Santa Barbara to Buenos Aires, and then some...

Nevada City, California Matt and I went riding fire trails up at elevation 3,000-5,000 feet. It had recently rained so low spots had become mud bogs. There was still patches of snow at upper elevations. I had just ordered new tires but Matt's were totally bald so he put them on - I ended up taking a spill. I just pitched the bike, no harm, but picking it up was a bitch.

Sunrise! Rode until dusk last night.  Didn't quite make it as far as I had hoped and got stuck in the middle of the desert.  I was tired and didn't want to press my luck driving through the coastal range mountains at night.   Turns out that there was only one hotel stuck in the middle of nowhere (Catavina - to be avoided) and I paid more for lodging there than the resorts in Las Cabos - Asi la vida. I was up early and heading for the border. It turns out that the tea-baggers might have won.  Just north of El Rosario they relocated part of the Imperial Valley and all the workers that used to live there.  There are fields of cabbage, and greens for miles and the greenhouses can be seen from space - HUGE GREENHOUSES - just add water.  It's no coincidence that this place is just about 6 hours form the border with lots of trailers with California plates running around. I did a cut and paste of the trip. The GPS collage shows the sum...

Central Plaza Church, Loreto, Baja California Sur Rode north from Los Barilles to Loreto today.  The floods following the hurricane have receded and the vados (swales in the road that are part of the flood planes) are now shallow enough to drive through.   The scenery following the rain is amazing and beautiful; the desert is in bloom.  If more people knew about the quality of the roads and fun riding them, there would be groups of motos and sports cars racing around down here.  They backfilled missing bridge abutments with rock and dirt to get traffic moving.  I counted three bridges and several vados washed out. I made Loreto in mid-afternoon and did a slow cruise around town.  I found a nice hotel in old town and was given a nice room ($29) overlooking the church. The town is still cleaning up from flash floods but you can tell its a delightful little city.  I'm going exploring. Chau for no...

Yesterday, as I rolled into the pit of LA it started raining - a lot. By the time I hit the center of the hole it was monsoon-downpouring Noah-and-his-ark rain. It's the first rain of the year and all the storm drains are backing up and in large areas ponds have developed on the freeway and in sections water is splashing in waves onto my lap from the oncoming traffic - I was wearing gear and I was still soaked to the cahones.  Don't forget there are about 300 merging freeways with overcrosings and merging messes designed for about one-half the traffic and southern californians wet their pants at the first sign of a drizzle.  Somewhere about Pasadina I should have pulled over and taken a pictute.  Anyway, I continued south towards San Diego and as I'm passing Carlsbad I pulled over for gas and looked up my aunt carol who has always extended an open invitation - she graciously invited me in and then made dinner too...   Thanks Aunt Carol! I got a late start...

I just picked up some peso-nalities from Banco de America, a short term moto insurance policy, filled the tank and I'm heading south. I hope to make Ensanada this evening but I'm racing a nasty thunderstorm. It's good to be back on the road ! Sent from my phone

La Moto in the cargo hold of a Buquebus.   Buenos Aires to Colonia - The bike's temporary import papers were expiring so it needed to leave the country.  I caught the early high-speed ferry to Colonia, Uruguay for our semi-annual migration.  I had intended to ride up the river up to Fray Bentos, Uruguay and then cross over into Gualeguaychu, Argentina and then head back into the city.  Why? -  ¿por qué no? Click the post to see all images. The proposed route...  Never make concrete plans down here. The weather turned windy, wet and cold and I didn't really have anything to prove by getting soaked so I had lunch and did a u-turn in Nueva Palmira, Uruguay; probably a good move as I cut about 5 hours off the trip.  I tested my high-speed riding skills trying to fly back to Colonia where I got caught a ferry back to Buenos Aires in time to hit the (very nasty) evening commute traffic.  These things really scoot! The bike h...

Colfax, CA.  Added a bash plate and a battery tender today.  The bike is about ready for a real trip; rode Lake Tahoe and Reno last week and a few fire roads locally, but unless there's a border involved, it's a null point.

When I travel I frequently check out international rider sites.  While reading The Hubb I ran across a future for-sale ad posted by an Aussie adventure rider.  He had purchased a '09 V-Strom new in Michigan, ridden all 48 lower states, then driven up to Alaska where he began driving the Pan American highway.  He had just finished the ride to Fin del Mundo (Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina) and was heading north to Buenos Aires. The bike was well appointed, had quite a few (49,000) "highway miles" but was priced right; I couldn't resist and we agreed on terms via email before he reached the city.  The miles don't scare be as these things are more reliable than the energizer bunny and the big BMW adventure bikes - they've been around long enough that some are starting to turn 100,000 miles without issues. I just had knee surgery so I won't be able to ride much this trip.