Up to date trip blog

FINAL POST - Day 22 – Branson, MO – Home

Shane Mahoney, March 8, 2010

I started writing this just outside of Indianapolis but thought it should probably be finished after getting home and seeing my family.  Feels weird to be in a vehicle surrounded by metal with the ability to look around, pay very little attention to the road and not worry about farm animals running out into the freeway.

 

Over the last few days I’ve thought about what my final posting would be and how I would describe this trip to those that ask me when I get back to work on Monday.  Throughout this trip I have become accustomed to expect the unexpected and simply accept that you can’t control things around you particularly when you’re in a third world country.  Would I do it again?  I don’t think I would as this was a once in a lifetime experience that at times I both loved and hated but truly realize that the dangers associated with this kind of trip far outweigh the importance of my family and friends.  To say that every day was an “adventure” would be an understatement as everyday for us tested us in ways that we could never have imagined, nor could we have prepared for them in advance.

 

As I look back on the last 23 days I know unequivocally that I could not have had a better riding partner in John.  We had our times throughout the trip where we snapped at each other, mostly going south, but we came to accept each others’ differences and opinions without passing judgement on each other.  As we got further into the trip we each had our daily responsibilities, whether it was unloading the bikes, organizing the hotel, bike security, daily bike maintenance, documents and customs, and we knew what each of us had to do as we really became a good team as the adventure evolved.  To experience this kind of adventure with someone else and to share the same fears, concerns, joys and awe-inspiring moments has been one of the best parts of this experience for me.

 

I will definitely miss hearing John every morning starting up his intercom in his helmet, as we got on the road before dawn, and saying to me “Gooooooooooood Morning Shane Mahoney, are you ready for an adventure today?”  Despite soreness, aches and pains it always put a smile on my face knowing that we were in this together and that much of these aches and pains were also shared by John.  John has had his motorcycle license for less than a year and I can say without doubt that he is the best person I have ever ridden with.  How many people in their first year of riding go to 8 countries and ride 13,000 km’s?

 

I read some emails earlier today that I couldn’t access on the road and many people asked why John didn’t write any of the blogs.  I wanted John to write some of them as he has a knack for story-telling which is usually very funny, whereas I like to just write and typically lack in my comedic abilities.  He did proof-read most of the blogs before we sent them to my Dad for posting and it was good to have his insight into some of the things that I might have missed. 

 

As a closing note, thank you to everyone that sponsored us, that sent us messages of encouragement and tracked us along the way.  There were some very lonely days for the both of us and your encouragement really meant a lot.  It was a life changing experience in so many different ways and the amount of support we received from people close to us, and not so close to us, has been humbling to say the least.  The money you donated is going towards an outstanding cause and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done to support us.

 

We could not have done this trip if it were not for our families and whether it was before the trip or throughout the trip they were always there for assistance and support.

 

Thanks,

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Day 22 – Plano, Texas to Branson, MO – 894 km’s

Shane Mahoney, March 7, 2010

We were on the bikes a bit later this morning as we rode until close to 11:00 pm last night. As I packed the bike this morning it was a bit of a sad feeling as this would be the last time that we had to load the bikes, carry all of our gear from either our motel or a tent and load it onto the bikes. The last 2 days have been different in terms of riding as the maps are easy, there’s very little opportunity to get lost and you never really have to worry if you’re going to be stopped at countless military checkpoints and have your gear ripped apart. On the other hand, there is a sense of adventure, particularly in Mexico where if you miss an on-ramp or make a wrong turn, that you just turn around in the wrong direction on the on-ramp or highway and make your way back towards the correct destination. At first I was very hesitant to do this and was reminded my John a couple of times..”Dude, we’re in Mexico!!!” As this sank in it put things into perspective that there weren’t points against your license that you had to worry about, my insurance was not going to go up, and if we did get pulled over the fin would be less than $20. We made great time heading eat through Tulsa and then south to Branson. Riding through the Ozarks in warmer has been much nicer and the roads are absolutely outstanding. We finally made it to my Dad’s place just shortly after 6:00 knowing that we were looking forward to a nice shower and a great meal. My Dad took us up to the clubhouse where we enjoyed a great meal of steak and lobster. Branson is one of those cities that I had never heard of before, and this was John’s first experience there, but it really is a diamond in the rough. There are tons of things to do in terms of entertainment, golf and with the new airport it makes it very accessible to anyone having to fly directly there. I think John is hooked and he mentioned to me on several occasions that he wants to return there for a vacation with Jenna. It’s a depressing feeling loading the bikes on the trailer again and both of us discussed what it would be like to actually drive in a car after so many days of open air driving. After 13,000 km’s, thousands of dead bugs on our visors, several close calls, it’s hard to believe that tomorrow we will actually head home. We are going to do the drive non-stop, as we did on the way down, but both of us are fairly tired but I believe that the excitement of just sleeping in our own beds and seeing our family’s will overcome any fatigue that we might experience along the way. sm

