Solo Motorcycle Adventure Dominican Republic – The Big Loop - Tom Junkans

[cavebiker]

Time for a big motorcycle adventure. I've been riding this island for almost 30 years now doing many shorter rides. It has been great and has filled my life with unreal experiences and adventure that I will never forget. Life is short and the older I get the more friends I lose the more I understand that the time to Do-It is now! There is no waiting for tomorrow and Some Day is not on any calendar. Here we go! Hang on tight!

I recently read an article of a women breaking the Guinness World record for Longest Continuous Journey by Motorcycle within a Single Country. I thought that would be fun to try to set the record for just the Dominican Republic, using the Guinness rules. The rules are simple, you cannot cross or touch the same section of track and the attempt needs to be well documented with photos and GPS tracks. Perfect, maybe this will catch on. At least for now it will get me to places I would not otherwise go to and it should add to the fun, we will see. This is not a serious attempt but rather a recon mission to see if certain tracks are doable or even there. Fun stuff!

The motorcycle is waiting, new chain and fresh oil change, perfect. The team at X-Trem rental Sasua are a great group of people willing to help anyone make their dreams come true. YES!

This is a good bike for the DR. I have plenty of room to strap gear on the rear and it feels good for Heidi riding 2-Up, those are the main things. It feels low on power but I can hit 60mph on the flats easy, faster them most bikes on the island. I'm not in a race so I don't need to go any faster.

My first mission is to ride into Puerto Plata for adventure supplies; emergency canned foods, bungie cords, a fender pack to strap on the rear and a large road map of the island. I arrived on the island with my own motorcycle cable and lock but did not need to, the store I found the fender pack has an assortment of cables and locks. And yes, smart phones are great and I would not have found this book store with the maps without one but for any big road trip like this you cannot see the big picture details like you can with a paper map. Yahoo!!

 

[cavebiker]

Here We Go! Any loop of the country must include the Puerto Plata Malecon, always a must stop. Enjoying a coffee ocean side here is easy, just pick a cafe and park.

The Malecón is so clean now. Heidi and I miss all the food and rum carts that use to fill the sea side back in the nineties, but we don't miss all the garbage that use to be everywhere. Wish there could be a compromise food carts and clean Malecón. ??

The goal today is either Luperon, Punta Rucia or Monti Cristi depending on the roads and how it goes. A perfect ride plan in my books; always have a contingency incase things don't go as planned. In the past I have learned ride planning can be tricky on this island depending on the area. Some areas have no motels and even finding food can be hard sometimes. In Puerto Plata I stock up on cans of tuna and protein bars just in case. And I carry 1.5L of water and an energy drink just for emergencies like a flat tire repair in the heat. Just outside of Puerto Plata I fill up on gas water and empanadas at the last station on the West side of town. Day-1 joy is well under way!

The route today hugs Bahia del Maimón on a dirt road heading West.

The road follows the coast and passes a couple beach communities. Rustic food shacks with umbrellas and lawn chairs. Looks like a fun area.

The dirt road is much improved compared to other years. All good.

The road has some whooped out areas I am having fun on. I sense the rear pack sliding off. Not good.

Good use of the cable lock to hold the fender bag on tight when I'm not parked. We will see...

I love the traffic on these back roads.

While riding I'm on a constant lookout for small local convenience stores called a colmado. Always a great opportunity to chitchat hydrate and possibly score some homemade food.

Small church in the back.

Back in the day before GPS & smartphone navigation signs like this would have been great. At least they are here now.

I kill the bike while they pass. I really don't have to, it just adds to the fun for me.

You can see the sailboat masts at the Luperon hurricane hole from here. I'll never forget seeing this my first ride to Luperon back in the nineties. This was the only sign then that told me I was on the right path. So cool!

