Land of Latino

Location:	Creel
Mileage:	7,000

Everyone is happy to leave Tucson. We are off at 6am and head to the Mexican border. The US border officials blink a couple of times when we tell them we are not coming back as we headed for Panama and tell us “to be safe”. Only the day before, the police chief in the Mexican border town had been gunned down – we don’t tell the group this as some seem nervous enough. The formalities are pretty efficient and all of us are through within a couple of hours, negotiate the back streets and find Highway 2 to Casas Grandes. It’s a smooth run, with a roadside stop for our first “real” tacos, before arriving for our first night in Mexico. So far, so good!

Our second days ride is superb, plenty of beautiful twisting mountain roads and warm sunshine. Creel is a small Mexican town and although used to having some tourists starts to give all a flavour of what’s to come in Mexico. Everyone bounces over the railway line that cuts the town in two. Our hotel has a lovely small courtyard and is perfect for drinking Tecate and putting the world to rights.

End of the Northern Section

Location:	Tucson
Mileage:	6,300

The final ride in to Tucson was a 470 mile day. It’s the end of the North American section and we have to get there to our first planned bike service of the ride. It’s our last opportunity to make sure that the bikes have a good going over. Latino mechanics just are not quite the same. 20 miles before we reached the dealer and in the midst of the most torrential rain storm we have encountered to date, we had our first bike failure. Aaron’s F800GS pulled over to the side of the road. It was a failure of the rear wheel bearing. The only good is that at least it has happened in a place where it can be sorted quickly and easily and under warranty. It will be interesting to see how well these bikes cope with a big trip compared with the big GS bikes.

Last night we briefed everyone going forward. The general feel of the group is that the holiday is over and the serious business begins. Some cannot wait to have a change of scene. It’s true that the North America section is for the most part, an easy ride. The roads are fabulous, the scenery is spectacular, food and drink are familiar, as is the language, and the weather has been as good as it gets. We cannot have notched up more than 8 hours of wet riding. But this section is important as it does give the group a chance to bond before the tougher stuff. They all know now that they need to look out for each other in the months ahead.

Naked Biker

Location:	Grand Canyon
Mileage:	5,900

In Valley of the Gods, the riders conspired to do a Naked Ride – given the road is so rarely used by the public. Of course as with many ideas, bravado chat is one thing; getting down to the business is something else. Kevin and Ed are the only ones who, with only boots, gloves and helmets, scoot along the Valley of the Gods, only to meet with the one white family saloon coming up behind them! They both ducked into a small lay-by, and the car drives past and waves to them, as if nothing is amiss!

At Grand Canyon, half the riders chose to visit the narrowest point of the Grand Canyon, by riding 60 miles on a little known dirt road right to the very edge of the canyon. There are no barriers, no tourists, no cafes but there is the best view you can get. The dirt road is tricky towards the end, the last 4 or 5 miles is first gear stuff over tight bends, slick rock, some sections of soft mud and steep rocks. Everyone did well, challenged themselves and were rewarded by the most spectacular views at such a remote spot.

There must be a God

Location:	Mexican Hat
Mileage:	5,500

The next day, we have more opportunity to wind up Gerald – he is the oldest boy on the trip at 67 and has had a double hip replacement. Gerald is raising money from his trip for the Devon Air Ambulance, and if you want to look at his personal website, check out www.geraldstransamericas.com) – and in Mesa Verde NP he became the first bike to be stopped for speeding at 55mph in a National Park. Tut tut! Luckily for him, his accent means no American can understand him and he flirted with the young blond lady officer and got away with a warning. He's still got that twinkle!

In Mesa, most of us visited the ancient puebloan cliff dwellings. We’ve incorporated this new national park into the Trans Am for the first time and most agreed that the ride to get was one of the best so far on the trip. Mesa was a big hit.

And it is closely followed by another hot favourite ride of the trip; Mokee Dugway & Valley of the Gods to Mexican Hat. You just have to be there. Describing these small dirt roads do them no justice. The view from the top of the Mokee “makes you think there must be a God”, as one rider said.

Tossers

Location:	Moab
Mileage:	5,200

Would you believe that the Americans let a crowd of about fifty kids age 2 to 12 into a huge arena with three lively calves with red ribbons on their tails and told the kids they would win something if they pulled the ribbon off the calves?! The kids ran; the calves ran harder, bucked their back legs, kids fell over and finally three ribbons were retrieved. Then we had displays of kids under the age of 12, racing on horses around barrels and the lads being strapped to small bulls and practising their rodeo skills. How refreshing, considering many horse schools in the UK are closing because of so many claims and not being able to get insurance. The Cody Rodeo had other displays of bravery and sheer madness. Cody is true cowboy town and everyone got into the mood of “howdies” and soaked up this last frontier atmosphere.

