Japan / Cuba / Columbia / Mexico

[darian]

I’d had this idea rolling around in my head for a while.  Actually, I’ve probably spent more lunch hours in my cubicle planning trips before I had a bike than most people ever do… but, I had still been trying to work out the “first trip”.  This one seemed perfect.  It ended up being 477 mph (350 miles the first day), full of fun things to do, and, although I’d be alone for most of it, I was never more than 2 hours away from home.  Then I got a call from a buddy of mine.  He has a new untested bike and only three weeks before he heads out on a month long ride in Mexico.  We agree there is no better test run to than to meet up in Mexico… uh, Missouri.  I’d have a few “international” pit stops to make though.  

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Saint+peters+mo&daddr=S+Hwy-94%2FMO-94+to:S+Bernhardt%2FMO-Y+to:Hwy+H%2FMO-H%2FMO-Y+to:Hwy+H%2FMO-H%2FMO-Y+to:cuba+mo+to:Columbia+mo+to:N+Route+B+to:Mexico+mo+to:Paris+mo+to:Mexico+mo+to:39.354476,-91.562805+to:bowling+green+mo+to:MO-WW%2FMO-Y%2FHwy+WW+to:MO-79+to:Saint+peters+mo&geocode=%3BFXixTAId7GGU-g%3BFT7zSQIdeG2O-g%3BFXFxSAIdAsCO-g%3BFQvRRwIdhNWO-g%3B%3B%3BFQKSVAId2nyA-g%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3BFRZyVwIdEkKT-g%3BFfLhVgIdmDuW-g%3B&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrcr=5&mrsp=11&sz=10&via=1,2,3,4,7,11,13,14&sll=39.344918,-91.584778&sspn=0.52464,1.231842&ie=UTF8&ll=38.779781,-91.384277&spn=1.896947,3.532104&z=8

[darian]

Since I only would be gone two days, it was easy to pack.  A coworker had told me that I need ink if I’m going to go on a bike trip… so I stopped by Walgreen’s and got some fresh ink.  I got the bike loaded up and ready just as the sun was coming up.  The hardest thing to do was to secure the sombrero.
There is nothing like riding early in the morning.  It’s cool, there is no traffic, and you’re fresh.

[darian]

The first leg of the trip was definitely the most challenging.  I kept thinking about you guys and how much you should all make a trip out here.  These are beautiful windy roads with really great scenery that go from being so shaded by trees I had to open my tinted visor to opening up into these great wineries… which makes me think it’s probably best to ride them early in the morning.  You’ll find the worst part about a trip in the back part of MO is there are no shoulders… so not many pictures of the road.
1.    Japan:  Not much to write about here.  By this point I had already given up on the directions I had printed off the interweb and opted to randomly stop and ask people.  It’s my favorite method.  I like the break and people generally like to have a non-threatening reason to talk to strangers.  From what I can tell, Japan is a High school and about 4 houses.  I rode up and down two separate highways looking for more, but nothing.  The roads have good curve and scenery, but not in the greatest condition.  I didn’t mind… except I took a couple of miles of gravel road by accident.  Eh, that wasn’t that bad either.

[darian]

2.   Cuba:  The trip here was nice and Cuba doesn’t disappoint.  This town survives on camping and float trips.  It’s a little touristy, but it’s fun… and kind of arty at the same time as having small town charm.  (Not New York art scene)   There are nice little diners here.  I had a sugary breakfast and watched a train go by.  The lady at the grocery store nearby saw one of her regular “old timers” pull up, called over the intercom for the manager to watch the register, got on one of the little scooters and drove it out to him.  You don’t see that in the St. Louis area.  There are murals all over this town on everything from walls to electrical boxes, but...

[darian]

2.  Cuba (continued):   In addition to the murals, you can also see the world’s largest rocking chair.  It’s a true testament to Missouri ambition.  Egypt has the pyramids…  It was well into the 90’s by now and my “Cuban cigar” was falling apart in my mouth, so it was time to go.  Man, a dip in the Current River would have felt great right about now.

