Moto Mundo Maya

Phase 2 May Now Begin

2009-03-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Now that the primary reports have been made about Bike Week on Motorcycle.com, I can get back to focusing my attention on digesting the greater trip wrapped around the Floridian excursion. I've basically been holding my breathe and hoping not to forget the details from each country, city and dirt road while I produced content on Daytona. Anxiously awaiting my next free moment to pour over the photographs and maps. There's so much that we'd seen, and so much more that we missed!

To help sift through the thousands of image and miles, I just went an purchased my own set of maps and another book on Central American that I didn't have before embarking on this journey. I wanna know more about the stuff I didn't get to stop and check out. I might wanna go back! I know I'll be going back to Mexico; so beautiful... if you can see past the noise pollution and trash.

From here on out, I'm thinking that I'll write a little something on each day we traveled. A recap of the day, written while I scour the image bank for keepers. This will give you all a better look at the trip as well as fill in the gaps where internet coverage was as thin as our free time. :)

Quick spec sheet so far:
Total miles traveled from LAX to PTY - (Panama Aeropuerto) - 4750
Total days riding - 15
Total in highway tolls in Mexico - 75 USD
Total gallons of gas consumed by my laden KLR - 86
Total number of still images shot along the way - 11,407
Number of shampoo bottles traveled each day - 2

And Now We Sleep For Three Days

2009-03-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

Actually, while Jeff and myself left Ken in Panama to deliver the bikes to the dealership, we headed to the airport and then the gold old USA. Two-thirds of the exhausted team are now back on American soil and hearing way too many english words!

Sorry Jeff, for walking away with your camera card, I waited at the customs check-in as long as I could, but had to bolt out. I'll ship it to you if you email me your address. :)

Cheers! What a wild ride!

Last day out..... We did it!

2009-03-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

The costa border, our current hold.

2009-03-01T06:23:00.000-08:00

Long day ahead!

2009-03-01T01:55:00.000-08:00

We just heard that the costa rica border takes 3 hours to cross. Wish
us luck!

It's Saturday, so we must be in Nicaragua

2009-02-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

The countries are blazing so fast now that I cannot spend it all
before I leave.

So many quatches, so little time!

Finally!

2009-02-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

Finally we found some network in Nicaragua. Ken found this keyboard/
printer combo at the border office. What a wild ride!

Day 9 Begins at the Border

2009-02-25T06:09:00.001-08:00

Wish us luck with Guatemala.... we slummed it last night.... see the breakfast buffet. :) DAMN these PC laptops, all out of time and will have to post something later.... sorry folks! One country down, many more to go!

Speed bump lunch.

2009-02-24T17:35:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for AT&T and the cell service. Without much time or
connectivity at our hotels, it's keeping us on the correct map and
sending pix :)

Our first ruins sighting

2009-02-24T06:12:00.000-08:00

Breakfast day 8

2009-02-24T06:09:00.000-08:00

Morning day 7

2009-02-23T06:36:00.000-08:00

Four hours sleep and another day of riding ahead! This is our view
from breakfast in Acapulco.

Buenos tardes!

2009-02-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

Day 6 Begins

2009-02-22T06:51:00.000-08:00

Once we figure out how to update our mexican auto insurance, we{ll be on our way to Acapulco today. Weeee :)

Day 5 Exhausted and Still Wanting More

2009-02-21T22:22:00.000-08:00

Left Tepic today - got off the superslab - en route for Puerto Vallarto. We saved a few hundred dollars in tolls, and rode the wildest set of twisties ever. Tight road, chock full of conga lines of traffic, dancing with danger every few miles and smiling through the humididy the entire way.

Stopped for lunch in PV and then pressed on into the night, attempting to catch up to schedule.

More to come when we have more than a few hours to sleep, shower, recharge our body and batteries. Enjoy the photos and pray we get the Spot tracking working again tomorrow. :)

Day 4 closure

2009-02-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

Great people on this tour and so far we've been very lucky in our
travels. Friendly folk and smooth roads! Low Internet access but very
high on cultura!

The tollroads have been eating our money up nicely,but they've been
great for keeping us near to our schedule.

Tomorrow we turn off the highway, and follow along the coast roads
through puerto vallarta and beyond. :)

Day 3 Wheels Up

2009-02-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow

2009-02-18T23:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a minor paperwork snafu, and sluggish departures, we're off course a tad, but after a long freeway slog tomorrow, we'll be back on schedule. Wish us luck! "Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all day long".... and I will be!

