Peru Inka Cloud Forest Trek/Machu Picchu Sept 2013

Peru.  A small step to a world of adventure.

Motorcycling is a way of life.  I have met many people over my 6 years of riding and I love to know what made them get into the sport and what inspires them to stay in.  Some I have met it seems that it was a catalyst to help them through a tough time.  Others it started a journey of self-discovery and adventure. The type of motorcyclist you are and the reasons that one does it I found is very personal…as different as there are people. I started my 2-wheeled adventures on a Kawasaki Vulcan 500; I rode 25,000 miles on that bike, and learned so much about who I am as a woman, and a human being.  My views on the world and the power that I can summon within my self to conquer my fears.  I then upgraded to a Suzuki V-Strom 650.   It was after that; I learned I was interested in Adventure riding.  I am new to this ADV motorcycling world…. and when I went to Overland Expo in Mormon Lake Arizona, I met the most wonderful people and realized I have found my Mothership!  Like minds and Great Adventures…. Even though I was inspired and encouraged to create my own off road/over land adventure I lack the experience for such a journey….and I needed baby steps to ensure my success, safety and guarantee a wonderful time.  I had created an Adventure/Bucket list after I lost my Aunt to ovarian cancer, she was a huge inspiration in being tough and loving what you can experience.  She was a strong supporter of creating the monster that I am today, being an assertive participant in my own life.  I decided that all the Life is Short stories you hear are true.

I researched Peru, as experiencing the great ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu was on my Adventure/Bucket list. This seemed a great place to start. I felt like a true adventure would be going to another country, getting completely out of my comfort zone, challenging my skills and endurance.  There were many companies there who offered motorcycling. I wanted a bike smaller than mine back home. I assumed I would probably be falling off a few times since this journey was out of my skill level. I had only just started riding on dirt several months before and had only a few experiences under my moto boots. So I wanted a bike that I could pick up.   I read that most of this journey would be dirt roads.  I wanted something light and easy to handle.   Also as I am not independently wealthy, nor did I have 6-9 months or more to ride I wanted something that was in my price point and a reasonable duration.  

In my research I had found that probably the biggest concern I had was drinking the water, so I purchased some Potable Aqua, which are small tablets to make any water safe to drink.  Also being a vegetarian I have found that Central and South American countries are a blessing in the food department.  Overall Peru being such a huge tourist destination I felt safe going there.

I discovered Peru Moto Tours, owner Alejandro Luna, based out of Cusco, Peru.  This company suited my needs…they offered a variety of motorcycles from 250cc’s up to 700cc’s.  My weapon of choice was the Honda Falcon 400.  I have ridden uncharted adventures in USA, however having a guide that speaks the language and knows the area felt like a smart idea.  One of the many things I have learned from traveling is that the locals always know the good stuff. I like to call this “ the pie and coffee effect”.  Most locals are very friendly and proud of where they live so eager to share their knowledge with you.

Now the planning, I looked into airfare, it was what I expected for International travel and the dates were 6 months away so I had time to save up some money.  I made my decision, which is the first step of any adventure and then moved forward with the steps to achieve it.  For me, once the decision is made the excitement is enough to carry me through with the planning.

After waiting what seemed like forever and careful packing and repacking of all my motorcycle gear I was ready to go…. flight from Florida, JAX-MIA-LIMA-CUSCO…. I arrived the next morning early.   Alejandro offers an airport pick up service straight to your hotel.  It is recommended to arrive a couple days early, most people suffer from altitude sickness, since Cusco is in the Andes Mountains perched at a lovely 11,200 feet (3,414 Meters).   I was no exception to this, and was very sick my first day….I tried the Coca Tea, but seemed nothing helped but rest….so that is what I did….quiet rest….and lots of water.

