I worried about the bike all night and I went out this morning and tried to start it. It started ok but I don’t think it turned over as fast as it should. I got out my multimeter and found that they alternator is working as when it is running it goes up to over 13 volts and down to 11 something when idling. That new sealed battery must be going bad. I will have to try to find a replacement.
2-10-06
I didn’t get much written these past few days so here is an attempt to catch up.
2-7-06 continued
The bike started up but didn’t seem very lively but it did start several times at the gas station and another time or two. I put on another layer of underwear and off we went. I didn’t plug in the liner or turn on the heated grip. I actually had two heated grips before my accident but after that I only have one that works. I am thinking that possibly the one that isn’t working is shorted out somehow and that could be the reason that the battery was not topped off as it should have been with the days ride before. I actually don’t like plugging in the liner as is seems so hokey and then there is that little cord that has to be unplugged every time I get off the bike. I will have to say that when it is plugged in there is a difference but not as much as I would like for the cost of the dang thing and the inconvenience of plugging it in and out. When at home I think I will be using mostly down underwear and wool for warmth under my riding coat.
It started out a cloudy day but as we went along it got to where it was driziling or raining lightly. I have not mentioned the wind but it was along for the trip as well. We climbed up a hill and got into the clouds or maybe heavy fog. I couldn’t see Jim more than 100 feet ahead of me and the little tail light was all I could see in that fog. I don’t know how he found his way over that hill, but it was an amazing display of blind luck. He told me later that he couldn’t see where he was going.
We made it into Rio Grande and tried to get a room at the hotel we stayed at a few nights before. Even though it was still fairly early, they were filled up and no rooms available. Now you would think that some hotel person would have traveled up to north America and noticed that all the motels and hotels have ‘vacancy’ or ‘no vacancy’ signs. That is not the case south of the USA border. we went around and asked at several hotels and found them all full except an expensive one on the main drag. By this time we needed a room and opted for it. as we were walking back to put the bikes in the parking area, Jim noticed a couple of newer BMS’s parked and thought that one of them belonged to a guy we met in Quito who is from Mexico by the name of Cesar. When we went up to pay for the room Jim asked the hotel guy to call the room where the bike guys were staying. It was true that it was Cesar and a friend. We cleaned up and met them for supper. Motorcycle talk and good grub. Down here people don’t start to eat until after nine and I don’t know when we finally got out of the restaurant but when we went to use the hotel internet connection, it was after one in the morning. They don’t get up early, but they can sure stay up late. Actually the stores close in the afternoon and open and stay open very late.
2-8-06
We didn’t get up that early but we did finally get out on the road after a short session on the internet connection. I tried to load up my photos from the Ushuaia log but when I check the log after downloading them, they were not there!! I don’t know what was happening but I see that they were posted later. The guy that runs the blog must have had some computer problems and it took a while.
We had a pretty good ride that day and made it to punta rio Gellegeos or something like that. When we were coming into town I spied a Honda shop along the road. Jim went on by it and stopped at the gas station to fuel up. We have to be really careful here because the distances can be long and we need fuel at every chance. I told Jim I wanted to go back to the bike shop and see if they had tires for our bikes. He thought it was closed but saw a guy on a motorcycle getting gas at the next pump and asked him if it was open. The guy said he thought it might be so we went back. I walked in the door and there was a row of new tires. Wow, I picked out a new rear one and a new front one and asked them to go ahead and mount them. I pulled the bike into the back of the building and into the shop. Nice clean shop with some tools nicely displayed. I ended up unloading my gear off the bike and taking off the tires. The guys don’t ‘do’ tires there and I jumped in a pickup with the owner and made a fast trip across town to a tire shop. It turned out that the machine was broken down but I had them break the beads on those tubeless tire rims, which is a tough job by hand and took the job back to the motorcycle shop. I changed out both tires in about a hour. It is so nice to have new rubber on the bike. Jim went out and looked for a hotel for us but didn’t find anything so came back to get me and we both went out looking. We looked and looked and finally I was in the lead and I took a gravel road along the beach. Jim said later that he thought I was just looking for a place to try out my new tires. I found a nice hotel right on the beach and not too bad a price.
2-9-06
We had another cold windy day but made good time. This Argentine pampas is really beautiful country. I wonder why I rode 15000 miles when I could have just ridden a few hundred miles and see the same thing in Wyoming. I guess the wind, cold, flat, short grass prairie can be anywhere. We pulled off the highway and found a Hostel not far off the bay. Jim needed to do some laundry so he took off on that mission. He came back later and said “wanna go see some penguins?”. Well he knew the answer to that question for sure. I have been bitching about not seeing penguins when we went to Ushuaia and have been telling him that my dream was to get a penguin and put it on my motorcycle and maybe give it a ride. what the heck did I come down here for otherwise? Jim was off again on the mission of organizing a penguin tour for me. Jim is a professional guide and tour manager and he got everything arranged. All I had to do was show up. Jim threw in a special kicker on this tour and told me that there was a dead penguin where the tour started down on the beach. Wow, a real penguin I could see real close, ok, it may be dead but I aint that picky when it comes to riding buddies. (sorry Jim, if you are reading this).
I went down with Jim and while we were waiting for the penguin boat to arrive I made friends with the dead penguin.
