Ducati Monster Forum

My little brother sets out in 4 days to ride from Chehalis, WA to the southern most city in Argentina (Ushuaia).
He will be blogging, tweeting, looking for food to eat and places to sleep along the way.
Check out his website www.headedsouth.net (http://) (http://)

you can also follow him on twitter @headedsouthnet

 [popcorn]

How long is he planning ride?  There and back?!

WA to Argentina with just a top case?

If he's planning on going through Santiago, send him my info. I should be able to make some room for him.

Does he know about www.advrider.com? (http://)

Lots of good info and at least a few good people.  several folks have done similar trips and documented it.  It turns out that you can't ride or drive between Panama and Colombia, you have to take boat or plane.

This aught to be good watching!

How come one cannot drive between Panama and Columbia? Are there no roads or is it a political thing? Just curious.

Apparently it is both.  There are no roads (to speak of) and Panama reportedly doesn't want to let Colombian unrest spill over.

It seems a few hardy individuals have made the trip through the Darien Gap, but it is not recommended for those who worry about little things like broken bones and no EMS service at all.

And Guerrillas... not the lovable, furry kind that you teach sign language.

In order to do it by land... apparently you need a Rokon and 2 months.
http://www.outbackofbeyond.com/gap.htm (http://www.outbackofbeyond.com/gap.htm)

[laugh]

I had to read this again.  At first I read it to mean he intended to go from A to B in 4 days.

I was like, holy make the beast with two backs :o

Too many irons in the fire these days I guess. . .

Anyhow, looks like it will be a great trip!

There are roads but dirt, mud and rocks.  My friend in Panama City tried it and didn't make it because it was so hairy.  No maintenance and as stated no medical services along with bribes to be had (from what I'm told).  Last I heard they were trying to build a decent road so I guess we will wait for his blog to determine proof.  As for guerrillas, they are predominantly much further south since they started shipping most of the drugs off the coast near Tumaco and Cartagena.  I would say Nicaragua is just as dangerous in some places.

i'm visting my girlfriend and her parents in bogota colombia at the moment and all the motorcyclist have to ware a vest with the license number on the back of it , apparently they have a problem with drive by shootings, right now is the dry season, the country had terrible mud slides all over the country for the past three months so i will be keeping a very close eye on his trip i might make one from where i live and that all the way out east on long island NY

His bags are packed and he leaves tomorrow!
http://headedsouth.net (http://headedsouth.net)

Some weather difficulties and left him sort of his goal today

I downloaded a RSS reader on my phone so I could subscribe to his blog and get updates [thumbsup]

I'll go and make sure the Rss is setup correctly.

in California now.

I'm getting the updates.

I use RSS demon.

Into Mexico.
Some indeterminate point south of Ensenada

"And on a side note for some reason California drivers are unaware that a blinker lever exists on their steering column."



 [laugh]

In Mazatlan

I am watching this with interest. I am concerned about him not being able to go 200 miles without re-filling however. I have to believe there are going to be stretches more than 200 miles that will not have some dude with 55 gallon barrels of gas by the roadside.

I have never adventure toured and I don't know what the normal expected range is for doing something like that but 200 miles just doesn't seem that far.

Mark

latin America is not the great expanse that is the US. You'll run into some sort of gas station along the way. The question would be if you get kidnapped or not.

+1

When I first read this thread I thought of a book I read a few years back.
"Two wheels through terror."

Just as dangerous is northern and central Mexico. I wish him the best on this trip. It takes huge cajones to make such a journey knowing what's out there.

I believe I read on his blog that he's carrying 2 1L bottles of extra fuel, one behind each pannier.

That's what I'd do at least.  That should be good for 30-40 miles, depending on surface conditions.