The next day I checked in with Peru Moto Tours and was able to go on an ATV tour that was scheduled and had room for one more.  And since I was chomping at the bit to ride my Falcon they assigned it to me for the next week and let me ride it up to the ATV site.  Wow, I was riding a Motorcycle in Peru, I was overjoyed with a sense of adventure and freedom.  I practically was in tears from excitement of the week to come.  My Falcon, who I named Numero Ocho, was so small and light and awkward at first.  I was impressed with the pep and speed of it since it was only 400 cc’s.  After all the planning, being sick, I was finally riding.  It made everything better, as it always does. Immediately I was ready to for whatever life hurled at me. Very surreal.  We rode through dilapidated parts of Cusco, the smells of roadside eateries, the dogs barking and chasing us, the kids playing in the streets, the traffic, oh the traffic is not moto friendly, and made getting out in the country so much sweeter.  The air was cool and crisp and the sun was shining.  That moment where life is perfect, from the inside out.  That is the part I hunger for every day.  That shot of intense perfection, the moment you first have when you realize that you are addicted and your life is changed forever. 

We had a beautiful ride up to the mountains and then a grand tour on the ATV’s …as fun as they were I was only ready for more motorcycling.  We rode back at dusk to our hotel right off Cusco main square, even after dark, the air was charged with life of a big city, in an ancient and beautiful old capital town. 

The next morning the tour started, 7 glorious days and 6 nights living on the road by motorcycle, my favorite place to be.   We started out with a small ride locally; we visited two ruins sites and several towns, with one very old church with beautiful decorations.  Then we stopped for a coffee and had a bit of time to get to know the other riders here.  There were two others on my trip, Daniel from Canada and Matt from UK.  My brothers for the next week.  It seems that we were all on this journey fore the very same reasons, so we had the love of motorcycling and the desire to witness Machu Pichu in common, which makes for fast friendship no matter what part of the world you are from.

We arrived back late, that night and parked out bikes, then off to bed to get prepared for out real trip to start at 9am the next morning….

I had a small bag and all my gear, in September here is chilly in the mornings and perfect days.  I brought my “winter” gear and a good full faced helmet, rain gear and good boots.  A regular sized back pack for few clothes to change into, a small travel laptop, camera of course, voltage adaptor with power strip, toiletries, and few odds and ends, knife, compass, wet wipes, lots of chapstick.  I also recommend getting small bills of Nuevo Soles (Peruvian money) for all the various charges of the road, parking, lunches, coffee, shopping in the outside markets.

My initial desire to go to Peru like many others was Machu Picchu the ancient Inca city…I have seen photos of this beautiful and magical place from the many angles as well as the token tourist “sweet spot” where our guide had taken us first.

I have watched many documentaries on the history and speculations of this special location in our big and beautiful world…

However, my highlight was, I discovered, winding through the Andes Mountains on my rented Honda Falcon 400 ….our tour consisted of approximately 850 miles, most of which were hard packed dusty roads…

The people of Peru had stolen my heart…some of the villages we were able to go through. I was struck of the hardship that Peruvians in general had to endure…for centuries…However the most resilient, innovative and creative people…. the appearances of true Peruvians …each line on their faces earned with earnest hard work and respect of the environment and mother nature.  I was in awe…

My trip was a leap of faith for me into this wonderful world of Adventure riding; I have met the most inspiring and encouraging people through sharing the passion for riding.

I know I have many years to come of riding and many adventures waiting for me.

This was a building block for me of experience, skills and confidence. 

I wonder where the road will take me next….

 even got back cover of a moto mag...awesome!! 

Rawhyde Adventure Camp, Feb 2014, Castaic California

Rawhyde Adventures Intro Class! 

 My Awesome Experience.

When I discovered this Ranch of moto adv riding I was very excited, even though I had been on a few dirt roads and adventures…I def lacked the skill and experience that breeds confidence.  Since they offered a class that was right around my birthday it seemed the perfect idea.

