Horizons Unlimited and beyond

Dec ember 14, 2010
I am in Azul, Argentina – about 180 miles southwest of Buenos Aires and the end of this epic ride. I will hold up here in Azul until Friday morning. I am scheduled to pack my bike out on Monday the 20th and hope to fly home the evening of the 21st. Dakar Motos with whom I am coordinating the shipping of my motorcycle is closed until the 17th so I think I am better off hanging around a smaller town than in Buenos Aires. It certainly is a lot less expensive. The hotel here is about $24 a night with good hot water, garage parking and a good internet connection.
I did not mean to leave everyone in suspense on my return from Terra del Fuego, but obviously I did with all the questions about me on the different forums I am following. So I will catch up on what I been doing since my last post.
December 8th.
I left Rio Grande early in the morning in hopes beating the winds on crossing the rough 75 miles of road that caused me so much concern on the way on the way down. The plan worked as the winds were only about half as strong as the day before – at least for the first 60 miles or so, but it still is a challenging road with all the wash outs and loose gravel. This time the wind was blowing from my left to my right so I had to endure about 50 yards of brown out from dust each time I met a large truck.
The crossing of the Magellan Straits was much smoother although this time I had to wait on the ferry for about an hour.


The weather was cold – high 30s to low 40s. Just before reaching the border north of the straits I rode through either a short hail or sleet storm. The ice was the size of peas, but stuck to the wind shield and face shield like snow.
All-in-all I had a pretty long day with the gravel, two border crossings – one has to leave Argentina, enter Chile and then on the opposite side of the straits leave Chile and reenter Argentina. It is like you have never been through there before. The only delay was reentering Argentina as I was in line with everyone else who was on the ferry. The winds north of the straits were again approaching 100 km an hour so by the time I finished the 440 miles and reached Puerto San Julian I as beat. Good reason not to publish any details of the day. I stayed at the same the same hotel I had stayed at on the way down. When I walked in the girl behind the desk gave me the look of surprise like I was the prodigal son returning home.
Why beat ones self down by riding so far in such brutal conditions? Most of the towns on this strip through Patagonia are 60 to 100 miles apart and most do not have lodging. My experience was that lodging was available on average at about the 250 mile point, so one either rides 250 miles or one ride 500 miles. The other reason is that I wanted to make a Horizons Unlimited motorcycle meeting in Viedma that began on Friday the 10th.
Horizons Unlimited is an internet forum site that is supported and followed by motorcyclist who are planning on or are actually touring various parts of the world. I attended two HU meetings before – one in North Carolina and one in Mexico. They are always interesting and one meets kindred spirits who are from the far flung corners of the world.
To make the start of the meeting, I would have to do a little over 550 miles the next day and then a little over 300 on the 10th – can’t do two 400 mile days because the available lodging is either 550 and 300 or 250 and about 700.
December 9.
I decided on the long day first so I left San Julian early in a wind that was just as strong as it was the evening before – that’s not a good omen for the day because the winds always increase as the day progresses.
It was true - the winds became so strong it was all I could do to keep the bike upright on asphalt. Sand and dust was blowing across the road reducing visibility to about one mile. I started weighing my options on making this the short day and trying for better weather on Friday. I would just have to miss the starting day of the motorcycle meeting, but this was not a big deal. When I stopped for fuel, I had to lean against bike to prevent it from blowing over. I stopped for fuel again in Commodore Rivadavia which was at the 250 mile point. I needed a lunch snack and needed to use the restroom, but again I had to stay with the bike to prevent it from blowing over. I’ve never seen winds like this!
I made up my mind. It was definitely unsafe to continue riding in these conditions. With eyes full of sand I sought a hotel. The one I found was a dump – I don’t mind staying in dumps if the prices reflect dump conditions but this was not the case with this downtown hotel. The price for the room was $50 for an eight by ten with the bath down the hall. I was still going to take it but then they told me I would have to pay another $12.50 to park my motorcycle in a commercial parking garage. I considered that situation unsecured and decided I would cast safety concerns aside and ride the remaining 250 miles to my original destination.
Back into the wind and all that it entails. Ones shoulder and neck muscles get so sore from the wind pushing against the helmet. Have someone push on your head while you hold pressure against the pushing, do this for five minutes – now think about doing this for seven or eight hours.
It was nearing dark when I arrived in Trelew in a light drizzle. When I removed my helmet, I noticed the face shield had a light coating of mud on it and all the cars were the same way. The drizzle had mixed with the blowing dust to create what I called a muddy brown coating of everything.
I stayed in the same hotel in Trelew that I stayed in on the way down, and again I received the big broad grin of the girl behind the desk when I walked in.
Again too beat to do anything other than call home.
Dec 10.
I rode the 300 or so miles to Viedma and then the 20 miles to the coast where the HU meeting was being held. Although the meeting was being held in a campground and I have my camping equipment with me, I wimped out and selected the hotel next door to the campground. I was winded out and did not want to try and put up a tent in 40 mile an hour wind, and a forecast that was to be two degrees above freezing the next day.
Even the Argentines at the meeting were complaining about the weather which was apparently unusual for the time of year. Several events to include rides and a barbeque were cancelled. It did not matter. It was still a good gathering. I was the only American (USA type), there were three Canadians from British Columbia, a Finnish couple, an Austrian, an Italian (whom I had met the previous week at Dakar Motos), a German couple, two more Germans, two from Great Britain, a guy from New Zealand and our Argentine hosts – Oscar and Nancy Knecht. Several of the hosts motorcycling friends drifted in and out over the next couple of days. There was also a German couple staying at the hotel. They were touring Argentina by bus. The guy just so happen to own a motorcycle like one of my BMW’s. Fortunately for me, everyone spoke English.








