Today I had the most extreme adventuresome dangerous motorcycle journey of my life. 135km, 6 hours, 1 crash, 1 mirror lost, 1 dent, dirt covered bike, 2 scratch in my body, ripped rain coat and leather jacket, 1 life remaining!
From La Plata to Popayan.
It started with nicely paced road with beautiful scenic route.
As I climb up the mountain ridges, it started getting foggy, drizzling rain and they were refreshing. Gave much needed appreciation to newly leather jacket which was complained upon leaving bogota due to the hot climate.
Rocky road, loose gravels were fun to avoid but with long stretch of it for hours and hours got annoying.
Top of the mountain, there were construction to build road, less rocks therefore more mud, consistent drizzling rain not to mention the rainy season, muddy road stretched for on and off for three hours.
Slippery muddy road caused the bike to fishtail but eventually got used to it.
At one point bulldozer had to build a road for me, jeep, and a truck to go across.
About 80km into it, Finally I saw the road that has been built. It was very fresh, still raining, no road signs, no lines.
There was that jeep again front of me pumping black smoke into my lungs.
On the paved road, I was faster. So I passed. After about ten min, sudden corner came out of nowhere. Sharp one. It was avoidable. But with the wet road, I didn't want to lean too far.
I knew I would go out of the road, my first crash here it comes, it was so fast.
When it was over, I got up, something was blocking my view. "shit my precious sunglasses.." I took off my helmet, my sunglasses were fine. It was the visor of the helmet.
I got up, my vision was not focused, as of my right eye was looking at different direction than my left. I thought it was my contact lense so I rubbed my eye but didn't change. I was covered in dirt.
I assessed the damage by looking at my body first then the bike. I didn't feel hurt. Bike however different. The jeep that I passed by passed me. I was sure he would stop to ask me how I am doing but he didn't. I was ok. Just another confirmation on the world that I see.
I picked up the bike and prayed that it would start just like any other time that I dropped it. I would have hated it carry the bike in the cold rainy top of the mountain. I started driving right away. My vision was still not focused,but I figured it would eventually be ok. Just banged my head little too hard. I noticed my previous green rain jacket is ripped. Then I checked the leather jacket is also ripped. I was annoyed but thankful for it. If it wasn't for the leather jacket, it would have been blood and stitches my chest.
Mirror holder flew off as I accelerated. I then noticed handle bar on the right side is bent. That gave me a very shitty feeling. Gave me a discouragement and recognized my stupidity then regret. The feeling that I hate the most. Regret. Shit.
Time to control my emotion, have a little chat with myself.
I could have died, the ditch could have been a cliff. Bike is still running, no body parts are broken.
Would I continue to ride the bike? Yes. Am i scared to ride? No
What went wrong? Nothing, it was just an accident. I did it to myself.
Then my knee. Ankle, right side love handle started hurting, minor scratches, bumps and bruises.
As I am descending the mountain, bright sun shine welcomes me to popayan.
As I approach a block away from the hostel, there was Lindsey ordering street food. She didn't see me. Or pretending. She is probably mad at me for showing up so late. When she saw that my bike and myself covered in mud along with damage from accident, she immediately was in fast mode to take care.
I ate, told my story, showed pictures, showered, took the bike to parking lot.
Today mechanic told me he can fix the bike for 50,000cop in two hours. But I am heading off to hot spring.
From La Plata to Popayan.
It started with nicely paced road with beautiful scenic route.
As I climb up the mountain ridges, it started getting foggy, drizzling rain and they were refreshing. Gave much needed appreciation to newly leather jacket which was complained upon leaving bogota due to the hot climate.
Rocky road, loose gravels were fun to avoid but with long stretch of it for hours and hours got annoying.
Top of the mountain, there were construction to build road, less rocks therefore more mud, consistent drizzling rain not to mention the rainy season, muddy road stretched for on and off for three hours.
Slippery muddy road caused the bike to fishtail but eventually got used to it.
At one point bulldozer had to build a road for me, jeep, and a truck to go across.
About 80km into it, Finally I saw the road that has been built. It was very fresh, still raining, no road signs, no lines.
There was that jeep again front of me pumping black smoke into my lungs.
On the paved road, I was faster. So I passed. After about ten min, sudden corner came out of nowhere. Sharp one. It was avoidable. But with the wet road, I didn't want to lean too far.
I knew I would go out of the road, my first crash here it comes, it was so fast.
When it was over, I got up, something was blocking my view. "shit my precious sunglasses.." I took off my helmet, my sunglasses were fine. It was the visor of the helmet.
I got up, my vision was not focused, as of my right eye was looking at different direction than my left. I thought it was my contact lense so I rubbed my eye but didn't change. I was covered in dirt.
I assessed the damage by looking at my body first then the bike. I didn't feel hurt. Bike however different. The jeep that I passed by passed me. I was sure he would stop to ask me how I am doing but he didn't. I was ok. Just another confirmation on the world that I see.
I picked up the bike and prayed that it would start just like any other time that I dropped it. I would have hated it carry the bike in the cold rainy top of the mountain. I started driving right away. My vision was still not focused,but I figured it would eventually be ok. Just banged my head little too hard. I noticed my previous green rain jacket is ripped. Then I checked the leather jacket is also ripped. I was annoyed but thankful for it. If it wasn't for the leather jacket, it would have been blood and stitches my chest.
Mirror holder flew off as I accelerated. I then noticed handle bar on the right side is bent. That gave me a very shitty feeling. Gave me a discouragement and recognized my stupidity then regret. The feeling that I hate the most. Regret. Shit.
Time to control my emotion, have a little chat with myself.
I could have died, the ditch could have been a cliff. Bike is still running, no body parts are broken.
Would I continue to ride the bike? Yes. Am i scared to ride? No
What went wrong? Nothing, it was just an accident. I did it to myself.
Then my knee. Ankle, right side love handle started hurting, minor scratches, bumps and bruises.
As I am descending the mountain, bright sun shine welcomes me to popayan.
As I approach a block away from the hostel, there was Lindsey ordering street food. She didn't see me. Or pretending. She is probably mad at me for showing up so late. When she saw that my bike and myself covered in mud along with damage from accident, she immediately was in fast mode to take care.
I ate, told my story, showed pictures, showered, took the bike to parking lot.
Today mechanic told me he can fix the bike for 50,000cop in two hours. But I am heading off to hot spring.
No comments:
Post a Comment