“Sigue derecho!!”

Finally got good internet to upload the videos 🙂

Day 21 – Waiting for the ferry – quick video

Day 21 – La Paz to Puerto Vallarta:

Day 22 – Puerto Vallarta to La Ticla:

Day 23 – La Ticla to Zihuatanejo – pitty I didn’t get the bike’s rescue on video – it was lifted by a chain placed on the crash bars – surprisingly easy for the tractor/crane to take it out. If we had to muscle it out it would’ve been quite hard!

First of all – I am LOVING all the comments 🙂
We were without internet for the past day or two so am doing a bunch
of updates today – new videos and some new photos.
We had some rain this morning but it wasn't bad at all – just meant
that it was quite a bit warmer because of the waterproof layers you
have to add on. At one point I just took them off since I was probably
better off getting rained on than totally wet from sweat… yeah…
kind of gross but that's how it is 🙂
Today's riding was quite tense because of the rain and a lot of
traffic – cars, animals, people… not to mention a little bit of mud
that sent Marc shooting off the road! Absolutely no damage to the bike
or him. Fortunately it was a construction site so there was a crane
that pulled his bike out of the mud with great ease.
On the way Ari wanted to stop to eat but Marc and I kept on going
since we wanted to make it to Acapulco. Turned out that it was too far
for one day on these roads so we stopped in Zihuataneho. We first took
a peak at the hotel Marc stayed in the last time he was here but it
was way too expensive. We then found a marvelous hotel at a more
reasonable price. By far the best hotel so far and I think one of the
best hotel rooms I have ever seen! Check out the video for some
footage of it.
For lunch we stopped at a beach where I had some pretty good octopus
with garlic – officially my favorite dish now 🙂
The waves along this coast are also unbelievable – they are HUGE! And
the lady at the restaurant was saying that they were just about
average today! Amazing!
So now off to get some dinner!

We had a really late start today but managed to put in 260 miles in…
a little sketchy at the end of the day when it got dark but we made it
safely to La Ticla – a very small surfer village where we are staying
in a little shack.
The ride was very good – full of little turns and hills – again, so
much like Brazil's Rio-Santos road!
Ari stopped to weld some parts on his bike and we went ahead –
amazingly he found us in La Ticla!
I guess the most notable part of the day was to notice how
psychological riding is – at one point I was feeling great and taking
turns as if I was cutting through butter – then later in the day I was
slowing down a great deal more than I needed to and just didn't feel
the confidence I had earlier. Thinking logically I know that I am so
far away from the limit of what the bike and the tires can handle but
you still feel strange… and that is a good think – keeping it safe 🙂
One guy told me once that when you loose your fear of the bike, you
crash… just like the ocean – if you loose the respect for it, you
are going to get yourself into trouble.
Tomorrow we will shoot for Acapulco – 310 miles away – should be
doable since we were told that the road becomes a little straighter
about an hour and a half from here.

Thought I'd start blogging about the best phrase of the day.

Last night's phrase was:

"Thank God I knew Judo!"

That's what I was thinking before I had my mountain bike accident 12
years ago… We had a very good laugh about it last night.

Today's was:

"Just give me a Mexican minute!"

Latest photos start here:

