First day in Medellin, Colombia Jan 2, 2026

In the last episode, I arrived super early in the morning and deicded to hang out in the airport until 7, before snagging a taxi and heading to the homestay. As the taxi driver took me through town I saw what looked like a light display over and along the main river in down town. I made a note of it for later. I arrived at the homestay and was beat so I just took about a 4 hr nap. Later that afternoon I walked around the neighborhood and was getting hungry. Now there are franchises of all sorts EVERYWHERE in town. There are shops in almost every little nook and cranny in every neighborhood and street as well. Just a flew blocks from my apartment I swung into a 24 hour franchise type restaurant. Did I mention they were everywhere...

The meal was $5.84 US

 I talked to my host about the lights and she mentioned it happens every year and that she hadn't been to it, so I asked if she'd like to take me down there or go with me and she said yes. Later that evening we walked to the Metro rail station and she showed me how to do the entire process of getting a card, going through the gates and riding it. We had to do a transfer to another lines and it was a good simple process that I would be doing to go to my Spanish class everyday of the week. We got off at a station and right below us was where the light show started. It was like a major carinval and there were THOUSANDS of people. Also, there were tents with people selling all sorts of food and other trinkets. The light display was produced by the city power company and had probably fifty or more huge lighted figures, animals, buildings, etc. all lit up along the river walk. They also had lights strewn across the river with different animals hanging below, like a parrot, Bee, Humgingbird.Here are a bunch of the lights from the show. It was really spectacular to see this nice display.

Long Day of Traveling -- Jan 1-2

Finally, the day has arrived.  My flight leaves out of Seattle close to 2 in the afternoon and for international flights you should be there 3 hours ahead of that and it takes an hour on the light rail from Lynnwood to the airport and another 20 minutes' drive from hour house to the light rail station....  So, we left about 9:30 in the morning.

It was gray and overcast, not exciting weather but typical for the time of year.  I practically had the rail car to myself.  After a stop or two a guy got on with the big puffy jacket and a half bottle of beer.  Who knows if he was just enjoying himself or if he had gotten off work and was drowning his sorrows.  Anyway, got to the airport without issue and started to the terminal with 800 pounds of moto gear and a half pair of underwear.  Hahaha

Checking in was interesting.  You need to show the folks checking you on your flight that you have a RETURN FLIGHT.  Apparently, Colombia does not want us to just come and not leave, imagine that!  Of course, I have a 1-way ticket because I don't have the foggiest idea when I'll be coming home if ever, so I had to go sit down, break out the phone and book a flight home.  I picked about 60 days out, FULLY REFUNDABLE economy flight to Huston was $1299 cough, cough, gag!  Sheesh!  And that was sitting on the wing.  It took me a while to figure out how to book the flight, but I managed and headed over to check in AGAIN.  They were able to get me through the system with the return flight, I said goodbye to my bags and headed through security.  

For this trip I decided to get a Global Entry card so I could zip through on the way back.  It also allows me to go through the TSA precheck.  Now every time I go through this silly screening I get pulled aside for special treatment. Eyeroll....  Today was no different.  

I got on the plane and was fortunate to sit where I could see the guy loading the luggage.  I did catch my 2 pieces being loaded on, so I knew they would make it to at least Denver my next stop. 

The flight was not bad, couldn't see anything but talked to a Rich Chinese Lawyer that lives in Seattle, and we ended up talking about cars most of the flight and traveling to different countries.  He was headed to Munich to go skiing with his daughter.  A quick layover in Denver and on to Huston.  Another semi quick layover and it's off to Medellin, Colombia.

I was supposed to arrive about 5:42 AM but we got in about 5:15 AM.  Then figure an hour through customs and getting bags and be out 7.  I'm figuring the 5-hour line, being interrogated in a dark room with a lightbulb in my face.  I read on the website that I needed to show my passport, where I'm staying, return flight, blah, blah, blah.  In about 10 min I'm at the guy checking my paperwork and he only wanted to see my passport.  No questions, Stamped it and basically said get outta here.  I walked into the next room and this guy is unloading all the luggage into a nice line.  My stuff was there so I grabbed them and headed into the next room and line.  We had to run our bags through a scanner and our jackets and 2 min. later I was a Citizen of Colombia (well close enough).