Day 2 Round Up

2009-02-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

What a ride! Great weather (not too col andnot too hot for riding gear - yet), beautiful scenery and smooth riding. Only disturbed by the occasional monetary transaction... whats is that up ahead? How much will it cost and where do I go to pay somebody? Banking, border crossings, immigration stops, tolls and insurance wrangling filled most of our day. Although we still rode around 300 miles. Every step of the way has a learning curve for Jeff and myself, no habla espannnnol. Meanwhile our leader fearlessly lead all of todays miles, I see him now wrestling an '@' symbol from a mexican keyboard. Very long day of cactus lined road ways punctuated by 24 pharmacies and passing tractor trailers outside our roadside motel in Santa Ana. Good night. :)

Day 2 Yuma and Out

2009-02-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

Well, we didn't cross any borders yet, but we did leave the state of California. With a later departure than expected yesterday, we happily choose to stick to our rule of not ride at night in Mexico. Approaching the Mexicali connection @ 630pm, we chose to stay another night in the states and head to the next border crossing near Yuma AZ. Morning folks, away we go! Fill your water bottle boys, we're going in.

And away they go!

2009-02-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

T-Minus 12 hours

2009-02-16T23:54:00.000-08:00

Almost completely packed now, the time has come for adventure!

Where Are They Now?

2009-02-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

When you think of us during this trip, you can track our progress online thanks to the SPOT GPS tracker. Each day we'll alert SPOT of our location and they'll tell you where we are on the Google map interface. Check us out!

Our intended route and schedule is as follow, but it's just a sketch...
Day 1 - Tomorrow!
Irvine – Calexico Hwy 405, 5, 8, 3.5 hours, 200 mi.
Calexico – San Luis Rio 100 mi. 2 hours

Day 2
Hwy 2 south via Sonoyta, 15D S at Santa Ana, Mexico to Hermosillo 375 mi.

Day 3
Hermosillo – Culiacan 420 miles (mostly straight, flat highway)

Day 4
Culiacan – Puerto Vallarta 370 mi. coastal roads

Day 5
Puerto Vallarta – Zihuatenejo 360 mi.

Day 6
Zihuatenejo – Puerto Angel 370 mi.
Note: This is the point where would could head over to Yucatan, or change route and head more directly toward Panama.

Day 7
Puerto Angel – Salto de Agua 395 mi.

Day 8
Salto de Agua – Chitzen Itza Mayan Ruins 375 mi.

Day 9
Chitzen Itza – Morning visit Chitzen Itza, then go to Tolum Mayan ruins 75 mi.
Afternoon Tulum – Chetumal 143 mi.

Day 10
Chetumal – San Ignacio, Belize 140 mi., visit Xunantunich Mayan temples, Rio Frio Caves

Day 11
San Ignacio – San Pedro Sula, Honduras w/ border crossing 270 mi.

Day 12
San Pedro Sula – San Benito, Nicaragua with border crossing 292 mi.
Or divert to Copan ruins (extra 50 mi. or so)

Day 13
San Benito – San Jose, Costa Rica, with border crossing 250 mi.

Day 14
San Jose – David, Panama with border crossing 205 mi.

Day 15 David – Panama City, airport 255 mi.

Total estimated mileage 4,420.

ExoSkeleton Install

2009-02-13T10:13:00.001-08:00

Within just a few hours, like five, I was able to mount all the crash protection and luggage systems that Tim from Happy Trails so gratiously provided us. It's coming together nicely, and thats a good thing, cause we're leaving in a just a few days! Yikes!

Dress for The Job You Want

2009-02-06T22:55:00.001-08:00

A few years ago, I found myself hiking the backcountry trails around the highest point of the lower 48, Mt Whitney. I've always enjoyed the adventure and scenery of the outdoors, and the preparations involved with such a trip are often of equal pleasure.

This time around, I'll be packing not my back, but a motorcycle pannier and the prep is much the same. Weight savings is less an issue, but still a strong one to consider when choosing between sleeping pads and underwear. How quick will it dry? How small can I pack it? Will it fit in a tankbag? All good and common questions.

I just love an excuse to visit my local REI store!

Luckily, choosing riding attire is more easily figured out as I'll never need to pack it for this trip and finding gear that wears in an many seasons as possible is the best stuff for the trip. So with my Hein Geirke kit finally coming apart at every zipper, sadness I know, I need some new adventure gear. And some boots. I'll keep you posted what I find on the market when I get to that bridge. So many more errands to run before take off.