The BC Buckaroos pass through Panama - On to South America - 2008

The BC Buckaroos pass through Panama - On to South America

 

November 25, 2008

 

Hola, we are now in Columbia, in the City of  Medellin.  It was once the capital of the drug trade here in this country.  As far as I am concerned, seeing it now, it may as well be in Vancouver, British Columbia.  The probably did not expect a population of five million when they built up high in the mountains.  It is very scenic and it is very busy.  We are in a hostel waiting for our bikes, which should be here tomorrow.  The weather is raining and kind of foggy.  This country has many high mountains and very steep winding roads, which is very nice for the bikes. 

 

We are looking forward to riding south in two days.  As it turned out, we rode from Panama City, out towards Colon, Panama.  On the way, we encountered a police checkpoint, where we picked up a police escort all the way to Portobello.  There, we planned to board a sailboat.  As it happens there is a huge shopping district in Colon, and many people carrying cash go there in taxis and buy things.  The highway robbers try to pull them over and rob them, so the police have road stops all over and checkpoints set up to provide escorts to tourists. 

 

We went to the sailboat jump-off point, which is a hostel that arranges boat trips to Cartagena, Columbia.  We went in to the hostel, where we met a couple from Montréal, Canada riding two BMW 1200´s, as well as an American couple on a third BMW 1200.  There were only two more spots on the boat, which was a 50-foot catamaran.  Brendan and Filipé took the remaining spots.  There were no more boats, so we rode back to Panama City and arranged to ship the bikes in a cargo plane for $700 US.  We booked ourselves on Copa Airlines to Medellin for $300 US.  Since they only have cargo runs on Wednesdays, we will wait for the bikes for another day or so. 

 

Today we went to a big BMW shop in the city.  I bought a pair of riding pants for $80 US and some synthetic oil.  Riley got a pair of Meltzer tires for $150 US.  Things are cheap here!  We had fun at the shop, as the people there are also part of a huge riding club.  The owner came out to meet us.  He has ridden from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina, which is about as far as you can go in the western hemisphere.  Covering the walls of the shop, he had many neat pics of the Yukon Territory, including one of him at the Sign Forest in Watson Lake. 

 

While there, I also fell in love… with the new BMW F800 GS, a twin Rotax with some sweet lines.  Anyhow, we will keep you posted, so far so good, Columbia is very pretty, modern and extremely clean city.  It is not what we were expecting, so it is a nice surprise. 

Take care, talk soon.  Dan Burns.
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By James McGillis at 07:20 PM | Travel | Comments (0) | Link

From Hazelton, BC, Canada to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, by Motorcycle - 2008

From Hazelton, BC, Canada to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, by Motorcycle

On October 6, 2008, I met Dan Burns and Shane Pierce at the Laundromat in Moab, Utah.  They and their friends, Riley Beise and Brendan Hutchinson were completing a shakedown ride, prior to taking off for road’s end at Ushuaia, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, near the southern tip of Argentina.  All of the BC Buckaroos, as they call themselves, hale from the towns of Hazelton or Smithers, which are located in remote Northeastern British Columbia, Canada. 

 

Some might think it is foolish or even a bit crazy for these four young Canadians to ride their Kawasaki KLR 650 motorcycles from the far north to the far south, covering a distance of 8100 miles (13,000 kilometers).  The BC Buckaroos trip is self-financed and self-supported, meaning that they have only themselves and their financial reserves to carry them forward on their ultimate KLR road trip.

 

As Dan tucked his clean clothes into the waterproof North Face duffel bag mounted on his bike, I asked him why they are making this trip.  “We are doing this ... we are not really too sure, but we want an adventure, and are excited to see how another part of the world lives.  We are looking to broaden our awareness of the other cultures to the south”, he said. 

 

The BC Buckaroos had stopped in Moab to get their bikes tuned for the road by Fred at Arrowhead Motorsports.  Dan emphasized how grateful they all were for Arrowhead’s help in getting the bikes ready for the big ride.

 

On October 13, 2008, I received a quick update from Dan, stating, “The USA has been great.  We are now in Douglas, Arizona making a few last minute stops and getting ready to cross into Mexico tomorrow."  From the remote towns of Central and South America, communications via the internet are spotty at best, so it will be interesting to hear where the B.C. Buckaroos are, now that it is late November.

 

Things have changed a lot in this world since January 1952, when an unknown 23-year-old Argentine medical student took off from Buenos Aries for an 8100-mile (13,000 kilometer) tour of South America on a sputtering 1939 Norton 500 motorcycle.  In those days, Che Guevara’s unreliable “one-lunger” and pigs in the road were the biggest threats to his safe return. 

 

Today, in a world where Somali pirates range as far as the Indian Ocean to hijack an oil tanker loaded with two million barrels of oil and over three hundred people die in the Tijuana, Mexico drug wars in less than six weeks, we wish the BC Buckaroos Godspeed.  And watch out for pigs in the road.

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By James McGillis at 02:10 PM | Travel | Comments (0) | Link