Be Ride Back

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Episode 18 of our great motorcycle adventure is live 😍

In episode 18 of our South American adventure we leave our bikes in Cusco under the watchful eyes of our mate Paul and explore the stunning Machu Picchu, before heading back to Cusco for a few more days of colourful festivals, great food and some more ancient ruins at the fascinating Saqsaywaman site, just outside Cusco.

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https://youtu.be/tB7vEj6z2RU

Be Ride Back | South America Ep18| Peru - Machu Picchu. In episode 18 of our South American adventure we leave our bikes in...

A Mysterious Wobble Followed by a Colonoscopy.

We left Cheney quite late knowing that we only have a short ride to get to Troy, but we planned, he laughed and not even 30 km into our ride we were stopped by the police at a roadblock; Google said that an accident down the road is causing a 19 minute delay, but after waiting for 30 minutes under the hot sun we gave up, did a U-turn and took a detour through what turned out to be an even scenic-ier route along the windy roads of beautiful Cocolalla lake, Idaho.

By the time we arrived at Troy it was already very hot, and we were happy to relax a bit and see our friends, Lacey and Jason. Everything was still smoky from the wildfires that have now spread to Spokane and other big cities around us, and all we could do is hope that the brave firefighters will be successful in their mission and that there’s no loss in life, animals or human.

The following day Asi spent long hours working on Elsa’s front wheel, trying to bring it back into balance after it started wobbling for no apparent reason; he undid and redid the spokes multiple times and though it felt better than before, we were still not 100% happy with the results and still baffled by the cause for the issue. We ordered a camera probe from Amazon, and when Asi was done with Elsa’s wheel and after changing Elsa’s chain and sprockets, we put Woolly on the surgeon’s table and looked into his cylinders to see if there’s any significant carbon buildup that might be causing Woolly to rattle. Both Woolly and Elsa have been very unhappy with some of the fuel we’ve used, especially in Central and South America, but also the American fuel which often contains Ethanol, and all our efforts to eliminate the issue were only partially successful, which was extremely frustrating.

Woolly’s Colonoscopy was successful and though we did notice some carbon build up, it didn’t look like something abnormal or extreme, definitely nothing that would justify opening an engine during a trip. Now, the next task at hand was to install a new rear tyre for Woolly; my old Mitas tyre still had some life in it, but I was keen to get back to my favourite Dunlop tyre and Asi promised that this time I could change the tyre on my own (ish), and so one day a new tyre arrived in a big, brown truck. I followed Asi’s instructions and asked for his help when I needed it and eventually the new tyre was on, my instructor was happy and I got to take credit for the whole thing.

But the best part? now my old tyre is at the miniature goats’ playground at Lacey and Jason’s farm!

By now, the wildfires spread significantly, and the smoke became thicker and thicker, blown by the western wind and trapped between the mountains, sometimes so thick that it blocked the sun completely; the air pollution was extreme and the overall advice was to avoid being outside and not do any exercise, so we complied and made sure we don’t do any exercise or, god forbid, any hiking or mountain climbing or cycling, even though we REALLY wanted to. Instead, we had a delicious brisket at Lacey and Jason’s and I made a Bask Cheesecake for dessert, making sure to not break a sweat in the process.

Lacey and Jason loaned us the motel’s golf cart, and we used it for our daily grocery run, enjoying the breeze in our faces, only most times it was the exhaust from the trucks passing us by rather than a gentle zephyr rolling down from the mountains. When we felt like something with a bit more horsepower, we took the bikes for a ride in the area, enjoying the scenery and the delicious coffee we had at the busy coffee shop at Bonners Ferry (or as we call it, “Boner’s Fairy” and, oh, shut up) and when we felt like something with some donkey power instead, we went to Lacey and Jason’s farm to mingle with our furry friends.

Our human friends had a short vacation planned and asked if we’d be willing to stay in their farm for a week while they were gone; we contemplated for a very long time, thinking to ourselves if we really want to be surrounded by horses (yes!), donkeys (absolutely yes!), miniature goats (yes, please!), chickens (everybody loves a Schnitzel!), ducks (Confit, anyone?), cats (di*****ds, but we still love them) and the 3 cutest dogs in the world??

30 seconds later all our stuff was packed, and we were ready to move in.

