Transamazonican Sunset... Absolutely Amazing
Sorry its been so long since the last update. There aren´t to many wireless internet places in the middle of the JUNGLE! Last time I wrote it seems like we were leaving the last little strip of asphalt of our super long trip. We got me some a new chain and sprocket set. Somehow I burned though a set after 2 weeks of hard riding.? After getting the bikes tuned up a little, we hit the road once more. It was pretty much dark so we did our best to put some distance behind us. We road a few hundred Kms down the Transamazonica dirt road highway when all the sudden, we started to get the feeling that it was about to open up and pour rain! Around 10 pm we found the nearest bar/restaurant/truck stop. Soon we had made friends with the owner who kindly invited us to hang our hammocks up under his balcony where his pool tables were. He let us shower, we ate there, and surely enough, it poured rain!
One of our Camps Along the Transamazon Highway
The Whole 3000 Kms was riddled with these rickety wood bridges
Walking on Water... I just want to be like JESUS
We Slept great in our hammocks and waited til almost 9am for the rain to slow down some. The downpour became a drizzle so We finally decided that it wasn't about to stop all together. So, we wrapped everything we owned in plastic and hit the trail. Everything was awesome except for one minor mishap. My rain gear was nowhere to be found! I put on this bright purple poncho that our friend Liam had given us and we road out. After like an hour of riding hard down the muddiest roads ever! I was super soaked and muddy! We came across a small town where I set out looking for some rain gear. It was Sunday so everywhere that sold raingear was closed. I was set on finding some gear and after like an hour of searching I found a moto store with the back door open. I bought the only thing they had, found a gas station, showered the mud off, and we were in business back on the road!
One of the Nicer Stretches of Road (we're barely muddy it got so much worse!)
Who needs a bus? Not these 30 People!! haha
We Made friends with some River People.. I guess they didn't realize Dave and Nian are almost double their size.. The Canoe was about 3/4 of an inch out of the water!! ha
We road way hard through mud and rain all day on Sunday. These roads were nuts! If there wasn't pure jungle on both sides i would have guessed that I was on top of the mountains above Fillmore. The roads are identical. Every time we would stop for gas or food people would tell us that we were out of our minds. ``you're crazy! what if you break down out here? there´s no stores to fix your bikes! you dont ride at night do you?`` ``yes`` ``NO WAY You're crazyyy!!! You're going to get robbed!`` Every time someone says this we look at each other and smile. We road through Jungle, rivers, Fog, mud, broke down some, fixed our bikes and finally Sunday night we made it to Araju. We rolled into town, found another gas station/ restaurant that let us hang our hammocks up inside. We took a shower at the gas station, and set up camp. We went into town and it was pure craziness! We rode down main street along with like 500 of the towns youth on our bikes. Everyone goes to the main road every night and just does laps up and down main. It was crazy. I felt like I was in a Motocross race. After taking some mains and getting some food, we took it back to camp and got some rest for our big day tomorrow.
Rain Forrest Farm.. Amazing
The next morning we spent getting ourselves ready for ``THE SHORTCUT!!`` We got Dave a new chain and sprocket set, got some food, relaxed for a min, and headed down The Shortcut.
Look how small Dave and I are next to these trees.. They're HUGE
The Shortcut is a 200 km dirt road without stores or homes that goes Right Through the Middle of the JUNGLE!! Taking the shortcut was going to save us almost 200 kms to the river so we took it of course! People in town said that it was a rough road but we´d fly right across it with our bikes. We had no Idea what we had signed up for! We busted out the first 100 kms no problem! A few big puddles, a few trees across the trail, and a few slick spots but we had made pretty good time. We took a break to oil our chains and rest our butts. When we turned our bikes off we were surround by howler monkeys. They were screaming like gorrillas all around us! Pretty nuts! and really creepy
This Tree Was so big they just piled dirt over it instead of moving it!
Full Throttle to not Sink in the QUICKSAND
Rowdyest Ride of my LIFE!
Then we set out of the second part of the Shortcut. The next 20 kms took us over 4 hours to cross! The road was 40 yards wide and pure mud and quick sand! Some of the puddles were over 5 feet deep! There were trees across the trail that were over 6 feet in diameter across the trail! It took all three of us to help each other creep, lift, push, pull, and drag our bikes across this swamp! It was so bad we all just put on our swimsuits and drove right though the middle of it! After 7 hours we finally made it to the other side of the Jungle and to Santarem where we were to get the riverboat down the amazon to manaus.
Mud So deep We had to push each other through it!
Muddy ol Dave
From my house in Orem to our farm in Fillmore is almost exactly the same distance as The Short cut! I have never even thought of riding my motorbike from Orem to Fillmore. It seems so far once i think about it. I guess after riding over 12,000 kms (almost 8000 miles) we´ve lost any feeling for distances.
About 150 Kms Down the Shortcut
Another Sketchy Bridge
Nian was so Pumped to See Asphalt
As we got to Sanatrem we searched out the river boat. We worked our way onto the boat where we made friends with the captain. He said we could crash on the boat that night as it didn't leave til the next afternoon. We hung up our hammocks, showered the mud off for like 30 mins each, and crashed out! We´ve logged over 3000 kms this last week and have defiantly felt it! Now were going to take a 2 day boat ride up the amazon to manaus. It will be nice to rest up for a bit!
MOTO TEAM... OUT