The terminal is kind of small and maybe they are working on it.  Taxis are all over the place and very tiny Fiats mostly, some Hyundai and a few small Toyotas.  I was staying at a woman's house from Homestay.com and did NOT want to get there at the crack of dawn to wake the house up so I just hung out in the terminal until about 7, people watching, dog watching (they take them everywhere).  Finally, the sun came up and I was going to get an Uber but then it was more than a taxi so taxi it is.

The international airport is on the other side of the mountains from the actual city of Medellin.  We took off towards the city and very shortly hit a toll booth.  About 200 yards later we start into a HUGE tunnel.  This tunnel went on forever and the driver told me it was about 9.4 KM long so about a 6-mile tunnel.  Motorcycles are not allowed on this road so that was interesting.

The clouds were just like Seattle and down low with spitting rain.  In spite of it I could see the city of 4 million people and there were skyscrapers everywhere.  Houses were up the steep hillsides, and it is STEEP around there with mountains all over the place.

It is surrounded by hills.  When we finally got into town it was pouring, motorcycles were like killer bees zooming all over the place.  There is no lane for them, and lines are merely a suggestion as they split lanes and drive like maniacs.   We crossed over the main river going through town and I could see lights EVERYWHERE!  I could tell there was an incredible light show from Christmas that I needed to see one night so I took a mental note.

Finally, I arrived at my destination and was met by the nice woman renting out the room and then I crashed on the bed for quite a while.   

Jungo or No Jungo Road... The ride to Baker City, OR the long way around.

OK, I finally got out and went for an extended ride.  I know it's been like forever since I've gone for a "real" ride.  Commuting is riding but not exactly for enjoyment.  Well it all started out like usual for me.
     It was a dark and...  well it was just flippin dark and way before O'dark thirty, like 2 or 2:30 AM I decided to get up and head south.  It was July 31st and I took both Thur & Friday off.  My intensions were to visit Grants Pass, OR and see a sign buddy Jon and the Dam Queen (Cheryl) & her husband, see all the cool bears in town (they have about 80 and some are up for sale, Jon designed a few this year).  After that head over to Alturas, CA.  My original intent was to even hit Gerlach NV and do Jungo road to Winnemucca for the night or even push on to Elko for the night.
     I had installed some new Pilot road 3's on the bike the previous weekend and it seemed like my rear tire was leaking air.  I was having other issues getting stuff ready, and my GPS wasn't working (as in even the plug in to power didn't even power it or it was intermittent).  I grabbed my other GPS and plugged it in and it worked but I didn't have a holder for it so I stuffed it in the tank bag.  It ended up collecting dust in the tank bag as I couldn't see it for squat during the day.  I told myself if the dang tires were down in pressure a few pounds I'd bag the trip.  So now it's 2 AM or so and I'm almost sweating bullets in my riding gear and crawling around checking the tire pressure.  It's down 1 pound and I couldn't be sure I was really accurate so I said "Lets go for it!"  Over to the gas station, filler up and start bombing down the freeway south.
     I love riding at night, there is minimal traffic and you can just look at the stars, and day dream (or night dream) of all sorts of things.  I think I had my Sena headset hooked up to the phone and was listening to tunes and things were going well.  I zip on through Seattle, then Tacoma and I'm getting close to Olympia and thought I should check my rear tire as it was feeling a tad squirrely in some sweepers and changing lanes.  I found an entrance ramp with some nice lighting and pulled way off the road.  Hopped off the bike with my air gauge and before I could turn around to get to the rear tire the blue/red lights were flashing.  I had my lid up and waved.  I walked over to the side of the Highway Patrol car to tell the officer that I was just checking the air in my tire and low and behold the driver was a smoking HOT total Babe!  I was thinking - "What the heck are you doing out on the freeway at this hour?"  I did my check and gave her the thumbs up.  She pulled out and took off down the freeway and I shortly followed.  I let her disappear before easing the speed back up to my normal.
     I got through Portland traffic without a hitch.  I was going faster than the locals and passed many without any issues.  A few bikes wanted to keep up but decided I would be the rabbit.  Now the speed limit on the freeways in Oregon is a silly 65 but it appears that nobody even realized that was the limit as everyone was going in the 75-80 range.  I kept up that pace until I hit Aurora (near Woodburn) for gas.  This was about 225 miles or so.
     Next stop was to be Grants Pass for breakfast but I started to get really hungry and pulled off at Cottage Grove.  Good thing as I checked my spotwalla page and it wasn't working. 

