It was a long fast ride today. We went a little over 500 miles and ended up in a little town called Coxim in a hotel that is right on the Coxim River. When we left Bonito and headed toward Campo Grande the traffic was light and the road in pretty good shape. After Campo Grande the highway was well packed with big trucks and we rolled right along with them. These bikes can pass those trucks even on the down hill stretches and we passed them all sooner or later. I really like passing about twenty of them at a time when they are stopped waiting for road construction. I just pull over to the shoulder and ride to the front and the flag man always seems to like it. everyone seems to like the bikes.
We went by a 2-22-06
lot of sugar cane and soybeans.
Sugar cane X
Soybeans X
We stopped at a gas station and I got the camera out to take a photo of this
cement mixer and the hod carriers that they evidently use instead of
wheelbarrows.
Cement hods X
I also took this photo of the side of this truck as I think they method that
they use to make the sides of the truck. These sides can be lowered down 1/3
or all the way off. Pretty neat method I think. I see the trucks loaded
sometimes half one height and half another.
Truck side X
As I was taking the photo of this truck the truck driver started up the
truck and opened the door and got out and confronted me. Oops, I told him I
was from the USA and we didn’t have trucks like that up there. He was
pissed but got back in his truck and pulled out and I was happy to see him
leave and not try to stomp the sh*t out of me.
Here is another example of a common drinking cup. I don’t remember when
the last time I have seen something like this for public use.
Common cup X
As we were traveling down the highway we came upon a couple of cops standing
in the highway and when they saw us they motioned us to stop. The guy that
was taking with Jim was motioning for him to get out his motorcycle papers
and the guy that stopped me asked it I was American. I said I was ustadious
unidos and he motioned me to move along. Jim played dumb and the guy finally
motioned him to move along as well. Whew, that was a close one and we leaned
to play dumb and not even try to speak Portuguese.
We took the little road that pointed to Coxim and went down that road more
than a mile to find a little town on the banks of a river. We found a hotel
right on the river and we got a room. When we had ridden down the street, we
both looked for an internet store but didn’t see one. After we got our
room I asked the neighbor at the music store where the internet was and
after much talk, which I understood not one word, he got out a pen and paper
and drew a map. I tried to figure out what they said and finally recognized
plaza and on the map where it was. I took off on my bike and rode for a half
mile and finally came to a business area and looked but couldn’t see any
internet name or looking store anywhere. I finally jumped up on the sidewalk
next to a store that looked like they might know where one might be. The big
door was open and the guys in there were sure surprised to see me come
riding up. When I asked about internet they got into a big discussion and
finally cleaned off their desk and invited me to use it. wow, what a deal.
It was fairly fast and I was able to post some photos from the last log that
I was unable to post as well as the log about Bonito along with those
photos. As I was working out on the computer I head a noise and looked out
to see my bike under what looked like a huge water fall. Wow, can it rain
down here in the tropics!!!! It rained and rained and I was happy to be
inside and nothing to do but wait for those photos to upload. When I was
finally done I asked them how much I owed them. They said no, no and
indicated no charge. They had been having a good time talking with everyone
who stopped to look at my bike and I guess they enjoyed the celebrity status
that they had for that time. These people are really nice and even though we
don’t speak the same language, we can have fun and get things done.
When I came back I went down to the river just out side our door. Here is a
stitched together photo taking in down river and up river and the sun set.
The river is flood stage and just rolling along. Lots of water in a hurry to
get to the Amazon. The river is the Coxim and it is huge. This is just one
little river that is heading down to the Amazon, cant wait to see the big
one…..
Coxim River X
2-23-06
I know I have several friends praying for me as well as I have Roger’s
Saint Christopher medal in the tank compartment. Well, today all of those
things saved my life or at least prevented serious injury. It is a story
that started out in the morning when I went in to take this photo of the
showerhead. These are common where the weather is warm. They are electric
heaters and when you turn the water on slow, it heats up the water and you
have a warm shower. If you turn the water on high, you have a cold shower,
as it can’t heat that much water fast. So you adjust the flow for the
temperature you want.