As usual the most stressful part for me is the packing for a moto adventure.  What to bring?  I of course have gear for all situations at home.  But not knowing really what to expect, do I bring summer, winter, rain, extra, high-viz, multiple gloves, tank bag and the list of questions to myself goes on.  What about storage for what I don’t need?   Luckily on this trip I was renting a car so I did have a place to keep stuff if needed. 

The Rawhyde Ranch offers airport service, for $80 each way, but the car rental was only $212.00 for the whole week, and since I was staying at a local hotel one day before and after this made sense to me.   I chose this option because of the 3-hour time difference.

I live in NE Florida and Rawhyde Ranch is one hour north of Los Angeles California, so the journey getting to and from there was an adventure in itself. 

The day had finally come to head west and I was a bundle of nerves, excitement, and enthusiasm.  I was a bit scared of getting hurt, as I knew I would be putting my self in situations that would push my abilities as a motorcyclist.  And even though I have health benefits I really would rather not use them so early in 2014. 

Being a seasoned traveler the flying and airport fiascos with all of the winter storms the USA was having did not phase me.  I usually if able have just a travel day for such problems.  I arrived in LAX early enough to not be stuck in the LA traffic that everyone jeers about.  I get to my hotel in Valencia, California and picked up a few things from the store, after checking in…I got my moto gear unpacked for easy access.

I had signed up for Friday Pre Training and Saturday and Sunday Intro to Adventure Class.  

When I arrive at the ranch on Friday about 11am…I am greeted by Jake who points me in the right direction to complete my registration with Audrey.  I receive a name badge and a large bottled water to refill (stay green) and then she gives me a tour of the place, shows me my bunk and where I can find anything I might need to make my stay happy and comfortable.

I proceeded to get setup, as it was quite a bustle around the ranch getting ready for the weekend.  I wondered around and checked out the bikes …there were lots under a covered area.  I saw Jim Hyde, owner, who I recognized from many videos I watched of this ranch to prepare…had a nice chat and learned a bit about the property.  It is 2500 acres of off road motorcycle playground.  I would love to spend a month here honing my skills in this safe environment.

After a bit, I was assigned my BMW 650 GS.  This would be my motorcycle for the next few days. I nicknamed her “Sparky” Coach Travis taught the pre-training class. There were a few of us in this class and we went over what we would be doing over the next few hours.

We road down to the end of the driveway, which is an adventure challenge in itself.  Then off to what is referred to as “the Meadow”.  The Meadow is an open space with trees and a path around it in an oval that has a little sand, incline, decline, rocks, camber, and turns and straights away since it is an oval.  In the center is trees with cones and various set ups to practice trail stops, braking, tight turns, counterbalance of weight in turns.

Our first assignment was to ride around the oval, using clutch and throttle control, going as SLOW as we possibly can.  Clutch, throttle and brake we would be getting to know very intimately over the next few days.  Much to the aches and pains of our wrists, hands, and for many hips and ankles.  One of the main agreements is if you plan on doing any adventure riding, you will fall over.   This Camp is a safe environment with very experienced teachers to learn the technical skills of many terrains and situations that one will encounter in the practical world of ADV riding.

When we got back to the ranch most of the people that were going to be there all weekend had arrived or were arriving and getting settled in, lots of activity going on.  We then had a meet and greet in the bar area during the happy hour before dinner.  Here we all met Jim Hyde and the Rawhyde crew officially and got a run down of the weekend and the few rules that they have.  Also we went around the room and introduced ourselves and a little bit about us.  This was interesting to see where everyone was from, what their riding experience was and the why of what brought them there.  I came to find out we were all in the same boat really and so it really became a little less intimidating.  I think there were approximately 26 students. 

We then were moved into the dining hall where we were served a delicious dinner by the two Chefs on staff, Anna and Julia.  No matter what your dietary needs are the Rawhyde crew can make sure you get plenty of sustenance as you will be needing it.

After dinner some people stayed up to share stories, I however was still on east coast time and was barely making it through dinner.  When the sun goes down in the Desert Mountains the temperature drops drastically, on our beds in the bunkhouse was a much-appreciated heating pad.  This was an absolutely luxury as even though I had my moto freeze out gear.  Sleeping toasty warm was a treat. 

