rolling-south-blog

[rolling-south-blog]

8B75D143-9DA0-4188-9E56-EFF75D5FDB59 from tifferp on Vimeo.

[rolling-south-blog]

E59741C0-C05F-4943-ACFF-3C08A13E6433 from tifferp on Vimeo.

[rolling-south-blog]

Piedre el Peñon from tifferp on Vimeo.

[rolling-south-blog]

Moving On...

ADVRider.com is the gathering place for this sort of thing.  When I was setting up for this trip, I chose not to use it because it was very difficult to post pictures and videos.  Well, the webmasters have corrected that and so I’ve decided to cease posting on Tumblr and go to:

https://advrider.com/index.php?threads/rolling-south.1329058/

You can still follow the GPS breadcrumbs ad:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0h2F6i4fe0toJxvZIXcaa90SS3v2HEt0f

[rolling-south-blog]

First day on the road

I left Bogota at 4 a.m. to miss the traffic. All it really did is mean I had to negotiate traffic in the dark. Somewhere along the way I hit a huge pot hole and lost my GoPro, which I had running in case someone needed material for the little video thing they put together at funerals. I still have a spare and I'll have to find some way to tether it to avoid another loss.

Maps.me sent me on a couple of wild detours. Or maybe I wasn't watching closely in the terror of the moment. Anyway, I managed to get out of town and into a more pastoral area. In Bogota I was amazed how certain businesses would congregate into an area. For example, walking along and all of a sudden you're surrounded by electronic stores. A few blocks later it's construction materials, and then shoe stores. It was the same out on the road. I went through one region where at every side road would be a campesino with one, two, or a dozen milk cans, all waiting for the coop milk truck to come along. Some had transported by hand, others motorbike or bicycle. There were even some horse drawn wagons and donkeys.

In the hilly country traffic slows to a crawl, restrained by the decrepit old truck at the head of the line. Of course, it was a twisty, steep road with double yellow the whole way. At every safe opportunity and a few not-so-safe, someone would make the pass and break free of the clog. When it came my turn (what am I talking about "turn", when I got my nerve up) I took the pass.... and there were two Colombian cops pointing for me to pull over. This was a regular stop on the policia circuit. The shoulder was even paved so there was a place to stop. While I was stopped they flagged over three other vehicles. Thankfully I got the younger cop who was very pleasant. The older guy was really raking another bike over the coals.

We exchanged "no hablo"s and then I pulled out my phone for google translate. Here's what google thinks he wanted to say "Because it is coming in double yellow line you will be held by the OrriD of compare and the immobilization of the motorcycle." Sounds like an impound to me. This day is going to be a lot more expensive than the GoPro. Well, we continued to chatter back and forth "What can I do", "Is this really bad?" He took my license, passport and SOAT card. I pointed to the SOAT issue date and told him it was my first day riding in Colombia. He gave me a big smile, shrugged his shoulders, gave me back my papers and said in effect "Today is just a document check" - they must really be happy about this Nairo Quintana guy!

I tried to snag a picture but all I got was the brim of his cap.

I've still got to pass on double yellows or I'll be the entire six months in Colombia stuck behind some coal thrower. But, I'm learning to be more careful and look ahead for bright green vests!

[rolling-south-blog]

Mañana - again.

Slight disappointment but not unexpected. FedEx is still fiddling with the paperwork and it’ll be another day delay.  Now, I’ve got see if I can stay at this place another night or will need to find another.

[rolling-south-blog]

Bogota - waiting on a plane

[rolling-south-blog]

Bogota - waiting on a plane from tifferp on Vimeo.

[rolling-south-blog]

Waiting on a plane

There was a little angst for the first couple of days without the bike.  But, it was for the best.  Had it arrived on time I would have packed up and hit the road.  So glad I’ve had this week in Bogota.  I’ve managed to get a bus pass and negotiate the transit system, see many of the major museums and sights, and just generally get comfortable with such a different culture.  AirBNB is running me about ten bucks a night and food a little more than that.  Once I start buying fuel, my daily costs will increase significantly.  For now, just enjoying the nomad life.