Penguin boat X
At first I tried to get him comfortable on the fender of the bike. When he was ready, off we went for a short ride to a better photo spot.
Fender friend X
Here we are with my new buddy on the tank bag. He seemed to like it better up there where the view was better.
Rx Penguin X
We got on the boat and headed out to the island. That boat really takes the rough waster well and with two big outboards it can really travel.
We were not supposed to screw around with the penguins and were supposed to stay in a group. There were six of us and the tour guide lady. It was hard for me to understand some of what she was saying but learned that they have two babies and feed both for 20 days. After that time they only feed one and the other dies. That is what happened to my buddy. She had some interesting info to give us and when someone asked if they cant find a partner what happens. Evidently the gay males make a nest and use a rock for an egg and sit on it like a regular couple.
Penguin group X
The
penguins nest under small bushes on the island. Here is one that came back
to the nest to nap?Nest X
2-10-06
it started out a wonderful sunny day and stayed that way mostly all day. The pampas is changing slowly and there are now small bushes that must be three feet tall. Just a day ago the bushes were only a foot tall at the most. The wind still blows and the land is flat mostly but there are a few draws and small places that have willows and other plants growing. The wind mills are only about ten feet tall here and they all have small maybe five or so foot fans. The wind blows here, did I mention that? I saw one wind mill that they guy had removed every third fan blade I am sure to slow the darn thing down or make it not have so much power.
We stopped in a little town called hell i dont know and had lunch. I liked this stature.
Oil worker X
It was a nice day and we stopped to get gas and had an ice cream bar. Life is good.
Ice cream X
I am not sure if I have the town right but here is a nice wagon that seems to be popular in this area. I guess it went over the pampas well in the old days. Not sure if it was horse or oxen pulled.
Wagon X
Here is a picture of some charcoal that the sell around here for bar b que. It is just pieces of wood that have been turned in to charcoal and not the bricket type that is so common in the USA.
Charcoal X
There are a lot of guanacos and I met a guy at the motorcycle shop that is a sheep farmer. He says that they are really tasty as I figured that they would be. I have been seeing these big birds that look like an ostrich and they are really fast. I tried to catch one a few days ago but it was much quicker than me. The rancher said that they can run 50-60 kilometers an hour. He was a pretty cool guy and told me some about the sheep business here. they have foxes and pumas that they have to shoot. They can have rifles and pistols, which is nice to hear. They sell or butcher their lambs at three months and they are all exported from Patagonia. This is milk fed high quality lamb and must go to Europe. As far as I could tell, the ewes only have a single as I couldn’t see any ewes with twins. He was a big red headed guy and he is somewhat normal down here as there are a lot of European type folks here.
2-11-06
Our window looks out on the ocean this morning and Jim noticed that the sun was coming up over the ocean. Wow, everything is so unreal down here. The shadows at noon point to the south and the stars are all strange at night. I did see what I think is the southern cross but it doesn’t have a cross in it like the drawings, only four stars sort of tipped on its side or at least I think that is it. my directions are all screwed up down here. sometimes I orient myself north and sometimes south and most of the time I am lost…..
We went up town, actually a barrio of town and went to a little park where they have some old oil drilling stuff on display. This is a oil producing area and I saw several pumping rigs on the way down here.
Pumper X
Tools X
Wood derrick X
On down the road we went to a medium size town called Trelew where we hunted for a motorcycle shop where we could find a tire for Jim’s bike. His rear tire was down to almost the cords and way past the wear bars. He asked at a service station and after another fine tune question from another guy we rode up to the shop. It was closed as were most of the shops around and were told that it would open at four. It was three thirty and just across the street was an internet shop. We went in to check email and while I was just getting started, a guy came in and pointed to the shop to let me know he was open now. How the hell he could tell I was a biker is beyond me. There were only two guys in the store with beards and wearing riding clothes. We had a lot of fun with the guys in the shop and over in the mechanic area. Jim found a nice tire of the same pattern as the front one I have on my bike. It isn’t the best but it is a Metzler Sahara and it should give him some good miles or kilometers as his bike is a Canadian type.
Jim tire X
Jim asked one of the mechanics that worked on his bike (the rear brake pads were worn to the metal) where we could find a hotel. He jumped on his bike and led us to a nice little hotel but unfortunately it was full. There was a big one next door and we went there and got a really nice room but it cost us about fifteen bucks each. There is breakfast and internet service here so that helps on the cost. Unlimited hot water to waste is ok too as are the big fluffy towels.
Somewhere back there we stopped to have lunch at the same restaurant that we ate at before. I took a photo of the sheep livers can that the owner was so happy to show me. Her husband runs 10,000 sheep but she doesn’t like the sheep so she runs this restaurant. It sounds like he has quite a crew to keep the sheep and I guess with ten thousand he does need some help. I told her we had run 600 by ourselves but she was unimpressed with only a hobby flock it seemed.
Sheep livers X
we met a brizilian today and he had a fire extinguisher taped on his bike. supposedly it is required in argentina. he was a really cool guy and gave me one of his stickers.
here is a photo out on the pampas. it is a mostly dry river but is shows this big river valley cutting through the flat lands. everyone said that it was a hundreds of miles of nothing, but i find the pampas wonderful.
a photo of the bikes on another ferry crossing the straights of Magellen. this one was only about twenty minutes and was a very nice ride.
