8. Challenging Riding
DAY 264 Janaúba
I am in a very good mood today. My bike is fixed and ready to go. I have a new driveshaft and the bike has been thoroughly checked out. Now I have a piece of mind that the bike is in as good as shape as it can be. The guys in Euroville BMW in Belo Horizonte did outstanding job to get me back on the road. I can't thank them enough for that.
I already packed last night so I quickly throw my bags on the bike and I am on my way. It is Sunday early morning and traffic is light. I managed to make couple wrong returns but soon enough I am on a freeway heading north out of Belo Horizonte. The traffic is fairly busy for Sunday morning, mainly large heavy trucks. So far it doesn't matter how I plan my route, I always seem to end on a freeway. And I also what I thought was a secondary road, it is a freeway again. I don't mind right now because my goal is to get north to the Atlantic shores. There's not too much in between to see. I need to cover about 2,500 km. I'm thinking about five days to get there.
The freeway is in very good shape and I am doing well on time and the distance. I've already noticed that there are a lot of motorcycles on the road on the weekend here just like everywhere else in the world. But here they ride in large packs. And there is one of those packs ahead of me, everybody pulled over on the side. One of the drivers is lying on the ground and being taken care of. Not a good sign. His bike is lying on its side 50 m down the road. There is not much I can help with over here so I continue.
The landscape is nice and undulating terrain with small villages and towns. It s a nice and relaxing ride. But there is another accident ahead of me. It looks like a large truck carrying watermelons lost its brakes in the downhill section and crashed on the side of the road. Its loads of watermelons is all over the road. It looks like a murder scene from a horror movie. It would be a great picture, but I couldn't stop as I have traffic all around me.
I stopped for gas and to have some lunch. Many gas stations here in Brazil also have a pretty decent restaurant with cooked meal. Usually it is in a buffet style where you take whatever you want and pay by the weight. Easy, tasty and fast.
I arrived to my destination, a small town of Janaúba in the afternoon. My hotel was easy to find, my room was on the ground floor so I didn't have to climb to the top floor as I normally have to do. The bike is safe behind the locked gate. It was a good day, I covered 550 km. The bike is running perfectly, everything is looking good.
I go out in a search for food. Unfortunately, it is Sunday late afternoon. Unlike in North America, weekends are for rest here. Good luck trying to find something open. There are about a dozen ice cream parlours open, but no restaurant. Well, ice cream for dinner will have to do today.
It was a great day with relaxing riding.
DAY 265 Ibotirama
I am out early today. I didn't have any proper meal since the lunch yesterday. I don't need to stop for gas as I got fuel last night coming into the town. But I will need to eat something. The road is very busy, it is Monday morning, and everybody is going back to work. The road is not the best. I wanted to find some secondary road and I finally got it. This road is full of deep potholes, which could end my trip in a heartbeat if I get into one of those holes. It is a slow going, but I'm in no hurry so I don't mind that much. There's not too much to take pictures off, so I just enjoy riding my bike. I can clearly see a few rain showers ahead of me. Fortunately, when I get close to them, my route changes direction and I somehow manage to avoid all of them. But it is getting noticeably warmer farther north I travel. I am down to only a short sleeved T-shirt, and my outer protective riding jacket. There's nothing else to take off. OK, suck it up princess. I'm riding on narrow secondary roads. I left most of the towns and villages behind. There is an occasional settlement or a few houses but most of the day is riding in the middle of the nowhere. The terrain is very flat and it's hard to see what is beyond my immediate vicinity which is subtropical forest and jungle. It is like riding between two green walls. The pavement stops on the side and jungle starts right there. You can't see more than a few feet there. There's not much traffic right now and they're almost no trucks on this road. Why not? This could be good or bad. What do they know that I am missing? I guess I am not on the main road between big cities. There's nothing else to do only but to enjoy the ride.
I arrived in my destination in the middle of the afternoon. It is incredibly hot. It is OK on a motorcycle when you have the wind blowing through your gear. But as soon as you stop, you start sweating profusely. You have to get out of the gear as soon as you can. I arrived in Ibotirama. It looks like the town is situated on the crossroad of several major highways. There are heavy trucks everywhere. And when I say heavy trucks, I mean trucks pulling two 40 foot sea shipping containers behind them. They are very slow and very difficult to pass when you get stuck behind them.
