Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

For the 2nd day in a row I was woken before 5am by Jim's damned computer which has developed a life of its own and insists on beeping like crazy in the wee small hours... once again I was unable to go back to sleep, so got up and showered before dropping my laundry off at reception (I'd tried yesterday and been told to bring it in the morning before 7am). With breakfast due at 7am and then a pick-up to take us across the road to the airport for the flight over the Nazca lines at 7.30am, I didn't have much time to kill. Breakfast eventually started around 7.15, and consisted of a couple of bread rolls with butter and strawberry jam and a cup of what passes for coffee here in Peru (a cup of warm water into which you put a spoonful of powdered Nescafe and some evaporated milk). But the bread and jam was a good idea, given the plane ride we were due to take in an hour or so's time...

I left my bike keys with Jeff so he could start the investigations into the starting problem and boarded the minibus with the rest of the group to the airport. Where we checked in and waited for an hour or so until it was time to board. The group got put into several different planes, the first group including Chris and Gerald landed as we arrived, and they didn't look at all well. Gerald had been sick in the plane and Chris was decidedly white. Fortunately I was in the larger plane, the 12-seater Cessna C208 and managed to get a seat near the front so at least I could see the horizon. Which was just as well as no sooner had we taken off than we were banking incredibly steeply so that those on the left side of the plane could see the first of the lines – markings made by removing the top surface of red rock to reveal the white rock underneath. The first one was the whale, and once those on the left side had seen it, the pilot banked the plane into a really sharp turn so those on the right, including me, could see it... and here it is, the photo has been adjusted to enhance the contrast so the image appears more clearly (it was clear to the naked eye)...





The flight continued for around half an hour, the plane banking steeply this way and that so that first the left, then the right, side of the plane could see the lines etched on the ground below. The lines date from around 200-700BC, their precise meaning uncertain but one theory is that they were made by a civilisation that lived on the plain to try and appease the gods who were turning their land into desert. There are a number of drawings including an astronaut (think its name may be a bit modern), a dog, a monkey (my favourite), a condor, a tree, some hands, a hummingbird, a spider and a parrot. I took loads of pictures, but none of them are good enough to allow you to make out the images without tweaking, and even then, they're still not very good. This is the “astronaut”...





After the flight was over we were waiting for the minibus when I found the answer to my motorcycle problems...





Finally we caught the minibus back to the hotel, where my bike was waiting for me, the problem diagnosed as a loss of voltage causing the electronic brain to fail to send the right signal to the injectors to get them to fire properly. The question remained as to what was causing the loss of voltage, suspicion pointing to my fog lights, which I'd had to hard-wire into my auxiliary fuse box meaning they were on all the time, including when trying to start the bike. Removing the fuse failed to solve the problem, so further investigations were needed, which eventually concluded with the starter motor being suspect, despite it turning the engine over pretty well. Jeff removed the starter and stripped it, revealing a very gunky inside and a worn washer that would have meant the starter would have needed a lot of power to turn it over. Jeff cleaned the starter and re-assembled it, then refitted it to the bike, assisted by Peiter and Alan, whilst I cleaned up the fuel tank electrical connectors and reconnected the battery...





Then we thumbed the starter and...





it fired up first time...

With the bike seemingly working properly again (tomorrow morning will be the real acid test), I spent a happy couple of hours cleaning and refitting the light bar (a bolt had been shaken loose on canyon del pato). Restoring my baby to her former glory, ready to complete the Trans Am... although I will be ordering a new starter and trying to get it brought out to Santiago as the existing one is pretty much shot.

After he'd finished fixing my bike (and bashing lots of other people's panniers back into shape), Jeff sat an enjoyed his lunch, with a new friend on his lap...





With the bike cleaned and working again, it was time to update Tracy on events before a meeting to discuss the next few days, which will see us ride higher into the Andes towards Cuzco... centre of the Inca Empire... but first, it was dinner time, so we caught a taxi to town. By which I mean that Nick and I crammed in a car smaller than a bubble car which was already occupied by one of the hotel workers for the 10 minute journey to town, which cost all of 3 soles (1 dollar), and which nearly killed us several times as the driver dodged other erratic road users. We then went in search of an ATM before concluding that the restaurant recommended by Kevin was little more than a fast-food fried chicken place and so we chose a nicer looking one on the main street. Which turned out to be a great idea, as we got a free Pisco Sour on entry (as they competed with the restaurant next door that had offered us one), and then had some great food (mixed salad starter with hot spicy salsa dressing, followed by a pizza and then the most delicious crepe with chocolate sauce and a piece of chocolate cake with ice-cream) and some good wine (a 148 sole bottle of Argentinian Malbec) and the best Mojitos this side of the US (according to Aaron... I had to try one as they were so good). But it was a mild celebration really, considering the intense relief I felt as a result of having the problems with my bike diagnosed and (hopefully) rectified....

and so on to tomorrow, and the prospect of a 300-mile ride into the mountains... I just can't wait...