The day started off well. Clear blue skies, shining sun. Mom proprietor at the rental shop said yep, no rain today. Entonces, I didn’t bring a jacket – first mistake. The rental process was great: “Do you know how to drive?” “Sure.” “OK, here are the keys”. Didn’t ask for a driver’s license, no passport, no deposit, nada! But she actually had real full-face helmets, which made me happy.
Although I owned a motorcycle in Seattle for about a year, that was a long time ago. The last time I drove one was in Panama, when the bike ended up on top of Chloë and I got a busted foot (whisked through the Miami airport in a wheelchair! But that’s another story…) so I was a bit trepidatious, needless to say.
This bike was basically a motocross model, complete with kickstart. Took a while to get the hang of that. The guy at the gas station had to point out that the bike has to be in neutral (even if you have the clutch in) for the kickstart to work.
After slowly riding around town to get used to it, I set off on my trip for the day. According to the crap map I was using from my guidebook, I should have easily been able to get to Sololá in an hour or so. Hmm, not so fast, starbuck. First, I didn’t count on not being able to find the road, because you know, there aren’t actually any signs. So after riding through the same town for the third time, I finally stopped and asked directions (what a guy trait, huh). OK, found the road. Turns out this is the same road I came in on – it goes straight up the mountain, via about 30 or 40 switchbacks and hair-pin turns. Reminded me of Colorado. Spectactular views to behold when I wasn’t fretting about a chicken bus coming around the next corner and knocking me to kingdom come.
Cresting the hill, the climate changed dramatically. Getting out of the bowl of the caldera, the temperature dropped 20 degrees, and found myself riding through mist and fog! Furthermore, big thunder clouds were moving in. It’s amazing how quickly the weather changes around here. After two hours, I finally made it to the Inter-American highway (that runs from Mexico to Panama) but was only half-way to my destination. And I had to make it back.
So, I decided the best course of action would be to turn around. Actually it started raining by that point, so I hid out under an awning for a while. Eventually the rain let up a bit, and I headed back down. Wow, was it cold. Driving rain in only a t-shirt. Stopping every 20 minutes or so to do push-ups in order to keep warm and keep my arms from seizing up. I also found myself singing at the top of my lungs, both to keep my spirits up and to keep warm.
The bike didn’t have a proper kickstand – just the kind it leans over onto – and since I was parked on these steep hills, it was a bit dicey. At one point a big truck rumbled by, and the bike fell over. Which is bad to begin with since that can damage things and they’re hard to pick back up. But then gas started pouring out of it, because of course the gas cap didn’t properly fit. But the rain washed it away and it didn’t explode when I started it back up, so all is fine. The alignment was a bit off, though!
Coming back into town was a trip. Besides the hairpin turns in the rain and the enormous potholes, all the streets are one-way, which i had never noticed before. All I wanted to do was get this heap back to the rental shop, but I couldn’t figure out how to get there! When I finally did make it back and related my adventure to mom proprietor, she gave a great belly laugh.
All day I had vision problems too, it seemed one eye would have the dominant focus, then the other. It wasn’t until later that I realized I had my contacts in backwards.
All in all, I’d say my guardian angel was definitely watching over me that day!
It’s interesting to notice how different the locals’ relationship to the weather is compared to mine. The people riding in the backs of the pickups (used for transportation between neighboring towns) seemed totally nonplussed by the rain.
Josh, You are a brave man.
The brave don’t live forever,
but the cautious don’t live at all.
I like to call experiences like your motorcycle ride “death marches.” When in the midst of them one thinks that they will never end without disaster. When they are in the past, they provide the good lumps in the stew of life.
Clair
Um, could you please stop doing dangereous things like that? I almost threw up when I read that story.
It is totally ok, I will still read your blog if the entries are this: “Went to school, had a great lesson. Walked around town and talked to a million people. Came home before dark and was tucked into cozy bed by 10pm so Marissie wasn’t worrying”.
Just kidding. Kind of. I totally wish I was on that bike with you.
I love when you guys comment. Clair always has sage words, won from a lifetime of rich living. And Rissie can always be counted on for love through the laughs.
A few people have privately expressed concern about my taking my life into my hands on that motorcycle ride, amongst other experiences. To reassure you – I’m neither stupid, nor have a death wish. And unlike when I was 20, I now have an extremely strong sense of self-preservation – I would never knowingly put myself in a situation that was truly (life-threateningly or serious bodily injuringly) dangerous. True, it’s impossible to anticipate every possible danger, but to the extent that I can, I do.
So if I had truly felt in danger that day (if the roads were slippery, or a lot of heavy truck traffic, for example), then I would have stopped.
But thanks for your concern, it means a lot that you care!
What songs were you singing? I used to do that to stay awake driving home late through snow storms
Hahahaha I just read this post again, then laughed at my comment at the time, because I forgot that I wrote that and feel EXACTLY THE SAME WAY still. And also, now I have a much more precise picture in my head of the whole thing. All told, one might want to consider all of your experiences on 3rd world motorbikes. But maybe this, the ones in Nica and Panama and Bali all combine and you’ve actually exhausted your bad luck in this arena, and moving forward is all smooth sailing?