We were the only ones in the restaurant.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Punta San Juan de Lima
Nov 9
Today we rode from Puerto Vallarta to a small town on the coast called Punta San Juan de Lima. This is a very small town that has a wonderful long beach. The strange thing is all of the resorts along the beach are closed up, except this one. Our room is $20 including towels…but no hot water. The internet is open 8pm -10pm only and does not work to well, so hopefully this will get posted before it goes out again.
We had one of the best rides of the trip. Besides the scenery, the traffic was extremely light. Although the ride into Puerto Vallarta provided a great jungle atmosphere, we were passing trucks and buses every 5 minutes which keeps us focused on the road and makes it hard to pull over for pictures. We are still about an 8.5 hour ride from Acapulco, which we hope to make tomorrow. We will try to post more pictures soon.
Nov 9
Today we rode from Puerto Vallarta to a small town on the coast called Punta San Juan de Lima. This is a very small town that has a wonderful long beach. The strange thing is all of the resorts along the beach are closed up, except this one. Our room is $20 including towels…but no hot water. The internet is open 8pm -10pm only and does not work to well, so hopefully this will get posted before it goes out again.
We had one of the best rides of the trip. Besides the scenery, the traffic was extremely light. Although the ride into Puerto Vallarta provided a great jungle atmosphere, we were passing trucks and buses every 5 minutes which keeps us focused on the road and makes it hard to pull over for pictures. We are still about an 8.5 hour ride from Acapulco, which we hope to make tomorrow. We will try to post more pictures soon.
Steve´s side note….
I have been riding street since I was 16 and never really understood why. It was always just a form of transportation or after a while something I did out of habit. I never really got into going for cruises or riding with groups “the motorcycle scene”. Yesterday, it became very clear why I am hear. My dad, myself and two other guys on Harleys where riding through the jungle coming down from San Blas to Puerto Vallarta. I had MP3s of the entire collection of Maná in my headphones (thanx Fredo) on the most perfect day you could ever ask for. The terrain went from palm tree sprouting coastal sands to deep thick winding jungle. For some reason the whole act of being on a motorcycle felt right for the first time. I can’t fully describe the sensation but, I can say it is comparable to sex. Well,,,,, anyways.. I reached a point yesterday where I forgot I was on a motorcycle. It was a part of me. On sharp turns I could feel the rubber pulling to one side of the tires like if I had sneakers on and decided to run side ways up a hill. Shifting became and idea instead of an action. Every curve felt right. The road seemed to be reacting to my emotions. My body was completely meshed with the metal underneath me and I finally understood what it meant to ride.
There is something liberating and romantic in the act of riding a motorcycle. Exposing yourself to the elements at high speeds and having to be ready for what ever nature throws at you is amazing and humbling. I felt indestructible yet extremely vulnerable knowing that a small animal could pop out at any time and end it all.
I think I will do this sort of thing more often….
Just thought I would share that as the majority of our blog is with out any insight to what we are going through on our journey.
I have been riding street since I was 16 and never really understood why. It was always just a form of transportation or after a while something I did out of habit. I never really got into going for cruises or riding with groups “the motorcycle scene”. Yesterday, it became very clear why I am hear. My dad, myself and two other guys on Harleys where riding through the jungle coming down from San Blas to Puerto Vallarta. I had MP3s of the entire collection of Maná in my headphones (thanx Fredo) on the most perfect day you could ever ask for. The terrain went from palm tree sprouting coastal sands to deep thick winding jungle. For some reason the whole act of being on a motorcycle felt right for the first time. I can’t fully describe the sensation but, I can say it is comparable to sex. Well,,,,, anyways.. I reached a point yesterday where I forgot I was on a motorcycle. It was a part of me. On sharp turns I could feel the rubber pulling to one side of the tires like if I had sneakers on and decided to run side ways up a hill. Shifting became and idea instead of an action. Every curve felt right. The road seemed to be reacting to my emotions. My body was completely meshed with the metal underneath me and I finally understood what it meant to ride.
There is something liberating and romantic in the act of riding a motorcycle. Exposing yourself to the elements at high speeds and having to be ready for what ever nature throws at you is amazing and humbling. I felt indestructible yet extremely vulnerable knowing that a small animal could pop out at any time and end it all.
I think I will do this sort of thing more often….
Just thought I would share that as the majority of our blog is with out any insight to what we are going through on our journey.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
San Blas
Nov 7th
On a gas break we meant a couple of guys on Harleys riding from Montana. They talked us into going to San Blas as a place to spend the night. This port town is has lots of character of its own. For those of you that listen to Maná, this is the town that they sing about in Muelle de San Blas. Pulling into San Blas we got our first taste of real jungle cruzing. The mountains were covered with Mango, Palm and various other trees creating canopies over the road. After pulling into town and establishing our drive in hotel we decided to check out the seen. In the center plaza, there was a chours of hundreds of large birds singing until late in the evening. After some food, we met up with the Harley guys (Roberto y Steve) and they introduced us to the San Blas Social Club where Agustin (The Window Trimmer / Bartender from SF) snuck alcohol into our drinks repeatedly. Thanx Agustin!!! Our hotel in San Blas was quite interesting; they let us ride our bikes into the hotel. The bad part was they had no towels, so they gave use sheets to dry off with. They did not tell us there was no hot water for a shower..Recovering in the morning we met up with the two Montanian Socialists and headed down to Puerto Vallarta. It was an amazing ride through tropical mountains and coastal terrain. We stopped in a small town north of Puerto Vallarta for the best food with the best view of the trip. Steve had shrimp cooked with mango that was just amazing.
