The Motorcycle Diaries: Day 1: Turmoiltous Beginnings

Wednesday, 7th of February 2007: After two days of final preparations and test driving (I am starting to feel a bit more comfortable) the time has come for departure, the beginning of an adventure. As I pack my bags, tie them to the motorcycle and hug Sergio and his family good bye, I cannot help to feel reminiscences to the “original” motorcycle diaries as in the final days of 1951 young Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado embarked on their infamous journey that would change both of their lives.

Maybe there is a law that all great journeys have a tumultuous start (recall that Ernesto and Alberto were almost hit in traffic as they exited their home driveway). Our adventure certainly started out with enough incidences for a whole week. We had not even left Buenos Aires when suddenly Rafael’s motorcycle caught on fire! It turned out that the saddle bags we had bought were touching the muffler and did not allow the heat to escape so the heat built up and set fire to the bag. Unluckily the bag is located behind the driver so by the time Rafael noticed (by surrounding cars honking at him) the fire was quite large. Fortunately, Rafael was able to extinguish the fire quickly and the only real damage was a big hole in the bag and some stains in the surrounding areas. The bag was quickly repaired with tape and we were on our way again (of course since I had the same bags I tightened them to make sure I would be spared form the same destiny). About 30 minutes later, however, destiny also set fire to my bike (the bags must have loosened with time). Being the German that I am, I had tightened the bags very thoroughly (a distinct disadvantage when trying to pull them off in an effort to put out a fire) so by the time the support straps had burned and I could pull the luggage off the bike to put out the flames, a large portion of the bag had burned (along with its contents and other parts of luggage and bike). Life goes on and with the motorcycles undamaged structurally (she certainly has some scars on the outside), we decided to carry on with the trip. Unfortunately this is not where the bad luck would end. During a stop at the gas station my sun glasses, which I had thoroughly attached to a strap miraculously fell off onto the ground right in front of Rafael’s front tire right the moment he decided to push forward. But that was not all. Later that afternoon, I learned that parking the bike in soft soil is not a good idea as it can fall over, which the mirrors do not easily forgive (mine is still angry with me, loosely hanging forward). But wait, the day was not over yet: our motorcycles do not have a fuel indicator and we underestimated our gasoline consumption and after some rough hick ups my bike comes to a halt in the middle of nowhere. But thanks to the inventor of the reserve tank, a switch is turned and on we go. However, the reserve tank has a very short life and we were still 40 km from the next town. After dying 4 times just outside town, I managed to start the engine again and barely made it to the gas station on the last drop of gasoline – hopefully an omen that my luck had turned.

I laid down in my tent at night and could barely sleep, I was filled with excitement from the events from the day (and despite having gotten up at 5am and having spent all day on the motorcycle). There are many captivating things to reflect on after just one day (besides the misfortunes already reported). It was after all my first day (ever) riding a motorcycle in “real traffic” through a big city and on highways (previously I had never driven faster than 60 km/h). The most surprising and difficult aspect about highway driving was the wind. Although the side wind was relatively weak, mixed with the wind one feels traveling at 100 km/h, made it feel very strong and quite gusty (especially passing trucks). You have to hold on tight to the handlebars as the wind pushes you around (Rafael, however, thought nothing of it and that I was just imagining things).

The motorcycle experience is an amazing one. By that I mean the perception of scenery and the environment is very different on a motorcycle compared to a car, bus, bicycle or walking. You travel as fast as a car but are much closer, more intimately connected to your surroundings: you observe your environment more closely and enjoy the scenery on a different level. You can smell nature, feel the wind, the sun and its heat and watch the miles fly by you just centimeters below your feet. I think I would have been frustrated spending all day in a car without stopping but on a motorcycle I was enthused every minute. In just one day I saw many diverse settings: leaving the busy Buenos Aires city center, then reaching the outskirts of town already felt like a different world: people looked poorer and simpler (and quite frankly more Latin than in the European city center) and horses became a participant in traffic. Further on the towns disappeared altogether and gave space to never-ending fields of agriculture, the ground perfectly flat as far as the eye can see. We spent the night camping in Sierra de la Ventana (close to Baíha Blanca) which is a town beautifully located among rolling hills, rivers and sunflower fields. Distance traveled: 600km.