When the German couple, Patrick and Jana, arrived, one could not helping but notice one of the saddlebags on the girls bike was barely hanging on with bungee cords. As soon as they removed their helmets, Patrick asked if there was somewhere he could get the bag repaired. The girl had crashed a couple of days before ripping the entire mounting side from the saddlebag. Oscar told them there would be no one available on the weekend to do any aluminum welding. I looked the bag over and told the Patrick that I could probably repair the bag with items I had with me. We agreed we would attempt this the next day.
With an 8 X 10 inch sheet of Lexan, a tube of Shoe Goo, two tubes of JB Weld, a tube of Weld-it, several cable ties and several screws and nuts, I began working on the bag. The first decision was to reverse the bag and move the mounting points to the opposite side. At first we did not have a drill to drill the necessary holes and I could not drive a hole through the aluminum with a hammer and screwdriver. Out with the trusty Swiss Army knife and I opened the punch and reaming blade then used the hammer to hit on top of the knife until I punched a hole then continued reaming and filing until the hole was large enough to accept the mounting bolts. I did two holes this way. Then Oscar went and borrowed a drill from the campsite owner to the relief of my Swiss knife. This made all the difference as we were now able to bolt the sheet of Lexan over the torn side of the bag. We drilled holes through the bottom of the bag and the lower sides then used cable ties to stitch the two parts together. Once all the fasteners were attached, I used the epoxies and strips of beer can aluminum to patch over the holes and seal some of the seams. Then with healthy amounts of duct tape we declared the bag good enough. It looked like something from Frankenstein, but now Jana could put some of her luggage in the bag and rebalance her load. Jana, who had a perpetual smile on her face, told me that one of her heroes was MacGyver and that now I was her personal MacGyver. It made my day.









On Sunday we did a group ride to view a sea lion colony along the coast and then had a group luncheon.
Dec 13.
The HU group said their goodbyes and each went their own way. I was the only one going north and most of the others we riding to Ushuaia. I just hope they have better winds than I had.
I rode 300 miles to Tres Arroyo where I intended to spend the night in the same town as I stayed in on the way down but a different hotel so I could get an internet connection. The other hotel wanted $85 for a single so again I decided to ride on. I rode another 120 miles to where I intended to go the next day. Hotel here is $24 a night and meets all my requirements.
In Azul, there is a motorcycle club called La Posta, which is famous for its hospitality to traveling motorcyclist. It was recommended to me. I stopped by there on the way into town and paid my respects. I was told I could camp there for free for as long as I liked, but I really wanted something with an internet connection and within walking distance of restaurants and stores. That is how I was directed to this hotel. I promised I would go back today and hang out with the owner of the club – Pollo.