That week that we stayed at The Funny Farm was one of the best weeks we had on this adventure; we woke up early every morning (and I wasn’t even grumpy), put on our boots (well, I did), let the dogs out, fed the animals and gave them fresh water to drink, collected the chicken and ducks’ eggs and gave everyone a good morning snack and a pat. I’d then take a walk with the dogs - Huckelberry, Piper and Lobo and when I came back Asi and I would have coffee on the porch and enjoy the cool morning weather. We spent our days grooming the vegetable garden, we raked and shoveled lots of different types of p**ps, some fresh and some vintage, and spoiled the dogs rotten with way more treats than they should eat, but they’re cute and I’m weak and it is what it is.

Our week at the farm had ended, and although we had a few beautiful, clear days that week, by now, the smoke was back in full force and the rain that was promised didn’t arrive. We were back at the inn, busy doing admin for the last leg of our trip while enjoying the serenity of the place; our mate, Paul, stayed with us one night on his way to Canada and the ‘resident’ deer came to visit us daily, sometimes with their babies and sometimes without, and they seemed to have grown used to our presence, getting closer each time they visit. We were also in the perfect place to catch the Perseid meteor shower that blasted in full glory this year and a stunning a deep partial lunar eclipse. The weather that was starting to cool off marked the end of our time in Troy; we were sad to say goodbye, but we knew that this won’t be the last time we’ll see our friends, and we also knew that like Winnie the Pooh said, we’re lucky to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard.

Another eposide of our adventure is now on YouTube! and if you like it, don't forget to LIKE IT and SUBSCRIBE 👍😁

In episode 17 of our South American adventure we leave Nazca and head northeast on our way to Cusco. We're hot, we're cold, we go up the mountains and down to the valleys, we get wet and dry out, but eventually, we make it.

We have a great time in Cusco, exploring the town with our mate Paul (aka ⁨), do some maintenance on the bikes and enjoy the colourful (and loud!) festivals in the town's plaza.

Join us!

Be Ride Back | South America Ep17| Peru - Cusco Bound! In episode 17 of our South American adventure we leave Nazca and he...

Any guesses what's hidden behind my professional editing skills and where we are?

*Hint: I had to wear some flowers in my hair to get there. Asi struggled 🫣🤭

Only full answers will be accepted 😜

Episode 16 of our crazy adventure is now live in YouTube, so put on your masks 🫥

In episode 16 of our South American adventure we get caught in a crazy sandstorm on our way to Nasca!
We farewell the beautiful Cañon de Uchco and head towards Paracas, on the Peruvian coast, but as soon as we get on the Panamerican, we're caught in a massive sandstorm and almost get blown away by extremely strong gusty winds. Without a functioning navigation system and with almost zero visibility, we navigate to our destination, only barely keeping our motorcycles upright. The following day, with our bodies still beaten and bruised, we leave Paracas towards Nasca, battling strong winds mixed with dust once again, but fortunately we're still able to witness the magnificent Nasca Lines, before arriving to the town of Nasca.

Be Ride Back | South America Ep16 | Peru - Sandstorms all the way to Nasca! In episode 16 of our South American adventure we get caught in a cr...

“Life is What Happens to Us While We Are Making Other Plans” [Allen Saunders]

We've now been in Washington for a few days, and although we’ve seen some beautiful places and met some lovely people, we couldn’t quite put our finger on what’s holding us back from fully enjoying our time there. Was it the excessive heat? Maybe the fact that everything was so expensive? Or, perhaps, the crowds? Could it be that we were simply missing our friends in Montana? Or… is it the fact that our adventure is nearing its end?

Or is it all together?

We woke up to a cloudy and grey morning in Chehalis; we were meant to ride to see Mount St. Helens today, but given the poor visibility and the smoky conditions, we decided to give it a miss and instead stay at the hotel to devise a new plan for the next leg of our adventure. Our original plan had us spending a few more days in Washington before heading to Oregon, and from there zigzagging our way through the south-western part of the USA all the way to L.A., but the next few weeks were going to be extremely hot, school holiday is on for a few more weeks, too, and even if we could ignore the squealing kids and brave the heat, there was nothing we could do against the heavy smoke and roads that closed due to the many wildfires that were raging around us. Our mate, Paul, was also riding around the USA at the time, so we needed to come up with a plan that would also get us together for a couple of days before we part ways again, him – heading north, and us – well… that’s exactly what we needed to figure out.