[rolling-south-blog]

IMG_0131 from tifferp on Vimeo.

[rolling-south-blog]

Playing Tourist

I managed to get some sight-seeing in today since my bike is still in Memphis - Mount Monsarrate, Simon Bolivar's home (he was the one who liberated South American from Spain), the Gold Museum, and Bolivar Plaza.  It was a long day, I'm tired.  So, I'll skip droning on and give you a 3 minute video of the routine I have to go through every time I leave the apartment.  Security is a big deal here!

[rolling-south-blog]

FedEx...sanguinate

Did I make you get out your dictionary?

I showed up at FedEx Bogota on Monday to find out some Dangerous Good expert had deemed my shipment “overpack”.  My understanding - overpack is when you place multiple DG containers in an outer package, like a crate full of individual jugs of gasoline.  A single motorcycle can’t be an overpack, but Carol kindly drove to FedEx Denver and wrote OVERPACK on the shipper to satisfy his ego.

Today I went to FedEx Bogota and found out my bike is now in Memphis waiting on a title.  The guys in Denver sent a copy to Memphis, hopefully that breaks loose the next jam.  I still give the team I worked with an A+, but the rest of the system is like being back at work.

The good part is - I don’t care.  I’m having a great time, even if it is just decoding the transit system between my AirBNB room and the FedEx terminal.  I walk a big portion of it just to see the city and it gives me plenty of opportunities to engage people.  Twice I have had someone swipe their bus pass for me since I didn’t have one.  I purchased one this afternoon and that will help my mobility (or ability to get lost).  The bus system is amazing.  You can go anywhere, if you can decipher the map.  2.2 million people use the system every day.  A large percentage of those were on my bus from the airport yesterday.

Sorry - no pictures.  I replaced my iPhone battery hours before flying out.  Well, it appears i got a bad one.  So I dropped my phone off at Apple this morning for a new battery.  Part of their policy is to wipe every phone they open.  I should have purchased more iCloud storage and backed everything up, but didn’t.  So my first day worth of photos are GONE.  And, I’ll have to reinstall all my apps and music.

I’m going to fall in love with this town.... if it doesn’t kill me first.

[rolling-south-blog]

FedEx...cellent!

I had the bike all packed up and paperwork complete before leaving for Denmark.  After all the education I’ve obtained in the international shipment of dangerous goods, I thought I was a pro.  Turns out I hadn’t even scratched the surface.  Gratefully, the good folks at the FedEx terminal at DIA were able to push it over the goal line.

Carol and I pulled in at around 1:00 and spent the next four hours with some of the best people I’ve worked with in some time (no offense to the team back at work).  Everyone we dealt with was very knowledgable and professional, and had great attitudes.  If my company doesn’t take me back at the end of this, I’m going to apply at FedEx.

My packing and documents (Dangerous Goods Declaration, Air Waybill and Commercial Invoice) were all in order.  We completed the DG Checklist and everything was in order.  That’s when the bureaucracy grabbed me by the ankles and body slammed me against the wall a few times (I felt like the cat in the “bring out your dead” scene of Holy Grail).  

Even thought the bike is mine and I’m shipping it to myself, our politicians have dictated that it is an export and I need to cut down a few more trees.  First was a call to the Census Bureau (really?) to get a “Schedule B” code.  That code went onto another form in order to get me an ITA number (I probably got some acronyms crossed up here).  Somewhere along the way I needed to have a company tax ID (EIN - like the one you get off your W2 when you file taxes).  I had to go online and create a company called “Cris Poulson” of which I am the sole proprietor and provide motorcycle transport services.  I’m just hoping all this doesn’t bite me next April 15th.

Bottom line, the bike flew off to Memphis this evening and will be in Bogota on Monday.  I’ll fly out Sunday night and meet up with Veronica from CargoRider to see if the Colombian paper chase is equally as entertaining.

