Day 1: Adventure riding the Andes Mountains

Wow!  I never thought I’d been typing this, but here I am.  I just rode across the northernmost range of the Andes Mountains.  On an RX3.  Wowee!   Here they are:  The Andes!

I took that shot from a cool little spot where we stopped for a typical Colombian breakfast…hot chocolate, scrambled eggs, and arrepa.   More on that later…here’s a shot of the bikes at what has to be one of the coolest mountain biker restaurants I’ve ever enjoyed…

And here’s another shot of my AKT Motos RS3 (the RS3 is the carbureted version of the RX3)…

I liked that restaurant a lot.  They painted it to match my jacket.

We rode about 370 miles yesterday, and about half of it was in the Andes.  370 miles may not seem like a lot, but picture riding Glendora Ridge for 6 or 8 hours.   The Andes are a motorcycling paradise.   The Andes Mountains.   Wow!

I guess you never know what you’re going to see in the Andes.  This old goat was kind of cool…and I had to grab a shot.

We stopped to take a break and some of the local paramilitary/police guys came over to check out the bikes.  The RX3 is a prestige motorcycle in Colombia (just like it is in the USA) and these boys wanted a closer look.   They gladly consented to a photo.    They are most definitely well armed.   You see police and military units everywhere.

These next photos are from the saddle after we descended from the Andes.   Good times, my friends…

These next photos are of young ladies who are gas station attendants.   When they saw our 250cc RX3 motos, they wanted to know what it was like riding such huge motorcycles.  That’s a bit different from what you might hear in the USA, I suppose.

It was a long day, and it ended in a town called Covenas, right on the Caribbean.   We stopped for a few shots with the sea in the background…

We were up early today and we had another long day.  We didn’t ride many miles today (we did well under 200 miles), but a lot of it was on dirt and that really takes it out of you.   One of the best parts was the ferry ride across the Magdalena River (it’s Colombia’s Mississippi).  Here’s a quick video from early today, and then I’m calling it a night.

Keep an eye on the blog, folks.  I won’t be able to post every day, but I’ll do my best.