Lalo is my hero. He rode his motorcycle hundreds of miles to find me when he found out I was riding alone in the southern part of Mexico trying to get home without a GPS or map. When we finally met, I gave him the biggest hug thanking him for coming to get me. I am sure I would have been able to ride through Mexico alone, but he was able to get his friends to escort us through some of the most dangerous parts of Mexico and avoid riding through Mexico City. The ride through Mexico City down was difficult, I did not want to ride through it again. So, this is a sad blog entry because it shows Lalo's tragic accident in Monterrey Mexico. Prior to the accident, we were having so much fun riding our motorcycles very fast with speeds over 100 miles per hour. I don't know how we got away with it and did not get stopped. Along the way, we encountered a group of Harley riders riding. Lalo and I were going so fast that the group tried to catch up with us and they could not. While I passed that group twice because we had to stop for a quick drink along the highway, I would wave at the boys and they would try to pass me. Of course, I was not going to let that happen even if my bike was in desperate need of chain and sprockets. I just rode faster and faster until their bikes could not catch up to me. Lalo was so funny and said afterwards, "Madeline, you gave those boys something they will not forget for a very long time." He told me that the men in Mexico are not accustomed to having a woman pass them riding her own motorcycle at those speeds. Oh well, that is what I do...... We arrive into this beautiful city surrounded by mountains on both sides. It was so beautiful that our eyes would look in the direction of the mountains versus the road. We arrived into what seemed like an overpass and Lalo was riding so fast he rear ended an SUV because it slowed down. It happened about 150 yards in front of me and I swerved into the yellow line so I would not hit them too. When I saw Lalo bounce off that vehicle my heart dropped. All I could think of was, "my Lalo is dead." It was the worst feeling anyone could experience while riding a motorcycle to see your friend crash into a vehicle like that. I ran over to help Lalo get off the street and he got up right away. I was extremely happy that he was not injured like Jerry at the beginning of our ride. He got up and all he wanted to do was to lift that bike and run away because he had not purchased the motorcycle insurance. You need it in Mexico. Well, hey, I did not buy it either, I just got very lucky. The next day when I had to return to the border alone, I spend my $30 or so on this insurance just in case..... As usual, I prefer to allow the pictures tell the story.... It was so hot in this valley. No air circulated because of the mountains. We were there around 7 hours and I was exhausted with no food. At least I had a little bit of water left. At one point, the police allowed me to cool off a little in the air conditioned car. They were very nice to me, just like all the other police officers I encountered along the trip. One thing I have to say about the law enforcement in Central America, they love a woman who rides her own motorcycle.
Since Lalo had no insurance, he made a deal with the SUV owner to pay him $1,000 American dollars. He did not have the full amount and I had to give him $500 cash otherwise he was going to be arrested. The SUV owner looked at me afterward he got paid and said to me, "You are a very good friend to help him!" I had to help Lalo, how would I live with myself if I allowed him to go to jail? He helped me when I needed help, the least that I could do was come up with some cash. Lalo was extremely grateful for my generosity. The next day, I hired a taxi driver to lead me to the entrance of the major interstate leading to the Nuevo Laredo border crossing. I rode alone praying that my bike would last with the terrible condition the chain and sprockets were in. The bike was in such horrible shape that it kept loosing power, but I kept riding. I was determined to cross into the American border.
0 Comments
While with Lalo, after our tour of Mezcal, we headed north in Mexico. We were riding the Pan American Highway and all of a sudden, Lalo decides to take a detour to a place that he had been wanting to visit for a while. Lalo is a young Mexican cowboy who grew up in a place called "Cuerva de Baca". So he knows the nice places to visit. We head towards the place but little did we know how difficult it was going to be to get there. Needless to say, we never arrived, I will allow the pictures to help me tell the story. I was so happy to come down that mountain because we looked back and it was covered with lighting with a huge rain storm. It followed us after too, but at least we were not in mud on a very steep mountain. It was also around 5 pm so it would have been horrible to have to sleep up there in the rain.
