Home. El Burro - Inbound.

So to the last  post on my South American travelogue. Again thanks for following along or taking time out to flick through the blog.

My life for 22 weeks on the road, ..it is surprising how little you need. I was still carrying what I didn't use, ever, a tent for example. But it gave me peace of mind that I could shelter if I broke down in the boonies....solo rider neurosis perhaps.

The hotel offered the option of bumping the bike up the curb you see and putting it under cover. El Burro has seen worse than a little rain and with that rear bearing … nah.....she can get wet!

The last 12 miles....I took a back route rather than the toll road. It was no further in miles...but, it had a section that was unmade and rough, had I have known I may have spared the rear bearing this last few miles of abuse.

As I approached the airport I passed the cellphone parking lot, a global practice regardless of how many no parking signs might be posted. I have never seen a coach do it though.

We made it to the cargo area and were joined at 8.45 by the DakarMoto adventure rider icons, Sandra and Javier. Javier used to wrench in his own workshop, when I mentioned the rear bearing problem and the last 800 miles he simply shook his head, looked at me and shook his head again. Fortunately, Sandra holds the airside pass, so I didn't have to take any more non-verbal admonishment...LOL!

Focused, efficient and fast. Sandra knows how to work the system and was greeted by pretty much anyone who passed by. She kept apologizing for the slowness...I was out of there by 11.15am! Sandra, that is called slick...trust me.

The stages of encapsulation and screening...sneakily taken. Just like the cellphone lot no parking signs; the cargo area is a no photography zone; sorry.

Full body scan for El Burro but escaped a cavity search as far as I know. She blushes easily so will be happy with that.

Arrived home in Virginia yesterday morning, everything on time...thankyou Delta. El Burro landed in Houston this morning courtesy of United and has a connecting flight to Washington Dulles, moaning about the layover I wouldn't be surprised. Trucked to RIC airport arriving Friday.

That is it - journey done, mission accomplished. It has been the ride of my life (so far). Next?

Cheers.

Over and out.

T2

On The Cusp of Home

The forecast changed on Friday, no storms in Buenos Aires (BA). The journey to Chivilcoy was uneventful arriving at about 1.00pm after an early start. BA is only another couple of hours, I kept going. The weather was not the only motivator.

On the evening of the day of pain and pleasure I had an additional dose of pain that I did not report on in the last post, not wishing to create (more) anxiety with the ladies in my life. The miles of stone on Ruta 40 had liberally coated my chain in dust, it needed lubrication. I carry a prop-stand to lift the rear wheel off the ground, it makes lubricating the chain a lot easier if the wheel can be spun. It also allows the health of the rear wheel bearing to be checked; grab opposite sides of the wheel and move your hands in opposite directions, you should not feel any movement. That is not what I felt. There was 1-2mm of play in the bearing, it was also visible between the bearing and the axle. I had last checked a thousand or two miles earlier, no issue. The bike handling was fine and there was no grinding or roughness when I spun the wheel, which were the only positives.

A sloppy bearing can fail at anytime and when it does that is the end of the ride, the only way the bike moves any distance is on a flatbed truck. On observing play in a bearing the bike would usually stay put until new bearings are installed, but this was not an ordinary situation. Being at the end of the trip there was little point trying to find the correct bearings and having them fitted, it could have taken a week or more. So with 800 miles left to go I decided to ride on, if the bearing failed along the way I would just be that much closer to BA; a shorter ride on a flatbed. It didn't fail. I got lucky. This post is being written from a the Howard Johnson hotel just 12 miles from the cargo area drop off at Buenos Aires airport. El Burro will make it that far, even if I had to push it part of the way.

The bike is being dropped off on Monday morning, I have to be present to follow it through the process. Once on the pallet, wrapped and run through an X-ray machine, Argentinian customs and airport security will sign off and I am free to go. The bike should fly by the middle of the week, to Houston, from where it will be trucked to Richmond airport. It will likely take a week or two to journey north from Houston and on arrival it will be held until I get it released from customs. 

My flight home is also booked for Monday, an overnight flight with Delta to Atlanta connecting to Richmond. All being well I should land just after 9am Tuesday morning. The journey will be at an end.

The final post on this travelogue will come from Glenn Allen next week.

Until then....ciao.

T2