Richard C. Livermore and I had spent months planning the second leg of The Great Around The World Adventure Rally Great Around The World Motorcycle Adventure Rally. The clock was ticking louder each day and neither of us were getting any younger. More planning was going to find one or both of us planned out of completing our global romp whether through being waylaid by work, wild wimmins, failing health, unstable personal economics or changing priorities. One of us said, “Take this work and shove it, I ain’t doing this no more,” and a departure date was set for South America.

The motorcycles were crated in Miami and funds paid for them to be delivered by air cargo to Bogota, Colombia, an adventure for the boxed motorcycles that found them caught up in holiday delays and bureaucratic paperwork.

The Customs officials in Bogota finally allowed the crated motorcycles to be released on January 4, 2016. At the air cargo shipping warehouse the $300.00 crates were broken down and collected by a recycler. AR 01

A previous accident in the warehouse with reportedly a motorcycle being dropped meant that our two motorcycles had to be rolled, dead engine, out of the air cargo receiving area through the front people entry doors and down a flight of stairs. This was likened to a field test for both Livermore and me. We recorded perfect scores for not dropping our motorcycles as the lower engine cases and center stands scraped the stairs which tested our ability not to be over zealous and apply too much front brake causing the front wheels to wash out. A bit of dabbing was required but the onlookers cheered our success. AR 02

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES AND KISS THE GROUND!

Some last minute equipment preparation and clothing modifications were done before the official Start at noon on January 5.

AR 03: I decided to personalize my Aerostich Darien riding jacket using a local artist to design a painting on the back. The price for the work by artist Juan Salinas was $10.00, a deal for both of us.

Once on the road we immediately noticed how slovenly the more overloaded motorcycle handled and that evening began discarding items that were too large, too heavy or too unneeded. Livermore, far more overloaded than me and a coffee aficionado, transferred from his luggage to mine a small cooking stove, funnel for gas to take it from our fuel tanks to fire up the stove, and a coffee pot. Although not heavy, combined the items took up nearly a cubic foot of my pannier space. AR 04

AR 05 shows how to take a selfie without carrying the added weight of a selfie stick - use a mirrored window at a gas station.

Over the next several days we left a trail of discarded items from Bogota, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador, things like sweat shirts, jeans, books and by accident a camera battery charger with the battery still being charged while plugged into a hotel room wall socket. However, one of the two of us steadfastly held on to his supply of four rolls of super soft toilet paper, arguing that it weighed little and squeezed into a small space.


The learning curve for handling Livermore's more overloaded motorcycle was quite steep the first days. One of us became familiar with the need to keep the other within a close distance to help him pick up his downed motorcycle, once three times in one day, a long day. A third entrant from Ecuador that would rabbit ahead of us would ask when we would catch up and all had stopped if one of us had "kissed Mother Earth again?” thus explaining the main reason why we had not kept up with his speed. It was funny in a sense, unless you were the one who was kissing the ground.


The entrant from Ecuador asked of Livermore's motorcycling skills, "He's not a very good motorcyclist is he, falling down as much as he does?"


The answer was, "He is if you ask him, as I did numerous times of his experience and capabilities. I just hope he does not take me out when he goes down in the future or I have to eventually send him back to the States is a pine box. I've watched him crash numerous times through pilot error on two continents now."


AR 06, AR 07 and AR 08 shows some entrants "kissing the ground."

A not-so-lucky motorcyclist kissed the wall when forced off the pavement by an oncoming vehicle in photo below - RIP AR 09.


RIDING CONDITIONS

The riding conditions varied from smooth blacktop to ugly slick uphill mud. In between were bombed out potholed sections under repair, sand covered corners and loose gravel. One section, between Loya, Ecuador and Macara, we opted for the mountain road versus the boring Pan American Highway, an option few motorcycle travelers going north or south choose to take preferring the well paved highway. What had been on a previous trip a three hour broken pavement section had become a seven hour Road To Hades. Road construction had long sections, sometimes 10-20 kilometers, chewed up and in various stages of repair. Added to the stress of trying to keep the wallowing GL650s upright in loose gravel, deep dirt, sand and mud was a thick fog, sometimes so thick we could only see 50-100 feet ahead. Our limited vision was good for the one of us who has a fear of heights. In the thick fog he could not see down the 1,000 foot drop offs on either side of the mountain ridge road. AR 10 shows the fog bank we were about to drive into.

After completing the bad section one of us called it the worst road he had ever taken. The other called it a test to see how the two of us would handle possible similar sections over the next 9,000 miles. We both agreed to not needing any more stress and driving skill tests like that.

Along the coast of Peru the Pan American Highway passed through long stretches of sand desert. While the pavement was good, high side winds and blowing sand could make holding the lightened Hondas upright a tiring task, so we began limiting our days to 250-350 miles from 9:00 AM until 4:00-5:00 PM, at which time we would start our hunt for safe haven hotels, hostels or as a last option, the short-time love motels that rented rooms on an hourly basis, but any/all needing Internet access.

Next episode to follow.

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__________________
Sun Chaser, or 'Dr.G', Professor of Motorcycle Adventure at SOUND RIDER magazine. Professional Motorcycle Adventurer/Indian Motorcycle Racer/journalist/author/global economist/World's # 1 Motorcycle Adventure Sleeper & Wastrel
Soul Sensual Survivor: www.greataroundtheworldmotorcycleadventurerally.co m