Day 21 – Nuevo Laredo, Mexico – Plano, Texas – 742 km

Shane Mahoney, March 7, 2010

We left Nuevo Laredo shortly before noon after getting a bunch of things done on the bikes. I figured out the reasons for my fan issues…approximately 10,000 insect carcasses covering my entire radiator intake. It was pretty gross and I used my old gloves to scrape the thing clean as best as I could. We got John’s radiator line tightened up, checked our tire pressures, oiled the chains and we were on our way. We got the bikes exited out of Mexico, which entails having a SAT officer check the VIN, take your permit, and then take a picture of the bike and were off to the US side. We headed north across the desert which was similar to what we had driven yesterday. The winds were fairly strong but we made good time and our bodies seem much more adept now at doing longer distances then they did on the way down. The weather has been outstanding on the ride back with only 2 hours of rain the entire trip back. It seemed weird to read signs in English again as well as the plethora of fast food restaurants and hotels along the freeway. There were many nights along this trip where we wished we would just see a sign for a Super 8 or Best Western… We got to Waco at around 8:00 pm and had planned to spend the night, but we both realized that we were back in the US and it was safe to ride at night. Neither of us wanted to experience the traffic in Dallas again so we decided to eat some food and press on to the other side of Dallas towards Plano. We chose a different route on the way back and instead of going through Little Rock, Arkansas, we decided to go through Oklahoma City and then head east. We should be able to make it to my Dad’s tomorrow and it’s hard to believe that after 3 weeks on the road that tomorrow will be our last day on the bikes.

Day 20 – Queretaro, Mexico to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico – 967 km’s