In order to meet Lalo I had to ride hundreds of miles/kilometers through mountain passes, highways, towns etc.... it was a two day ride. I loved the one I am sharing with you on the video. This picture is somewhere along the road that I just stopped to get some rest. After all, sometimes those turns can be exhausting as it was around 110F/43 C. Let's not forget, I wear full gear when I do runs like that. Video on my way to meet Lalo at a gas station. This video is only a small fraction of how the roads were. Can you feel the bumpy road? Cracks on roads, rocks, potholes (some could swallow my entire bike), cement, animals on road, loose gravel. I learned how to be ride my bike around all those elements, plus many, many more road hazards. My bike took a beating and she is still in amazing health with her 45k miles. I've had the bike for 3 short summer seasons and bought her new. Quite a bit of riding to say the least. Look how dirty my bike was. I was also caught in quite a bit of rain in those mountains and highways. I decided to take the video because it was a nice calm sunny hot day to share with you. Then, while waiting at the gas station, as usual, the men would come talk to me and keep me company. Even though I was alone at least the men were nice. He told me all about his town, cannot remember where but it was in the southern part of Mexico. This blog entry with be split up into many, not sure how many of of today, September 17, 2012. I have been writing random blogs with no order during my ride to Central America because sometimes that is the way my brain works. I have so much material to write about the ride, sometimes I cannot decide what part of a specific country to write about, so eventually, I will share them all. Today, is to introduce Lalo. He was my rescuer until he rear ended an SUV in Monterrey Mexico. I kept calling him my angel and so happy he survived that accident. His accident blog will come last because the next series of blogs will be about my travel through Mexico with him and his friends. Why is Lalo a hero? Well, when I was abandoned at the border of Mexico and Guatemala, he rode about 800 miles/1,300 kilometers to find me. It took him 2 days to get to my destination. When I saw him pulling into the gas station while I waited alone, I felt like I had seen a "knight in shining armor". Lalo, my rescuer!!! I gave him the biggest hug and my heart relaxed. I knew I was safe once I saw him and I could continue the journey home. We set off into the wild mountains. On the way he stopped in this brewery he had spotted while riding those mountains to find me. Lalo is a young adventorous man and decided to stop to show me the place. He also shared 150 miles/250 kilometers of those dangerous mountain curves with me. I loved every turn and have quite a bit on video. As soon as I am able to edit the video, I will update this blog post with the link so you can enjoy our ride. Spectacular ride as it was all clifts, pot holes, very tight turns, sand on the tight turns and he and I were riding like maniacs loving every moment of it. It was such a beautiful sunny day, especially after my ears had warmed up a bit with some mezcal. In this place they make something like tequila, but not quite. It is so much better. Your ears warm up on the first taste. I wish I could have brought a bigger bottle. My friends in Canada loved mezcal and we had a very nice evening when I visited. Mezcal added to the enjoyment that evening. During the ride I got a chance to view quite a bit of this. No silly, I'm talking about the boys fixing their motorcycles. I also received quite a bit of this from all the women and men in Mexico. Truly amazing people and my heart is still there. They hosted me while I was sick (food poison), they got me medical care and fed me. Lalo and I were able to stay in the safety of her home 2 nights. Lalo is my hero that rear ended his bike in Monterrey Mexico on our way back, will blog about that in another entry. He is my hero because he rode hundreds of miles through the most dangerous mountains in southern Mexico to find me as I was alone. The Mexican women are truly amazing with huge hearts and willing to share all they have with you. Her husband rode hundreds of miles to escort Lalo and I around Mexico City because riding through that city was too painful and dangerous on our way down. He took us around a safe, expensive toll road, a longer ride but we were safer without all the city traffic. While we were riding with her husband, one of the saddle bags on his bike broke loose. I was about 100 feet from him and almost ran over the bag in front of me. My quick reaction saved me from going down that time dodging that bag. We pulled over and we managed to get all his stuff from the ride of the highway. Somehow he managed to bungee tie his bag. He is such a nice man. He rode with us as far as he could to ensure we were safe. My heart will always be with this couple in Mexico. I know, I promised I would have Part 2 of Jerry's accident but 24 hours in a day in not enough for Missrider. So, today all I can do is show you how Jerry and I spent the day in the town where he has a beautiful home in Costa Rica. I spend the day with him