testing limits

last few days I have been riding south from Medellin toward Ecuador. stopped in several towns and stayed in santa rosa, hit natural hot springs there. then on to Popayan a colonial town for Halloween.
Incredible riding every day thru up and down steep mountains, on mountain top towns with width of the 2 lane road and not much more, both sides thousands of feet drop. …filled with billion dollar view shantys.
And then the ride……Popayan to Pasto
I try not to let fear play a role in thinking,…its horror on the pysche, and strong arm control is absurd…id rather big picture file it in with common sense and go on, but today I did. As is known here in general the southern part of colombia is considered the more dangerous with FARC and to some its considered one of the most dangerous places on the planet (after being in colombia 10 days now I don’t agree) but…. Of all the things ive heard I let a couple hold tight in my head.
It is true and Ive seen that the farc is subdued dramatically since the current president Uribe has taken over not putting up with their antics and hammering down with military approach. Over the last 6 years local people are able to travel thru the country…. before not without strong odds of getting killed, kidnapped or robbed or whatever the guerillas felt like doing. But they are not 100% cleared yet.
1.met a guy in Medellin staying at same hostel from germany . Doctor here with a group to help learn more about plants-poisons-cures and such and pass knowledge on to colombians. He had been living north of Medellin for the last 1.5 months. We were talking about subdued farc and danger when he informed me that the region (county like of 5-6 towns) he was in was completely shut down for 3-4 days, all business, transportation, information services, etc. by the UAC (I think) guerilla group. ….when they have that kind of power obviously not completely subdued.
2. Talking to the waiter before leaving this morning he told me about 8 frenchies that were kidnapped last month in this area.
These two spreading from the common sense aware file to pure fear…..
After breakfast headed out to Pasto and it started to pour…..a more affecting fear I had stewing was from the day before riding in the rain and my front tire slipped out a few times from hydroplaning or oil patch or whatnot. Nothing big but little movements like that send the heart to horserace instantly. I’d spooked myself to riding minimal speeds when cornering (which is most of time in these mountains as you can only see about 50-100 yards at a time befrore the next curve). For the next two hours… farcheads, kidnaps, machine guns, who/what around next bend…..pouring rain, ministreams down the roads, tires slide outs, crash, rocks falling, horses, dogs, people, playing chicken drivers, pour vision, waterlogged, potholes, semis buses passing around blind corners…all of it sprinting in my head. madness.
This is enough …I got get these situations out. music? Ya ok. Pull over ipod. Go to songs, get to M…The Matador (white buffalo) ya sounds good always makes me feel strengthy, start there. Ride on…its working…next up mercy mercy, gay marvin but ok nice and light hearted… mna na h-eireann, celtic…. moon, more white buffalo, lonely but I like it…. most of the time, Dylan, no skip…most precarious, blues traveller good tempo… mothers of the disappeared, U2 …are you kidding me? No skip, not my time, not disappearing mom….move by yourself, Donavon Franken Reiter, how did that get on my ipod? oh well funky beat….my fathers house, bruce spring, alright boss take me to heartland…..narrow escape, ray Lamontague, great riding lyrics giddyup….natty dred, comfortable marley….never, rage against the machine, twist energy jolt…night before larry was stretched, elvis Costello, great escape tell me a story…..nightblindess, david gray, forshadowing….nightingale song, toad the wet sprocket, what year is it? back to Maryville.