Todays “what are the odds” moment.  Adriana is from Colombia!  Her mom lives in Villa de Leyva - a town on my visit list.  

Right to Left we have Mike, Danny and ?? (sorry).  They kept everything moving and entertained me for the day.  Seriously guys, I got a huge kick out of working with you today.

She’ll be in Bogota Monday morning.

Headed for the plane.

[rolling-south-blog]

Yesterday we stopped at IKEA in Malmo.  It’s the WalMart of Scandinavia.  It was packed and everyone was stocking up on bedding and lights.  Winters are cold and dark here.

This morning we crossed the bridge back into Copenhagen.  The lane we chose had a card reader fritzing out on them so they let us cross free (normal $45 toll).  We visited the Glypotetek museum which it turns out is free on Tuesday.  are you catching a low budget theme here?  It’s compensation for the tolls, parking fees and fines we’ve paid over the last week in Norway and Sweden.  Copenhagen - you’re definitely our favorite.

I dropped everyone off at the hotel near the airport and went to drop off the rental car.  But... the car nav system doesn’t have a search function for anything but gas stations.  Not a problem, I’ll use MAPS.ME.  It lead me to the Europcar location in downtown Copenhagen; miles from the airport, but not before my phone battery died.  I started to panic, but then thought - I can pretty much be guaranteed that something much worse than this is going to happen in South America.  I’m an adult with a credit card.  Everything is going to be OK.

I managed to find the car return and they said they’d take it with no extra fees.  All that was left was to negotiate the train system and find the hotel with no electronic hints.  All in all it took almost an hour and a half for a 20 minute task (sounds like my job).  But, I managed to find the mall next to our hotel.  I stopped in and bought a pair of Apple ear buds to replace the flakey free ones United gave me (a reward for finding my way home.  

Everyone back at the hotel was going to be worried, so I hurried along as quickly as I could.  I stepped in the door expecting everyone to say “where have you been” - but - they were all asleep.  Welcome home, dad.

[rolling-south-blog]

SPOT Update

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=19d2f5b37d369181b6&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes

[rolling-south-blog]

[rolling-south-blog]

Gearhead

Today was a drive from Oslo to Malmo, Sweden.  I had six hours of windshield therapy and checking out the various cars on the road.  Many are the same makes as you see in the US; very few are familiar models.  We’ve only seen a single Chevy in our travels, but we passed an old Caddy and a couple of classic MOPARs.  I doubt many in Scandinavia even know to appreciate their history.

Everything here is smaller - the cars, the lanes, the margin for error.  We’re used to a nice ten foot paved shoulder with rumble strips and a solid dirt shoulder beyond that.  Here it’s 18 inches then death.  

It’s “holiday” season and there are hundreds of camp trailers on the highway, headed for the wilderness of northern Norway.  Denmark is very strict on where you can camp, but Norway is wide open.  We saw something that everyone has access to private land as long as they don’t damage anything.  And I don’t see how they could damage much since the trailers make Shasta’s look like 5th wheels and their being pulled by the equivalent of a Honda Fit.

The semis are also quite different. They are all cab-overs and the wheel configuration is unlike the standard 18 we’re used to.  They completely fill the lane and make passing a religious experience.  The most prevalent make is MAN - I want me a MAN truck!

Once we crossed into Sweden, Volvos were everywhere.  Several models were actually very attractive; nothing like the ones they ship to America that have the aesthetics of a shopping cart.

Our rental is a Nissan Qashqai, which is a Pathfinder that went through the wash cycle on hot.  It has sensors everywhere and is constantly beeping at me when I drift across the shoulder line (which I do constantly) or when I cross the dashed lane divider without using my blinker.  It’s annoying, but it’s actually making me a better driver.  It also turns off the engine at every stop light.  Just before the lights turn green they flash yellow, alerting you to restart before it’s your turn.  The Nissan automatically restarts when you release the brake.  It’s also a diesel... but the gasoline pump handles here are green!  I managed to catch my mistake after about 8 liters.