Shane Mahoney, March 7, 2010

We left the renovated missionary hotel just before 6:00 and it was still dark and very cold. With all of our gear on it felt crisp, but very nice. We immediately got on the freeway and after 40 km’s or so we were both frozen. The outside temperature gauge on the bike was blinking at 2.5 Degrees. We have become accustomed to riding with shorts and t-shirts underneath our riding gear as well as motocross gloves. Despite having the heated grips on neither of us could stand the cold on our hands so we stopped and had to dig deep in our bags for some of our cold weather gear. It was somewhat depressing having to dig into this stuff sack as it meant that the journey was close to over. Both of our cold weather riding gloves had shrunk from wetness and heat so it felt like we were riding with boxing gloves on as we tried to shift gears as well as manage the front brake. We made excellent time and our goal was to get close to the US border. Our route headed directly north through Central Mexico and after having passed through some smaller mountain ranges we were met with our first desert riding. The road was straight for as far as the eye could see and there was no wind so we cruised at 140 km/h until our tanks ran dry. The only other stops we had came as a result of John’s enchiladas the night before and when he gave me the sign that we had to stop I knew we had about 30 seconds to find a safe spot to park the bikes and unload the toilet paper from the pannier. At one of the stops we literally had to ride offroad on the shoulder of the highway, going in the wrong direction, in order to make it to the gas station. The ruts in the dirt were huge and John nearly dropped his bike he was going so fast to make it to the bathroom. The last 2 days have been very fast and very long. We have been trying to cut a day out of Mexico by taking the toll highways and it has definitely paid off in terms of speed but the cost of the tolls are extremely high. We spent nearly $120 in tolls today alone but you gain the benefit of very nice roads, no speed bumps in the middle of the highway, and very few semi-trucks. We did get stopped at 4 separate military checkpoints to search the bikes and after a 10 second perusal most of the army guys were more interested in the GPS thank what we had stored in our luggage. I didn’t want to have to take the cover off of my bad, un-do the straps etc…so I would make small conversation with them about the trip and show them how the GPS worked and they were mesmerized. As I did this John was undergoing complete searches of all of his stuff and I could definitely tell he was getting frustrated. We had covered nearly 700 km’s by 3:00 pm, the best mileage to date so we decided to make a run for the border. We got there just after 6:00 and the lineups were ridiculous. We waited over an hour and when I went to get our passports out of my top case realized that we had not returned the Mexican bike permits, for which we had left a $400 deposit on our credit cards. We thought that when we had entered Mexico that things would be easy, forgetting that this was the only border where we had to leave a credit card deposit in case we sold the bikes while in the country. At this point I was so tired and hungry that I was prepared to eat the $400 but after a short conversation with John we turned back and got a room in a nice Holiday Inn Express. It was nice to finally have a warm shower as well as use shampoo. Most of our supplies have run dry so our body wash, shampoo and conditioner has consisted of a small bar of soap that is normally reserved as “facial soap” in Canadian and US hotels. We had a good dinner and were warned by the waiter not to leave first thing in the morning. Apparently the US border is extremely busy at this time with workers travelling stateside so we decided to use the morning to do some much needed maintenance on the bikes, fix John’s radiator leak and figure out what was going on with my fan and front wheel. sm

Day 19 – Palomares, MX to Queretaro, MX – 812 km’s

Shane Mahoney, March 3, 2010

We were up early again and on the road just after 6:00.  The weather was okay when we left but it was still dark and we drove very slow as the roads were filled with potholes and it was difficult to see without any light whatsoever.  The sun started coming up at around 6:30 and we saw dark clouds ahead and shortly thereafter the rain started.  We decided to stop and put on our rain gear as well as put all of the electronic items in our Ziploc bags.  The progress was very slow and by 9:30 am we have only covered 180 km’s. 

 

As we got out of the mountains the clouds dispersed and before we knew it it was blue sky as well as some actual freeways.  We have changed our route home to make it the most expeditious but this also involved all of the toll highways in Mexico.  They are very expensive and today alone we spent over $150 just on tolls.  We began heading north towards Cordoba and the weather was cooler at 26 Degrees but a great reprieve to what we have been dealing with over the past little while.  It was the first time in a while where we had not been wet through either sweat or rain and the feeling was great.  We began heading north towards Veracruz and soon passed through Cordoba.  I looked down at the GPS and just saw scribbled pink lines as if my son had tried to spell his name and knew we were in for a lot of upcoming turns.  We headed up the mountain from near sea level and in less than 45 minutes we reached 11,00 feet elevation, right at eye level with the clouds.  It was a surreal experience and temperature went from the mid 20’s down to 10 Degrees but the view was absolutely amazing.

 

We headed down the back of the mountain and soon passed through the desert on our way to Mexico City.  The riding was fast and we only took breaks to re-fuel and buy more water for our camel packs.  John has had a few issues with his bike…today the radiator sprayed fluid all over him and I am just not comfortable with my front wheel and there seems to be some noises coming from the fan.

 

Getting through Mexico City was a bit of a zoo but we managed to get through it despite a few wrong turns and pushed on to Queretero which is about 200 km’s north of the city.  We’re about 1,100 km’s from the US border and while we would like to cross tomorrow it’s likely that we will do it first thing Thursday morning. 