while the men that did not care for Jerry left for the day and went to take pictures at the volcano. I had a truly amazing day with Jerry and we rode on the bus to town. Keep in mind, I have not been on a bus for about 35 years and the experience with Jerry was spectacular. A little video as we boarded the bus. It took us 3 weeks to arrive at Jerry's house to visit after the accident. I was very happy to see and hug him. Still my hug caused pain to his body as he still needed major surgery to fix the bones that were healing wrong. He had scheduled to have a plate added to the collar bone so they could be aligned permanently. He is a sweetheart, rescues local dogs and they love him for it. Jerry during a gas stop, prior to the accident. The first batch of photos I took were very sad. It was at the beginning of the ride right after we crossed the border into Mexico. We had been on the road for a few hours and sudendly the rain showed up. Also, Jerry and Doug were behind, for some reason they were held at the toll booth. About 30 minutes later, cars pulled us over and said that there was a motorcyclist down on the side of the highway. I have to say one thing about the rain in the Mexican desert, it is not very friendly rain..... all I can say for now. Also, the highways are covered with oil!!! tons of oil, Central America roads are all covered in oil, very dangerous. Jerry is a truly amazing man. I am very lucky I have had the honor to meet him. He lives in Illinois and I believe that we will be able to ride again once he has recovered from his horrible neck injuries. This was by far, one of my longest days of riding. Below I have photos and you can click on them to see the caption with details of each.
So the Ben broke my camera when he dropped it, he was always breaking, loosing something or dropping his bike. He was full of adventure though. As a result, the Panamanian escort took me to this place that only merchants can enter or if you have a family connection. I was able to purchase another camera but had to show them that it works just as good as my other one. I was very happy with it so I had to test it while at the store. I will create a photo gallery and the captions for each photo are at the bottom once you click on the photo.
The ride through Costa Rica to the border of Panama was exhilarataing. I enjoyed the country as it has an American/European flavor with modern conveniences. We departed Jerry's house yesterday and rode through the Pan American highway as we have been throughout most of the ride to Panama. The highway was full of obstacles as usual but the best part was riding through this vast forest with elevation of over 15,000 feet. As we rode up the mountain, we encountered a very dense wet fog, slippery road conditions but to me, I felt at home because it was cold. The fog was so thick that my helmet windshield was covered with water as if it were in a downpour. Very strange because my body was not wet, just the windshield. It was cold and I had to use my heated hand grips. The guys did not enjoy that portion of the ride at all. On the other hand I loved it with the magical twisting roads, huge plant leaves that were twice the size of me and my motorcycle. Finally the smell of fresh air was so welcomed to my lungs as through all of central America the pollution has caused my lungs to feel the stress. While riding along the this highway I kept seeing small fires everywhere. I quickly learned that these fires are the result of people burning their trash. As usual, I am up at 3 am trying to share some thoughts. We arrived at the Panama border around 3 to 4 pm yesterday and I was delighted not to be approached by what I call the "human vultures". I call them this because on all the entries into the border in all of the countries, we were approached by these people that just want to sell you their services and try to steal your papers. The border crossing are difficult as it is with all the paper processing and confusing directions, but having those people attack you like that just adds so much stress. We had to take shifts guarding the bikes because they try to steal things from your bike. By the way, I started writing this blog somewhere in Panama but was so tired, I had to put it aside. Not only that, the internet was so slow, I could not upload the pictures, very annoying. On that day, that is where we were. I loved riding in Panama because the speed limit was enforced and my crazy cowboys were in control. The roads are also much better than any of the other countries. It is very wet in Panama as we rode it under downpours. However, the next day was super nice weather. Panama is another country that I would visit besides Mexico, particularly the Oaxaca area. This kid fell in love with me. He wanted me to stay with him. Very typical of the Latin men in all Central America, so many wanted to be with me. I guess a woman riding a motorcycle with a bunch of crazy guys is very intriguing to the Latin men. Ok, I am single and sometimes my personality of being a single woman comes out and the men take notice. Very easy border crossing. No human vultures. For the guys it was a different scene as security stripped their luggage and inspected