Coffee starts at 6am, and as well as the delicious beer and wine menu the coffee was a local roasted treat. I absolutely appreciated this as well.  We then had a wonderful breakfast at 7:30, then time to prepare ourselves and be out at the paddock at 9am.

We received a briefing of the weekend and a few “classroom pointers” about body position, weight, proper stance and traction control.   As most people were street riders, Jim emphasized the main differences of riding off road.   Really the main gist was forgetting what you though you knew.  That ADV riding was its own animal.  Not really learning to tame it but learning to work with it. And using the impressive motorcycles as a tool, not trying to necessarily control them, but letting them do what they were “born to do”!

The whole group then proceeded to go to the “snake” area, which we would find out later the wrath of that serpent.  We spread out and Shawn ran us through a series of stretching and similar exercises to get us limbered up.  We then were split into two smaller groups. For the instructors only knew what bashing our bodies would go through over this weekend.   Forget everything you thought you knew about riding.  You will be pushed, challenged and exceed all of your previous expectations of your skills.  I personally would love to go back and do either private training or 2^nd level skills, which I really do not believe I am ready for.

Now Day One of the Intro into Adventure Class was a repeat of out pre-training with as more in depth pursuit of these skills.  We had 2 instructors and 2-3 “in training” instructors for each group.  Since the group was approximately 12 people we had plenty of one on one opportunity if needed.   The instructors were encouraging and patient.  It was apparent their love for teaching and ADV riding. 

After all we were all there because we sought adventure and we love motorcycles.

So the day went as this, we trained from about 10-1 then went back for lunch, which was huge and delicious, then we went back and trained more until about 5 or 5:30.  Then we had time to clean up, before happy hour and dinner.  The second night of course was much more socially mingling as we had been through the experience together and now bonded.  We could laugh and tell our stories of the many crashes that happened that day.  Luckily no one was seriously injured.  One of the many wonderful things that I took away from this, was a practice called HIGH-LOW.  Which is where we went around the room and told the group out High of the day and our Low of the day.  This was fun, as being so tired, it forced us to think back with gratitude at what we had personally accomplished and what impact it had on us.  Also was good for a few laughs as we all heard how each one of us responded to the day.  The energy in the dining hall was very high and for lack of any other ideas, the feeling of happiness and accomplishment in the air. 

I then went to bed in my quite cozy bunk and had a great nights sleep, even though the air was chilly I was very cozy, happy and tired.

Next morning at breakfast we were all just a little tired and body aches.  And same routine but this time when we went out for our morning stretch exercises, we were not moving so easily.  Our old bodies were feeling it.  

Today was much more fun as we were taught to do whoop de woops, the snake, camber, hill climbs, we were able to take a short ride up in the mountains, the views were spectacular, this reinforced us all, if we were doubting whether or not we were cut out for this lifestyle, of why we were here in the first place.

 After another amazing day of learning and riding, we finished up about 6pm, which was just about sunset.  Feeling happy and proud of what we accomplished and I am sure with a huge mental list of what else we wanted to learn and where all we wanted to travel too.  When I returned to my bunk I see that more people had arrived.   There was an option to stay on for 2 more days to utilize what we learned in the “practical world” this option was called Base Camp Alpha.  I of course decided to add this on to my trip since I am always eager to learn new things and it was a mighty long way that I had traveled to get here.  Of course, California is so beautiful and a playground in itself of ADV riding, and also some street riding which I had been luckily enough to see some just a year before.  One could really spend a year in Cali exploring all the wonderful areas.  During “happy hour” on Sunday night we had a “graduation” where we received a certificate of complete4ion and a tee shirt, and I took advantage of hugs from the coaches for all of our combined hard work.  It was a great time.  We then had our last dinner together of this weekend and enjoyed stories from Jim Hyde.  I can only imagine all the amazing things that he has to tell from his experiences alone in the Rawhyde Ranch.  Wink wink, I see a book coming Jim!

