Today I got up early. Had some light breakfast with Marc, Bert, Bearnd and Manfred. Jeff sat for a while and was in decent spirits considering his motorcycle blew smoke a few days back and its sitting now in Medallion at the BMW shop. He agreed to go in the support van behind us until we get there. Ok, so I have given you a bit of a taste of names of my new best friends — the Iron Monkey Butt South American team. I think it now makes sense to give you a bit of info on each — at least how I see it after hanging with my buddies for the past 3 or 4 days.
Until 2pm, I was organizing my bike, packing and unpacking bags and just getting in the right mood to start tomorrow morning. Lots of set up and at 4pm today we are meeting to input coordinates in our GPS’s and have a group meeting to discuss items like boarder crossings, local police and all that yacking but its important. Columbia is nothing as I expected — it is much more impoverished and not overly safe outside the city, nor inside the city except for the tourist area. I saw an area yesterday that ranks as possibly the shantiest place I have ever seen — just horrible that people live like that. Anyway, I understand that the countryside is awesome and a great ride for the next week. Sweet.
I was able to get a cheat sheet with everyone’s name, nationality, date of birth and other stuff. That helped me learn more and its interesting I suppose. So without further blabbing, here we go in no particular order:
Jeff: Hales from Austin, Texas. Like I said, seems like a decent guy, 60 years old and is in excellent condition. Looks like mid-50’s but face shows a bit of age I guess. A private pilot as well. He is newly divorced and has a girlfriend already. A bit pushy, but not obnoxious, still a touch annoying in that he really was not as understanding as others about the timing to get our bikes out and the silly process — not too annoying – YET if he stays on the ride. His plan is to do the entire World Tour and is already signed up for Asia in May, 2018. I think he is now retired. The issue with Jeff’s bike seems to look bad right now. The diagnosis for his bike from the BMW is that he blew all the major electrical components and now they need to find parts — for a 2018 bike is not easy in 2 days. I think its a better than even odd that either Jeff will fly home or he will have to do something creative — with money to fix his issue — like renting another bike which is not easy or meeting us all in Chile. Hope for his sake they can fix the bike. I would love to give Jeff a great ride.
Bert: I like Bert. He is 55 years old and is very kind. German of course but speaks perfect english. Tall at about 6’5″ and lanky — definitely in excellent condition. He is about to retire from his current job which is in the fashion industry and going to consult part time. He is always helpful and again, super nice. No loud, not quiet — perfect. Bert has his private pilot license.
Manfred: When first meeting Manfred, he puts out his hand as a gesture to shake — but its a game — he subscribes to the Donald Trump school of pulling your arm almost our of your socket. It funny because at first it was a pricky move but its just his way to show dominance at first. But now hanging with him for a bit, super nice guy. Is he tall? Is he Germain? Again, about 6’5″ without exaggeration and super lean and super in shape. Good, I will need these guys as leverage soon. Manfred is engaging and listens and is not shy. Very nice guy. A private pilot and uses it lots for business.
Bearnd: Born in 1952, or 65 years old, a shocker. If I had not got the cheat sheet, I would swear that he was 55 or so. If you want a picture of him, he looks like Mick Jagger with the same facial wrinkles. Yah, he is in excellent condition and is about 6 feet tall — not a giant, but I suppose short for a German. He is Manfred’s buddy and only speaks German with a touch of english. I think he likes me because he is smiling and touchy — but not in a way that is offensive. I like Bearnd too. He rides the oldest beater of a motorcycle, but it looks like he can take care of himself. Bearnt is also a private pilot and flies regularly. Oh, one other super interesting thing… Bearnt was born in East Germany under socialist rule. He is old enough to remember all that. He told a story through Bert that was so interesting about growing up in East Germany.
Martin: German and not so tall — maybe my height — strange for a German. Martin is 49 years old and again, very nice and helpful. When I dropped my bike last night, Martin was behind me and along with Oliver, they lifted my bike up super fast. I did nothing, well maybe I lifted a finger. Martin is along with his lovey wife, Katrin who I will discuss after. Anyway, Martin seems very kind and very geeky but not in an awkward way, just geeky. He is an accountant in Germany or something like that. Oh yah, Martin is a pilot but only flies Gyros. What is a Gyro I asked? Well, its a lightweight helicopter for 2 people. He was just in Costa Rica prior to this trip and wherever he traveled, he took the Gyro and could cover the entire country easily and timely. He and Katrin travel lots to exotic places.