Nov 7th
On a gas break we meant a couple of guys on Harleys riding from Montana. They talked us into going to San Blas as a place to spend the night. This port town is has lots of character of its own. For those of you that listen to Maná, this is the town that they sing about in Muelle de San Blas. Pulling into San Blas we got our first taste of real jungle cruzing. The mountains were covered with Mango, Palm and various other trees creating canopies over the road. After pulling into town and establishing our drive in hotel we decided to check out the seen. In the center plaza, there was a chours of hundreds of large birds singing until late in the evening. After some food, we met up with the Harley guys (Roberto y Steve) and they introduced us to the San Blas Social Club where Agustin (The Window Trimmer / Bartender from SF) snuck alcohol into our drinks repeatedly. Thanx Agustin!!! Our hotel in San Blas was quite interesting; they let us ride our bikes into the hotel. The bad part was they had no towels, so they gave use sheets to dry off with. They did not tell us there was no hot water for a shower..Recovering in the morning we met up with the two Montanian Socialists and headed down to Puerto Vallarta. It was an amazing ride through tropical mountains and coastal terrain. We stopped in a small town north of Puerto Vallarta for the best food with the best view of the trip. Steve had shrimp cooked with mango that was just amazing.
Gaspasa,
From Loreto, we drove down to Lapaz. It was a 20 minute 70mph tour as we were trying to make the ferry and failed to take in account the time zone change between the two cities.
We jumped onto the ferry with a bunch of other bikers and started the aqua portion of the trip. We rented a cabina that had two beds and a private bathroom. The tickets where $390 US for both person and motorcycles. The trip took about 18 hours. We spent most of the night with the other bikers in the bar where we were pumped with wild stories and useful information on where to go. The Mexican group of riders had just completed riding the entire length of Baja off road. There bikes were totally beat up as well as the riders. The German group had shipped there bikes from Germany to Los Angels. There are on a month long tour. The Mexicans and the German tour guide were pretty well informed about the roads and places of Mexico. It looks like we will head towards Chiapas now instead of Cancun.
From Loreto, we drove down to Lapaz. It was a 20 minute 70mph tour as we were trying to make the ferry and failed to take in account the time zone change between the two cities.
We jumped onto the ferry with a bunch of other bikers and started the aqua portion of the trip. We rented a cabina that had two beds and a private bathroom. The tickets where $390 US for both person and motorcycles. The trip took about 18 hours. We spent most of the night with the other bikers in the bar where we were pumped with wild stories and useful information on where to go. The Mexican group of riders had just completed riding the entire length of Baja off road. There bikes were totally beat up as well as the riders. The German group had shipped there bikes from Germany to Los Angels. There are on a month long tour. The Mexicans and the German tour guide were pretty well informed about the roads and places of Mexico. It looks like we will head towards Chiapas now instead of Cancun.
Loreto
Nov 4th
We spent 2 nights in Loreto, one was consumed writing the previous entry into this blog. The second day we walked around town and checked out the beach. There are a lot of Americans & Canadians that make Loreto there winter home. We meant a couple that have been going there for 25 years. After a couple of beers and a Mexican circus we called it a night.
Bike Tech Talk
We have had a few questions about the motorcycles. So we are putting in some Technical information about the bikes.
We have been averaging 45 to 50 MPG each. The price of fuel here is about $2.50 (US) per gallon. So between us, it cost $10 for every 100 miles.
Mishaps ---- About 800 miles into the ride we discovered that Steve forgot to installed the bolt that holds the rear axel to the swing arm. So after 200 more miles we started worrying about it and found a replacement in Guerrero Negro. The bolt that holds the heat shield to the exhaust on Larry´s bike fell off at some time. Safety wire took care of it.
Leaks ---- After getting off the ferry in Mazatlan, Steve’s bike decided to start leaking oil were the shift lever comes out of the engine. There is nothing we can do about it except add more oil… about a quart every 200 miles. Larry´s bike has used no oil. Considering that the engine runs at 7000 RPMs for hours at a time, it is pretty amazing for a 26 year old bike.
Nov 4th
We spent 2 nights in Loreto, one was consumed writing the previous entry into this blog. The second day we walked around town and checked out the beach. There are a lot of Americans & Canadians that make Loreto there winter home. We meant a couple that have been going there for 25 years. After a couple of beers and a Mexican circus we called it a night.
Bike Tech Talk
We have had a few questions about the motorcycles. So we are putting in some Technical information about the bikes.
We have been averaging 45 to 50 MPG each. The price of fuel here is about $2.50 (US) per gallon. So between us, it cost $10 for every 100 miles.
Mishaps ---- About 800 miles into the ride we discovered that Steve forgot to installed the bolt that holds the rear axel to the swing arm. So after 200 more miles we started worrying about it and found a replacement in Guerrero Negro. The bolt that holds the heat shield to the exhaust on Larry´s bike fell off at some time. Safety wire took care of it.
Leaks ---- After getting off the ferry in Mazatlan, Steve’s bike decided to start leaking oil were the shift lever comes out of the engine. There is nothing we can do about it except add more oil… about a quart every 200 miles. Larry´s bike has used no oil. Considering that the engine runs at 7000 RPMs for hours at a time, it is pretty amazing for a 26 year old bike.
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