MEX-CENT-SOUTH MOTO TRIP

PRELUDE

Darren here (el mecánico from the original 2005 Landcruiser trip). Not content with surviving that trip, my feeble mind was ripe for manipulation into again leaving the comfortable insulated womb of mother America under the power of the internal combustion engine. Unfortunately, Brendan, the most mature of the original three, was fully occupied with some sinister plot while living under the plausible cover story of being a respectable consultant with a wonderful fiance. Worse yet, he convinced Kiki, the Landcruiser hula girl doll that another trip was a bad idea. As for Colin, his exact whereabouts were unknown; he was presumed to have dedicated the remainder of his days to attending to the daily needs of an enclave of blind leper ferrets in the remote mountains of Colorado.

Salvation came in the form of former college housemate and renaissance man Erik Innocent, who shared his idea of a motorcycle trip from San Francisco, California to Ushuaia, Argentina. The seed was planted and nurturing of the tender shoots of the plan began. Approximately one year later on May 2, 2012, the noisy, messy and somewhat unripe fruits of our labor were harvested when Erik and I departed San Francisco on two grossly overladen 650cc motorcycles, headed for points south. Picture of stick figure: I am pleased to introduce Mr. Erik Innocent. Picture of moto: Behold the 2006 Suzuki DL650 (Wee-Strom), a bike I'd describe as a loveably ugly moto that's a reasonable compromise between capability and cost. Her name is La Gordita Rojita.