South of Mer’Ka INTRO #1


So this is just a little introduction to my site. The catalyst for creating this site is that it will be my blog/trip report/write up of my upcoming motorcycle trip this winter with Kalil Allon. From December 16th (+- a couple days) to the end of March 2016, we will be traveling by motorcycle south from California, hopefully making it to Argentina this spring.


Don’t tempt me with a good time!

The trip: To ride my motorcycle from California south, through Latin America, through the western part of South America, down to Argentina. I will be taking approximately 3 and a half months to do this, starting mid December, 2015 until the end of March, 2016. I will be riding my 2012 BMW F800GS, which already has accumulated 29k miles at this point and many random adventures, from mud to nice, curvaceous roads tucked away in scenic places.


No kickstand required…

My riding partner: The person who spawned the idea and has continued to encourage me not to give up on this idea is Kalil Allon. He showed up a couple years back at Alpine Meadows, where I was grooming snow at the time as a veteran of the Israeli army who had never been around snow before, but was going to attempt to be the best middle eastern snowmaker that Lake Tahoe had ever seen. With a seemingly endless amount of enthusiasm and a knack for meeting people, we became friends. That spring, I was going to be working in Colorado, but my motorcycle was back in Vermont. So my grand master plan was to get to VT, then take 2 weeks to ride to CO. In the process, I roped in Kalil into the plans and we decided we would buy him a motorcycle when we got to VT, and then we’d ride together to CO, where he would continue back to Tahoe for the summer.


Taking a break after riding the Tail of the Dragon (Deals Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border in the Smokey Mountains) 318 curves in 11 miles. VT to CO May 2014

That summer, Kalil calls me up and asks, “what are your thoughts on riding to South America next winter?” So the idea for this trip was born!