Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

Had another poor night's sleep, the cycle of sleeping, coughing, getting up to alleviate the pain and then finally trying to go back to sleep repeating itself all night. But I did wake in a good mood all the same, and loaded up my bike before heading to breakfast – where I had to ask Jeff if he could take if off the centre stand for me as my back is too weak to do it and the car park too slippery for me to ride it off as I would normally do... Once breakfast was over we assembled outside with our bikes parked on the hotel forecourt to await our police escort. Jeff's amazing work putting my bike back together making it look at least presentable amongst all the others...





Finally the 2 motorcycle cops turned up a little late, as they'd had some real work to do and we were off. Just pulling away from the hotel back astride “El Monstro” was a great feeling, even if the bars are slightly bent and the instruments held together with straps and cable ties... at least it rides again... The cops were only with us for a short distance, as getting onto Routa 5 south is pretty straightforward, so after some high-speed video-game of catch the cops in a long tunnel they peeled off with a wave and we were off on our own again, strung out in one long convoy with Kevin up front. I'd dropped into around 6th from the front and soon the lead group was dropping those behind as we cruised along the dual carriageway at around 75mph. The air was noticeably colder than we'd been used to, but the sky was bright blue and even without any music in my helmet (I've not yet fitted my speakers) I was singing along, full of the joys of spring (which it is in these parts). At least the road was smooth so my whincing from the shock of riding over bumps was reduced...

And so it was for most of the day, as we cruised along, stopping every 100 miles or so for a coffee in a petrol station shop, just enjoying getting moving again. There's no doubt that the rest in Santiago has done us all some good, me more than most, but it's travelling that really lights the fire in my soul, and he I was, back on the open road, back on my own bike, and still with some distance to cover. Judging by Simon slumped at the roadside after less than an hour in the saddle, you'd think that we'd not even had a rest break!





The ride took us due south on Ruta 5 all the way to Salta de Laja, a distance of over 300 miles, but we still arrived in plenty of time to make the most of the fantastic waterfalls that were literally a hundred yards from my bedroom window. Despite being in some minor discomfort I decided to walk round to the second waterfall to get some pictures with my new camera, and was rewarded with a spectacular rainbow (sadly I couldn't climb down to get the pot of gold)...





The little white dots on the hillside to the right of the falls were our cabins... quite a spot!

When I'd done taking pictures I hobbled back towards the hotel, but only made is as far as the terrace bar where a few of the guys were enjoying a late afternoon beer. Naturally I had to stop and have one too, which led to a second and then a third and then, well, it was a nice afternoon and I was celebrating getting back on my own bike again... We eventually moved from the terrace into the restaurant where we ate (quite a nice steak) and shared a bottle or two of decent wine, before we headed back up the hill and off to bed. Once again, for some inexplicable reason Jim had been given a single room to himself, so I had the entire room to myself. The single beds were massively uncomfortable, though, so I wasn't expecting a great night's sleep...