Motorcycle Explorer October 2014 Issue 2 | Page 16

H
aving been favoured with a smooth month-
long voyage we disembarked our cargo ship
mid-March, which had taken us from Belgium
to Uruguay’s captial Montevideo. I now
needed to compose myself for the journey
ahead. Preparation undertaken, well in so far
as bikes and paperwork were concerned and
with a hopeful outlook, I was set to earn my
spurs on the open road. In the meantime, I felt
content in the knowledge of having jacked it
all in for a taste of adventure. About to see a
bit more of the worl d alongside my partner,
travelling by the same means wishing to see
the same places, and with that prospect alone
what we were doing remained forever
appealing. Any doubts or qualms I had mused
on until that point were now suspended – it
was time to get on my bike, give Pearl a
handful and ride the length of the Americas!
T
he ‘feel good’ factor of motorcycle
overlanding is immense. Initially, it is akin to a
honeymoon period, which will keep you
riveted in the saddle even on endlessly
straight tarmac whose vanishing points you
will never advance toward. However, the roads
from Uruguay into Argentina varied from those
where the concrete had been scraped, leaving
only tyre-wobbling ridges in which to
manoeuvre the front wheel in a forward-ish
fashion to good old gaping potholes. We
experienced roads whose tarmac sprung up
forming stiff peaks, having melted in the
summer heat where the tyres from the heavies
had pushed it into lumpy bumps. Long deep
ruts on the highways were not uncommon
either, which coerced me into choosing my line
quite carefully.
"The ‘feel good’ T
factor of
motorcycle
overlanding is
immense"
he traffic in the city of Buenos Aires seemed
to take on a malevolent life form, itching to
find the kink in our armour. Had I’ve dropped
my guard for a second, I think it would have
consumed me whole. Aghast, I instinctively
put Pearl into her most aggressive gear and
adopted the same riding style as everyone else
– ‘Survival of the fittest’. Weaving in and out of
lanes, having to share the width of mine with
car drivers deciding to join me, who simply
didn’t care or mind that I was already assuming
a road presence. It’s amazing what you get
used to in no time at all. A series of hostile
highways later, we rolled up to Dakar Motos for
n the space of a week from exiting the cargo
a couple of days. Specifically catering for
docks, we had enjoyed as much as endured an
motorcycle overlanders, this garage come
intensive period. I’d started to fast-track my
hostel is a biker’s hub; especially for those
way on two wheels – embracing the bottom of
usually having finished their ‘Alaska to
a steep learning curve and adjusting to back-to- Argentina’ trip. Unlike us who were embarking
back days in the saddle. We were riding down
on the route ‘bottom up’ at the coldest time of
to Tierra del Fuego – the southern most tip of
year due to the cargo ship crossing availability.
South America at full tilt due to advice from
Rested, relaxed and raring to go again, we
numerous locals about the onset of snow down received a fabulous farewell from the owners
in Ushuaia. No matter, we had begun a brand
Sandra and Javier, whom alongside a no
new lifestyle on the open road to which I was
nonsense Polish chap and AJ – a forthcoming
becoming accustomed.
guy from Montana whose trip of the Americas
had ended – we felt well-briefed and primed
for the journey ahead.
I
Magazine / April, 2013
9