[darian]

3.   Columbia:  Well, I lived here for a short while.  I was looking forward to seeing it again.  I stopped at a gas station outside of town and the lady looked at me with concern and said, “Is that one of those Asmasadkjf;asdastad t-shirts?”  Me with confusion:  “Who?”  Her with all seriousness:  “A terrorist.”  Me with disbelief:  “What?!”  Her:  “Guess not.”  And she walked off with an expression like she had just done her civic duty.  I know people at restaurants in certain towns  had totally ignored me when I come in and not acknowledged me (even if I was just scruffy) and my bag always gets checked at airports, but this is the first time I’d ever point blank been called out.  I wanted to say, “Uh, lady.  Mexican.”, but she had already given up the register to a younger more open minded individual.  The damage had been done.  My mindset had been knocked of kilter.  I got into Columbia and it had changed so much.   There were cars all over.  I think every student was there with their parents for orientation, because no one seemed to know where they were going.  Traffic lights were dragging.  Construction was everywhere.  I couldn’t find the old house or the gas station where I worked!  I decided to get lunch, because time had slipped away from me and I was hungry.  I pulled into a café at 2:05.  There was a sign on the door that said, closing early at 2:00.  So I got back on the bike and head towards another area with more restaurants.  I sat there at a red light.  I look over and there is a guy on a 90’s model Nighthawk 750!  I got so excited I honked, waved, pointed to his bike and gave him thumbs up.  He responded with thumbs up, but it was clearly in a mocking tone and accompanied by a roll of the eyes.  I had ridden a long way by this point and seen a lot of Harley guys coming back from Sturgis.  Not one of them had snubbed me (as you my recall, I wave as indiscriminitively as the Queen of England).  I decided, Columbia is not my town anymore.  The only picture I bothered to take in Columbia was of this new restaurant.  !No Columbia, no bueno!  

[darian]

4.   Hallsville:  Yeah, it doesn’t really fit with the theme, but the ride to Hallsville was so nice and helped my mood come back.  I stopped here for lunch.  Sure, it was just a BLT, macaroni salad, and iced tea, but it seemed like the best lunch ever.  I have to mention.  This restaurant was being run by three kids that couldn’t have been older that 17.  They were the most polite kids I’ve ever met.  With a full belly and a better mood, I called my buddy.  He’s already in Mexico.  Now I just have to find him.

[Bumblebee]

 

[darian]

Well, the site says I've reached my maximum... so, I'll have to try to figure how to post the rest/go back and make these posts smaller tomorrow. 

[fishmeister]

I'm kinda dazzled....nice

[LOKi]

Well, the site says I've reached my maximum... so, I'll have to try to figure how to post the rest/go back and make these posts smaller tomorrow. 

It's better to upload your images to a file server and link them in the report. Use up their band width.

[ROJ]

Very nice report so far, can't wait for the rest.

[LOKi]

terrorist?   You don't even look Mexican. At least not the stereotypical Mexican anyway. Shouldn't you have a long nose and big ears. Oh wait that's not right either.


No you just like some guy with a beard. Ahh the beard. That must be it. Anyone with a beard MUST be in cahoots with...


Don't let ignorance get ya down.

[darian]

Don't worry LOKi... A good ride and a good lunch was just the cure.

5.   Mexico:  I hit city limits.  It’s HOT.  The first restaurant in town was a Mexican restaurant.  I drive by and see this guy just sprawled out on the front patio, no shade, sun beating down on him, drinking a Corona.  Then I see the black and yellow DR650.  Of course that was my friend.  So I head back.  We crossed the border in style.  Mexico is a decent sized town, in my opinion.  Not small, but it sure seems sleepy.  We hadn’t quite gotten enough riding in, so we head out.  Paris calling.

[darian]

6.   Paris:  The roads were really nice.  There are nice homes with ponds and livestock all over.  Paris, like other towns of 1,000, didn’t have much going on, but Evan did run his enormous tank dry.  Reserve apparently didn’t really save anything, so we had to push… but not before I could snap some pictures.  I think he appreciated it.  We also learned that his left turn signal sticks a little.  Later we stopped to see some of the livestock.  

