RTW North to South: A smooth day in Colombia

KS-Tuesday

We were due, sooner or later you just get a good day while travelling.  Today was one of those days I think, at least when you compare it to yesterdays fiasco. We started off in a somewhat small town called Planet Rica.   Hit the road about 8am and headed south, our goal for the day was Medallion, one of the largest cities in Colombia. The roads were nice, and going was easy until we came upon a long line of traffic.... Obviously the memories of yesterday jumped into our heads as we wound our way past the stopped vehicles. It was a long line, which gives you more time to think 'what if" again. Luckily, today the issue was a malfunctioning toll booth. The toll plazas in Colombia have some that every country in the world should have, a bypass lane on the right just for motorcycles. There are other benefits that many countries extend to motorcycles that are ignored in the US, lane splitting is one of my favorites. When traffic is moving slow, or comes to a stop you can legally move past them on a bike, to the front of a long line of traffic at a road construction stop for instance. Its a great time saver, and we might have possibly been overextending our passing privileges to things like sidewalks and other areas a motorcycle will fit. But as they say, "when in Rome"

A few miles after the toll booth lineup, we stopped to top off our tanks, followed by our stomachs. A nice roadside stand provided a late breakfast of meat and dough pockets. I had something deep fried about the size of a tennis ball, filled with potatoes, spices, and a hardboiled egg, good stuff to get you through the day for sure. Followed by a sausage wrapped in a fried plantain. Chip had a couple empanadas and the same plantain wrapped sausage as I did. Before we left that town we made a quick stop at one of the many motorcycle shops to pic, up another can of chain lube for the bikes.  Our sailboat trip around the Darien Gap has exposed the bikes to enough salt water that we are now at war with a formidable opponent, saltwater corrosion. I don't care if my exhaust system rusts away, but I kinda need my chain to keep the motor connected to the back wheel in order to continue making progress south. For anyone just joining us, the reason for the sailboat trip is there no road connecting North and South America.   Even though the books say that the Pan American Highway stretches from Alaska to Argentina, they often forget to mention that there is abut 100 miles missing in a key area.   The Darien Gap is some of the most mountainous, inhospitable, almost impassable terrain on the planet. Up until just a few month ago, the FARC rebels used the jungles as their stronghold, fighting the Colombian government, and running some kidnapping as a sideline business. With no roads, and some unsavory inhabitants, we opted for the island cruise around that particular section.

As the riding day continued, we passed through some beautiful countryside with many cattle ranches in the area. The road led us up into the mountains for some cooler air, and nice twisty roads. The bikes were running good, and traffic was light at times, and provided interesting passing opportunities at other times. Riding along the river there were many truck washes, fueled by water piped down the mountainside, spraying up into the air when it wasn't being used, it was an amazing number of fountains spraying along the side of the road. We commented back and forth about how things have changed from riots in a village with no water, to peaceful passing through an area that is just full of flowing water. As we climbed higher into the mountains we lost a bit of horsepower to the thinner air at 8500ft. The skies were clear and the views were incredible as we threw the bike from corner to corner eventually reaching the top of the mountain. We were greeted by the National Police, and they motioned for us to pull over. I greeted the first officer who walked over and he was smiling as he reached out to shake my hand. Apparently they were on safety patrol as they pulled over several other bikers and gave them a lecture about safety equipment. The locals ride in t-shirts and sometimes have a helmet sitting on their lap or draped over their arm. From what I could pick up the officers were telling them about the importance of wearing a helmet and proper protection. They didn't bother trying to translate any of the speech to us, since we are fully armored in our BMW riding suits. The common misconception is that BMW just put their badge on something for the look of it. The fact is, the German company put much effort into building one of the most protective and best venting motorcycle suits ever made. And when you buy them used, the price comes down to somewhat reasonable levels. I have to say, it was a great police stop. The weather was great, they didn't ask for any of our papers, they offered us candy, and posed for pictures with us.

The rest of our ride into Medellin was uneventful, just open roads with typical traffic. As we got closer to the city, we stopped for more gas, and to locate a hotel for the night. Chip found us a very nice place for $33 that has indoor parking for the bikes, and includes breakfast.   We walked around the neighborhood and found a place to sit down for a happy hour snacks and drinks. As we were sitting at the table, a nearby TV stand fell over and hit Chip in the arm with very little damage to either the TV or his arm. I thought it was funny, and enjoyed the free chips and guacamole we were given because of it. Now we are back at our hotel room, enjoying a high speed internet connection and planning tomorrow. I called my wife while Chip was looking through his videos. Amazingly his camera was recording the whole incident yesterday, just don't expect it to get posted up on the blog, its not a PG film. But today was a good day, and tomorrow we head towards Cali to see that city.

Its late, I'm tired and it time to wrap it up with pictures