 

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Day 18 – Escuintla, Guatemala to Palomares, Mexico

Shane Mahoney, March 2, 2010

We are finally back in Mexico and it is such a relief.  To say that we now feel safe might seem crazy to most but after our experiences in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala we really do.  Last night after I finished the blog post John and I were sitting outside of our room having a beer and there must have been 8 gunshots, definitely from 2 different guns, less than 100 yards from us.  We were protected by the 15 foot concrete wall which is topped by barbed wire and the wall itself must be close to a foot thick.  We didn’t move from where we were sitting, not because we weren’t scared, but at this point in the trip we have just become so accustomed to expect the things you would never even consider.  John tried to pass it off as a farmer killing his chickens but I am sure it wasn’t that.  After seeing the bus robbery earlier in the day and now this we just wanted to get of Guatemala and in to Mexico.

 

We left early again and made good time once we got out of the smaller cities.  The border was only 175 km’s away and we thought we were going to the same one as before but we ended up at a different one.  The process was one of the best so far and we were out of Guatemala and in to Mexico in less than an hour.

 

The weather has been really hot for the past 10 days with temperatures reaching 38 Degrees and averaging daily at around 33.  The heat has started to get to the both of us physically as well as mentally.  We continue to wear our full gear which is full pants, jackets and riding boots which do not breathe well at any speed under 100 km/h.  Both of us have lost a substantial amount of weight on this trip just due to sweating and skipping lunch so many times.  My hands are covered in blood blisters that are now covered with calluses and my hands are actually peeling all over, for what reason I have no idea because I am wearing leather gloves 12 hours a day?  We’ve have been wearing our camel packs and are drinking about 6 litres of water each a day during the ride but it comes directly out in sweat and has now caused issues with both of our helmets.  Because we’re sweating so much the helmets are moving around and both of us have scabs all over our ears from the helmet and sweat rubbing against them.  When we do stop it’s painful just to get the helmets off of our heads and even worse having to put them back on. 

 

We passed through some nice country today in Southern Mexico and are now crossing over to the Gulf Coast.  We decided to stop at about 5:30 at a dingy motel in the mountains.  We covered 600 km today were both tired and it was close to sunset so we stopped at the first place we saw.  The room looked okay when I first saw it but after paying the $22 rate for the night I soon realized why it was so cheap.  There’s no hot water, no towels and the bathroom is an “open concept” bathroom.  The shower is 18 inches from the toilet and while taking a cold shower the water flies all over the seatless toilet…  Oh well, it is better than a rat infested abandoned farmhouse….

 

We have approximately 1,800 km’s to the Laredo border and we are aiming to get there Wednesday night….very long haul but if we don’t then we might end up not making it home until Monday which would be bad for both John and me as we both have commitments at work. 

 

I know it may sound weird to many people but as we chat throughout the day through our helmet communication systems we continue to talk about just getting home, seeing our families, taking a nice shower and just sitting at home for a day.  This is our dream day that we both can’t wait to have and it seems odd to be saying this while you’re supposed to be on vacation.  We are both hurting and the length of this trip has been really difficult getting up at 5 am every day for 20 days consecutively and then being on the bikes for 18 of those for 12 hours each day.  We only had 2 full days in Costa Rica off of the bikes and while they were good it just wasn’t enough for our various wounds, rashes and bruises to heal. 

 

One of the good things about a trip like this is that it gives you a tremendous amount of time to think about everything happening in your life.  My Ipod hasn’t been working so I’ve spent 12 hours a day listening to wind noise and the sound of bugs hitting my visor so I’m forced to think about everything and trying to force myself physically to remain focused on the road and just getting to the next waypoint.  We’ve met a lot of outstanding people throughout our journey and it really makes you value the things you have at home as well as put a lot of things into perspective.  I know that I easily get caught up in my own little world of work and home and months can go by where you don’t ever look outside of that box at the other important things in life.  In Canada we are extremely privileged to have the things we do and I, myself, take it for granted on most occasions never thinking twice about how lucky we actually are.  This trip has been a great representation for me of how lucky I am to live in a country that is doing so well in comparison to so many others.  An average Guatemalan makes $13 a day for 12 hours of work and it makes me think of union picketers in Canada wanting to have their vacation pay paid out or else they don’t work.  Almost every Central American that I’ve met has asked me about immigration to Canada, work opportunities and how the people are and I’ve encouraged them all to come.  I can definitely see why there’s been civil wars and government overturns throughout Latin America in the last 50 years, the people are honest and hard working yet their governments and public officials are ridiculously corrupt.  If I lived here I would also try and emigrate and if that didn’t work then I know I would be a willing participant in some movement to try and change things.  The problem is that most people here are so impoverished that they live in complete fear of their their government that is the representation of them.  Kudos to Che Guevara, although not from Central America, he started something similar and I think I now truly understand firsthand what he was trying to accomplish…