Katrin: Before I met Katrin, my feeling was that I really did not want a single woman and husband team causing drama. It can throw off the entire trip if the woman on back of the bike get bitchy and the guys have to act polite, etc. Not to say that having a woman is bad, but not on this trip — I want to hang with men. Not politically correct? Fuck it, I don’t care. Its a guys thing. At first glance, Katrin looks like she is a bone-fide 60 plus year old woman. Short grey/silver hair cut in a sympathetic bowl fashion. She is about 5’5″ and is very slight but not vapor. She dresses like she comes from Portland, Oregon — but not in a cool way in her thick framed glasses. Anyway, it turns out that Katrin is 43 years old — no way. More about her, I really like her. She is not going to be a bitch at all — she is quiet but not silent. She seems like the perfect mate for Martin and they will make a perfect team mate for us. No issues here — she will bother nobody. I can be me and she is not judging — Like I do.
Will: Will from Thailand is 38 years old, equally tall as the Germans at about 6’3″ and a good frame. Extra fun factor is that he is an A320 pilot for Bangkok Airlines. He learned to fly out of Orange County Airport in Los Angeles when he was young. Equally interesting, Will drives some pretty fancy cars; a McLaren 650S, Porsche GT3 RS, Ferrari 488. Not 100% what that is all about and I don’t care. Will also hangs around me lots and is super, duper nice. His english is perfect. I have been with him lots and he is gentle somewhat quiet but very capable on the big BMW. I wish I had his long legs, they anchor him down and he drives great. This is Will’s first long journey. He brought 2 helmets and 2 large hard shell suit cases. I watched that go down with the group leaders — not so good. They thought he was nuts and said he has to deal with his issue. Poor Will had no clue that nobody is carrying our bags, but 2 helmets? What the fuck was he thinking? I guess its about him being a pilot and having redundancy? Anyway, he and his buddy Tong are working it out today.
Tong: Will came on this trip because of Tong, his friend who is also a Thai chap. Tong, 41, seems like the most experienced adventure rider of our bunch. He really has traveled the world and almost all continents. He is very Thai and speaks very soft and not much — possibly because english is not easy for him although he is fluent. Not much to say about Tong because of everyone, I have had the least interaction with him but still, seems decent.
Oliver: One our two leaders. Is 49 years old and has been with Edelweiss for 15 years part time. He runs his own cleaning business in Germany and once per year for fifteen years, he takes off work and goes on as lead for another tour. He has been to most places on earth where motorcycles run. Super nice guy. Yes, German in and out. English is perfect and he also speaks Spanish. He has the largest German frame — probably close to mine except is is large at about 6’2 or 6’3. He picked up my bike last night when I dropped it like it was paper. I need Oliver! He smiles lots and has a real nice laugh.
Marc: Like I said in my previous post, Marc at first glance seems like he could be a white supremasist or a skinhead. I guess his tattoos on his neck, arms, chest and hands make him look mean and scary. But no, he is very responsible and anything but a racist. Marc is 48 years old and looks like he could be 40. He traveled South America for a year or more a few years back after selling software as a living. He now works full time for Edelweiss as a tour guide and in the office. Nice smile, laughs but sometimes, I am not sure of what he is thinking. Oliver does not think about much, Marc is a thinker and doer and I think takes more responsibility often. Not to say that Marc is an issue, I dont perceive that. He is just watching and thinking. All good and I like him and more important, with Marc, I feel safe. His English is perfect and his Spanish is equally perfect.
So thats our group. Nice bunch of guys and I don’t foresee anything other than a good team but hopefully my optimism continues. Also, hard to believe that out of 8 riders, 5 are airplane pilots. All in all, I guess its good that I am happy here. As I have said, at first, I was disappointed that the group was 9 of us and possibly we would not get attention or have issues with this and that like stopping or some drama. At this point, I think the group size could be fun since we are all like minded, roughly the same age and adventurous folks.
To continue…