From Cody it’s a 400 mile riding day to our next destination. The team are coping with these longer days with remarkable ease. Most are eager to set off early and relish the ride through the amazing back roads and small town America. The final run into Moab blows everyone away. The transformation of landscape to the deep burnt red cliffs, the lovely twisty road alongside the Colorado River and the weird shapes of the rock formations (“looking like Gerald’s fingers or knobs” says Karen), are breathtaking. (To explain, Gerald has big hands and big fingers and when someone winds him up, his centre finger curls uprights to the word “tossers” in a deep Devon accent – we all double up laughing; it’s all good banter).

Cowboy Country

Location:	Cody, Wyoming
Mileage:	4,500

We rolled into Cody today and are immersed in gunfights and rodeo! It's our 4th day in the USA already and we have already ridden through the volcanic boiling pot of Yellowstone, and drank beers under the wooden vault of Old Faithful Inn, celebrating Paul's birthday - he'd reached the grand old age of **! Yellowstone was awash with animals (and unfortunately RVs!) and many got to see bison close up on the road.

Glacier National Park was not as kind to us and the normal magnificent views were masked behind banks of swirling mist and heavy rain. It was still easy to get an impression of the sheer mountain landscapes, with a little imagination!

We came through Canada with barely a hitch. Jeff the Van Man has been pretty quiet - mended a puncture, banged right a few panniers (one rider came off on a slow tight wet turn in a golf course . . . . ), changed a few tyres and carried Jim, one of American riders, in the van after he upset a waiter (so he says) and ended up with 24hr food poisoning.

From Yellowstone, the Beartooth Pass was open. It is almost 3,500m with many switchbacks, hairpin bends breathtaking views from the top. The road is still recovering from the landslide in 2005, so over the top remains a graded gravel road. At the top, there was snowflakes, and almost freezing temperatures and within 20 minutes of steep descent, it was boiling!

The team have got well into daily riding routines and the practical joke side of a few is coming out. The "FOR SALE" sign on the only Suzuki in the trip was a bit mean, but Jim, the American owner holds up well to the merciless teasing. As yet, everyone is good humoured, but as we say there is a long way to go. It's Moab and Arches National Park tomorrow.

Moose and mojitos

Location:	Jasper
Mileage:	3,200

It's hard to believe that we have clocked up over 3,000 miles already and we are at the end of Week Two. The weather continues to be amazingly good. Wildlife sightings started off very slow - even at Fish Creek, we waited over 3 hours to get bears and 5 minutes after most riders left, two arrived. Since then, bears and moose abound. Big bears, little bears, baby bears, brown bears, black bears have all been roadside to give the riders a wave as they gave through. Along with caribou, moose and elk. Not one rider can say they haven't seen the animals here!

We also got our first sightings of some other rare species - firstly, Mojito Man! This creature protests sobriety and then 3 mojitos later is doing the funky chicken with the waitresses. Mojito Man has been sighted on two occasions so far and has caused much hilarity with the group. Mojito Man is also sadly deficient in great chat up lines for the ladies, but tries hard.

Naked Man made an appearance in vast numbers at the Arctic Circle but since then, there has been the rare glimpse of Solo Naked Man on the icefields above Stewart (although apparently only done, because, our leader, Kevin, would have done it . . . .). Nearly Naked Solo Man, another older variety, is now often seen wandering around the log cabins just in his grey undies. And there has also been talk of Naked Hoover Lady, but as yet, no sightings!

Thirdly, The Sage appeared in the evening at Prince George. The Sage had lots of drunken words of wisdom (after a Birthday Mexican BullDog cocktail) to impart to the ladies on how to improve their appearances. Needless to say, as our first trip with five ladies on board, this type of behaviour was less than welcome and won him the First Prat Hat Award of the trip.

I am sure we will have more sighting of other unusual species as the trip progress and riders reveal a little bit more about themselves.

The first week in Canada has been some great riding. Everyone is settling into life on the road with ease and all have taken to our philosophy of "riding their own ride", without the need to hang around in convoys. Riders have done so much stuff off the bikes too - fishing, helicopters over the Salmon Glacier, cycling, bear watching, lake swimming - it's mostly about bikes, but there's loads of time to do other things as well as riding.

We finished Week Two, with an outdoor barbecue in Jasper, under the pine trees next to our log cabins. Kevin & Jeff (The Van Man) cooked up a feast of marinated chicken, steaks, burgers, spicy sausages and a vast array of salads and we all sat under the stars putting the world to rights.

With only 4 days left in Canada, the Trans Am is really moving apace. Why don't you join us in 2011? You can book online now!