Ride the Himalayas Day 8 7-17-19 Sissu to

 

Ride the Himalayas    

Here is the route for the day and below is a bigger picture of where we're headed.  The city of Leh will be the home base for a few days while we zip up to the Nubra Valley and the incredible Diskit Monastery and then back to Leh.  Then we head up to Pangong lake which goes into China.

7-17-2019       Day 8 of the "Ride the Himalayas" Starting in the village of Sissu

So after a wild night at our hotel (Plm dhara Hotel) in Sissu many of the guys were taking their time getting going in the morning.  Our clothes and boots were dry for once (woohoo!) and our view of the Sissu waterfall across the valley and a large army base were clear as day this bright sunny morning. 

The hotel had a couple of small stores which I purchased more lip balm even though my lip was toasted beyond repair and I also picked up a couple of wool shawls which were beautifully made.

 

After breakfast we were getting ready to leave when a little boy came out and Evan let him play with his cell phone.  Evan turned on the camera and it was like magic for the little guy.  Vanna and I were trying to talk with a beautiful elder woman sitting next to us who had some nice modern clothes and some traditional accessories as well.  She was well respected and the young boys at the hotel brought her tea.  

Today would be the most brutal day of the trip by far, everyone was exhausted.  Every time I got off the bike my hands and face were tingling like they had been asleep for hours, my chest was even tingling!  We would cover a LOT of ground, see some incredible scenery and incredible roads.  Rahul told us it would be one of a couple long days and it was. 

The views here are so vast, we are mere specks of sand compared to the enormous mountain vistas.  These roads were opened just 2 weeks ago an will be only open for 3 months tops from all the snow they get here.  Of course we went through many more streams and fun sections of the road.  It is totally amazing to see all sorts of people and vehicles on these roads (if you can call them roads).  Everyone was helping everyone to get through the really tough sections like the video below.

 

At some point during the ride I took spill #2 in some deep gravel (ATGATT) and not a scratch on me or the bike, ya shake it off and keep on truckin.  I think I had passed a few guys and was hammering hard on the rocky road when I went around the curve and hit some deep gravel.  Oh well, education comes at a price.  LOL

  

We saw many Stupas along the road and you could tell we were continuing to gain elevation as even in some of the valley areas we were coming up on LARGE areas of snow.  One of the most memorable areas was where we had to climb a mountain and there were switchback after switchback which was basically only 1 lane and we shared with the large fuel and other trucks.  This mountain climb is called the Ghata Loop.   I had Evan on the back and the Royal Enfield Himalayan was huffing and puffing up the hill.  At one curve there were like a few thousand water bottles which kind of upset me that they were dumped there.  The story is that a truck broke down and the driver was trying to fix the flat tire or something and the truck fell off and either rolled over him or something happened and it killed him.  When folks got there to help him all he could say was he wanted some water so it is actually a shrine to the poor guy that passed away.

 

The next big obstacle was Nakeela Pass (15,647') and up the mountain we drove through cut out glacier type areas where the snow was probably 30' high.  I don't know how they paved that area and figured out where the dang road was to start plowing but it was very impressive and fun to ride through.

It was stream crossing after stream crossing and some were super treacherous.  On one of the last BIG crossings I had made it through the hard deep part and was going down the easy area which the stream was covering the entire road about 4-6" deep and then I hit a rock and went over on the right side.  The right side was where the cliff went down hundreds of feet so I'm glad I was still ON the road.  I picked the bike up, got back on and rode off to the few guys that were waiting.

2018 MOAR Bike and upgrades.

My MOAR e-bike.  I think I received it the first week of March 2018.  I of course wanted to put it together and go ride it but we were leaving for a month in Argentina and Chile with the majority of time in Patagonia.

Here is a picture of me with the new bike all put together and ready for the first ride.

Since MOAR was a Kickstarter crowd funding campaign I knew that  there would always be issues with something and this was true with the bike.

Since my first ebike build was a 48V 1000W unit that totally kicks ass, I decided to get the 500W with a larger battery.  I knew this would be an easy build and should be one of the first ones complete which it was.  Keep it simple and you won't have as many issues.  It's not the fastest but I don't care I want reliability and didn't want it to look like an ebike which are super easy to spot.

Yes I wanted it last year but the bike was being improved on a weekly basis and for the good.    I could tell that Ken the CEO (or owner) was being very thorough about design and testing but then started adding more colors, more motor options and a bunch of other things and I could see the scope creep coming.This isn't what you should do on your first crowd funding campaign but I'm not the one in charge so I just chilled since I already had an ebike that I built a few years ago.  Here are my 2 bikes.