Eventually we decided to wait a couple more days in Chehalis until Paul will get closer to Lyle where we’ll meet him, and from there we’ll return to Montana and he’ll continue on his way; with everything that was going on we decided to go back to Troy, work a few days on the bikes that are now due for service, then spend a week at Lacey and Jason’s farm while they go on vacation and then – well… we’ll figure it out later. This way we get to spend more quality time with our friends, human and furry alike, we can work comfortably on the bikes, and we might even have some spare time to explore the area a bit more (assuming and hoping that the smoke would subside a bit).

And so, we did!

With only around 200km from Chehalis to Lyle we were in no rush to leave the motel, but as we expected another hot day we couldn’t linger until it got too hot either, and at around 10am we were riding east along the Columbia river; it was very smoky and we could hardly see the river, let alone anything beyond it, and we could only imagine how beautiful the view would be on a clear and sunny day; many trains were passing along the river, hauling goods that keep America running, but also, probably, being the main reason why all the ‘action’ was on the Oregon side of the river and not the Washington side.

We arrived early at the Airbnb that we had booked for the night, bought some groceries for dinner and took a cold shower, just when the heat became too much to bear. Paul arrived a couple of hours later and after an emotional reunion we sat down for a home-cooked meal and some stories about what we’ve missed since we said goodbye in Rio Grande, Argentina over 6 months ago. The following day we rode the short distance from Lyle to a shop in White Salmon where Asi and Paul pimped their luggage system while I was busy petting the cute dog that was enjoying the aircon at the shop before spending $7 on an iced coffee at the café next door (me, not the dog), not including the tip I was embarrassed into paying for the lovely girl to do her job. I know I should have asked for the price beforehand, and I know that I don’t have to leave tip, but I break easily under peer (and caffeine) pressure.

For the who-knows-how-many time, we said goodbye to Paul as he headed in one direction and we, the other, with none of us knowing when, or where, we’ll meet again. It wasn’t as smoky today, so we could finally enjoy the beauty of the endless Columbia River and the glorious Mt. Hood, dominating the skyline on the Oregon side. It gradually became hotter, and we made sure to stay dehydrated and focused; we enjoyed the ride, and were happy to go back to Troy, but we were both also preoccupied with thoughts about today and tomorrow and how the next couple of weeks would look like and what’s next, this trip and, in general. It was scary and confusing and a bit overwhelming, so we did what every normal person would do – got into a deep denial and decided to simply enjoy every day as it comes like we still have 3 more years of travelling ahead of us. We checked in to the motel we had booked for the night in Cheney, took a cold shower and bought some stir-fried dinner at the supermarket across the street. It was no Gordon Ramsay, and it has more sugar in it than a sugarcane, but it was also cheap and satisfying and we only had a mild nausea later that night, so that’s a win in our book.

A Rookie Mistake.

Excluding one miserable hour of standing under the scorching sun at a red light for roadwork, we really enjoyed the beautiful, scenic route from Missoula to Troy. Montana never ceases to amaze us and we love immersing ourselves in its wild beauty, riding beneath gigantic mountains, along endless rivers, and past deep blue lakes.

Troy, our destination, is a small city in northwest Montana; Originally inhabited by the Kutenai, other Interior Salish peoples as well as the Piegan Blackfeet, the area was settled by miners in the 1880s, registered as a town in 1892 and grew quickly after the Great Northern Railway built a freight station there. Today there are less than 800 people in Troy, a few stores and restaurants, but its location, right on the Kootenai National Forest and the beautiful Kootenai Falls that have been featured in movies such as The River Wild and The Revenant, still attracts many people looking to enjoy some of Montana’s finest natural beauty.

We had already explored the area before, so our reason for coming back here for the second time this trip wasn’t (just) about sightseeing, but rather to visit Lacey and Jason, 2 amazing humans whom we’ve met here for the first time 2 years ago; Lacey and Jason run a magical inn named “Lake Creek Inn” in Troy, and when we stayed here for the first time there was a massive heatwave in the area so we had to extend our stay over and over until the conditions were reasonable enough for us to continue our journey, and during that time we became good friends. The second time we saw them was when they came to Colorado to visit us after Asi’s accident, and there was no way in the world that we’ll be back in the States and not go to see them.