them all. They did not ask me to do anything, perhaps because I wear white pants? Look clean, the guys I was with had leather vests and looked like trouble...... Not only that, being the single woman that I am with a personality like mine, the Latin men just loved me. I am a native speaker and know the right words for them, LOL!! When the boys were stripped down, I just enjoyed the show and they were very jealous. They kept asking me, "why are you not wearing your vest with the colors?" Well, duh!!! My response was, "look who is getting stripped down and having all your stuff inspected at border crossings? See, just a bunch of guys that love beer, food and riding their motorcycles extreme distances. They mean well. Quite often they watched out for my safety. They taught me how to ride under those harsh conditions in Central America. I am very grateful to them for all the riding lessons and how to stay alive following them. They are very aggressive riders, remember, they are Latin cowboys and the best of the best of riders. I have never seen any riders in the US ride like they do. Truly amazing!! Something woke me up at 4 am, today is Sunday July 29 and sometimes I don't know what day it is. Not sure what woke me up but when I did, I had ants crawling all over me on the bed. The hotel room is clean, but it has these large ants that are not shy as to where they will walk on. Hey, I am on a rain forest, that is normal down here. No big deal, I love waking up to write and share something of the past days riding experiences. Yesterday we traveled through Costa Rica along the shore line and into Managua Nicaragua. We wasted quite a bit of time and Ben and I were charged an extra $12 as they claimed we had to pay it again as a tourist. I showed the immigration lady my receipt that I had already paid the fee and she refused to acknowledge it and says we still have to pay in order to get through the border crossing. Ben said, let's just give them them money because we have to get out of here. The Nicaragua border crossing was a total waste of time. This ride would have been more enjoyable if it were not for the nasty border crossings as we waste the precious little time dealing with nonsense. The cowboys waiting their turn at the Aduanas office. I hate the word Aduana now, as it has become a major waste of time and money. My funds are running very low and I have to figure out how to replenish them. Typical border lady siting there begging people for money. Then she walks around getting next to me begging. I truly feel bad for the people here, but when you are stressed trying to deal with the officials nonsense, they get very annoying as they start grabbing you just to get your attention. Sometimes they try to take your papers creating more chaos. Seriously, our papers!! There are captions for each of these photos, just click on it so you can read them.
On our way back home. Today we departed Panama City to ride the most spectacular roads into Costa Rica. We rode along side the ocean unlike the way down where we rode through the highest elevations of the mountains. To be honest, the mountains offered nicer views as the foliage was far superior to look at. The ocean side is wonderful because it was raining. The rains are so hard here that even our most experience rider, our guide, does not recommended riding in the rain with those rains. We crossed the border and it was really easy, Ben and I were done in an hour. On the other hand, one of the guys lost a piece of paper so they fined him $150 dollars and kept him for hours while we waited. On the way down, a police officer stopped us as we were riding 92 kilometer in a 40 kilometer zone. There are no posted signs on these roads, so who would know that. So, after our guide paid him a chunck of cash, he let us all go and says, be careful and go slow as there are more cops down the road waiting for your money... While we were waiting for our friend, Ben and I decided to move our bikes next to the restaurant. We don't like to leave our bikes at the border crossing alone as that is where they steal them. So, Ben struggled with his bike enduro bike in the parking lot as there were huge wet rocks. Then, I tried it and sure enough, the rocks grabbed by bike and it landed on the ground. It was so funny, as all I could do was jump off the bike and start laughing. Of course there is always men that run over to help me . They were chocked at my reaction. All I could do was laugh, looking at my bike sideways on the ground. We rode about 400+ miles today in the rain. It gets dark here around 5 pm and bugs come out. While riding in the pitch black, I had my shield open because it was fogging up. As a result a bug decided to get into my eye. They call the bugs "bichos" as they urinate once they strike. So the bug decided to urinate in my eye and it is the most painful thing. Locals have felt the sting and agree how horrible it is once it occurs. The pain is worse than a bee sting. We stopped at the closest restaurant and I asked for ice to soothe my eyes. One of the cowboys suggested I take a picture to share...... the cowboys are all having fun with me because of my riding skills. They have never met a woman as