Even after receiving my bike I knew there would probably be a few issues and I had to go over all the bolts to be sure they were tight, the front fender is held on pretty lame with a couple of zip ties and the back fender flops around so I drilled a few holes in the fender and ziptied it to the back rack and now it doesn't move.

It's not pretty but does the job and you can't really see it anyway so I don't care.  I'm into function not glamour.  Another issue I had was the tiny zip ties that were used on the machine.  They kept breaking and one allowed the wire to rub on the tire which I didn't like so I replaced a few of those. You can see the broken tie and the wire hanging a little in the top of the photo.

I also added a mirror to the bike bar end that I had on one of my bikes

After riding the bike to work a few times I didn't like how tall my lunch pack and other crap were on the back battery. I am not flexible so getting on and off and lifting my leg much higher was a pain in the ass.  You can see how high the bag comes up.

Since I live in the Pacific North WET of the US I knew I'd get caught in some sort of crappy weather which is why I ordered the fenders.  Well they will do in a pinch but are semi useless so to the design lab I went.  I am an engineer at Boeing but also own a sign shop which is what I'd rather be doing.  Here is a simple solution to help keep the crap off of the components and you can get the supplies on any street corner, especially after an election. (LOL)  There are tons of these 18"x 24" coroplast signs that people think they can just litter up our neighborhoods well NO take those shitty signs down.  I picked up a few and made some "additional" fenders for my bike.  Yeah it's not "pretty" but as you know I don't care.   Here is a piece from a sign I used for the front.

I cut it to size then painted it flat black.  After I did that I put a few holes in it with a soldering gun and zip tied it to the front shock.

Then I went to work on the back.  I just don't want rain, mud, and other crap to get on the joints, electrical wires and components if I don't have to which will make it wear prematurely.  These simple pieces can be replaced anytime since there are an abundance of signs available - LOL

So here is the back fender area.  I have not completely finished but this keeps the majority of crud off the wires and upper linkage.

It's really not to noticeable but does the job.  Now back to the carrying my lunch and other tools, etc. issue.  I'm a long distance motorcyclist from WAY back!  My current bike is a 1999 BMW R1100RT 

I found some front saddle bag type bags for an ATV that I thought I might use on my motorcycle but it just did'n't work out but then they turned out GREAT for the bike.  I only needed a bungee cord to loop over the top and through some loops on the bags and presto, problem solved.  Here is a shot with some small bungee cords which I replaced with a thick one that went over the top and made it sturdy so neither bag would hit the tires or spokes.

So there you have it for now.  I only have about 200 miles on the bike because I have been enjoying recovery from shoulder surgery this summer.  I hope to ride later this fall after I get the ok from the Doc an Physical Therapy folks.  

Happy riding.

Prep for trip and packing

It was finally time to start packing.  Since I had been planning this trip for years and throughout the year thinking about things I needed to take to survive I had a box of "Stuff" down in the basement.  Mostly for the motorcycle I would purchase later. 

Survival 

I try to plan for everything.  What if I break down in the middle of nowhere, or if I am enjoying some mountain pass in the middle of nowhere and it gets dark and I'm miles or kilometers from the nearest town?  So.........

I picked up a small 1man tent that can be put in a heartbeat.  Then I got a very nice sleeping pad that has a foot pump built in which is about 4" tall and perfect for sleeping.  Next was an emergency bivy sac that helps reflect your heat back to you.  Who knows where I'll be and many of the mountain passes can range from 3-15,000+ ft.  (My wife and I were in the Atacama Desert a number of years back where it NEVER rains or anything in mid-March.  We drove over a pass and on our way back the temperature dropped to 32 F or 0 C and we started getting snowed on, so you have to prepare for anything.)  Then a small towel, Knife, whistle, bug venom extractor, a water filter, and the Garmin InReach messenger.  

The Garmin Inreach messenger does a few things.  Allows basically a bread crumb trail with certain plans that sends out a signal every 10 mins.  This will give family and friends a chance to see where I am at any time throughout the trip (as long as I remember to charge it) AND it allows me to call for help if anything should happen with a press of a button.  The other great part of this unit is that I can send and receive texts from people and send them back.  The texting can be done via the unit itself OR it can be hooked up via Bluetooth to a smart phone and you can text via your smart phone.

