New places, new faces - no turning back!

<img alt="New places, new faces - no turning back!" class="img-responsive" src="/images/a/8/2/d/5/a82d5cda1bd286b3dda2cc3bee48dd77779ba074-01-fouryears.jpg" />

<p>Look at the date of the last journal entry... February 2020! In a month, it will be four years! How did that happen? Has nothing interesting happened in my life since 2020? The last thing I wrote was my <a href="https://vintagemoto.ca/notes/raising-the-bar-with-ian-coristine">personal elegy to my friend Ian</a> who caught a nasty case of cancer and died shortly after. Have...</p>

Horsepower and Medicine

<img alt="Horsepower and Medicine" class="img-responsive" src="/images/3/a/5/e/8/3a5e88deba251b628118c3b98bdc9631900c3caf-01-horsepower.jpg" />

<p>When I turned 40, I finally put some effort into learning to play guitar. A year or two later I sold my Yamaha motorcycle and bought a Yamaha Guitar. I didn't stop riding dirt-bikes, I just reduced my seat-time. I did manage to learn to play guitar well enough to have fun around a campfire and it...</p>

Patagonia Day 9 - The final destination

<img alt="Patagonia Day 9 - The final destination" class="img-responsive" src="/images/e/3/d/b/4/e3db49e901c9a3e0206ef63bcdb6773b9c5c4b6f-01img-20181212-wa0010.jpg" />

<p>Our final day on motorcycles. We rode from El Calafate to Los Glaciares National Park and gave the motorcycles away at a ceremony beside the Perito Moreno glacier. The day started with nobody in a hurry, except for Jeff, our mechanic. Jeff had 13 motorcycles that had taken 10 days of hard riding...</p>

Patagonia Day 8 -Two amazing places

<img alt="Patagonia Day 8 -Two amazing places" class="img-responsive" src="/images/9/3/4/d/c/934dcd7001006a03bfcb954194415fc4c6b6b983-01img20181211122208.jpg" />

<p>Day 8 riding and it was another long day on the bike but the scenery was beyond my expectations. Nine days in Patagonia and you might think you had seen the best there is by now, but the best was yet to come.</p> <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1BlMRekRQYIHMwDua2d8BQt8s9NIOhZ12&hl=en" width="100%" height="480"></iframe> <h3>The track for the day. I didn't started recording until we were in the park. If you </h3>...

Patagonia Day 7 - Torres del Paine

<img alt="Patagonia Day 7 - Torres del Paine" class="img-responsive" src="/images/2/2/1/f/c/221fcabe2f2fb2f2ce1f97011a78c517b9ccc0f4-000.jpg" />

<p>Our arrival into Puerto Natales came at a reasonable time considering the distance we had travelled and when compared to a couple of the previous days-with-struggles. Our hotel was on a gulf shoreline that looked more like a lake than the ocean. After we had dinner and then gathered in the hotel's...</p>

Patagonia Day 6 - Puerto Natales

<img alt="Patagonia Day 6 - Puerto Natales" class="img-responsive" src="/images/0/5/8/7/5/058755a03ed3b337ccd7ee6553263fe11fc656d6-01img20181209125821.jpg" />

<p>Another long day with disappearing roads, shipwrecks, guanacos, a broken truck and back tracking. I have to hand it to our guide Roberto, he did his best to get us off the paved roads, but this part of the world is vast and relatively uninhabited. You can drive down a main highway, such as Route-9 b...</p>

Patagonia day 5 - Punta Arenas

<img alt="Patagonia day 5 - Punta Arenas" class="img-responsive" src="/images/f/8/c/5/0/f8c5051ae03595b688531d8bdda02d15e089ddbb-01-img20181208110217.jpg" />

<p>The previous day proved to be long and challenging especially for riders not used to riding on wet, round, marble-like gravel in the dark - so almost everyone. We had a late-night meal at our hotel in Cerro Sombrero and went to sleep. In the morning I found that this was to be an easy day, we woul...</p>

Patagonia day 4 - Leaving Ushuaia and riding for 17 hours.