courageous as I am on the road. They say I am fearless and ride better than them. At the restaurant, one of the cowboys ordered this seafood soup so he recommended it. Look at it next to my arm. It was loaded with fresh seafood, crabs etc..... I ate it because I was starving, but the pain in my eye was horrible and I could not truly enjoy that amazing soup, bummer!! While we were riding, our guide and girl friend pull over to buy some of the local fruit. They have these little fruits with a pit inside. I grabbed one and did not know I was not supposed to eat the pit. Of course, I was the joke of the day for the cowboys because I ate the pit. Who knew!! The fruit was delicious. The boys feasted on this fruit. I call these guys cowboys as the truly are, they ride next to each other, hand each other some fruit and keep riding and eating. Ben and I cannot do that as our riding skills are good but not good enough to do that kind of riding. How can you ride at 40 mph, reach over, grab something from another rider, open the complicated fruit, eat it and keep riding? I was next to one of the guys and he kept throwing the skin to the side, he rides a huge Valkerie, beautiful bike. When I get thirsty, I ride next to our guide leader and tell him I need a drink. He usually stops at one of the many truck vendors to get me coconut water. One of the cowboys is happy for me. Mario, Latin American Motorcycle Association President and founder, gave all of us an award. My tracker log from yesterday as we traversed our way into Panama City with spectacular views. We also got caught in torrential rain storms as it is the normal weather here. However, we continued to ride the Pan American Highway until our destination to uncover the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my life. While we were riding in on both sides of the highway were these beautiful mountains. The suddenly, just above the left side of the mountain there is this beautiful sun filtering the most beautiful blue city we had ever seen. Mario was at awe and he pulls over in traffic struggling to get his camera. He finally got the camera and was able to capture a small portion of the beauty we had just encountered. Look at the skyline, I am the motorcycle on the right. The city has a strong American influence and very safe.... During our ride on the Pan American Highway, we got caught in torrential rain. I stopped to put my rain gear under a tree and looked up to find these cows with a man on his front port relaxing. The cows were also trying to take cover under the tree. They all stared at me while I changed into my gear, it was truly an amazing wonderful experience. I decided to include my bike with the corner showing Twisted Throtle as a frame of reference. Blogging during the ride is very difficult. At this point I can just add photos and hope it helps to share some of the story. I had a chance to relax today at Jerry's house in Costa Rica, wish I could say the exact city but I have been to some many places during this ride, I cannot remember any more. Yesterday was very interesting, as I left Guatemala City (very polluted, dirty place by the way) and we headed towards El Salavador. The border crossing was very difficult and long. Then after all was done, we headed into the beach area to get caught in the worst rain storm I have ever seen on a motorcycle at night in the mountain, not recommended.
For lack of time tonight as I am sharing a room with a couple and they are getting agitated at me because I have the lights on while I try to blog this entry.... Again, 2 am in and I find myself in Guatemala City at the Holiday Inn because I could not continue to sleep on a box spring as was provided to me by the hosting family. Slept on the thing for 2 nights and my back was killing me. So, I decided to come to this hotel to wash my clothes to find a rude awakening. Learned that they do not allow you to use the washing machines and charge $1 American dollar per sock when they accept your laundry in an emergency. Spoke with the horrible supervisor on the phone and she refused to help. Then I asked to speak to her in person and she was the nastiest little lady I had ever met, her name is Sandy.... so, I was forced to put my laundry into a bag and walk into town to ask the locals. I was very lucky to find a nice worker near another hotel that allowed me to wash my clothes in their washing machine for a $10 American dollars because I was willing to wash my own. I had to wash my riding jeans and jacket in the hotel tub and wear them wet in the cold morning. Not very pleasant. Anyways, during the ride through Mexico, I got food poison and the LAMA wives took care of me. A doctor came to see me to give me two injections to clear up the problem. I had never been so sick in my life. The ride through Mexico was interesting to say the least, the roads were horrible and very dangerous. Found a few good ones in the mountains as a motorcycle rider would truly enjoy, however, being that I was so sick, I was not able to enjoy it as much, just needed to stay alive. Even though the experience in Guatemala was not pleasant at the hosting house, I still managed to find pleasure in some areas. They took me to their