So that is my basic survival stuff.

Motorcycle stuff

I decided to purchase some soft saddlebags that are waterproof.  I know everyone touts the Mosko brand but I just didn't feel like spending that kind of dosh.  I found a really good pair on Amazon called Wild Heart, they are 25 liters per side which I think is big but they look very well mad and fairly easy to use.  These are called Dry Bags and are supposed to keep your stuff dry in any kind of weather and be rugged enough to take a few falls.  Time will tell.

Then I found a small battery powered air pump, a USB outlet for charging things from the bike to mount on the handlebar, some rim protectors and a pair of Motion Pro bead breaker and tire removal tools which I hope to NEVER use.

Camera Gear

Everyone knows I'm a camera nut.  I purchased a very nice monopod to bring on the trip to hold up car but decided it was just too long.  I decided to use the cheap small tripod and a metal selfie stick as my camera holders and they will just have to do.  For cameras I have 2 cell phones, and a host of other camera gear, we'll leave it at that.

Moto Clothes

My trusty First Gear jacket I've worn forever and halfway around the world.  It is textile and repels water, has a liner and it HOT in the sun and warm temps but that's the way the cookie crumbles.  I've ridden with it in 20 F to over 100 F.  Next I decided to finally after 40+ years of riding get a pair of mesh pants that will keep me protected yet allow air to flow through and keep my legs cool.  The only issues will be for RAIN and cold temperatures.  I have an old pair of gortex overpants that I can put on for both of those instances.  I have some hard core dirt bike boots that are like concrete.  I've worn them once for the BMW Performance school off road class and they did a great job but they are super heavy and I can't walk in them so I decided to do the next best thing and use my nice Vasque hiking boots.  They will give some protection and I can walk.  Ya can't please everyone but to bad, this is what I'm doing.  I also have a couple of neck gators for dusty or cold conditions.

Other misc stuff

Some Rock straps, a couple of wratchet straps, a siphon tube, coupld of bungie cords, flashlight, leatherman tool, first aid kit, earplugs and a few medications.  Of course, you have your electronics and a bazillion cables for everything and too much electronics, power adaptor, small extension cord, etc.  You know what I'm talking about.  Then of course a few pairs of lightweight pants, socks, shirts, underware but trying not to go overboard with too much stuff which I'm sure I have. 

 

South America - Here we come 2026

South America 2026 

Here we come! It's time to get back to in the saddle.   After too many years of research and planning I'm finally heading south to ride through South America from the top to the bottom and back.  I've been researching for years and have been on various forums, WhatsApp groups and reading as much as I can to find fun and interesting places to see and photograph.  

So who is this masked man.......  Hi, I'm Brian or as my India trip friends call me The Professor. 

I recently retired a few years ago and have ridden motorcycles since high school.  So, a LONG TIME.  I am a street rider and my current bike is a 1999 BMW R1100RT with over 160,000 miles on it.  I'm a member of the IronButt Association and have a number of rides under my belt.  I like to ride far and fast so this trip will be a new kind of riding for me (Far and SLOW).  Last year I attended the BMW Performance Off Road course in Greenville, SC and learned a lot.  I also took a class from Dirt Bike Safety Training in Marysville, WA near where I live in Everett, Washington USA.

  

In addition to riding motorcycles, I am a certified aircraft mechanic, have my Sport pilots license and fly a Six Chuter Powered Parachute, am a handyman that can fix about anything in addition to an Engineer, photographer, airbrush artist and jokester.

So......  What's the plan?  Do I even have a plan?  Well, kinda.  I'm flying to Medellin, Colombia from Seattle Washington and take a couple weeks of intensive Spanish to brush up on high school Spanish.  I hope to get at least good enough to talk my way out of a ticket.  Hahaha Or at least order some food, find a place to stay, and get across the borders of the countries I visit.  As the trip continues, I hope to increase my speaking and understanding of the language.  I won't be fluent but will be very happy to be able to at least have a little conversation with the locals.

While in Medellin, I'll look for a small bike, purchase it and prepare to hit the road after my couple weeks are up.  I'll be heading south through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile to Ushuaia, the southernmost point you can drive in South America.  Then I'll head back north and over into Chile where I'll travel to Villa O'Higgins in the Carretera Austral  and then head back up to the Atacama Desert and beyond.

Of course, in between all these places are many things to see and do so follow along and see where I go and what I do.