From Motorcycle NY to SP

On the 20th day – wow – can't believe it's been that long already!
The dreaded bureaucracy to import the bikes and get on the ferry was
completely unfounded. We got to the port in and it all went smoothly.
We headed back to a small beach we saw along the way to hang out and
wait for the departure time. As we pulled in we saw the sidecar
motorcycle and a KLR 650 parked there. It was Kevin and his wife
Albana, their dog and Ari, who turned out to be going on the same
ferry with us. We ate some and then headed to the ferry close to
boarding time.
The ferry was a true cargo vessel. Only truckers maneuvering their
massive trucks into the tight quarters of the vessel's bowel. The best
part was going up the elevator from the bottom level to the open deck
of the ship – you can see that on the video. We tied down our bikes
with the help of one of the deckhands and started exploring the ship.
Well… not much to see there… there was the "restaurant" where they
served a dinner and a breakfast… and a sitting area with airplane
seats, no windows, a TV and many people sleeping. The smell of Doritos
and the loud snoring sounds dominated the ambience… we realized we
would have to find a place on deck to sleep.
The scenery was beautiful and it felt good to be at sea – reminded me
of my previous big adventure – sailing from Miami to Brazil via
Portugal – something about the water and the gentle swaying of a boat
is very soothing.
When night fell we found a place on the top deck and laid out our gear
which consisted of a tarp, an air mattress, a sleeping bag and a
pillow. I actually just brought a cotton liner I have because I knew
that the sleeping bag would be way too warm for me. Turns out that the
cotton liner was perfect – it allowed the breeze to go inside keep me
cool. I also brought the GPS out to keep track of where we were. I
wish I had a telescope since the sky was cloudless and full of stars.
Saw shooting stars, satellites zooming by and even a nocturnal bird I
could not identify.
The boat cruised at around 15 knots – half of what it usually does –
one of the engines was not working. By 7am the sun was up and the buzz
of people waking up started to grow. We had our breakfast and started
to gear up for the ride. Once the boat docked in Mazatlan we were hit
by the heat – no more breeze from the boat moving – just stagnant
humid air.
Because of the heat the ride to Puerto Vallarta took a little longer
than expected. We stopped more often to take breaks and drink water. I
also ditched my jacket and rode with the body armor – was a little
cooler but still incredibly wet.
The change in scenery was dramatic – from desert like conditions in
Baja to lush vegetation on the mainland. Reminded me of Brazil –
driving along the Rio-Santos road – very similar look.
We stopped around 5pm for lunch/dinner at Punta de Mita and then
headed into Puerto Vallarta to find a hotel. All three of us were
exhausted but found a place – Los Arcos Suites – we wanted a room for
3 people – no problem, they said. When we got to the room we saw that
it would be impossible to fit a bed there so we asked if there was a
bigger room. We must have seen about 5 different rooms until we found
one that did not stink, had the AC working, and was big enough for 3
beds. Up and down stairs and around corridors carrying our gear… We
were exhausted… but we still needed to park the motorcycles!
As we were waiting for the guy who had the keys to the garage we asked
the concierge for keys to our new room – 423. We thought she was
joking when she said we could not stay on that room because it was
reserved!! Some lady comes every year and wants the same room… I
started humming the Twilight Zone theme… surreal… the lady must
have lost her virginity in that room or something!!
In any case, they found a room close to it – 425 – they moved our
stuff into that new room and put in the extra bed.
Ari and I then went down to the pool for a well deserved swim only to
be told that the pool was closed!! Hehehehe… at that point we were
laughing about the entire situation.
We ended up in a small taco stand drinking some beers and laughing it
all out.
Today we're off to… we don't know… Acapulco is the next big
tourist spot but we want to avoid it. Preferably find a nice smaller
surfer town along the way.

Some pictures i took in the morning in Loreto in front of our hotel…

From Motorcycle NY to SP

Just came back from the pool and it felt soooo refreshing!! It is quite hot here – we’ve been told that it’s not quite normal – a heat wave came in today we were told.

La Paz is quite nice and apparently it was running against Cabo San
Luca to be THE tourist spot in Baja… Cabo won 🙂

Ran into a couple who is riding this really beautiful motorcycle with a side car. They usually ride a BMW GS 1200 – they’ve put 100,000 miles on it since 2005!! But they would miss their dog so much that they decided to start riding this other motorcycle so that could take
the dog – and yes, the dog rides the side car and his wife rides behind him! Forgot to take a picture of them and the dog…

We then had dinner at a nice restaurant with a good view of the city… El Patron…
Funny thing happened – at least at the time it was – Marc ordered some regular bottled water – agua natural – and I said that I wanted a sparkling one – con gas. When the waiter came back he brought me a mixed fruit drink – I asked him what it was – CONGA!!!

Tomorrow hopefully we will have a little time to relax at a beach we saw on the way to the ferry but first we’re going to take care of the paper work and tickets. Then around 1pm we’ll go to the ferry which leaves at 4pm to arrive in Mazatlan at 6am of the next day 🙁 We might 

finally use our camping gear! Hehehehe…