Weather still shitty but this is working….but I don’t want to focus on songs I want to get back to riding fast and fun, pull over looking for good background vibe beat…rusted root, when I woke album. Back on the road start with Drum trip…yeha now im clearing and moving. Couple minutes later and the weather breaks, sky opens up to the most incredible landscape I have seen outside of Alaska. Up and over down mountain ranges for 3 hours and now in my head is phenomenal riding, how lucky I am to be here, look at where I am….on and on smile stuff…just moved into #1 spot of favorite riding day. Chipping away at 150 mile ride (in this mileage -terrain -height 7500ft -120000ft= 6ish hours) get up on high plateau more flat kind of canyon like area…longer weaves… flying now. steep climbs/ descends coming back, up down. Light rains but not bad, mostly dry. some altitude farts and couple odd equalib glimps. Into high high range for couple hours. Reach a town that’s 26kms (17miles more or less) from pasto. Its 5:30 gonna start getting dark but think only 30min left so keep going. Wrong…turned out to be 1.5 hour more. Half way thru town the road starts turning to hard gravel, flip/flops to blacktop. Mile out of town and its going up fast, very fast. 3miles and temperature dropping even faster. 4miles and hell opens her gate but instead of breathing fire shes vomiting rain. pouring, soaked in minutes. Miserable quick, colder every inch with the temp dropping about 30 degrees. blind from water on visor, wipe it constantly but its getting inside too. riding the edge of huge mountains. Clouds come in thick…altitude and cold fogging visor in addition to water.. like this for 10 more miles which takes an hour. only navigating by the glimpse of tailight from the car in front of me.
Like an oasis I see lights around and downward the mountain…completely frozen, hands numb, body shaking. Gas station… pull in under pump roof out of rain. Struggle to get off the bike, get gloves off rub/blow hands. Getting feeling back, walk shake for 15min getting myself together. Wipe visor in and out with a dry rag. Ok get back on bike the town area is 1mile away. Pull out get on the road. Realize no car tailights to follow, pitch black, rain still pouring, visor fogs instantly, equilibrium blinks and ive lost all sense of direction and perception frantically try to figure out what is up and down and to stop on rightside of road. Im completely senseless barely putting along holding the bike upright, I have no idea what is going on and completely blind. Get to almost stop put my right foot down cant hold the weight of the bike, yell out to simon ( English guy I met on a KLR 650 behind me trying navigating by my tailight) I know the bikes going down, simon pulls beside just as it does to the right falling into his bike (domino) and fall to the blacktop in the middle of the road… right lane, thank god, simons too and he falls off to the dirt. Two bikes in the road, completely disoriented scramble to get up and bikes up in panic mode before semi or cars come. Accomplish that somehow. Come back to and look at simon with wtf smile and we start bursting into very bizarre gut wrench laugh. Still pouring, frozen, still in middle of blacktop. Car passes…somehow know to think …Lets go lets go..gotta follow the tailight. Few minutes later we’re in town and pull off to Mister Pollo, a goofy chicken franchise style restaurant full off costumed kids. Pull bikes in… visors up… look at each other and break into bizarre gut wrench laughing again. Colombian guy comes up on tiny bike with his girlfriend as excited as I have ever seen anyone. Smiling ear to ear talking loud, don’t understand what hes saying but realize he is fascinated with us and acting as a teenage girl to a rockstar.
William appears (Canadian guy I met in Medellin riding on a bmw.) Fan(?) guy still going on ear to ear in excitement talk. I have now reached a full state of delirium.
We go into the restaurant. Immediately to hand dryer as hands are pale numb. 10 minutes later fan guy is still at bikes, his girlfriend taking pictures of him with them. Go out to front door and he comes up with his cellphone video record on holding it to my face asking my name, where I am from, what the bike is, thank you, thank you, etc. (quickly realize I don’t like being treated this way) finally shakes hands, hugs and goes off skipping like a schoolgirl… his girlfriend looking at him/us like ???
What is going on, what world am I in?
Go back into restaurant, sit down, order some food, start talking to Will about ride and stuff and he brings up Ecuador border crossing which would be tomorrow.
Instantly I realized it….No? NO! No, Noooooo, ahhhhh No…my head drops to my hands. Nah, NO.
I left my passport, motorcycle title/import papers, everything of the utmost importance to me besides the bike right now, under the mattress at the hotel in Popayan…….felt more like riding in cambodia or vietnam at timeswhats aroud this corner?pretty sure theyre harmlessis he?
will, me, overwhelmed guy, simon