 

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Day 17 – San Miguel, El Salvador to Totonicapan, Guatemala

Shane Mahoney, March 1, 2010

The blog is long today but read through as the end of this will shock you!!!

 

Neither of us slept well last night and were up at 5:30 for our regular 6:00 am departure.  We decided to have breakfast at the hotel which delayed us a bit but it was well worth it.  Over the last couple of days neither of us has eaten lunch due in part to heat, exhaustion, and being at border crossings.  We left the hotel shortly before 7:00 and headed towards the Guatemala border.  The ride was pretty good and the weather was very sticky.  We passed by more volcanoes and John asked me to stop to take some pictures at which point the first problem started.  I pulled the camera out and it wouldn’t start and my heart sunk.  I realized I left the battery and charger plugged into the wall.  I was choked and so we had to backtrack 38 km to get the battery and were back on our way.

 

We made good time going through El Salvador as we knew that we had to be at the border before 3:00 pm to alleviate paying the fine.  We covered the 300 km’s before noon and the problems had only just begun.  The problem with having a bike is that you have to go through customs to exit the bike out of the country, as well as yourself.  It took us just over an hour to get out of El Salvador and then we had to re-enter Guatemala.  I had thought that Guatemala would be easy because we already had our permits for there but after passing through Immigration we encountered a ton of problems with the Guatemala Customs officers.  Upon leaving Guatemala on the way down we provided the El Salvador customs officers with the documents they requested and apparently they took the original of our permit.  When we got to the Guatemalan customs office they requested the original and we told them what had happened, despite having two carbon copies of the original permit as well as a stamped and signed copy.  They told us we had to head back to the El Salvador border to try and find the original.  Was I pissed off or upset, not really, I think I’ve just become accustomed to the bureaucracy of every border we’ve had to cross.  We headed back to the El Salvador border and after speaking to the officer he told us that they would have to check the files but the “boss” was at lunch and we would have to wait til he came back.  We waited an hour at which point he told us that all of our documents would have been sent to San Salvador last week to the head office and that Guatemala should accept the copy.  John at this point in the trip told me that he was not having fun.  The border turmoil’s of the last few days, combined with heat and exhaustion have started to get to him.  I felt bad for him because he just looked so exhausted and tired and I knew that there was more to come.

 

We headed back to the Guatemalan border and explained out situation to another customs officer and after 45 minutes of inspecting our documents he told us that for $50 he would sign our passports and permits and let us on our way.  I was pissed but not surprised and John at this point said to me that he hated Guatemala. 

 

After we got back on the bikes again I just felt bummed out.  We have had nothing but problems with corruption, theft and violence in this country yet we worked so hard to benefit the kids here.  We stopped 150 km or so once we got to Totonicapan and it put things into perspective.  The poverty is extreme and to see what people do just to feed their kids is indescribable.  I can’t put into words how bad the situation is here although you look at most of the kids and they seem happy.  All kids over the age of 5 are working in some form, whether farming, gathering wood and such and it makes you quickly realize how lucky we are in Canada.  I’m sure that most of these kids will never go to school yet their work effort is astonishing.

 

We headed further Northwest towards the hotel we had stayed at before and encountered our first “incident.”  A young kid pulled in front of a bus on a scooter and slowed right down and stopped the bus right in front of us.  The bus stopped, as did we, and the kid began his robbery attempt of the bus driver with us right behind him.  John was on the right hand side of the lane and witnessed the bus driver grab and large wooden club and beat the living daylights out of this kid.  We are sure that he must have had both arms broken and some sever head trauma but we were not about to stop.  As John finally passed him he was on the cell phone and we were totally worried that he might be calling friends ahead to stop us….

