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Saturday
10/27/07

Yesterday, i did the 150 miles of off-road between Andahuanas and Ayacucho. The paysage was magnificient, I went from 7000ft to 12000ft, down to 6000ft, up to another 12000ft and finally down to 8000ft. the bike runed very well I thought. This morning, i checked the frame before leaving and no good, at 4 spots, the welding broke apart. My specialitst of the day told me that due to the poor quality of the material used to weld it did cristallised!!! i opened the all bike in the street, disconected all the electric and the guy openned all the welding and re-weld... It is 1:00pm, i just finished to put everything back together and i am hitting the road north. Do I feel lucky today? to be honest, i am not sure, but i will let you know, have a great weekend everybody.


Thursday
10/25/07

I left Cusco Tuesday morning after a last dinner with Fernando (Buenos Aires) and his friends. The off-road to Ayacucho is very hard with little rocks making the front end suffer. Wednesday, all day long, I had problem with the fixation of the fron fairing and I resolved it with 2 serfex, but, when I arrived at 4:00 pm at Andahualas i felt the front end moving on my braking!!! the "T" holding the front fork to the main frame of the motorcycle is broken. 3 of the 4 tube of the chassis are cut!!!! I went immediatly to a mechanic/welder and realised that I had to disconect all the electric wires going from the front fairing to the rear!!! a lot of scary work. By dawn, i did disconect/cut all the electric and Junio could start welding. This moring, we weded re-enforced parts and then I was up to reconnect all the electric. At 4pm, I am rolling. The front end moved a little, I have more angle on the front fork but it roll. I will take the road tomorrow morining going to the Cordillera Blanca y Negra where I sould meet Jean-Louis again. He just spend a week in Lima with the KTM dealer to work on his bike.


Saturday
10/20/07

Fernando from Buenos Aires arrived last night in Cusco with Fabian and 2
other friend on their motorcycle. We had dinner together, i enjoyed seing
them again, the timing was perfect. They left for Machu Picchu and i will see
them again monday before i left for Ayacucho (North in direction of Lima). I
was delighted of the qualification of F1 in Brasil and will go back to the Norton
Rat bar tomorrow to watch the Grand Prix.
I put online last night one story on Vitcos and the White Roch with a support
video. I still have to do the story on Espiritu Pampa.


Friday
10/19/07

What a blessing week I had!
We went to the mountain village of Huancacalle to visit first Vitcos and the
"White Rock". Then I set up with a guide and 2 mules to go to Espiritu
Pampa. Jean Louis (who is not on a Ten Years on the Road) decided not to
come and went North. It was harder than expected for me to get there but
during that week, I did not meet any other tourist, so there were a lot of
authenticity in the people who live in the mountain that we met and being at
"The Last City of the Incas" Espirtu Pampa was a very strong feeling for me.
I arrtived in Cusco last night and will stay there for the next 3 days. I want to
see the last Grand Prix of Formula one in Brazil this weekend and I have a lot
of update to do on my website.


Tuesday
10/9/07

We completed the gringo's Scacred Valley and tomorrow, we take
the off the beaten path to Vitcos, the exile capital of the Incas during the
Conquistadors conquest, and may be more after!


Wednesday
10/3/07

My feet are resting and for my birthday, Jean-Louis offer me a full massage, it
was great exept when she did the feet!
Monday night, I printed the "Getting started pdf" document of iMovie 08 and I
fell asleep on it. Tuesday morning, I started reading it and by late afternoon, I
started to open my computer to sort out the 148 clips that we made on the
way to Choquequirao. We are now wednesday at 6:00am and i am happy
with it. When Jean-Louis wakes up, we will twick it a little certainly but I made
a test online last night and I know that the final version will be online today!
Tomorrow, we are leaving for the Urubamba valley for Vitcos which is the last
forteress that Manco and his son fight the conquistadors. My real hope is to
be able to go through the jungle to Espiritu Pampa where the last son of
Manco was living hoping that the conquistadors woud not penetrate the deep
Amazonian jungle that they hate so much for the snakes, poision arrows from
the indian and the climat (go there with an armur!) but after 40 years, the
went there and further in the jungle, capture Tupac Amaru and bring him back
in Cusco where he was executed on the Plaza de Armas. This ride involve
mules and more, let see if it is possible!


Saturday
9/29/07

We are back in Cusco from Choquequirao. It was a fantastic week, I walked
40 of the 50 miles that we did on a mule trek. Choquequirau was magnificient.
I had 13 blister on my toes, but I feel very happy. we are going to rest a
couple of day before we go to the Urubamba valley (I know, we changed and
went first to the Apurimac valley more to the south).
I brake the ice with my new camera video, i download the films to my
computer last nigt, it's amazing what a moving image with sound can do! Now
I have to learn the softwate to edit the video.
Saturday The week passed very quickly. We prepared ourselves taking our time. We
saw part of the execptional photograph exibition of Martin Chambi. Tomorrow,
we are leaving for the village of Cochara were we hope to find mules to take
us to the Inca's site of Choquequirao. It is as magnificient as Machu Picchu
but not yet visited by mass tourist. It should take us 2 to 3 days to get there,
we think to stay there a couple of days and come back.


Tuesday
9/18/07

Sunday, i was on a montain road in direction of Puno and i passed a little
herd of sheep with 3 or 4 people with them. I slow down, knowing that the
sheeps always see me at the last minutes and start running in any direction.
As i just passed then, I saw a dog far in front of me and on the right side of
the road, he started running toward me. I was already in full acceleration, i put
myself on the left side of the road but the more the dog was coming closer to
my lane. in fact he was just looking at me and the motorcycle, ignoring the
existance of the sidecar, he was protecting his sheeps. I slow down at the last
minutes seing that the dog would go under the sidecar but it was too late and
he passed under the sidecar between the wheels of the motorcycle and the
sidecar wheel, he hit the frame of the sidecar violently, i was on the extreme
left side of the road. I saw his face from close, he was still running toward me,
looking at me and protecting his sheeps. I decided not to stop, i did not
wanted to put myself in a bad situtation, i did not know how these peope
would react. I thought instantly also that if the dog was not dead, I would not
know how to help him not to suffer and the shepherd peope would know what
to do exactly. This morning, I saw this dog on the "Plaza de Armas" of Cusco,
he looks exactly the same except that my dog had white and long hair.
It is the same kind of dog, he was brave
and courageous, only defending his sheeps!


C'est le meme genre de chien, il etait brave et
courageux, ne faisant que defendre ses moutons


Monday
9/17/07

I arrived in Cusco last night sunday night. To do my full maintenance, i ride
from Lima, Peru to Santiago, Chile and Mendoza, Argentina and came back
to Cusco for a total of 4600 miles. It was worthty! I am riding a brand new
motorclycle/sidecar. I reconnect with Jean Louis last night, we feel very
fortunate to be there together. For years, living in New York City, we were
dreaming of travelling on motorcycle together ... and here we are ready to
explore the Urubamba Valley (where the last 4 Inca's Emperor lived)


Saturday
9/15/07

I am at Arica, at the border of Chile and Peru. The 1300 miles of desert were
fascinating for me because i love desert and the bike is running like a Swiss
clock (thank you Giorgio!)


Thursday
9/13/07

All the effort of the last couple of weeks pay off, the bike is like a brand new
one! I left Santiago yesterday afternoon and drove 300 miles. I am on my way
to Cuzco (1800 miles) to meet with Jean Louis.


Tuesday
9/11/07

I left Mendoza for Santiago this morning on a beautiful sunny day.
I went directly to Gabriel to resolve a reverse bushes on the rear shock, a
bearing problem on the sidecar wheel, and a torn down nut at the front brake.
I take the road to the North tomorrow midday.