My hotel is next to the road and parking is inside the fenced courtyard. And I got lucky again and my room is on the ground floor, not too far from my bike. Pizza and beer for dinner. It was a good day and I covered another 510 km. Back to my room to plan my route for tomorrow.
DAY 266 Challenging Road
I normally plan my route one day ahead. I look if there is anything interesting in the vicinity and plan my route accordingly. More interesting stuff around, shorter the riding day. There is nothing interesting ahead of me today. I pick the road on Google maps. I usually also check the street view feature which shows the condition of the road. I could see some dirt sections ahead of me, but I'm thinking, if the Google car can get through it then so can I on my motorbike. A loaded the route from my laptop to my GPS unit and of I go.
The town is right by the river Sao Francisco. It looks small on the map, but it is a huge river. The water is very high and fast as it is the middle of the rainy season now. But it is a beautiful sunny morning, at least for now. There is a huge volume of traffic, mainly large trucks again. But soon enough I turn off the main road and I am on nice secondary road. This road is fantastic! A perfect surface with no traffic. Absolutely beautiful. When I say no traffic, I mean NOBODY. I’ve met three trucks in 200 km. And the scenery well, I don't really know. There is a wall of grass 3 m tall on both sides of the road and I have no idea what is behind it. I occasionally catch a glimpse of water through the grass. I suspect there is a lot of wetlands around me. Who knows what kind of creatures live there. I don't think there are any cuddly ones here.
I get to a small town Buritirama. A small town with cobblestone streets. I look at my GPS which says I have about 230 km and 3 hrs to go. I have a fuel for another 350 km so I don't need anything right now. I might come across some dirt sections and I want to keep my weight down.
I get to the other side of the town and right away I am on a dirt road. Cool that's what I want, riding on tarmac was boring. But this road goes through interesting to challenging in a heartbeat. There are a lot of long sections with deep and very fine sand. It is like riding on marbles, sliding all over the place. It is hard to keep my bike upright. Not exactly the ideal of surface for a large motorcycle. I follow my GPS. I want to make sure so I stop and ask locals if this is the right road. They all say yes so I keep going. The road is not getting any better, actually it is getting more narrow. When the road turns into a single track trail, I stopped and asked for directions again. This is not looking good. There is a lonely farmer in the middle of a jungle, tending his small field, nobody else around. I asked for direction and I understand that I have to go back and take a different direction. This would take me away from my route planned on my GPS. The GPS was wrong so many times and I trust locals much more.
I turned around and ride a few kilometres back. There are few houses and there is an intersection of dirt roads. I asked the locals for directions again. I am on the right trail. I also asked how long before I hit the pavement. It is very difficult to communicate when you don't speak the language. Nobody speaks English here and I don't speak Portuguese. The Google Translate app on my phone is getting a huge workout. They couldn't tell me how far it is before I get on a paved road, but they assured me that the road is not getting any worse. But right now I'm facing uncertainty with not knowing what is ahead of me. The information I have right now is that there is about 230 km ahead of me mostly dirt road. My GPS is saying that there is a gas station further up the road. But it also tells me that there is a road in the first place. I decided to play it safe and to return to the town. I will get fuel there and also ask if there is any better way around. I ride back to the town the same way through the deep sand.
I get to the town and I find a gas station. I get full tank, which gives me a very long range. But there is another problem to solve. None of my four credit cards work with their machine. Awesome. Fortunately, I have some cash. I asked for direction and best way to get to my destination. After 30 minutes of back-and-forth, I have basically two options. Go ahead 200 km on the dirt road, or 1,200 km around on the paved road. I'm no quitter so I decide to take the dirt road. I get some extra water with me and I am heading out of town for the third time. The third time is the charm right? I don't have too much time to hang around. The sunset is at 1745. It is pitch black 20 minutes after that. It is noon right now. GPS tells me that I have three hours of riding to go, but I don't trust it anymore. Off I go again.