 

It might seem wonky to say but we can’t wait to get into Mexico.  As John said to me today, which is the quote of the day, “If someone were to ask me for a good bike ride I would tell them go to Mexico and never head south…”

 

 

 

 

 

Day 16 – Managua, Nicaragua to San Miguel, El Salvador

Shane Mahoney, February 28, 2010

We travelled through a total of 3 countires today and the morning started off extremely well.  We got out of Managua shortly after 6:00 and the weather was quite a bit cooler at about 22.5 Degrees.  Once we were out of Managua the riding was outstanding.  We rode through desert plains and mountainous regions and the road were perfect.  There seemed to be no traffic on the road and there were very few buses and trucks which we have become accustomed to.

 

 We have a ton of pictures which we will post on the blog once we get home.  Unfortunately there seems to be an issue with the website from Mexico and Central America so I have had to send the blog posts to my Dad who has been posting everything for us since we left Mexico.

 

 The roads were very windy through the border into Honduras and we decided to setup the video and record the types of roads to give you of what we were dealing with.  While extremely fun it was a bit nerve wracking as the cliffs off of the side of the road were quite severe but the road were so clean and the turns so great that we couldn’t resist it.

 

We arrived at the Honduras border expecting a ton of delays, as this had been amongst the worst previously, yet we passed through in under 2 hours.   We didn’t have to pay propinas or anything so it was a fairly effective border crossing.  El Salvador previously had been extremely easy as well so we expected to be close to the Guatemalan border, having crossed the Honduran border just after 1:00 pm.     We soon realized again the bureaucracy of importing the bikes.

Day 15 – On our way home – Jaco, CR to Managua, Nicaragua

Shane Mahoney, February 27, 2010

Neither one of us slept well last night as we had mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation about boarding the bikes again after a few days off.  We spent a lot of time last night ensuring that all of our maps, routes and such were prepared and were lucky to have the availability of a washer and dryer to clean our clothes and start fresh on the bikes again  Costa Rica really stands out amongst the countries in Central America which makes it really tough to leave.  We planned to leave between 6-7 and were on the road at 7:00 although it was a sad feeling seeing both Robert and Linda as we left.  It was evident that both were concerned about us making the trip home safely and I understand how they would feel this way, as I saw the same look in my Dad’s eyes as we left Branson.  They were great to us during our short reprieve and I wished we could have stayed longer.

 

We initially expected to be in Managua at some time late in the afternoon because the mileage to get there was short in comparison to what we’ve averaged over the past few weeks.  When we headed south last week we saw that there were very few people heading north and expected to see short lines at the border.  As we headed towards the coast and northern part of Costa Rica the winds became extremely strong and the traffic was bad.  We were stuck behind both trucks and buses breathing horrible gases only hoping for some open roads. 

 

Despite the really strong winds we made some fairly good time and passed two people riding BMW 650GS’s and after our waves, and theirs, they stopped and we chatted for 20 minutes.  They were a husband and wife from Germany and have been on the road for the last 2 years and 8 months.  They started in Vancouver, travelled north to Alaska and were now destined for Tierra Del Fuego.   I asked them how much longer they expected to be on the road and they told us “until our money runs out…”   They were both seasoned adventurers and when they told us that our bikes had not yet been released when they left it put a lot into perspective.

 

We got to the border and things were chaotic.  The lineup for Immigration alone was 5 hours due in part to a Harley Davidson convention in Managua combined with the fact that due to some new laws in CR that all Nicaraguans must lave Costa Rica every 30 days and re-enter in order to re-obtain their work permits.  We lined up with the Harley guys and ending paying $20 bucks in order to expedite some of the lines, just to exit Costa Rica, yet it still took us a total of nearly 2.5 hours and we hadn’t yet got back into Nicaragua.