Showerhead X
The road was full of trucks and the going was slow and the road was not in
very good shape. We came to a little town and the traffic was backed up but
I took the side street and passed up a bunch of trucks stopped. When the
side street played out I snuck in between a couple of trucks and headed out
in the oncoming lane. There didn’t seem to be any traffic coming that way
so I cautiously passed a mile or two of trucks. There doesn’t seem to be
any busses and there is very little car traffic on this road. When I got to
the end of the line of trucks, I could see a tanker semi on its side across
the highway. There was absolutely no way to squeeze by it on a motorcycle
and I figured we were done for. It would take most of the day to get it out
of the road if it was full of fuel or loaded with something dangerous it
could take two days as you just don’t put a cable around a tank on one of
those things and try to stand it up. Oh that was going to be an interesting
project and I picked out a nice spot in the shade of a tree and parked my
bike. Jim came up and motioned that there was a side farm road and maybe we
could use it to get by the accident. Wow!!! Way cool Jim, and we charged
down that little road. It had rained a lot and there were really muddy spots
but we finally made it through and out the other side and passed a couple of
miles of trucks going the other way.
Trucks waiting to pass the accident X
Wow, we really aced it today and I cant help but thank Jim big time for
spotting that road. It was nice that the cops hadn’t closed it yet either.
I think we were both grinning ear to ear after that score.
We stopped at a gas station and I snapped a shot of a Alcool pump. They sell
a lot of alcohol for fuel here and I keep trying to not get the gas mixed
with alcohol.
Alcool X
I rode by thousands and thousands of acres of soybeans in this area. The
fields are huge and the trucks carrying the beans to the storage area fill
the road. When one goes by with the cover not firmly attached, it is like
getting shot with bee bees with the beans flying out of the truck box. I
went by one place where there were five combines working on the last little
piece of a field.
Five combines X
We were not too far from Cuiaba when we hit a little rain shower. It
wasn’t too bad and we just kept going. Sometimes when it is cold and going
to rain, Jim will stop and put on his rain gear over his riding coat. We
made it through most of the rain and were on a two lane divided road. The
country had turned into jungle for the most part and we were getting into
some hilly country. when the country gets hilly, the farms get smaller.
There was still a lot of truck traffic and I was just passing a truck and
trailer when I thought I had a blow out or something like that. The rear end
of the bike just went wild and I was unable to keep it up. It all happened
so fast, I cant really say exactly how it happened but I do remember pushing
off from the bike and at one point thinking to tuck my hands to my chest. I
know I did one shoulder roll and several log rolls down the highway. I ended
up in the grass of the jungle along the side of the road. Wow, what a way to
get off at somewhere around 55 or 60. I felt fine and got up and went out to
the bike and turned off the gas that was starting to spill on the highway. I
went to the rear tire and gave it a kick expecting it to be flat but it was
not. I then went to the front tire and gave it a kick. It too was ok. Humm.
I remember that the pavement at the place where I went down was a place
where the highway department had married a couple of roads and there were
yellow lines and dashed lines all over as well as some lines that they had
scraped in the pavement and then filled with paint. These areas were
depressed a little and could have held some rain water or just slick. There
was a difference in the pavement height of an inch or so too. So, you can
see that there were several things happening in that area that all or some
of them got the back of the bike to start wallowing. The bike is so heavy I
guess I couldn’t get it out of it and down it went.
I am absolutely amazed at how well that Aerostitch coat and pants protected
me. This is the second time I have been down with that coat and the first
with the pants. There are a few holes scraped in them but I only have one
little ¾ inch scrape just below my knee for damage to my body. I actually
don’t even feel sore but maybe by morning I will feel some affects of my
body sliding and rolling down the highway 150 yards or so.
So, all you folks thinking good thoughts and praying for me… THANK YOU…
And a special thanks Roger for your St. Christopher.
I rode with caution for several miles after the accident and finally met Jim
coming back to see what had happened to me. It turns out a truck, probably
the one I was passing, stopped where he had stopped when he noticed I was
not behind him anymore. He has to do that every so often when I stop and
take a photo of something and catch up later or he will stop and wait. The
truck driver motioned to Jim that something had rolled over and over and
pointed back down the highway. Jim with dread in his heart, headed back just
knowing that I was probably dead or really screwed up laying along the
highway. He was very glad to see me…….. especially riding my bike…..
The bike took a hard slide on the right side and somehow flipped over and
when I picked it up, it was on its left side. About the only thing that
happened to it was the windscreen was broken and the aluminum pannier and
tank pannier were well scraped.
Dog scratches X
I had picked up the broken windscreen and we stopped at a truck repair place
where a kid cut and fastened the broken piece to the remaining pieces of the
windscreen.
Fitting windscreen X
We rode again down that road until it started getting late and it looked
like it was going to rain.
Looks like rain X
We pulled into a little restaurant and had a coke while we waited for the
rain to stop. We must have been on the edge of the storm, as it didn’t
rain buckets like it had the day before.
Rain X
A VERY LUCKY DOG