to take care of unfinished business.