Motorcycle Explorer February 2015 Issue 4 | Page 19

M
y ratty KLR has been stored for 2 years in a friends goat shed, I brought a new battery
for it, although it was Wal-Mart’s cheapest, it’s actually called an ‘Adventure Battery’ a positive
illusion with no extra charge. This pre-trip preparation is genuinely frightening, I know all this
disappears the second I leave and deal with the days one at a time, but for now I'm considering the
troubles in Mexico. The fighting between drug cartels, ‘Narcos’, military and police is escalating and
becoming more violent. I leave with the intention of returning but am fully aware that anything can
happen out there.
"Careful what you wish for"
T
here have been well publicised kidnappings and ransoms by drug barons, unmet demands
won’t end in a battery of the Wal-Mart variety, the lashings won’t be lemonade, the lab is not this
man’s best friend. There is a thrill in riding it, and a sense of achievement in returning, a bliss in the
ignorance, and a fear in the knowledge, but ultimately with a clearer worldly view and better
understanding there is reward. I'm not sure it’s adventurous but it’s definitely a bit bloody scary as
once again I pack up my bike to ride solo down new roads to new countries with nothing but a
smile to disarm and a throttle to defend. The anticipation of all that’s to come as I pile on the layers
knots my stomach. I’m off to find the edge of my limitations and try not to fall off. Is that
adventure? It’s good enough for me, careful what you wish for.