Feature
Leaving the Atlantic
January 23
On January 23, the duo turned their backs on the Atlantic and headed
inland towards Patagonia. After a 200-mile ride on a road which only had
two corners, Sandford and Holmes started looking for a place to camp in
Choele Choel. 'It was like riding into a one-horse town without the
horse' Holmes says. 'But the hospitality of the locals was more
welcoming. 'We rode up to the camp site which was in a beautiful setting
on a small island on the Rio Negro. On hearing the Nortons, we were
mobbed by families who were enjoying massive barbecues and before
we could dismount we had each been given a cold beer and invited to
join the family get-togethers.'
Four days later, the adventurers were into the foothills of the
Andes and had racked up another impressive 250 miles in a day over
testing terrain. Despite the rigours, the bikes were holding up well.'The
Nortons responded to the challenge and any questions asked of them'
says Sandford. 'You could feel their pedigree and for the first time I felt
at one with the bike.'
Leaving St Martin De Los Andes, the roads got even worse. 'Around
20 miles out of town we rounded a bend and the road turned to a dirt
track with deep ruts, rocks, gravel and great chunks of fallen trees. If it
wasn't for the other traffic, I'd have thought we'd taken a wrong turn. It
was almost fun for the first mile - the only way to stay on the bike was to
stand on the footpegs all the time. At one point I looked back and Steve
was gone. I waited a while and he eventually thumped into view minus
his headlight lens. His light had flown apart twice in 50 yards. Both of us
were thinking to ourselves "This could be the end of the trip, there's no
way these old bikes can take this punishment." But 37 miles and three
hours later we emerged from our worst nightmare and were back on
terra firma. When we stopped for petrol and took our goggles off we
looked like those old shots of Stirling Moss with the panda eyes.'