I go through the dirt intersection again and continue on the dirt road. Farther I go the more challenging it is. There are miles of deep sand where I cannot get out of the first gear. It is very hard physically and mentally. And where is no sand there are deep holes where I can ride max 20 km/h. And there are huge puddles and water crossings. Dozens and dozens of them. I don't even bother stopping and inspecting them before I attempt to cross them so I don't get scared. I just pick the line and go for it. So far it is working. I'm getting tired and I'm not making a good progress. It is 36°C and it is unbelievably muggy. I'm basically evaporating, the sweat is pouring down from my helmet. All my gear is wet from my sweat. Gross. I wont nothing more than strip down to my shorts. But my #1 rule when riding a motorcycle is to wear all the gear all the time. No matter what. My progress is about 25 km per hours. Not good. I am in the middle of the jungle by myself and nobody and nothing around. No phone connection either. I am starting to think about whether I'm going to make it before the night comes. Not at this space. The ride is not getting any easier. Actually, this is the most challenging riding I have ever done. Also, I don't know where I actually am. I am many kilometres of the route plotted on my GPS. When I get to a intersection of trails, I have 50% chance I take the right one. I am relying heavily on my intuition and my gut feeling. I wanted an adventure, but this is pushing it to the absolute limits. And the heat of the day is sucking the energy out of me by the minute. I want to stop and getting in the shade and take a break as I ride in the direct sunlight but I can't afford to lose any time. I hate when I'm being pushed in the corner. Nobody else to blame but me.
After about 40 km I reach a small village. There is a small grocery store so I stop right there. I'm so tired I need a break. I can't continue like this. They have no food in the store so I have a Coke and bunch of cookies. Not the healthiest snack, but beggars can't be choosers. I sit in the shade for about half an hour, trying to gather more strength. I asked the storekeeper about the road conditions. He tells me that it is about 160 km more of this dirt road and the last 50 km before my destination there is a paved road. Oh boy, this is going to be very, very hard. I feel better after the break. I replenished my water supplies as I went through more than 3 L of water in the last 40 km. The road seems to be better now. By “better” I mean I can ride occasionally 30 km an hour instead of a 20. Not exactly a warp speed.
There are occasionally a few houses by the road, but mostly jungle and swamp. There are many animals on the road, mostly cows and goats. Even for them, it is better to walk on the road than through the bush. The road is terrible. The red clay mud from previous rain has hardened when cars and trucks created deep ruts. The road itself is straight, I can see for miles ahead of me, then I make a slight turn and again, road end on the horizon ahead of me. It is not a road, it is collection of potholes. Actually, there are not potholes, they are craters. There are still long stretches of deep sand and many water crossings. This is friggn hard. This is one of those things when you say you have to be there to understand the situation. Am I having fun? At this point, not really. It is a survival by now. This is one of those days for the memory book. I keep all the time now wondering about the sunset. It is touch and go for now. It looks like I might reach the pavement just after the sunset. That of course, provided that information I have is correct. The sun is getting low on the horizon, and I am facing another problem. I am getting in and out of bright sunlight to dark shadows. My eyes don't have enough time to adjust fast enough to changing light conditions. And I have to see where I'm going, so I am forced to slow down to a crawl and 1st gear again. I'm looking at my options and there are none. There is nowhere to stop for the night. There is no village, there is no town and there are swamps on the boat sides of the road. And I have been told there are many alligators here. Not a good prospect. My second rule when riding motorcycle is not to ride in the dark. I might have to break this rule today. I keep riding and I'm tired more than I can remember. BTW, there is zero traffic on this “road.” I met three vehicles in the whole afternoon. One car stopped and we had a brief “conversation”. All I understood from the conversation was that it is dangerous to be here after the dark. Not sure if it is because of the animals or people. I don't want to test it either way, but I have no options but continue.
The Sunset comes way too quickly here. It gets dark very fast after the sun goes down at these latitudes. According to my latest information, I have about 10 to 15 km to the pavement. I'm starting to believe that I will make it through this section. I keep on going and it is extremely challenging, even with all my lights on. But it doesn't take that long and I finally reach the pavement. It is strange because just like that, this awful dirt road turns into a perfect tarmac. It is about 10 minutes after the last light left the sky. It is pitch black. There is no ambient light around. The road sign says it is 58 km to my destination, town Sao Raimundo. I have my hotel booked there and I am looking forward to have a shower and to have a good rest. I am extremely tired, but I'm also ecstatic that I made it through that road without even dropping my bike. It will be a good story. The road is perfect and I settle into a steady pace around 80 to 90 km/h. The sky is full of bright stars, and there is almost no traffic. It was the toughest day riding my motorcycle, but I made it through. Only few more kilometres of easy riding. It was a interesting and challenging day. I will be talking about this for a long time.