local plaza where I was able to experience good grilled corn and finally my favorite, fresh coconut. Throughout this ride I have been the highlight of the locals in Mexico and Guatemala. When I stop places, the families with children come to me and ask to take pictures as they have never seen a woman on a motorcycle. Some women ride scooters and the typical small bikes but none like mine that is travelling such long distances. They ask me for the photo and introduce their children. Here is one boy who was a passenger and the father came to ask for a picture. There are so many of these occurrences, it slows the progress as the groups always has to wait for me to chat with the locals. Even the local photographer wanted my picture while I was eating my popcorn. What is up with that!! This little cop fell in love with me. So, the journey continues tomorrow as the guys will pick me up early, we will continue riding to El Salvador and who knows where else. We will be riding with 3 Guatemalan men that ride like maniacs. I had to learn how to ride like them as they ride through their congested polluted city weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds not caring that we are following them. One night they rode so fast at night Mario and I got lost.There are no lights at night on the highways and very dangerous. I have no pics of that experience but may have some video footage to be posted in the future. Her light broke while we were riding. Then we stopped to wait for a guy and she ran across the heavily populated traffic to ask a merchant to borrow their knife to fix it. She struggled with the knife, so I gave her my pin that I was wearing on my vest. Worked better and she was able to continue. Let the journey continue........... The best way to follow me is to use a Twitter account or Facebook. I have links of both on my website.... hope to see you there. Where do I start blogging about this past week? So much has occurred and of course it all involves amazing people. Also, what great time to have my Twitter account compromised while on a big ride (they could have waited until I was home!!). However, on of the best part was meeting a bunch of asses (oh, I mean donkeys).
Riding into Chicago was an experience, I was in Kalamazoo Michigan and gps said 100 miles to destination, I thought, wonder, will take off some layers because I was hot and I'll be there in a jiffy. Well, how could I forget? Gps says you how long until the next highway connection. The afternoon was hot, sunny, I am in full gear, hurting from the fall and then 157 miles later I arrive into a land of highways, tolls, industrialization with smelly factories, smog, riding into the sun blinding me with horrible winds that kept pushing me and my bike in ways that would cause a non-experienced rider to drop the bike and worse of all grease on bridges and highways. I was cold, hungry, exhausted and finally I find the exit to sit into traffic to find the house which was only ¼ of a mile. 30 minutes later in traffic, I could almost see the house, I could have walked there but it is all about the experience, city traffic welcomes me. After all that, thank goodness, my cousin appears with her garage door open as a safe haven. I had never met my cousin and here she was, with her open arms ready to accept her long lost cousin from New England. Spent the night at her apartment in Chicago then the next day we drove to Wisconsin to her beautiful home. Let the pictures tell the story, a new adventure begins. After 1200 miles/1932 kilometers one trip to the motorcycle shop to fix bike, 1 minor forget to put the kickstand down when waiting in line at the border crossing and dropping the bike, I finally find a few minutes to try to capture 3 days of my spectacular journey. My rides are about the people I meet and the adventure. Yes, I like to capture as much of the scenery as possible but it is about the people I meet along the way that I love. First day, leaving my house in the rain. Traveling NY thruway and a few hundred miles into the ride a couple of guys wanted to talk. Hey, guys, love you but when I have another 400+ miles ahead of me, I prefer a shorter story. They are so cool though, it is as though they have just met a celebrity passing by and they cannot get enough. They would not stop talking.
The next day Sunday, Cecilia and I head over to the motorcycle shop to fix my broken trunk as I always break something on these rides. We head over to Adrian’s place of business and the owner fixes my bike, he was not expecting to work that day but made an exception to help this damsel in distress. Here another example of fantastic Canadian hospitality. That evening was even more spectacular as Sarah http://biketobc.tumblr.com/ who is planning a solo ride to British Columbia on her Triumph Bonneville T100 comes to meet me. Again, an honor to meet another amazing woman that is going to accomplish her personal achievement by riding her bike great distances while feeling the power of our powerful Triumph Bonneville’s and all the magic is shares with us to travel on two wheels. We exchanged ideas and she will be ready for her journey, I wish her all the best on her ride starting this weekend. |
|