Monday
9/10/07

As schedule, we change the clutch, Gabriel and me. We started at 9 am and i
took the road to Mendoza at 1:30pm. I had only 300 miles to do but the
Libertadores is in the middle with a pass of 28 hair pin turns. In the middle of
that mountain, still in Chile, black out on the motorcycle and a cloud of smoke
coming from under the seat. The negative contact to the battery melted. I
replace it but i found out that the frame of the bike is connected somehow to
the positive of the battery. It took me some time to see the wire of the starter
to be touching the hood of the motor. It was dark and cold when at the pass. I
arrived at 11:00 pm in Mendoza, went to my favorite Lamb BBQ restaurant..
closed, I went to my cheap hostal with garage in the center and it is closed for
construction. Desapointed, I eat an icecream and went to Carlos garage and
slept (like an angerl) on the concrete in front of his door. Carlos wake me up
at 9 am, we did the front fork seal, checked the tork of the studs adjust the
valves and resolves a few ohter loose hands. It is 5 pm i am in front of my
favorite all you can eant Lamb BBQ argentino, and i wll go in a hotel with
garage next to it. Tomorrow morning i go back to Chile by Santiago and north
to Peru by Puno and Cuzco where i will meet Jean Louis.


Sunday
9/9/07

Somehow, the clutch get contaminated with oil (or something like that) and
after putting everyting back together including the sidecar, the clutch is
slippering. Beside the 80.000 miles it is still go gage (we checked it) because
I never use it beside for the 1st gear. We found a new clutch late last night
and I am on my way to Gabriel to remove the gearbox to change the clutch.
I hope to go to Mendoza by mid-day.


Saturday
9/8/07

The electrical problem that stop me on my way down was hard to find and
easy to fix! It was a broken wires between the electronic unit control and the
harness.
I bought 2 new tires and finally found the carbon brushes set to have optimal
charge.
I am still on the schedule to ride the sidecar to Fernando's home tonight and
go to Mendoza Argentina tomorrow to eat the best BBQ lamb in the world ans
change the gasket seal of the front fork Monday morning.


Friday
9/7/07

The bike will be rolling saturday. I am only missing the gasket ring for the
front fork that i just found in Mendoza, Argentina (250 miles from Santiago by
the Libertadores pass). Sunday, i will ride to Mendoza, eat the best lamb
BBQ of the world and be with Carlos Monday morning to replace the gasket
ring. From there, i will ride back north to Cuzco to meet with Jean Louis and
go to the "Inca's Urubamba valley"
Here is list of the maintenace we are completing:
It was mostly a clean-up job, checking all conponements and fixing a lot of
little things.
SIdecar:
- Replace swing arm with wheel axle
- New (used) front floating disk brake
Motor: (all the studs were good at 27 lbs)
- O'ring oil pump
- cylinder gasket
- head gasket
- rubber of return valves oil
- Electronic ignition O'ring
- Distribution chain
Gearbox:
- front and rear shaft seal
- Neutral contact
Cycle:
- Re-enforced the rear shock welding
- Bushing top and botton wilberg rear shock
- Welding saddle bag frame
- Welding front fork T bridge
- Front brake new piston
- Front brake pad
Electric:
- left hand grip
- several miss contact that i had to short cut in the past.
- as for my lack of spark on my way down, we have to finish putting the bike
together to test the electronic control unit.


Tuesday
9/4/07

After 1500 miles of desert since i left Lima, the bike stop dead quite abruptly.
There were no spark, it was 8:00 am, at a gaz station, next to a payphone, a
coffee machine and all the trucks going to santiago.
It took me 30 minutes to determine that it was not a quick fix, the coil was
good but there were no delivery! It took me an other 30 minutes before I
could hear a loud "HUMBERTO" there is a truck for you to go to Santiago
with you sidecar! It was one the pump guy that i warned about my need. We
did the 600 miles to Santiago, arrived at 3:00am, found a place to unload the
sidecar that opened at 7:00am. By 8:00 am, my friend Fernando was there to
pull me to Gabriel the genuis bmw mecanic who is working with his son and
daughter. Tonight, the motor is on the bench, there is no bad surprises, just a
full maintenance. The studs which bugs me from California to Brazil are
perfect. I will be with Gabriel for the next 3 or 4 days.


Saturday
9/1/07

5:00pm: I am in the little town of Pozo Almonte (next to Iquique). The next
little town with a hotel is Maria Elena at 150 miles from here. I don't want to
drive at night in the desert and I stay here. I passed the border without
problem (it was just long, may be 2 hours).
I enjoy a lot riding in the desert and my body start to understand that i will not
stop! when it's too hard, i don't stop, i slow down like 5 or 10 mph less and it
makes a huge difference. My regular speed is 60 mph with a max of 70 mph
once in a while. I wanted to be monday in Santiago but it may be tuesday, I
still have 1200 miles to do.


Friday
8/31/07

7:00pm: I am 100 miles from the Chilean border. Today, it was only pleasure.
I had some weit fog, and it was cold, i stopped several time to get dressed
and undressed when the sun showed up.
The 2000 miles between Lima and Santiago on the Panamerica are only
desert and along the Pacific. A spectacular ride. The bike is running without
any problem.


Thursday
8/30/07

8:00: I am leaving Lima for Santiago by the Panamericana.
6:00pm: I am in Nazca 300 miles south of Lima. the bike worked perfectly, all
my muscle are sour, and the skin of my hand vivid red!
there were a lot of traffic by Pisco at the epycenter of the earthquake. A
bridge is still down and we are passing by a river (dry). Many, many house
are down to the ground, some streets still filled with their debris.
It feels fantastic to be back on the road.


Wednesday
8/29/07

It took me the all day yesterday to do my web site, I was a little rusty there
too, i made some workflow mistake and it took me time to correct them. Also
my new computer need some set up adjustment to be perfectly at my hand
and it takes a little time to have all that done.
Ivan will be in his house at 4pm today, i will be in front of his door to get all
my bags, and get orginized for tomorrow morning early departure to Santiago
(2000 miles)


Tuesday
8/28/07

I get my sidecar yesterday afternoon, it started at the 3rd try. Everything is
stiff on it (including me). My hotel has an undergroung parking. Ivan (who has
all my bags) is coming back Wednesday. I am walking around in Lima from
Miraflores.


Monday
8/27/07

My flight to Lima Peru was divine, I read one of the 2 books that I bought on
the art of video making, I have a long way to go. I called Ivan with the cell
phone of the cab driver who was taking me to his house, he answered me
that he had to travel for his work and will be back tuesday night or
wednesday. He recommended me a hotel in Miraflores where i will be
vacationing for the next 2 days. I will try to get my sidecar back today from
Nicolas's garage, but all my bags are at Ivan's house..


Saturday
8/25/07

I arrived friday morning in New York City.
Most important i had my doctor check-up and my cancer is nowhere to be
seen. My mac died the night before, I went to the Apple Soho store where the
genius guy told that economically, after 2.5 years in my saddle bag on the
road, my mac was behond repair. I bought a new MacBook at Tekserve (white
160GB and 2GB of ram) , went to a iMovie class at the Apple store of Fith Av.
Went to B&H, the photographer's Meca to buy a camcorder. I bought the
Panasonic SD1, High Definition flash camcorder that works in perfect
harmony with my mac and iMovie. I hope to learn enough to make small clips
of my travel that i could publish on my web site. Went to the Video Hospital
for my Panasonic FX01 that the guy did not repair correctly in July. To spare
you the detail, I screemed loudly and repeatidly -15 times may be - "you are a
fucking idiot".Then to calm me down, I ate a soft chocolate icecream from a
truck on broadway (my favorite).
I was back home at jean Louis's house by 8:00 pm exausted and started the
set up of my new mac. My firelite hard disk back up worked like a charm.
I have a few more things like that do to today and I will meet my friend Michel
(pilote from air france) who is landing at 2:00pm today.
I am flying tomorrow to Lima.


Saturday
8/18/07

My friends Ivan and Nicolas from Lima who are the keeper of my sidecar are
doing well with all their families after the earthquake of Friday.
I am still flying to Lima Sunday 26.
With Lorraine Jessica and Fabio, we just spend a couple of days with Gary
and Valerie (lorraine's cousin and partner in crimes! that works with us at the
Paradis Latin 20 years ago). It felt great to be reunited having a lot of fun
together.
I wanted to take the time to answer all my late emails but I terribly failed on
that. I will get on that soon (I promess) and I am very sorry for not answering
you earlier.
I have received almost all my motorcycles part to do my heavy maintenance
when i go back to South America next week. I keep my schedule to drive to
Santiago immediatly (I hope that the road will between Lima and Pisco will be
reopened - it closed at the earthqake)


Wednesday
8/15/07

Jessica arrived last night with Fabio in Rochester, they look fabulouis. They
are moving from Milano to Boston where they start their MBA in September (
to the great delight of Lorraine who will have her daughter close to her.
Here is my plan of action (finally)
- 8/23 train to New York City and visit to Shemen (my cancer doctor)
- 8/26 plane to Lima. A day or two to prepera myself to hit the road.
- Last week of August I drive south to Santiago Chili about 2000 miles.
- Firt week of September, major motorcycle/sidecar maintenance with Gabriel,
a very good bmw mechanic working alone (with me) in his garage. I will stay
with my friend Fernando that i met a few months earlier.
- Mid september, i will drive my sidecar (virtually new for the next 20000
miles) to La Paz where i will meet Jean Louis. We will go to Cusco and then
the Urubamba valley where Manco and his 3 sons (the last 4 Inca emperors)
fight the conquistadors for 40 years. We will go to Vitcos, the last forteress
that Manco established.
Woh, that's a lot of programming already, but no matter the good time I had
with lorraine this summe in New York, my sidecarist blood is coagulated and
it's about time to take care of that!


Wednesday
8/1/07

Time fly so fast, we are already in august!
life in Rochester New York is very nice in summer, it feels like vacation.
Simon (74) that I admire so much is back in Ushuaia to pick up his pizza bike
(Honda 125CC) and return to England from there. Don't miss Simon's blog,
the guy is funny, a very good writer and inspire me!
Jessica and Fabio are coming to Rochester on the 15th of august and we will
have a party with Gary (Lorraine's cousin) and Valerie who are visiting us
from france.
This message is for Ivan and Nicolas from Lima who have been nice enough
to keep my sidecar while i was in the USA, I am coming back on August 26 to
Lima, please do not sell or trash my sidecar, I swear, I am coming back!




Wednesday
7/25/07

Lorraine's appartment is done at 95% and since the last 7 days that we
arrived in Rochester, we visited:
- 13X (times) Home Depot
Untitled Document 10/27/2007 04:47 PM
file:///Users/hubertk/Sites/TTR%20Septembre/Blog/TMP18pb6qkx8w.htm Page 9 of 26
- 9 X KMart
- 5X Wall Mart
- 2X Lowes
- 4X Bed Bath and Beyond
- 5X TJ Max
- 2X Pottery Barn
and many other stores that i don't even remenber the names.
The Appartment is gorgous and just as an example, the bathtab walls are
covered with red towel suspended on curtain rod attached to the wall by
coper plumbing accessories (the warmth a velvet curtain adapted to a
bathroom environment)
I know that I am very late because I still have 2 or 3 stories to do for my web
site... soon!




Tuesday
7/17/07

It took us a week to drive the 3200 miles betweeen from California to New
York. My feeling about Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota are
unchanged, There is always a magy when riding these roads. We slept at
Sturgis where the bike week will start on August 1st and bring 400.000 bikers,
it was expansive (for no reason) and dead!
We saw:
- more motorcycle that I used to see in the past (mostly Harley Davidson).
- more trailer behing the motorcycles.
- 2 sidecars
- in the state of Wisconsin and Illinois, there were more BMW than HD!
- In USA all hotels and motels have Wifi but only half of them works!
We unload the pickup in Lorraine's new appartment and now we just have to
set it up.


Tuesday
7/10/07

After 4 days in Redding California, we were able to leave this morning on a
pickup truck with all Lorraine's belonging on the back to go across USA to
Rochester New York. We choose to go diagonally through Nevada to Boise
Idaho in the beautiful Rocky Mountains and then Montana and Sturgis in
South Dakota. Milou is adorable and when she runs, she thinks that she is
Superman!
This week, Eve get a new Job in Jersey with a higher salary than I never had
myself, Lucie get her psychology diploma, and Jessica had 720 (out of 800)
at her GMAT exam for her MBA next year in Boston. Everything might not be
perfect yet, but at least individually, they are doing pretty good and make me
a proud dad!


Friday
7/6/07

The father of Lorraine (jessica's mom) passed away. I flew yesterday from
Lima Peru to San Francisco, California where i spent the day with my nephew
Wilson then I took a train to Redding where i am helping Lorraine to move
her stuff from here to Rochester where she lives. In Lima, Ivan arranged that I
could park my sidecar in the garage of his friend Nicolas. I will go back to
Lima in August to continue my travelling in South America.
I still have 3 or 4 stories on Machu Picchu that i am doing to put on my web
site in the next few days.


Monday
7/2/07

4:00pm: I just arrived in Lima. I am at Ivan's house that I met at Torres del
Pains (Chile) last March. He was on motorcycle with a group of friends from
Les Baleares (spain) going south while i was going North.


Sunday
7/1/07

6:15 am: I am late on my web site, but what a great week I had!
On my way to Machu Picchu, I had to U-turn after Ollantaytambo at verano
Veronica (13000ft) because of a mountain slide. It happens monday and the
road was closed to the next 2 to 3 weeks. I took the train at Ollantaytambo to
Machu Picchu and was there at dawn the next day. Its hard to describe the
feeling i had, i become fascinated by the Inca civilisation. I am reading "Lost
City of the Incas" from Hiram Bingham who (re) discovered Machu Picchu in
1911. Yesterday, I left a little village at 7:30 am on my way to Lima.in th efirst
mile, the fixation of the rear shock broke, I removed it, took a collectivo cab to
go to Cusco and found a alluminium welder who fixed it, at 3 pm i was back
on the road. I am in Abancay and last night, i found a hostal with parking and
cable TV, in 45 minutes, I will watch live the F1 Grand Prix of France and the
hit the road.


Sunday
7/1/07

6:15 am: I am late on my web site, but what a great week I had!
On my way to Machu Picchu, I had to U-turn after Ollantaytambo at verano
Veronica (13000ft) because of a mountain slide. It happens monday and the
road was closed to the next 2 to 3 weeks. I took the train at Ollantaytambo to
Machu Picchu and was there at dawn the next day. Its hard to describe the
feeling i had, i become fascinated by the Inca civilisation. I am reading "Lost
City of the Incas" from Hiram Bingham who (re) discovered Machu Picchu in
1911. Yesterday, I left a little village at 7:30 am on my way to Lima.in th efirst
mile, the fixation of the rear shock broke, I removed it, took a collectivo cab to
go to Cusco and found a alluminium welder who fixed it, at 3 pm i was back
on the road. I am in Abancay and last night, i found a hostal with parking and
cable TV, in 45 minutes, I will watch live the F1 Grand Prix of France and the
hit the road.


Monday
6/25/07

Inti Raymi is not on the 24th but on the 23rd and 24th!
Saturday, is the parade in the streets of Cusco until 2 am, and Sunday is the
reenactment of the Inca winter solstice at Saqsaywamàn (10 miles from
Cusco). I did both but it was very different from La Paz. The street parade
was more commercial with less "heart" but the streets belong to the Peruvien,
most of the tourists were hidding in the fancy restaurants. As for the
Saqsaywamàn ceremony on sunday, it was just for a few privilege people to
see it closely, others like me were at binocular distance.
Tomorrow, I go to Machu Pichu not by the train but by the road, here is how it
works. From Cusco to Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, Santa Maria, Santa Teresa
and finally Hidroelectrica where there is a train going Agua Calientes for $8
unstead of the $160 from Cusco to Agua Calientes. But when I will be in
Hidroelectrica (it is a dam) i want to found a guide and go to the Puerta del
Sol and be there before sunrise and see the magie of the daylight coming on
the foggy Machu Pichu!


Friday
6/22/07

8:00pm: I arrived in Cusco (10000ft) at 3 pm after 2 days of beautiful riding on
laced road going from one mountain (13000ft) to the next one several times. I
was warned that because the yearly festival "Inti Raymi" is this sunday, it will
be impossible to find a room and if i found one, it will be extremely expensive.
The festival culmintates in a reenactment of the Inca winter solstice. I went
directly to the center to Plaza de Armas and though that i would circle-out
cusco and eventually sleep in my tent in the moutain around. The Plaza de
Armas was already closed to the traffic so I parked one blok away to pull my
Peru Lonely Planet. A local guy was there looking at me so I say hi, and out
of nowhere I asked him where was the tourism office thinking may be they
know a room available! The guy ask me what i wanted to know from the
tourism office. I told him that i wanted to know where i am going to sleep
tonight with a secure garage for me sidecar on top of that!. 5 minutes after,
he was sitting on the sidecar directing me around the city to approach the
Plaza de Armas by the other side and 1/2 blok away from that plaza he made
me enter under a porch to a inside court. This is a small hotel called Casa
Grande. My sidecar is safely parked in the center of it, and I have a bedroom
with bathroon on the ground floor for $10 a night!!!
I love travelling like that, it is so easy, all i had to do is to accept the risk that i
would not have a room and be less comfortable, but I would not have miss
"Inti Raymi" in anycase. By the way my angel garden is a native from cusco
and i will meet with him tomorrow at 2 pm!


Wednesday
6/20/07

11:00am: Last night to my big surprise and for the first time since 2 years, i
had fox news on the TV of my bedroom. I saw it all, Bill O'Reilly, Hannity &
Colmes, John Gibson, Greta ect... and I wake up with Fox & Friends (that I
never liked). I can tell you how i fell: this life seems to be very complicated,
with so many issues! I enjoy even more my life of simplicity with my sidecar,
the simple people that i meet on the road and my daily contact with my family
by phone or by email.
This morning, I flew over the Nasca's Lines... you will see it later on my web
site. I am on track to be june 24 to the biggest festival of Cuzco.


Tuesday
6/19/07

10:00am: Yesterday was my first riding without Jean Louis, I was riding the
coastal road between Camana and Chala. Very wild, beautiful. There were 2
major accidents of trucks going over the fence... one of them just fell asleep.
As i was looking for a place to sleep, i met a german guy on a Africa twin
travelling since 6 months. We shared a room with a view on the ocean. it was
interesting to listen to his stories, he is kind of saturated of his travels, for him,
all the villages are the sames, he feels that he already saw them! I told him
that it was time for him to go home! He gave me a route to go to Machu
Pichu, by road to Santa Maria and Santa Theresa, then a train for $8 to the
terminal of Agua Calientes (the normal train from Cuzco to Agua Calientes is
$160.


Monday
6/18/07

I did one story (out of 2) I go put it onliine this morning and leave to Nazca
250 miles North on the Pacific. I want to eat the shellfish from the fishing
village on the pacific coast.


Sunday
6/17/07

Friday at 5 pm, when we reach the Pacific, Jean Louis went South to pickup
his plane to New York for the next couple of months and I went North along
6/17/07 to go to Cuzco where I want to be on June 24 for the yearly festival.
I stopped in Camana. This beach resort was decimated by some kind of under
water volcano eruption in 2001 and only the center of the city stayed intacte. I
watch the qualification and the F1 Grd Prix of Indianapolis and rested a lot. I
want to (finally) finish to answer all my emails that I have late (alone before I
ride with Jean Louis, I was always on top of that, but travelling at 2 changes
my system and I accumulated a lot of email to anwer) I also have 2 stories to
do on my web site, one from Arequipa and the other on Cruz del Condors! .
So far, i drove only 60 miles since Jean louis left friday night, and it's nice to
relax, but it's weird to be alone!


Wednesday
6/13/07

Arequipa, located in the south of Peru is the 2nd city by it's size. It is a rich
architectural city with a lot of history. We went to see "Juanita", a momy from
the Incas, discovered 12 ago then we visited the "convent" from the 16th
centur where each nun had 3 to 4 slaves and servants!
Today, we go to a canyon deeper than the Gran Canyon from USA!


Sunday
6/10/07

We stayed in Puno today to watch the F1 Grand Prix of Montreal!!!
Tomorrow we will go Ouest to Arequipa in direction of the Pacific.
I bought a reserve of Dot 4 for my front brake which is pissing a lot. My friend
David who is preparing the Iron butt rally (see his web site here) for the end
of August is sending me a rebuilt kit of the front brake piston in Lima!


Friday
6/8/07

We are back from Isla del Sol, it was like in an other world. We are leaving
Copacabana this morning and will sleep in Peru tonight


Wednesday
6/6/07

Copacabana is on the highest navigable lake in the world (11400ft) 100 miles
by 50. We ate a delicious trout on the lake last night and had breakfast there
with the sunrise and the view on the lake. We are going to the Isla del sol for
a couple of days... no internet there. what a change in our environment from
the bolivian moutains!


Tuesday
6/5/07

Yesterday, I finished my maintenance on the motorcycle. We are leaving this
morning to the lake Titicaca and then we go to Peru.


Sunday
6/3/07

Friday was mechanic time, we found Ernesto who works 8 years in
Switzerland and who bring back the best of it. His garage is not for
motorcycle, he works mainly on all kind of 4X4, but for a very modest fee, we
can work on our motorcycle in his "lean" place and benefit from his
mechanical advices. In everything that i did that day, what amazed me the
most was my broken speedometer cable, within 2 hours, he bring me a new
one made with my ended and a new cable!!! I love that. Same for a damage
clutch cable that i did not through away a few thousands miles ago.
Everything else was just regular maintenance and trouble shouting of
electrical bad contact.
Yesterday, we heard about a big parade and were surprised by the dimension
it took. The enthousiasme and participation of the all population of La Paz
was tremendous. The city was vibrating from 8 am to 2 am this morning
(sunday).


Wedesday
5/30/07

After a long day riding "The World's Most Dangerous Road", we arrived at
dusk last night in La Paz. Thank you for the heavy fog we had the all day so I
could not see what I did not wanted to see! - the 3000ft cliffs. (I have vertigo
on the third step of a lader!)


Monday
5/28/07

We arrived at Coroico by the "new road". Tomorrow we go back to La Paz by
the old road. We choose to do it that way because we will go from 5000 ft to
14000ft Going uphill and it's easier to control as well as we will have the
mountain on the left side. In this one lane dirt mountain road (with a few
refuges), the rule is that the downhill vehicules stay to the clif side because
they have a better control at how far they can go, so going uphill, we will stay
on the mountain side!


Thursday
5/24/07

Yesterday, we stayed in Sucre, went to the history museum of Bolivia. We are
taking the road this morning for Cochabamba.
As you can see in my new story about the Silver mine of Potosi, i am now
equiped against the mean people. But there is secret to carry it safely, you
put the dynamite bar in one saddle bag and the detonator in the other one!


Wednesday
5/23/07

We arrived at Sucre which is a very pleasant coloniale city. Yesterday, i did
my maintenance on my equipment. First i had an eyes prescription and get
new Varilux Panamic lenses ($120) for my red glasses. the old one were so
scratch that I could not use them anymore. I change the brake pad on the
sidecar wheel that I should have done with Egrin. I fixed the left saddle bag
with a metal plate. I welded the sidecar fixation from Sao Paulo that did not
please me. I welded the lock of the sidecar rear door. I bought new spare
bearings for the sidecar wheel and front wheel and a philips screw driver that
I broke when hammering the salt of Salar de Uyuni. I opened the front end of
the motorcycle to see that the cable of the speedometer was not unscrewed
but broken! Today, we go to the museum of history of Sucre. It's all about
Simon Bolivar who fight the conquistadors and liberated Venezuela, Colombia
(including what is now Panama), Equator, Peru and Bolivia.
I am preparing a story for my web site about the silver mine of Potosi that we
visited and touch me tremendously!


Saturday
5/19/07

We left the Salar de Uyuni yesterday. We just arrived at the highest city in the
world, Potosi at 12270ft. Of course I cannot run (but I cannot eather at the
beach either!); for Jean Louis and me, altitude is not a probem anymore.
I changed the bearing of the sidecar wheel this afternoon after only 6000
miles!


Tuesday
5/15/07

We are leaving for the Salar de Uyuni for a few days...


Monday
5/14/07

We are in the village of Uyuni. Not too much charm but we are at the door of
the legendary "Salar de Uyuni". Tomorrow night we will sleep at the "Paya
Blanca Hotel" in the middle of the Salar. The Hotel is made of salt exclusively
and has no electricity. Beside the nice weather we have, it is pretty cold.
The people here works very hard in difficult conditions, I can only respect
them for that. We need more time to understand them better.
I am trying to put my story online on my web site but internet is very, very
slow and buggy! We did not do too many miles these last few days, because
of montains road and yesterday, i did not do so well, I had verdigo on the
raod with the cliffs so I went very slowly. I feel much better today (may be
beacause there are no cliff on a salar!)


Sunday
5/13/07

We entered a new world "Bolivia" 2 days ago. It is so different from Argentina
and Chile. We are at the border of the Salar Uyuni that we want to explore.
Internet is extremely slow so far and I could not put my last story from the
Andes online yet!
3 days ago, my front wheel bearing gave-up, I used my spare wheel and was
able to buy new bearing and replace them. (#6005. I love the simplicity of the
bearing system, it's only a 4 digtits number and it worlks all over the world!)


Wednesday
5/9/07

Noon: It took me an other day working on the motorcycle to be ready. My
gear box oil was contaminated with water (again), and I had to do electrical
cleaning overall after having the sidecar washed by karcher when arriving in
Salta. We are leaving in a few minutes for Bolivia, there are a few mountains
road that we don't want to miss!


Monday
5/7/07

2:00am: I just put online the update on my English web site. At 8:30 am, I will
be at the aluminium welding shop to repare my saddle bag and I will be
working on the sidecar the all day. We expect to leave Tuesday morning.


Friday
5/4/07

Back to civilization! We had a fantastic ride of 1000 miles in this desert above
12000ft and we get lost more than once! The temperature at night was -5ºF
and 40ºF during the day but we found refuge every nights, from a school to a
church in a mine!
The sidecar did pretty well, i goofed only a couple of time in the sand and the
wash-board was quite brutal. I broke my windshield, the fender of the sidecar
wheel, the left aluminum saddle bag and the fixation of the right saddle bag,
nothing major. We put all our clothe to the laundry and will be back in Salta
tomorrow where we will stay a couple of days to fix everything before we go
to Bolivia. I will update my web site in a couple of days time to sort-out all
these photos.


Monday
4/30/07

Noon: We went to Cachi a very nice village at the feet of the mountain.
Yesterday we took an other surprising part of the Ruta 40 (4575km) the Abra
del Cay at 14950 feet, it was magnificicient. We slept at an indian village, San
Antonion de las Cobres at 12000 ft. We could sleep without pills, we wake up
a lot but went back to sleep immediatly. We are going south to Antafogasta
de la Cierra. We will be always above 12000ft on remote road. We expect a
few days to get there.


Friday
4/27/07

11:00m: Jean Louis arrived Thursday at Salta. I did changed all my oils, clean
the air filter and put a new rear tire. This morning, I finished my web site, put
it online, had lunch, started the french version of my web site, and by 4:30
pm, we left Salta passing by the Firestone family run business where I bring
some flowers for Magdalena and her daughter Mercedes. We did 40 miles
and are at the feet of the mountain that we want to ride tomorrow.


Wednesday
4/25/07

8:00am: I am leaving now for Argentina by the Jamal pass and get back with
jean Louis in Salta. I did answer all my (late) emails, so if you fell in the crack
I am sorry about that, just let me know, I will fix it right away.


Tuesday
4/24/07

2;30pm: Sunday night, I worked on my web site until 4 am, I get up at 8 and
put it online. Then I did the french version and had lunch. 3 Chileans jump on
me and we talk for a long time, we went to the hot spring Puritama and we
had a Parilla last night in their hotel. I went back to my bed late during the
night and wake up at 1 pm today. It feels good. I stay here today to (try to)
finish anwering my (late) emails and tomorrow, I go back to Argentina by the
Jamal pass and will meet Jean Louis in Salta.


Monday
4/23/07

Noon: I found a nice cheap hotel last night, so I stay there today, relaxing,
updating my web site, doing my laundry.


Sunday
4/21/07

7:30pm: I arrived last night in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The Sico pass
was very demanding physicallty because there were a lot of wash board, sand
and I stayed above 12000ft during 200 miles. The little town is quite well
done, you walk on the ground, have walls made of it also and behind are a
lot of luxury hotel and restaurant with little patio...
I went to the see the Geiser Tairol and made a circle of 150 miles alone in
the mountains. I may rest here tomorrow and work on my web site, then I will
go back to Argentina by the Jamal pass and get back with Jean Louis who
should have finish his work on his motorcycle.


Friday
4/20/07

11:00am: I am leaving the very hospitable city of Salta for the Sico pass to go
to Chile. I will do it in 2 or 3 days depending, but i think to sleep at San
Antonio de la Cobras at 9000 ft tonight. I bought 2 new tires Pirelli Scorpion
MT 90 for the front and the rear, so i have extra spare for Bolivia after where
I am not sure to find the right tires.


Thursday
4/19/07

11:00am: We are in Salta, Argentina. We have very strong memories of the
Socompa Pass. Salta is a very rich colonial style city. Wifi is everywhere.
Jean Louis is going south to do his service on his bike. I will go tomorrow to
Chile by the Sico Pass, stop by San Pedro de Atacama, ville mytic touristique
I will come back to Argentina meet jean Louis at the end of the week by the
Jama Pass (Jean Louis did all that in 2000 with his sidecar).
If you are close to Naz, Rochester, go see Cabaret, it start tonight and is and
excellent show!


Sunday
4/15/07

11:00am: We were screwed, we stayed one more day to see the F1 Grand
Prix of Bahrein but it was not on the regular Fox Sport as usual, it was on the
Fox Sport Premium that the hotel did not have! What can i say, Fernando is
learning his lesson!
We are leaving for the socompa pass to Argentina, 400 miles of deserted
roads.


Samedi
4/14/07

We were very happy to take a shower yesterday, after that, we had a very
nice dinner on the sea in an old luxury hotel from the 50's. Today, we stayed
at Antafogasta to see the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrein tomorrow morning then
we will go for the Socompa pass.
Friday I don't neglect my blablablog, I just have a hard time to connect my computer
to the internet recently. When I was able to connect last friday, the internet
connection shut down just after i put on line my new story and I could not
update my blablablog!
We ride North on the pacific coast along the sea on remote road used only by
fisherman. We are preparing ourselves for the Socompa pass tomorrow or
the day after.


Wednesday
4/11/07

I was not able to connect my computer on internet these last few days... but
as you can see on the San Francisco Pass story, we are doing pretty good.
We are now on the Pacific at Chanaral, and we are going North through little
fishing village to take the Socompa Pass back to Argentina. We don't know
the altitude excactly, its on none of all our maps but we know that we need
an autonomy of 400 miles. We are going to carry extra gas tank in the
sidecar.


Saturday
4/7/07

8:30 pm: Last night, we put the alarm clock at 4:00 am to see the qualification
of F1 in Sepang. We made a mistake, it was at 3:00 am so we saw the score
and could go back to sleep right away. Today, I stayed in bed the all day, I
just came at the cafe internet at 6 pm to update my web site that I worked on
the all day. We will see the F1 grand prix at 4 am tonight and hit the road
tomorrow. I needed this rest and just have a sour through that is going away
slowly.


Friday
4/6/07

5:00 p m: Since last friday, I went to Agua Negra. I slept in the mountain with
a shepherd at 12000 feet. The next day, I went through the pass at 14300
feet. I met Jean Louis at the feet of the montain in Argentina. We went directly
to the mountains Pircas Negra. We were not allowed to to to Chile because
the border is closed since February 28 but we decided to visit it. We found a
refuge at 13000 feet built in 1873 like an igloo but in made of stones.
We were very quickly out of breath. We started immediatly a fire to cook our
dinner (4 pieces of red meet). I made the fire at the entrance of the refuge
where it was set before. With the strong wind, we could not go in the refuge
anymore, the smoke was overwelming. I moved the fire to an other location,
but the wind keep us away from the refuge. Inhaling a little of smoke was
painfull, and it took a long time to get my breath back after that. Finally I
cooked all the meet on my wench (15-16-17-18- and 19 mm), Dinner was
delicious. At sunset the temp lowered very quickly to 25ºF and the wind kept
blowing very srongly. We set our tarp in the refuge and lie down in our
sleeping bags (Jean-Louis has the same kind of sleeping bag as me. Down
rated -40ºF and goretex)
Immediatly, the pressure in my head was very, very incomfortable. I was
warm but shivering. Breathing was not difficult, it was hard. I needed this
breathe in my chest and was concentrating on getting it right. My ovula was
swollen, it was hard to inhale, but when finally it happens, i felt so good and
immediatly started to concentrate on my next breath. I felt that I was on the
edge the all night. My body temperature was way to high and my heart bit
was extremely fast. I tried to go to the sidecar where i have altitude pills. At
the door of the refuge, I fainted. I decided t came back in my sleeping bag
and not to hurt me more. The difference between Jean Louis and me is that I
fainted more rapidly, but he had more hallucination and chest pain. The worst
of all is the anxiety not to be able to get the next breath. I talked to Jessica a
few days ago on skype, she told me of the danger of altitude and that the
most important was to drink a lot. We were drinking a lot but it become
difficult also because you run out of breath. I could only drink ahalf oa
mouthful at a time and work hard to bet back to the breathing rythme.
I had an excit plan in my head, if one of us was going worst, we empty the
sidecar and start riding down the montain, but the village was at 80 miles
from here. I was thinking a lot to the people that I love the most, Eve, Lucie,
Jessica all in Europe certainly at work at this time and Lorraine still sleeping
in New York.
During the night, I ask Jean Louis to go to the sidecar and get the altitude
pills. I felt better very rapidly, except the pressure of my head on the pillow, I
had to move it every few minutes, but finally, I fell asleep. I don't know how
long. I needed to pee, and stayed on the edge of the tarp on my knees and
pee on the ground. Finally, at 9:30 am, we were both awake, and decided to
pack and go down to the valley. Packing was hard, any effort was taking on
our breathing, and just to put the sleeping bag in the bag took an awful long
time. We drove down by the same way we came to avoid new complication.
None of the dirt road are marked in the mountain. At the village, we took a
cabana and slept very well last night. I am still recuperating. We drove 60
miles today, but I did not like it, I need to rest more, we have a nice room in
an other village, and we will stay one or 2 days there. We learned our lesson,
we can go on a pass of higher altitude, but not stay there!




Sunday
4/1/06

10:00am: Fernando (from Santiago) made me promess him to call his friend
Daniel (French) when I will arrive in La Serena. We get together at about 10
pm and stay around the table in his house until 2 am... he invited me in his
hotel that he has on the beach. Daniel gave me a lot of information about the
roads in the mountains and the passes to Argentina.
Today is Jean-Louis's birthday, and he gave himself the best present he
could. He left today from Buenos Aires on his KTM639 Adventure, and we will
meet in 2 or 3 days at San Juan! (across from the Agua Negra pass where I
go today)


Sunday
4/1/06

10:00am: Fernando (from Santiago) made me promess him to call his friend
Daniel (French) when I will arrive in La Serena. We get together at about 10
pm and stay around the table in his house until 2 am... he invited me in his
hotel that he has on the beach. Daniel gave me a lot of information about the
roads in the mountains and the passes to Argentina.
Today is Jean-Louis's birthday, and he gave himself the best present he
could. He left today from Buenos Aires on his KTM639 Adventure, and we will
meet in 2 or 3 days at San Juan! (across from the Agua Negra pass where I
go today)


Saturday
3/31/06

11:00m: I went to Santiago, the Libeatores pass was great, it snowed a little,
just enough to give me a good feeling, there were a long time that I did not
drive in the white! I met Fernando (an new one that I met on internet) spend 2
days in his house, get my oil and nitro change on my rear shock. This
morning, I left for Valparaiso on the Pacific and went North to La Serena
where I just arrived. Tomorrow, I will take the highest pass between Chile and
Argentina El Paso Agua Negra at almost 15000 feet and I may spend a night
or 2 in the mountain!
Thursday 10:00am: I am all set, I go to Santiago, I hope that the pass is open!


Wednesday
3/28/06

10:00am: I arrived last sunday in Mendoza and pick up a hostel in the center
with secure garage for my sidecar. Monday and Tuesday, I was doing my
sidecar maintenance with Carlos. An amazing guy, he has all kind of parts for
my bike (at doulble price than in the USA). Like new gas handle, new heated
grip switch!!! All my oil pressure problem is cleared, we put 3 metal gaskets
(unstead of me 2 and normal 1) at the white Oring of the oil filter cover. The
gap for the Oring is 4.5mm and the Oring is only 4mm. The right exaust
buterfly redone in Brazil and leaking air is fixed, the conic clip inside was
reversed! I have 2 sets of new tires, new oil, and now the gaz throttle is
smooth and very pleasant. I had dinner last night at the moto club of Mendoza
it's a nice group of people (20). I wanted to leave this morning for Santiago
but the pass is closed because of the snow. I found out that i have internet in
my hostel, I stay here one more day an will put my web site up to date.


Sunday
3/25/06

11:00am: Last night, I slept in the mountain an other time... nothing is better
than that for me. I am at 80 miles from Mendoza. When I reached the paved
road after the last section of gravel road this morning, I stopped at the first
gaz station to take a coffe. The girl next to me on the bench had running
shoes, with a silky look, highly design, with a shoulder bag hanging from her
knees, I met again with civilisation! Not an easy thing to do! I like the wild life.


Saturday
3/24/06

4:00 pm: I could not connect on internet to put the 3/22 online, but since I left
Barilche, I have been riding in the mountains going north between the Ruta
40 and the Cordiliere des Andes. It is extremely touching, a lot of solitude
there. I am now 250 miles away from Mendosa (same hight as Buenos Aires
but on the Ouest side of Argentina and not far from Santiago du Chile.
I was recommended a good mecano for my motorcycle in Mendosa so I will
stop by him to do a good check up!


Thursday
3/22/06

7:30 am: Last night, I stuff myself with argentinian lamb, it was divine! I tald to
a few tourists in the street, and time i went back on the sidecar to find a place
to sleep, it was 11 pm. One mile away, I saw a sign with a Hostel
International, it was perfect, 10mn later, i was in bed for $10 the night.
For me, Bariloche has no interest, it's a rich growing city with a test of Buenos
Aires snobism. So i go north, I was recommended a hard sand road parallele
to Ruta 40 that I am going to try.


Wedesday
3/21/06

6:20pm: In my search of tires yesterday, I had to go north and missed Chiloe
but I was successful to buy a new rear tire Michelin Sirac tubeless. I had rain
the all day but ride around a lake with 2 volcanos, it was beautifull. In the
mountain, my sidecar wheel shows me that the bearing were dead and
because the wheel moved, I lost one brake pad! In a lost village in Chile, a
very nice man selling oil for cars, help me remove the wheel and took me to a
store where 2 littles girls were selling fruit and vegetables and a few parts for
automobile. They had my 2 sizes bearing!!! we put it all back together and i
went to sleep next door in a family house. A shower (3days) put me in a good
mood for a pleasant night. This morning, I knew something was wrong in my
sidecar brake and the man from yesterday was busy so i told him that i just
came to say thank you and go. In Bariloche, I removed the with Klaus who do
Motorcycle tours that I met in south patagonia a month ago and we found out
quickly that we did not put back the brake caliper correctly... in no time it was
fixed. I went then to a tire shop to install my new tire from yesterday on the
rear and i bought a used pirelli for the front so i am in good shape to stay on
Ruta 40 going north. I saw a BBC argentinian restaurant all you can, i am
going to stuff myself with lamb!


Tuesday
3/20/06

11:00am: I went overnight on a ferry from Chaiten to Puerto Montt. I will try to
find some tires here and go to Chlloe.


Monday
3/19/06

6:00pm: I am at the North point of the Carretera Australe in Chaiten. My
friend Jim was not in Fatalefu last night, I slept on the river with a very starry
night. I take the ferry tonight for Puerto Montt. I had a flat tire this morning, I
was certainly going too fast for the condition of my tire (gone at 80%).


Sunday
3/18/06

6:00pm: I just arrived at Fatalefu in Chile at the border of Argentina at the
Noth part of the Carretera Australe. I came here to visit Jim Chilsom that I
met 2 years ago in Yukon Canada. I am almost at the end of the 700 miles of
the Carretera Australe. I stayed a couple of days with Fabrice, he is a very
interesting person and I liked being with him. Last night, I was able to see the
F1 Grand Prix de Australia, it was fabulous for me to see it, I did not expect
that but 3 hours before the grand prix, i found out that I will!
Tomorrow, I go to the Island Chiloe in Chile and go North. I love spending
time in these mountain!


Thursday
3/15/06

Finally I am able to connect my computer to internet!
I drove through Patagonia in Argentina on Ruta 40, went to El Chalten that I
did not like and north on Ruta 40 again. At Bajo de Caracoles the gaz station
was out of gaz. With my last drops of gaz, I went Ouest to Las Posadas and
drove a farmer road north along the chilean border to Los Antiguos. I will
remember that road for ever, totally lost in the mountain I did not met anybody
that day, great feeling. I thought I was lost more than once and was ready to
u-turn and back up to Las Posaday, but I was able to find my way and get to
Los Antiguos. I passed the Chilean border at Chile Chico and started the
Carretera Australe up to Coihaique where i am now. The Carretera Australe
is an other adventure by itself. Totally wild and out of our civilisation. I drove
about 1500 miles since Puerto Natales last Saturday. I met a great guy,
Fabrice, who is at the end of his 6 months tour in Patagonia where he shot a
documentary on peoples who lives in patagonia. We may go north together
for the next 400km where I will take a ferry for the island of Chiloe. I had an
extraordinary week riding wild roads in the mountains and lakes of Patagonia,
I loved it.


Saturday
3/10/06

3:00 pm: this morning, it was raining so i stayed in bed. When I was ready to
go, I started the motor and went to see the oil cover... oil was pourring again.
I openned it all again and this time, i put 2 metal washers to have more
pressure on the White Rubber Oring...
It's still raining in and out but I'm taking the road.


Friday
3/9/06

I am going to Chatham, the suisse refuge village from the Fritz Roy mountain.
6:00pm: I was going to Chatham but 2 things happens, first let me spell it for
you, C-H-A-L-T-É-N. Know you have a better chance to find it on a map. The
second thing is that when leaving the cafe internet, i had a big square foot of
oil under the bike again... There are still some metal parts from the drilling in
the case in Porto Allegre (Brazil) when we installed the 14mm inserts for the
studs! I found some tiny pieces against the rubber of the oil filter, after
cleaninng it was not leaking anymore. I then went to change my oil and put a
new oil filter! I am leaving tomorrow morning to Chaltén.


Thursday
3/8/06

11:00 am: I took the 8:00 am ferry from porvenir to Punta Arena, no problem
there. 2 years ago today, I did the 250 miles on the Dempster highway
between Dawson city and Eagle plains, I was hit halfway by the blizzard, and I
had many doubt that day. I remember it like if it was yesterday!


Wednesday
3/7/06

9:00pm: I left Ushuaia monday at 3 pm, went to Tolhum 70 miles north under
the snow. It's a remote village on the road, I went to the collective hotel and
went to bed at 9pm and slept 19 hours! (nineteen hours) I was still sick with
my flue and i needed to sleep. I went to eat and came back to have a normal
night at 10 pm. I was feeling much better this morning. I went to fill the gaz
tank and the guy told me that I had a 1 square foot of oil under the bike. It
took me 2 hours to fix it. I replace the white and black rubber gasket from the
oil filter as well as the 4 alluminium washers from the oil radiator. I took a
fantastic road to came to porvernir where I just arrive. Ruta "B", just before
Rio Grande on the left and straight ahead. at the Chilean border there is a
river crossing. the guy at the custom it was not that bad, only 3 feet deep!!!! I
did passed it, I don't know if it was 3 foot deep, but i had water in the pocket
of my pants on the other side. I had all together 250 miles of gravel road, just
beautiful, at one point, i faced the Pacific water and i followed it with the
sunset until here.
jTomorrow morning at 8 am, I hope to take the ferry to Punta Arena.