The detour to Troy was one of the best decisions we’ve made on this adventure, and what was meant to be a 2 nights reunion ended up being a week full of laughter that made us cry, food that made us happy (and fat) and some shenanigans (do people still use this word?) that would probably be more suitable for a bunch of 12-year-olds, but between the four of us there’s not a single adult to keep us in check when we’re together, which is bloody awesome. In their beautiful home Lacey and Jason have horses, miniature horses, donkeys, a mule, goats, ducks, chooks, dogs and cats, all super friendly and happy to be cuddled, and while they usually do it just because they’re cute like that, I know that sometimes it’s just be the pile of treats in my pocket which they find to be delicious despite looking like p**p with small pieces of corn kernels in it.

To each their own, I guess.

During our stay in Troy we also had to change our plan, again, and cancel our planned excursion into Banff and Jasper in Canada, again, only this time it wasn’t due to wildfires, but rather because we couldn’t find any insurer who’d be willing to cover our Australian motorcycles for a few days in Canada without us having to sell a kidney, eh; we were disappointed, but we didn’t dwell on it and quickly built an alternative plan which will see us heading to the west coast on the USA instead.

After a sensational week, we said goodbye to Lacey, Jason and their Funny Farm animals and left Troy for Republic, Washington. It is not every day that you happen to stumble upon such great people, and we really felt like us leaving was such a miss, but our visas only allow us a limited time in the USA, and we still had a few bucket-list items to checkout before we head home, so we had no choice but to say goodbye, hoping that we’ll get another chance to meet in the future.

It was warm when we left Troy, and by the time we arrived at Republic, Washington, it was extremely hot, and except for a short walk to the local grocery store for some food for dinner, we spent the evening in our air-conditioned room. From Republic we continued towards Mount Vernon, also in Washington, and enjoyed a magnificent ride through the twisty roads of North Cascades National Park; the scenery was mind-blowing and the colour of the glacial water at Diablo Lake looked so unreal that I had to add a disclaimer to all the photos I shared with my family and friends promising that the photos aren’t edited. We could have easily spent a few more hours at the national park, but there were too many people for our liking and the fuel prices in Washington are so steep that for the first time we actually had to rethink our route, so we decided to head to the motel.

We had terrible grilled chicken for dinner, gutted to find out the following morning that there was a Burger King just around the corner from the motel; for a moment we contemplated whether it’s too early to eat a Whopper before 9am, but decided to act like grown-ups for a change and instead bought some lollies at the gas station. It’s not all fun and games here, you know.

From Mt. Vernon we headed towards Chehalis, looking forward to today’s ride as it will take us through Mount Renier National Park, which we were looking forward to very much. We crossed Seatle, surprised again about how easy it is to cross big cities in the USA, and when we got closer to the national park, we realised that what we didn’t take into consideration, though, or at least slightly underestimated, was the amount of people that flocks the national park on a Saturday, and not just any Saturday, but a school holiday one.

Rookie mistake.

The road was great and the weather was mostly lovely, but the heavy traffic made it very difficult for us to enjoy our ride; grey clouds hovering around Mount Reinier’s peak, but once in a while they’d spread enough and we were treated with a magnificent sight of the mountain’s snowy peak. We pulled over at a gas station for some fabulous home-made jerky that Jason and Lacey made, fuel and a drink, had a fun conversation with a group of Indonesian Harley riders and continued to Chehalis, where we had a room booked for the night. We had Jack-in-the-Box for dinner which made us regret that we didn’t eat the Whopper for breakfast after all, spent a quiet evening at the hotel and called it a night, wondering what is it about Washington that is makes us miss Montana so much.

Intrusive Thoughts.

It was another early morning, but this time we weren’t only aiming to beat the heat but also trying to get an early start for a long ride of over 600 km; there was a shorter route, of course, but we weren’t interested in spending a day on the highway when we can roam twisty scenic byways instead. We opted to ride road 14 at the Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming, a road which we rode before and were keen to do again and at the last moment we also decided to add another detour and ride the Beartooth Pass once again, one of the first mountain passes we rode in the USA.

