Just about every day cavegirl and I ride five or six miles along the north coast to Gold?s gym, and that means we are likely to hit rain once or twice a week. Last week we are caught in a downpour that conked out the bike. WT_, bikes are supposed to be able to get wet. We coast over to a driveway that leads up to a ranch and the rancher just happens to be at the gate. In the rain, the rancher comes over to talk and see if we needed any help. While trying to restart the bike he smelled gas and suggested we shut off the petcock, thinking we flooded it. He tells us he was into motorcycles when he was younger and had a bad accident once spending three months in a hospital. Anyway, he suggests we just wait a while before trying it again. He talks about his ranch, about when he lived in New York and how he likes his life here in the DR. Heidi mentions how we love the island. He says ?Yes, the island is beautiful but some of the people are not? We know what he means, we know first hand. Heidi says ?Yes, there are bad people everywhere?
After a few minutes, I try the bike again. It fires right up. Heidi and I both thank the rancher for his help and say we enjoyed talking with him.
So what the heck is with the bike? I remember riding my first bike, a Suzuki 100, through the snow. When I rode on salted streets, the sparkplug would short out and kill the bike. I remember wiping off the plug and plug wire with pure snow to get it running again. I thought that having our bike parked a hundred yards from the ocean surf everyday was our problem. I am sure the plug and plug wire is coated with a layer of salt slime, just like the slime that coats our sunglasses every day we walk the beach. My guess is that the salt slime mixed with rainwater is what is shorting out our bike.
We are getting ready for a week long ride to the east end of the island, and chances are we will hit rain. I do not want to have the bike stall with Heidi on board, ever, especially in a heavy rain. Because of the radiator on the engine and all the plastic cowling that goes along with that, the plug, wire and coil are hard to get to. I purchase a can of WD-40 and spray it all over the plug and wire in an attempt to clean off any salt. I will not know if I did any good until we get caught in another heavy rain. Fingers crossed.
All Right, Heidi and I have our island life routine down. We lift, swim, windsurf, beach walk, read, write, try to eat healthy and play cards. We call our life ?our job?. We like what we do but like with any job, sometimes we need a vacation (wink).
We are off to the Samana peninsula, the extreme eastern tip of the island. It is a long ride so we get up early, slam a fruit and yogurt shake with plans to eat a more on the road. Fifteen minutes down the coast, we stop at our favorite Dominican restaurant in Sabaneta.
Two fried eggs and a mound of mashed potatoes is a perfect way to start a long motorcycle ride.
The north coast of the Dominican Republic, east of Cabarete is a beautiful ride filled with incredible scenery, palm trees and ocean surf.
Our bike is a Yamaha DT-125 Enduro. I love the bike, we both do but the seat is not a touring seat. So that means when we are on a long tour we need to stop often. OK with us, that is the way we like to ride anyway.
When we see a spot to pull off the road with palm trees and an ocean view, we stop, rest our behinds and talk. We have this cruising system down. Our conversations are geared to our ride, our planned destinations, what we need to be thinking about while on the road and what we need to be looking out for. I light up inside when Heidi is into the conversation as much as I am. I am so lucky to have her as a riding partner. I have never been so in-sync with anyone. But, I know I need to be smart, I must constantly be vigilant, I must keep us safe and I need to help make this fun. It is not an easy job, but it is a job I accept with every ounce of my being. The payback is huge!
We love checking out the beachside homes here and envisioning the Robinson Crusoe life people must have who live in them.
I see another nice looking spot to pull off the road but Heidi thought it intruding on the game if we rode through. We stop short of the beach and get off the bike. The players stop the game and tell us to pass. We tell them that we are just resting and will enjoy watching the game. I said ?!Republica Dominica beisbol es primero!? (Dominican Republic baseball is number one!)
I prefer to stop at places like this to buy water or juice while on the road. I do it mainly for the cultural experience. Plus, we enjoy helping support the rural economy. I cannot get anyone to wait on me here. I try several polite ?Hola? s but no one appeared. Then a person sitting at the restaurant next door comes over to help and shouts ?!Pedro! !Pedro!? That works. