See You In Sunny South America

Friday's forecast for Santiago: Scattered Clouds. High: 87 °F . Wind SSW 20 mph

Strong Earthquakes Shake Central Chile

A Small Part Of Santiago Yesterday, Dec. 18,2008, the central part of Chile, including the capital city of Santiago, as well as the countries main port city of Valparaiso was shaken by an earthquake magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale. The initial earthquake was followed by a second quake of 5.8 Richter degrees, according to the USGS. After shocks continued today with smaller quakes being felt in Santiago this morning. Head of the Chilean Emergency Office (ONEMI) Carmen Fernandez said that "there are no reports of damages due to the quake. It's part of a normal seismic activity."

Metzler Bike Tires In Chile

MX Moto, Santiago, Chile

Good news on the Tire front. Eric Cleaveland, a good friend of mine that just returned from a ride from the southern most point in South America to Alaska, recommended the Metzler Tourance tires for the rough gravel roads in Chile and Argentina. So I did a little investigating and found a Metzler dealer in Santiago, Chile http://www.mx.cl/ . Yesterday I called the dealer in Chile and spoke with Jorge to see what the availability would be for the Tourance tires. Jorge told me "No Problemo" and has set two tires aside for me so when I start my trip to Ushuaia, I will start on a new set of Tourance tires.

As you can see from the picture above, the Tourance has a nice aggressive tread, but is also a good highway and wet road tire. Users of this tire have reported very good off road handling as well as long life for this tire.

REVISED ROUTE

I have been studying the maps a little closer lately to see if there is a route that would take me primarily down the Chilean side of the Andes Mountains staying on the road called "La Carretera Austral" ("The Southern Road" marked in YELLOW). Taking this route would mean that there would be some Ferry crossings involved (marked in BLUE), so this morning I contacted the Ferry company http://www.navieraustral.cl/, in that part of Chile,to get some up to date information. I had hoped to ride to the town of Hornopiren and take the Ferry from there to the town of Caleta Gonzalo (marked in RED) and then ride on to Chaiten and points south. Good thing I called, because I found out that the Ferry between Hornopiren and Caleta Gonzalo is not running. Instead, I will have to take the short Ferry from Pargua, on the mainland just south of Puerto Montt, to Chacao on the island of Chiloe, a trip I have made before. Once on the island, I will ride to the town of Castro about half way down the island of Chiloe, where I can board a Ferry that will take me to Chaiten. I am a bit surprised that the Ferry is still running to Chaiten since the town was pretty much destroyed by the eruption of the near-by volcano back in May of this year, but I was assured the Ferry is running to Chaiten.

About Chile

TORRES DEL PAINE NATIONAL PARK , CHILE

GREY GLACIER, CHILE

I thought I would include some facts about Chile that you may or may not know, to give you a feel for the land that I will be traveling thru. The following comes from http://www.ecovoyager.com/destinations/Chile/index.asp :

From north to south, Chile extends 2,269 miles, and yet it only averages 110 miles east to west. On a map, Chile looks like a long ribbon reaching from the middle of South America's west coast straight down to the southern tip of the continent, where it curves slightly eastward. Chile's northern neighbors are Peru and Bolivia, and its border with Argentina to the east is one of the worlds longest.Chile's shape was determined by the fact that it began as a Spanish settlement on the western side of the mighty cordillera of the Andes, in the central part of the country. This range, which includes the two tallest peaks in the Americas--Aconcagua and Nevado Ojos del Salado--is a formidable barrier, whose passes to the Argentine side are covered by a heavy blanket of snow during the winter months. As a result, Chile could expand beyond its original colonial territory only to the south and north. The colony grew southward by occupying lands populated by indigenous groups, and it grew northward by occupying sections of both Peru and Bolivia that were eventually awarded to Chile. The main tourist regions are the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, the Central Valley, where Santiago, the capital city, the wine country and the main ski resorts in the country are located, the Lake Region, famous for its beautiful landscapes and colonial architecture, Patagonia, the land of glaciers, cold rainforests, imposing national parks and endless plains, and Easter Island, the most remote island in the world and home to the world famous stone statues and one of the most enigmatic civilizations on earth.

The Route

A few days ago, I sat down with some maps of Chile and Argentina, to plan my route for the trip from Santiago, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina this coming January and February. The route will take me from Santiago heading south on the Pan-American Highway (Rt.5) to my Aunt's ranch near Temuco, Chile. I will spend a few days at the ranch, and then head south to the city of Osorno, Chile. From Osorno I will head east, thru the Puyehue Pass, over the Andes Mountains to the Argentine city of San Carlos de Bariloche. Interestingly enough, while doing some research for places to spend the nights along this trip, I came across some very interesting facts. It seems that a pair of Americans called Robert Leroy Parker and Harry A. Longabaugh, better known by their outlaw names: Buch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (part of "The Wild Bunch"), had escaped to this area of Argentina in 1901 to evade the Law back in the United States. Seems that these two had some banking problems back in the U.S.. They went as far as to buy a ranch (with the stolen money of course) in this part of Argentina, changed their names, and then commenced to ply their trade in Argentina. There still exists a General Store, near Bariloche, where the boys would go to get their provisions. I've got to find THIS store!

The Wild Bunch

From Bariloche I head south on Rt. 258 to the town of Esquel. From Esquel, I want to go to the Chilean town of Chaiten. Here, I may run into a problem. The town of Chaiten was pretty much wiped out by a violent volcanic eruption earlier this year. The ash from the near by volcano fell into the river that runs thru Chaiten and caused the river to over run it’s banks and flood the entire town with a concrete like mixture of water and volcanic ash. I won't know, until I get to the region, if the authorities will let me into the area, because the ENTIRE population of Chaiten was ordered to evacuate, and to the best of my knowledge, have not been allowed to return. There are plans to relocate the town of Chaiten.

From Chaiten, I will head south to the town of Coihaique. From what the map shows, these will be unpaved roads. From Coihaique, I will cross back into Argentina and on to Perito Moreno. Now, I will be getting into glacier country. Chile has a large amount of glaciers in its southern extremes, and I want to get to see some of them. From Perito Moreno, I will head south on the famous Route 40. This is the road that leads to Tierra Del Fuego and on to the End Of The Earth in Ushuaia, Argentina. One place that I want to stop before reaching Ushuaia is the Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile. This park is said to be one of the most beautiful and picturesque places on earth.

The return trip will take me up the eastern side of South America on Argentina route 3 that hugs the Atlantic coast to the town of Trelew. From Trelew I will ride west across Argentina back to Osorno, Chile and on to my Aunts ranch again before returning to Santiago.

The Stuff

Much of the stuff that I've ordered for the bike in South America has arrived. In the picture above are the light mounts for the PIAA 1100X, that arrived a couple of weeks ago, from Lumalink. The mounts have been custom made to fit the R1200GS on the front forks. Another thing that just arrived from RKA Luggage http://www.rka-luggage.com/A06%20Liners/R1200GS/R1200GStrunk.html is a liner bag for the top box (not in the picture). Some of the other things in the picture are: a Brake Caliper Lock with built in motion sensor alarm from XENA, Stainless Steel Foot Pegs from Pivot Pegz, much better than the stock ones, a Universal Solar Charger for electronic devices from Solio, an Air Pump from CyclePump. There are very few places to get air for your tires in the Andes Mountains. Also the Throttle Lock from Kaoko (lower left), Cylinder Head Guards from Touratech (upper right). And probably the most important item is the S.P.O.T. Emergency Personal Locator. Other things like camping equipment, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping bag pad, will also be part of the trip, although most of the camping equipment is already in Chile. The only thing I will take down from here is the one person tent that I bought from Eureka Tents pictured below. It only weighs 2 lb, 9 oz.

Another little piece of equipment that I just ordered, is a new Digital Camera from Nikon. A brandy new Nikon D300, said to be the best digital camera on the market at this time. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d300.htm I'm phsyked about this one! It's a serious 12.3 MegaPixels of picture taking machine. There's going to be some very spectacular scenery on this trip, so I hope to be able to get some great shots with this camera.

The Trip

This year's motorcycle adventure will take me from Santiago, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina, as you can see in the picture above. "The End Of The Earth". Ushuaia is arguably the southern most city on Earth. (click on image to enlarge) The color yellow represents the trip down and the other is the trip back. I will head south from Santiago and my first stop will be at my Aunt's ranch to spend a week or so in the Lake District of Chile showing Sharon some of the beauty of this area. Once Sharon returns home, I will start the actual trip to Ushuaia. One place I have to see is the Torres Del Paine National Park. It's been said that this area is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. A must see!

Also, this year will see the world famous "Dakar Rally" being held in Argentina and Chile, and I hope to be able to witness parts of this world famous race. My trip, this year, will start on January 2, 2009 arriving in Santiago, Chile on January 3, 2009, and consequently the Dakar Rally will start in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the very same day Jan 3. The Dakar Rally is set to make it's way across southern Argentina and then into Chile, stopping in the port city of Valparaiso, as the half way point. It will then head north into Chile's Atacama Desert, before heading back to Buenos Aires. I hope to be in Valparaiso to catch some of the action first hand.

The Bike

The bike: 2008 BMW R1200GS "The Swiss Army Knife Of Motorcycles". Weight: under 500 pounds. Horse Power: about 100hp. Performance: HANG ON TIGHT!

Bought new in Santiago, Chile February 08, and at this point I've put 4000 miles on it. Other equipment on board include a Garmin Zumo 550 GPS https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=135&pID=414 , with maps of all of South America. Mount for the GPS comes from RAM Mount http://www.ram-mount.com/ . As you can see by the picture, the bike has the BMW GS panniers already on it and spoked wheels for better off road capability. The Panniers are expandable for when you need to carry a lot of stuff. They will expand about three inches. I will also be installing a throttle lock from Kaoko . http://www.kaoko.com/cruisecontrol.html. Tank Bag and pannier liners from RKA http://www.rka-luggage.com/A02%20Tankbags/11PF4%20Build%20sheet/11PF4%20Build%20Sheet.html . Auxiliary lighting will come from a set of PIAA 1100X Platinum Super White Dichroic Driving Lights ttp://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/1100x.html . Cylinder guards will be installed before the trip and they will be from Tourateck - USA http://www.touratech-usa.com/ . Light mounts for the PIAA's are from Lumalink, and are being custom made for the GS by Gordy Tool http://www.lumalink.com/ of Arkansas.