 

[cavebiker]

The port authority guard lowered the gate so I could ride out onto the pier. My first exposure to the Dominican Republic was reading the book 'Gentleman's Guide to Passages South' the author Bruce Van Sant really played up the island as a great place to spend the hurricane season and to provision his sailboat. He wrote about using a guagua to get around the island, going to and staying in Santo Domingo to find supplies. I was obsessed with the book and the thought of sailing to the Dominican Republic back then. My first ride in 95' was here Luperon so I could hang in a port side bar with sailboat scallywags and the like. It was just like I imagined it back then, rustic crude and loose. Super fun.

There are so many sailboats here today I couldn't imagine what would take place if a real hurricane was to threaten the area! As a sailboat owner you must find a protected patch of mangroves where you drive your boat straight into them then lash several lines to them and to serious anchors to ride out the storm. With this many boats I envision a cluster chaos if a storm did threaten the port. Lemmings?

Before we first moved to the island back in 95' we owned a sailboat and were preparing to sail here starting from Florida. We took Caribbean navigation classes, practiced heavy weather sailing and navigation and spent weeks at a time on our boat practicing on lake Superior and others. This could have been us!

I stop at a colmado in town for water and yogurt. This truck is selling limes and avocados.

A couple walks up the street. I ask them if they just dinged ashore from a boat. Fun couple! From Washington state are now spending the hurricane season in Luperon. They have sailed all around the Caribbean and are living the life. The guy tells me he once rode with a group to the Panama Canal on a DR650! So cool the people you meet on the road. And we think we are big adventures...

 

[NanSanPedro]

Love the pics and stories. Thanks for posting. Wish I was 20 years younger and could join you.

 

[Unit5]

This is so fascinating. I love your adventures!

 

[JD Jones]

I know it's a cliche, but this is going to be epic!

The best part will be from Dajabon to Enriquillo, riding along the mountain tops like these for hours, mile after mile.

Roads so narrow you can only turn around on a bike.

 

[keepcoming]

Really nice trip reporting by the OP!!!

 

[cavebiker]

Alright lets keep this going! Thanks for the kind words all. More comments will only help this report

It's still early, I continue heading West along the coast.

The first Spanish settlement and town in the Americas, La Isabela.

This road has really improved, it used to be all dirt complete with river crossings on homemade rafts! Now there is a nice new bridge and no dirt. Hate to say it but I liked it better back then.

Rural barber.

The road to Punta Rucia is paved now also. This use to be a rough route especially 2-up with Heidi.

Punta Rucia... With the paved roads came development, not to my liking. The beautiful beach and cape that Heidi and I first were able to ride right up to, put down our kickstand on the beach under a shade tree and pick from a dozen or more seafood shacks to sit at is gone. All I can see now is a large parking area filled with cars and attends demanding $100 pesos to park. Riding further down the beach and into town I do find a place to ride onto the beach and park. Beautiful as ever but the place has definitely been discovered.

These fiberglass boats are heavy. I wait to see how they get it to float.

No problem...

The small seaside village has grown making it barely recognizable. There is nothing here anymore calling me to stay the night. The beach is still phenomenal and I would stay if I see a cozy motel, but I do not and it is still early, plenty of time to make Monti Cristi taking the back roads.

Even these back roads are paved, did not expect that. The easy travel is making a pleasant ride through this pure DR rural area, and I can dig that.

The closer I get to the Haiti border the more DR military presence I see. All day I've rode through official military checkpoints with a distinctive military building adjacent. These check points are all new to me. It feels good. Things are under control.

This is close to the Haiti border. No S_ is going to be allowed to go down here. I am changing my route though away from the border town Dajabón . They are doing a job there I don't need to be in anyone's way...

 

[XTraveller]

Nice Pictures and like your adventure, keeps me interested.

 

[CristoRey]

Nice pics.
Life is short (in the DR it's very short)
enjoy it while it last.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

And here I thought I was Cristobal Colon driving from Santiago to Pedernales. LOL! You, sir, are Batman!