KLR mania

I know this section is supposed to be about the bikes but first I have to preface it with a little background that Spice conveniently left out. This is the one section I get to do. For years I have dreamed of taking a big BMW GS into the jungles of Brazil, the deserts of Africa and the villages of Tibet. I managed to track down a few books authored by otherwise normal everyday folks that had done this very thing. Everyone was doing it and I had to too. I didn't know how or when but I knew it was going to happen. That was about five years ago. The books were the inspiration but I knew nothing about the actual execution. I had ridden for years but no real touring experience to speak of and certainly nothing even remotely close to this. Oh did I have a lot to learn.

In South America

"I had pavement all the way to Rio Mayo and then the fun began. I had pictured compacted dirt in my head for some reason. The road was actually loose gravel with two tire tracks. As advised I went from 42 psi on the back tire to 20 psi and from 32 psi on the front to 25 psi. It helped, but not nearly enough. If I just had the road to deal with it might have been acceptable, but there happened to also be a 50-60 mph wind that 90% of the time hit me from the right side.

Second around the world tour.

"I shipped to Singapore this time because the shipping itself was dirt cheap but we knew this would be offset by the mandatory insurance (70$ for one week) and the port charges (100$) and a trip to the Singapore AA to organize everything before release of the Bike. Luckily, we were given a ERP machine by the local maddogs which is required while in Singapore. The radar-looking contraption is mounted on the handlebars and deducts money as you pass under the tolls. We decided to take our chances without it as the maddogs thought maybe you can use the tollways during certain hours without one. Ully and I crossed Singapore without incident.... probably the most civilized driving I've seen in years!

Ethiopia - Lalibela and Gonder, March 25, 2006 GMT

Here's one I took a few days ago of St Georges church:

They really are extraordinary and are carved out of the solid rock.

First dig a big trench straight down like a huge, deep moat.

The big chunk left in the middle is the 'church'.