Monday
3/5/06

I am leaving Ushuaia today. I still feel pretty bad with my flu, I finished the
antibiotics, but it's not all gone. I bought some Theraflu equivalent.
This morning it does not rain anymore, it snows! I had 1" of snow on my tent
when i wake up. I packed, and i am ready to go. I know that 50 km north of
here it does not snow anymore.


Saturday
3/3/06

I worked the all day yesterday to do my web site that i was able to put online
late last night. I had a lot of distraction in my cafe internet in the center of
town, a lot of visitors who want to chat, but every time, i get confuse on
where I am at and I have to start again...
My Panasonic FX01 had a bad power contact from the inside. I found a guy
who knew what he was doing, he soldered the plake on the bac, It is much
much better, but not yet perfect.
Today, i will spend it at Moto Pablo, doing some regular maintenance like
cleaning the carbs and checking the valves... just a regular service.


Friday
3/2/06

I am back in Ushuaia. I loved Antartica. The icebergs are my favorites after
the pinguins and the seals. I will dream for a long time about Antartica. I
started working on contacts to spend a winter there, but, basically, you have
to be a scientist! it's going to be hard! Sidecar-ing is an art, not a science.
I think that i will be able to update my web site with the photo sometimes
today. By the way it's raining in Ushuaia.


Monday
2/19/06

I have a boat, it is the Explorer. I will leave on the 21 for the Antartci and
return to Ushuaia on March 2. Twice a day, I will go on the ice by Zodiac!
It has been raining everyday since I arrive here. During the night, in the
comfort of my tent, I feel like a king when the rain is pounding, but in the
morning, I feel like a rat when I have to get out in the rain!


Friday
2/16/06

February 16, 2007, 6:04 am: This is the second anniversary of the departure
for my "Ten Years On The Road" I can tell you that it was a great idear. I
enjoy it everyday and there were no better place to be than Ushuaia even if it
is raining this morning!


Thursday
2/15/06

3:00 pm: I just arrived in Ushuaia. Tierra del Fuego is full of charm, beautiful
montains, lakes, glacier and sea! I am looking for a boat to go to the
antartica. I feel the same way as when I arrived in Tuktoyaktuk 2 years ago, a
sense fulfillement and personal accomplishement.


Tuesday
2/13/06

10:00 pm: I did an other 300 miles on Ruta 40 but these were superiorly
beautiful and touching. The landscape is comparable with the running collins
of "dances with wolves". I could not get enough of it. the ruta 40 is very well
maintain and my speed was between 65 and 70 mph. May be that's why i
had a flat when I arrived in Rio Galleros. Ushuaia is about 400 miles south of
here. I will see for an oportunity to go on a boat to go to Antartica if there is a
last minute defection.


Monday
2/12/06

10:00 pm: I just came back from the glacier Perino Moreno. It's magnificient
and is very comparable to my souvenir as a kid when i visited the glacier du
Mont Blanc. I must have ride 7 or 800 miles on ruta 40. I saw only 3
motorcycles (3 argentinians together) but 5 different guys on bycicles! I
admire them. Very nice ride, the wind is there, but the weather is very good. I
sleep on the outside everynight. Yesterday i visited the Cuavas de los
manos... from 9000 years ago.


Saturday
2/10/06

2:00 pm: I left the Ocean and ride Ouest to go on Ruta 40. Patagonia is very
touching by the diversity of land, we go from petrol activity to cows and
horses in a few mile. People are different than before, they have a different
life, they are on the outside all year long.


Friday
2/9/06

1:30 pm: I am in a rich and ugly town named Comodoro Ridavaria. Rich by
the petrol activity and ugly because i can't find anything nice here except the
people who are the same. I am fixing the zipper of my black bag that rest on
the rear of the motorcycle. I put there a bunch of stuff that i am using all day
long but has no value like sun tan, water, motor oil, soap, paper towel, snack
etc... Tomorrow, I will reach ruta 40. My master cylinder of the sidecar brake
came apart yesterday and i could put it back together. The weather is still
very nice but much colder than in the north of the country, i am wearing my
yellow jacket most of the time. The penguins were as cute yesterday in Cabo
de Bahias than the day before at Punta Tombo. My battery circuit switch is
getting loose internally, i found a new one identical.
9:00 pm: I switch my tires from the Metzeller Marathon for the Tourance (that
I have with me). I don't think that it will change the handling of the sidecar on
the gravel road, but the tourance would wear much faster on the asphalt and
that's all I could find in Buenos Aires.
I just update my website, tomorrow, I will get on Ruta 40!


Thursday
2/8/06

9:00 am: Camarones is a small village wich call itself to be the capital of
saulmon. I eat some last night, it was delicious. I am now travelling on gravel
road. My average speed from Punta Tombo (100 miles) where i saw the
pinguis yesterday is 50mph. This is driving comfortably, the sidecar is
handling very nicely. Togay, I go to Cabo de Bahias to see more penguins but
the place is less touritic!


Wednesday
2/7/06

9:00 am: Puerto Madryn. NIce tourist resort for whale watching (not the
season). Slept in the local camping. I am on my way to the "Pinguin Land"
where they live by thousands and we can walk around them!


Tuesday
2/6/06

1:30 pm: Since Viedma, I am only sleeping outside last minute. There is
always a very strong wind and the sand is flying but I love it. Saturday night,
there were a storm and I set up my new tent that Jean Louis gave me at
Chrstmas (his Madagascar tent). It works great.
I just came back from Puenta Valdes were there are pinguins, seal, sea lion,
Untitled Document 10/27/2007 04:47 PM
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Orca... just very touching to see them from close up in their real life.
Monday morning, when I wake up, I had sand all over me sleeping only in my
sleeping bag on my tarp. Before getting up, I was thinking that Monday
morning was always stressful for me but today, I had pinguins and sea lion,
how better can it be.
I am metting a lot of people. Yesterday, I ride and had dinner with Renault
and Claudia (Suzuki bandit, 1 month in vacation) and Noel (BMW 1200 GS 4
months vacations). It was nice. At midnight, I drop at the camping place to go
to sleep in Puenta Valdes, I get with a group of Chilien people from Punta
Arena (way South from here, close to Ushuaia) I went to sleep at 3:00 am
and will see them at their home in a couple of weeks. Then this morning, I
met a French couple living in Quebec and we had coffee for a couple of hour
at the gaz station.I am now on the road to Puenta Tombo where pinguins are
by thousands.



Saturday
2/3/06

1:00 am: While walking in Viedma, I met Oscar who organised the
HorizonsUnlimited motorcycle meeting last month. I had dinner in his house
with his wife and daughter, it was very warm, he has a very nice family.
I am going to a camping in town for the night and will leave tomorrow morning
(saturday) to go south but ruta 3 and will pick up ruta 40 at about Esquel.
Patagonia is camping everywhere, i bought myself an Opinel (French pocket
knife)
9:00 am: I had a great night along the river. I slept in my long pants, socks
and yellow jacket on my tarp but i get cold during the night. I went to pick up
my sleeping bag. After a warm shower this morning I am going on the road
right now. It is very, very windy today!


Friday
2/2/06

3:00 pm: I am in Viedma, Patagonia. This morning, I was at the fork of the
road to either go west to Chili and take the ferry from Puerto Montt (leaving
every monday at 4:00 pm) or go South on route 3. I called the ferry to see if i
could make a reservation; they told me that it was under repair and do not
know when it will be fixed! that answer that question.
It is very hot, over 100ºF but dry. Still i have to get used to. 700 miles since
Buenos Aires and the bike is running great!
I love being here going south!


Thursday
2/1/06

10:00 am: I just put a new story online that I did during the night when the
mosquitos were playing with my nerves. I go on the road to Bahia Blanca may
be 300 miles from here.



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