<img alt="Patagonia day 4 - Leaving Ushuaia and riding for 17 hours." class="img-responsive" src="/images/9/a/5/1/3/9a513e16bdd171f559b0a78968b86da7c36bb3d1-01-img20181207130342.jpg" />

<p>After a well deserved rest in Ushuaia, we were told by Moto Discovery that our biggest riding day would be today. Today meaning December 7th as I am now writing these stories from memory so please accept that some facts may be wrong, if you were there, please offer your own memories in the comments...</p>

Patagonia - A day in Ushuaia

<img alt="Patagonia - A day in Ushuaia" class="img-responsive" src="/images/8/e/e/5/4/8ee5470fb9b9d31c911d9e26bbc600562d1c6b95-01-img201812061143501.jpg" />

<p>Getting to Ushuaia <a href="/notes/day-2-on-bikes-the-roads-to-ushuaia">was a grueling day</a> but perhaps partially due to the struggle, it was incredibly rewarding. When the glow of the setting sun lit up the enormous cliffs along the roadside, it really set the scene for what an amazing place this is. Prior to arrival, we were polled about our desi...</p>

Patagonia day 2 on bikes - the roads to Ushuaia

<img alt="Patagonia day 2 on bikes - the roads to Ushuaia" class="img-responsive" src="/images/f/2/4/c/2/f24c2c1890fd6c856767471454904224bf8fd0f3-01ushuaia.jpg" />

<p>Yesterday was an epic ride filled with unexpected adventure. We woke up in Russfin which resembled a logging camp from Northern Ontario except in nice condition. There is a sawmill there, the lodge where we stayed and not much else. There was a single dirt road going in and no place to buy fuel, bu...</p>

Patagonia - day 1 on bikes

<img alt="Patagonia - day 1 on bikes" class="img-responsive" src="/images/0/4/7/6/5/047657b0086cc1fb4cfaf0f1ec62e15257b3c3db-01img20181204143353.jpg" />

<p>The first day of the rally started with a minor delay. Wesley found out, just as we were swinging our legs over the bikes, that his missing luggage had been finally delivered to the Rio Gallagos Airport. It didn't take too long, enough time for another coffee at the Hotel Santa Cruz. I started the...</p>

Riding dirt bikes at the Centre of the Universe

<img alt="Riding dirt bikes at the Centre of the Universe" class="img-responsive" src="/images/6/d/b/e/d/6dbedc01eebd13297d727d4a16fb581ee13af1f8-01-map.jpg" />

<h2>Chapter 1: the backstory.</h2> <p>In the Spring of the this year I found myself with a minor crisis of conscience. I had three motocross bikes that all did the same thing and I actually felt kind of silly for having such overlap. I have the 1984 Vintage RM 250 that works great but I don't want to wear i...</p>

Patagonia - The stops along the way

<img alt="Patagonia - The stops along the way" class="img-responsive" src="/images/7/a/f/0/5/7af05781cec3755e8eb5ab745d76985e0c961ee5-01-tierra-del.jpg" />

<p>It has been a long haul. During the fundraising stage of my Rally for Rangers Foundation Patagonia efforts, I suppose the whole notion seemed unbelievable so I did not spend a lot of time looking at the maps and photos. Now that the flights are booked, motorcycles are purchased and dues are paid, i...</p>

Meet the riders - Patagonia 2018

<img alt="Meet the riders - Patagonia 2018" class="img-responsive" src="/images/0/b/a/b/f/0babf395dd661e755755052d217d95a9c3e89391-01patagonia.jpg" />

<h4>With the rally getting underway in just over a month, more details are emerging so I thought it would be a good time to introduce all the riders for the 2018 Rally for Rangers Patagonia ride.</h4> <h3>Tom Medema</h3> <p><img alt="Tom Medema" class="img-responsive" src="/images/a/4/c/0/c/a4c0c52090c47aabdb3b07e960231776aca29d8e-tommedema.jpg"><br> <strong>Tom Medema</strong> developed a passion for national parks at a young age on family vacations throu...</p>

Final donation for Patagonia Rally

<img alt="Final donation for Patagonia Rally" class="img-responsive" src="/images/b/3/8/9/b/b389bbb4d87f8eee1dc497a666ab9ca4bde7b0f7-00mongolia-2018-riders.jpg" />

<p>Today I made my final donation for the Rally for Rangers Patagonia Ride. I have also booked some of the filghts, when December rolls around I will be ready. I am very proud of to have received support from so many people- family, friends and strangers alike. Your generosity toward this great cause...</p>