It was a beautiful morning, and except for two pickup trucks hauling their ATVs at an exceptionally slow speed thus squeezing the joy out of the first few twisties, we were enjoying our time on route 14 very much; it was as beautiful as we remembered but sadly large areas seem to have been affected by wildfire and the results were devastating. As we climbed up in altitude it became colder, so it was time for our winter gear to come out, only to be taken off an hour later and then on and off again, all day, as the temperatures soar and plummet.

We continued twisting and winding along the mountains’ contour and after almost 350 km we pulled over at Red Lodge, Montana, for some leftover pizza that was baking in my top-box. We had a long chat with a couple of fellow travellers from Germany, and although it was warm where we were, we made sure to wear our winter gear before leaving towards Beartooth Pass, knowing that up there it’ll be much colder. For a few long minutes we were steaming in our gear, but once we were on the move, the light breeze cooled us down and we were pumped to ride the pass again, ignoring the grey clouds hovering above the peak, hoping that they will disappear by miracle by the time we get there.

We started the climb on the familiar long, tight hairpin turns, carefully admiring stunning landscape that was stretching beneath and around us, trying our best not to be too distracted by the view and focus on the road ahead. There was still snow on the mountain and it got windier and colder the higher we got, but it was nothing compared to the insanity we had when on both times we rode the pass two years ago. By the time we reached the peak, our hope for a miracle was gone, and the grey clouds that we saw in the horizon were now just above us, doing what they do best. Being on a motorcycle in the rain at 10,947 feet altitude on the highest paved highway in the Northern Rockies might be less than ideal, but all we could do was slow down and enjoy the view and when the rain finally stopped, we enjoyed a few rays of sun, but they were only there long enough to tease us before hail started clicking and clacking on our helmets.

When we arrived at Cooke City it was already nice and dry, though still a bit windy. We ate the remaining leftover pizza we had from last night, now not as warm as before, bought some stickers from the local souvenir shop and continued on the 212 west towards Yellowstone.

Riding through Yellowstone might sound exotic to some, but to us it wasn’t really appealing as we clearly remembered crawling along the 35mph roads behind too many cars, stopping every 5 minute because someone saw something somewhere; now, it’s not that we don’t appreciate how cool it is to see an animal in the wild, but there are also too many idiots in the wild and I was having too many intrusive thoughts about wanting someone to get eaten by a bear or kicked by a Bison, preferably while I am filming, which I suspect isn’t too healthy to any of us.

We rode along the magnificent 212, crossing the Lamar Valley once again, admiring the gigantic Bisons and wondering what Darwin would have thought about the family of tourists walking straight towards a Bison cub. We saw many Pronghorns, a couple of Deer, Prairie Dogs and the butt of a medium-sized Grizzly bear as he was running away from us and into the forest. When we arrived at Mammoth, we were already exhausted, more from the few kilometres we did at slow speed than the hundreds of kilometres we did a couple of hours prior to that, and we were ready to call it a day; we stopped for a short rest, fuelled the bikes, munched on some peanuts and lollies and continued our way west towards Livingston, Montana.

The campsite we stayed at in Livingston was not the place we wanted to be at after such a long day; it was dirty, our mattress was made in hell and in the morning we sounded like two rusty transformers as we tried to get out of bed. We drank our coffee, packed the bikes and left the torture chamber behind us as we headed towards Missoula. We rode the i90 which, despite being a freeway, was surprisingly fun to ride and took us through some of Montana’s most beautiful vistas, with many long rivers, blue lakes and snowy mountains.

We checked in to the camping cabin we had booked for the night which was much nicer than the one we stayed at last night; it was very hot and our butts were still hurting from yesterday’s ride, but there was laundry to be done and food to be cooked, and after some very easy negotiation we decided that we will take the hit and do the laundry but we will order some food instead of cooking.

The overpriced and not-so-mild-although-we-asked Pad-See-Ew we had for dinner was ok, perhaps would have tasted better had we paid attention and saw that it’s coming from a restaurant less than 300 meters away thus able to eat earlier and cheaper, but it was too damn hot and we were too damn tired and it was more like Pad-I don’t see-Ew at the time.

Perhaps we just needed to Wok it off.