As I went back to my bunk to pack up for Base Camp Alpha.  Embracing with gratitude the wonderful people I had met and the amazing time that I had here at Rawhyde Adventure Camp. 

I truly did things on the motorcycle that I had only dreamed of. 

thoughts on freedom

I had the opportunity to visit a friend of mine in prison, after 2 years of writing. 

I of course knowing the distance and the area decided that the motorcycle was really the only form of acceptable transportation for this journey.

So I packed an overnight bag, and headed west.

There was great cut off road after just a short bit of freeway riding that would make for a fun and beautiful journey.

I stopped by the Olustee Battle ground area, which I had seen the sign for many times, but never had been.  As I watch the video in the visitor center I am reminded of the blood that was shed to make most of any countries history.  It truly brings a sense of humility to my soul.  I personally have not been touched in my adult life of war related death. 

I have endured death of friends so I am sensitive to loss of any kind.  But to fight for a cause knowing that it might kill you.  This has not touched my life. 

Olustee has a very nice memorial, hiking loop and visitor center.  It also has a re-enactment every February on site.

As I continue on I pass prison after prison, work camps, etc.  I must have passed 10 of them during this trip.  My senses are heightened to this, as I know a Florida State Prison is the destination for my trip.

I reflect on the irony of me, riding my motorcycle, solo in the breeze.  An absolute feeling of freedom, in control of my own destiny and able to have the power to do this.  I am overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude, almost to the point of tears. 

I have come a long way since my “prison” of drugs and alcohol, 15 plus years clean….my journey has been one of many ups and downs, lots of disappointments.  Years of self-discovery and amazement at the woman I have become.  I have fought hard to have the life I live today.  I have discovered much of my self that I wish did not exist, however much more that I appreciate and understand.  I have grown to love.

So riding along and breathing in each tree, the mist in the air and every little thing I can see.  I am in appreciation of my freedom.

My GPS has the option for Fastest, Shortest or Off Road…. I have come to learn that Shortest usually makes for the most interesting routes and it also includes some off road.  So I follow it to a T in the road, which has turned to dirt/sand.  I have been on dirt before and just returned from the Rawhyde Adventure camp where they taught me how to ride on sand.  I had not, however, ever attempted any off road, SOLO.  So now is the time.  

I took a few deep breaths, thought back to some pearls of wisdom from Rawhyde and carried forward. 

Luckily the roads were mostly hard packed with briefs spits of sand….which wobbled me a little, however my confidence was growing with each mile.

It was fun!  I know I want to do more of this.  So the initial solo hurtle was past me. 

As I found the asphalt again and a nice place for lunch, the southern storm was blowing in.

I had quite a ways to go, so I put on my rain gear, topped off the petrol and kept on the path.

The rain was pounding down, I past a few accidents, one really bad one with a truck that flipped in the swampy ditch.  I was grateful for my obnoxious high viz gear.

It was almost dark as I pulled into my hotel.  I checked in, in a puddle.

Next day it was raining even harder, but I wanted to get to the prison and make the most of visiting hours.

My friend has to serve 30 years, he has been in since he was 17 years old, and he is now 31.

My belief is that due to the nature of his crime that he has served his share.  He is a changed person.  It was sad to see and hear of the inhumane conditions.  I was impressed and amazed at his excellent acceptance and attitude towards his situation.

 After a very good visit, I head back out, from behind the coils and coils of razor wiring fences. 

I am once again reminded of my journey to freedom, I am grateful to have had the rough life of alcoholism. 

It has created a person who can celebrate the smallest thing and has taught me to have a passion for life that is tangible.  Today I am so grateful that I can treat myself like a human being.  I can celebrate who I am as a woman.  I can take charge of my own destiny.

My moto takes me off into the sun.  It represents so much more to me than what can be seen by the untrained eye.