This is the end...or is it??

THE PAST FEW WEEKS...

This is the end.  This is the end of my riding a motorcycle on this trip.  Please, no tears.


The past six weeks I've been experiencing pain in my right hand.  My thumb, index finger and little finger are all in protest.  I didn't think much of the soreness at first and then at the pain because honestly, my hand isn't the only part of me that has felt pain during this trip.  My right hand just seems to be the one part where the pain doesn't ever go away.  The last few weeks I'd been waking up at night and noticing that my hand still hurt even when I was asleep.  I couldn't do much with my hand.  I think it's due to past hand injuries and strains as well as the possibility of the handle bar to brake lever position.  I think my hand is just too small to comfortably reach the lever so I have to strain to use the brake.  That's not too big of a deal normally, but when you're riding in Mexico, there are a lot of speed bumps (topes) to slow down for and I think the repetition didn't do my hand any favors.


After my fall where I hurt my ankle and leg we stayed at a nice little hotel in La Crucecita called...Nova Hotel to recuperate.  It was all well and good.  We were there for 4 days and were on our way to Salina Cruz and then onto the Guatemalan border when half way there, my hand just couldn't take it anymore.  I made the decision that in order to save my hand, I had to stop riding (so dramatic, I know).  But it's the truth.  If we had to keep riding, then I think that eventually the repetition of slowing for the speed bumps would've done some permanent damage to my hand.


So, what are we doing now??  We've decided that since I can't ride anymore, we needed to find a way to get the motorcycles back the the States since we didn't want to sell them.  So, we're here in Oaxaca getting the bikes ready to be shipped back home.  How did we get to Oaxaca from La Crucecita?  Good question.  We got here by lashing both bikes on the back of a pick-up truck and praying that they wouldn't slide off the back and down a mountain.  I'm serious.  Check out the photos.  We had less than adequate straps to secure the bikes the way we normally would if we had the right gear, but thanks to my husbands forethought, we had some extra straps that did the job.

WHEN YOU'RE OFF THE BEATEN PATH...

So, we're here in Oaxaca getting the bikes ready to be shipped back home.  But, how did we get to Oaxaca from La Crucecita?  Good question.  We got here by lashing both bikes on the back of a pick-up truck and praying that they wouldn't slide off the back and down a mountain.  (I'm serious!)  Check out the photos.  We had less than adequate straps to secure the bikes the way we normally would if we had the right gear, but thanks to my husband's forethought, we had some extra straps that did the job.

Allow me to elaborate:  Oaxaca is a fairly decent sized town.  It is situated almost half way between the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico Coast.  It is your final "city" before crossing over into Guatemala.  But, La Crucecita (Bahias de Huatulco)?  It is quietly ensconced in along the Pacific coast, surrounded by the most amazingly beautiful tropical mountains (hills for those of you readers in the Utah area).  The problem with La Crucecita is that there is no STRAIGHT road from it to Oaxaca.

At only 230 km from La Crucecita, Oaxaca requires one to wind through some of the most beautiful areas on one of the scariest roads in Mexico.  This "road" was so windy--it was one lane wide at some points, with jungle-cliffs on BOTH sides.  There were potholes the depth of whole tires and sections of road that were, nearly intentionally, demolished.  

To get there, we had to figure out how we were going to transport the motorcycles.  Given the condition of LaNova's hand and leg, we could not ride.  But, La Crucecita is so far off the beaten path that they don't have regular shipping.  In fact, we tried looking into renting a pick-up truck and the cost...just to drop off (not including mileage)...was US $2,000!!!

The concierge hooked us up with a friend who had a pick-up truck.  For only US $200, Chai would drive us, all of our gear, and two motorcycles door-to-door, to the shipping company in Oaxaca.

First off...there's no shipping docks in La Crucecita.  And, without a ramp, it took 6 guys to lift the bikes onto the truck.  But, the tie downs were a little questionable, not to mention the fact that, we didn't come with ratchet straps.  (Please, no criticism, given our load, that wasn't going to happen.)  So, we totally MacGyver-ed the bike tie-downs.

The bikes were secured...but let's be honest...there's secure...and there's SECURE.  They were the former.  On that mountain road from La Crucecita to Oaxaca, there were times when I thought the bikes, our gear, and us were all going to slide right out the back, down the hill, and off into the oblivion we call the jungle!  But, miracles DO happen, and we made it.  It only took 8 hours!!!

Moral of the story:  Always carry extra straps and always listen to your own body. 

PALLETS AREN'T FURNITURE...

The first order of business, upon arriving in Oaxaca, was off loading the motorcycles.  Here, again, there wasn’t a loading dock, and we didn’t have a ramp.  So, with a little elbow grease, and some carefully stacked pallets, we made some stairs to get the bikes off the back of the pick-up.

Transporte Castores is not exactly in the “touristy” section of town.  Our concern was that we would have to go a long way to find a hotel, but without the use of the motorcycles, which were to be loaded onto a truck.  So, it was quite the miracle when we discovered a perfectly acceptable hotel right across the street, complete with A/C, flat screen TV, and hot water!

The next trick is getting some pallets made to strap the bikes down to.  You see, we have to ship the bikes some 3,000 km from Oaxaca to Nogales.  There is at least one stop where the bike will have to be off-loaded from one truck and on-loaded onto another.  Oddly enough, the shipping company didn’t know where to have custom pallets made!  The warehouse worker suggested a carpenter just a block away.  But, that guy wanted $2,800 pesos per bike!  That’s almost U$S 500!!!  Seriously???  We’re not looking for a sofa…we’re building pallets!

Of course, here’s a challenge…once we get the bikes loaded and sent off to Nogales, we still have to get OURSELVES there.  This is NOT the end of the story.

WHAT’S NEXT??? …

The plan is to get the bikes to SLC.  Once there, we’ll be visiting the doctor and reassessing our journey.  We’ll let you know what’s next.  When we know…you’ll know.

I sure hope they stay on!

I wish I had a better camera to try and get the whole view.

One lane mountain road.