 

We passed the DMZ between Costa Rica and Nicaragua and got to the Nicaraguan border only to be met by similar and bureaucracy.  I knew where we had to go but this was the one border where they required to see John separate from me so we had to do interchanges in order to get the paperwork complete, which took up quite a bit of extra time.   We got burnt by about $13 by a kid to skip the lines, which was higher than we had originally negotiated but I think I have lost my sense to argue over the small things and just wanted to get on the road.  When we crossed the first border in Guatemala I was fighting over $2 but now I understand that it’s something you have to deal with and just suck it up.

 

The borders alone today took us nearly 4.5 hours, for just crossing into Nicaragua, so we had extremely poor mileage results today.  We tried to make up for it after passing the border and met our first police check.  The first one was fine but we met a second one shortly thereafter where both John and I were caught red-handed passing trucks on a solid yellow line.  Note, everyone drives like maniacs in Central America, we’ve just learned how to drive with them…  Unfortunately for us, we got pulled over and the police officer told me that he was issuing an infraction against both of us.  He explained to me that we had to pay it at the state bank and I asked him if we could settle it now because we were just passing through the country.   He asked me to cross the highway over to his motorcycle at which point we got, what we think, was one of the best quotes of this trip (in Spanish)…”if you pay the fine today, which will be $20 in American dollars I will forward it to the bank for you tomorrow…”   I held back my laugh inside my helmet as he acted so secretively, hiding the cash below his notepad and telling us that our infractions were all settled.  He offered a receipt, and I said it wasn’t necessary, and we were back on our way.

 

The traffic coming into Managua was bad and we had no idea where our hotel was.  We ended up finding the same Esso gas station we did the last time and came across a young guy who I asked for directions and we agreed on a price to direct us to the hotel…$5…   The security guard at the station overheard the conversation and came over and told me directly, in English, that if I didn’t pay him that he would find us and kill us.  Somewhat unsettling but I think the guy was a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

 

We are aiming to make it to San Salvador tomorrow which means 2 borders but we are very focused at getting some mileage under our belt over the next few days.

 

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Day 11-14 – Hanging out in Costa Rica

Shane Mahoney, February 26, 2010

We have spent the last 2 days hanging out in Jaco, getting some sun and some much needed rest and relaxation.  Alison and Nolan left on Wednesday so we only really had a day and a half together before I see them again in 11 days.  I was pretty sad to see them go and have had a tough time getting my head around making the trip back home.  It was a tough trip down here and it seemed that everyday we were faced with some kind of circumstance or challenge that we were just not prepared for or that caught us by surprise.  Whether it was weather, people or places every day seemed to present something unforeseen which I’ve never really had to deal with before.

 

If it wasn’t for the Unicef cause and all of our supporters, the truck being in Missouri and my commitment to John to do this trip, I know that I would have decided to ship the bike back home and boarded the plane with Alison and Nolan on Wednesday.  I think that perhaps my outlook on certain things in life has changed as a result of Nolan’s arrival and the sense of responsibility you have when you have a child and a great wife and family.  In retrospect it was probably quite selfish of me to decide to do this trip knowing some of the inherent dangers but I chose to do it anyway without carefully considering any of the possible ramifications it could have on those that are close to me.  This is what I’ve been struggling with the last few days and most of the reason why I am not as excited to make the trip back as I was before we left Milton. 

 

We got all of the laundry and packing done tonight and went through the maps of our route home.  We considered skipping El Salvador in its entirety just because the border times equal close to a half day of daylight riding time.  After going through the maps the route around El Salvador was just too far so we have decided to go back the same way we came for most of Central America.  We are going to deviate in Mexico and take a more direct route after crossing the border and head through Mexico city instead of crossing over to the coast south of Veracruz.  Part of the reason why is that the traverse from coast to coast in through very bad roads, it’s extremely windy, and this is where we covered only 150 km after more than 3 hours of riding due to traffic as well as the speed bumps in every small town.

 

Back on the bikes tomorrow…most of the wounds are semi-healed so we should be good to go.  We will stay in Managua again tomorrow night and got a great deal on a hotel room there through Expedia which is much better than just showing up and getting the turista rate.

 

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