[darian]

7.   Mexico again:  Due to a wedding and a 40 year class reunion, our hotel choice was made for us.  We swam and watched the classmates reconnect, which was nice.  The water felt so good after baking all day.   We were getting ready to head out for dinner when some guy came up to me and asked me, “Hey, is that a 750?”  I looked at the sticker that said 750 on the side of the bike and replied, “Yep.”  He responded with, “I told those guys… I said, that’s a 750.  They said, it couldn’t be that big, but I knew it.  I had a brother-in-law that died on a bike just like that, except it was a 250 and it was a Honda Rebel.”  Complete silence.  “I’m sorry to hear that.”  He responds, “Yeah, they’re dangerous.”  I agreed and said, “They are, no matter what size it is you have to respect it.”  (I mean, what can you say?)  He looked at our riding gear, nodded and told us to be safe.  We were at the restaurant.  Having a pretty good time, when the cook comes out.  “Whose Nighthawk is that?”  “That’s mine.”  “Sweet, I used to have one just like that, but a little older.  I knew what it was just when I saw it.”  He was definitely a cool guy.  I would have talked to him more, but, well he was cooking.  We went back to the hotel and hung out.  It’s great seeing old friends… especially if there are motorbikes to be ridden and talked about. 

[darian]

8.   Home:  The next day we said our goodbyes and parted ways.  Had I known my route, I would have contacted Jwomak and met up with him too, but I was just kind of rambling around the country side by this point.  This area is good riding.  I’ll definitely have to come back this way.  It’s scenic, but not overly challenging… or maybe I just gained some experience.  I got 48.74 mpg, which shocked me.  I was really hauling on a lot of the trip!  I even figured it out three times just to make sure… unless my odometer isn’t accurate.  I had bought a little present for Evan, but Our Lady of Perpetual help didn't want to help.  My trip home couldn’t have been smoother… Evan’s on the other hand, turned out to be a little more adventure than he bargained for.  Read it here.  It's really good, but no... I'm not an attorney.  

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=494752



It did look better than the gps unit though.



Well, I sweated it out.



Then I made a rash decision.



Here's the trip meter at the end of day two.

[jwomack]

awsome ride, yeah i wish you would have gotten ahold of me, i would have riden and meat up with you somewhere...anyway...hit me up, well ride, i know some awsome roads out here....

[Hangster]

Daran , This is a sweet ride report ...I honestly can't see how you tolerate riding in Heat like that , i mean you're talkin  ...Sweet ride Man 

[darian]

Thanks Hangster.  I dunno.  It's just fun, so the heat doesn't bother me... except when I'm stopped at a stop light. 

[Burgi]

  Nice report!

[darian]

Something interesting and (somewhat) related... Here is a link to my buddy's gps tracker.  You can see where he is while he wanders around in Mexico for the next month.

http://jasonjonas.org/spot/tripViewer.do?id=2464

I guess he'll update his ride report on Advrider when he gets back.

[weldaround]

   that was a great report.  I really don't know how you handle the heat with the full face on.  I was in traffic in about 43 and had to find a bike shop and get a half helmet for the summer 

[LOKi]

  that was a great report.  I really don't know how you handle the heat with the full face on.  I was in traffic in about 43 and had to find a bike shop and get a half helmet for the summer 

I have a flip face helmet and when it's really hot I find it unbearable with the face up! Nothing like 100 degree blast of air in your face. Like in a convection oven, moving air penetrates better. Try this at home take a hair drier and put it on high heat and blow it straight at your face. Now put on your helmet and tell me what way is cooler on your face. Yes it's still hot with the face shield down but its not a direct blast of hot air straight in your face. 1/2 helmets don't offer any protection for your face in a crash either. And God forbid you run into a rain storm. I just have to laugh at 1/2 helmet riders that get caught in the rain. While I smugly blast by going twice their speed singing along to the music in my helmet while they cower in pain going 1/2 the speed limit because it hurts to go any faster. The rest of me might be soaked but at least it doesn't hurt to ride. Sorry I don't like 1/2 helmets. Rant over   

[weldaround]

  All very good points and a great rant LOKi, however where I live(Vancouver Island) we have moister in the air.  I't feels quite cool on the face.  I've been to Vegas in a cage and forgot about the hair dryer concept.   We don't get much rain at this time.