Episode 15 is not an episode you'd want to miss! and it's now live on our YouTube channel 😁

In episode 15 of our South American adventure we tick another one of our "most wanted" bucket-list items and ride Cañon de Uchco! We leave Jauja bright and early, and after a short ride on the 3S we head southeast on the magnificent Ruta 24, winding along a stunning, open valley, before starting our ascent to the Andes, where after reaching an altitude of 4,727 meters above sea level at Abra Chaucha, we start descending again, all the way to the bottom of the breathtaking Cañon de Uchco.

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Be Ride Back | South America Ep15 | Peru - Cañon de Uchco In episode 15 of our South American adventure we tick another one o...

Watching Us Watching Him Watching Us.

We spent two fabulous weeks at the Tiger’s Den, Kelly and Allan’s cabin up in the Colorado mountains; we searched for special rocks with Kaiden, picked wildflowers with Eddie, had a laugh and a meal with Kelly and Allan and spent long hours sitting on the front porch watching the lake and the snowy mountains far behind it, or just admiring the starry skies at night. Spring brought with it warmth and fresh grass – a perfect time for baby deer to be born and for us to giggle with joy as we watch them waddling next to their mums, grazing on the young leaves under the cabin. We took the hummingbird feeder out of storage, cleaned it up a bit, made some delicious syrup and ensured that the buffet is open 24/7; what started with a single bird, quickly turned into a humming soup kitchen and we felt like two Buc-Ee’s employees, hardly able to make enough brisket sandwiches for the hungry mass.

The weather up in the mountains was mostly warm and lovely, though some days strong winds would blow, carrying clouds of smoke from the wildfires that were raging around us; we were happy to be far enough and safe, but saddened to hear about the significant damage those fires inflicted on people and animal alike. We took daily walks around the forest, only stopping to catch up on our breath and make sure that we are not being followed by a bear, knowing very well that if we did see one, there won’t be anyone around to hear our screams. It was amazing to think how just two years ago, when we were here after Asi’s accident, he couldn’t even walk a few steps up the hill with his walker and now he’s climbing it like a mountain goat.

It was now time for us to leave the cabin (again) and start heading northwest; Asi woke up early while I was still snoozing in bed, and when he came to wake me up whispering that there’s a Moose outside, I jumped out, almost forgetting to put on my pants before rushing out. We quietly opened the cabin’s door and indeed, a huge Moose was standing just across the road, watching us watching him watching us. We were both grinning with happiness (Asi and I, I am not sure about the moose) and stood there for a long time staring at the majestic animal until it was tired with the staring contest and wandered back into the forest. There was nothing we wanted more than to see a moose again, but as we were leaving today, we thought this might never happen.

But it did! What a sendoff.

We drove to Fort Collins, ran some errands and went to Kelly and Allan’s house to return the car; we removed the tarp that Kelly and Allan strapped above and around Woolly and Elsa to protect them from the elements, loaded them up, changed into our riding gear and rode to the campsite we had booked for the night; it was hot and humid and we were both sweaty, stinky and eager for a cold shower and a rest. Later that evening, when our internal temperature dropped back to a reasonable range and we smelled fresh and fluffy again, we met Kelly, Allan, Kalene and Randy for dinner and we laughed so hard that I thought I will choke on my pizza.

It was a bloody good pizza.

The leftover pizza was now packed in little boxes and though we tried to ignore what was to come - it was time to say goodbye. again. We hugged as hard as we could, kissed as much as we could and hugged again, so sad to say goodbye, but also feeling lucky to have someone we love so much to miss so much.

The following morning we woke up with the birds, hoping to cover as many miles as we could before it gets too hot and windy; we had over 500km to ride to our destination in Buffalo, Wyoming, and we were keen to get on the bikes and on the road again.

The road wasn’t all that interesting, but the view was beautiful and we were reminded why we loved Wyoming so much when we were here for the first time 2 years ago; the camping cabin we booked was small but clean and since it was too hot to cook we decided to see what’s on offer on UberEATS; we contemplated between Domino’s pizza and Domino’s pizza and decided to shake things up a bit and order Domino’s pizza. I am not sure it was Michelin star worthy, but it was warm and it didn’t make us sick, and that’s a win in our books.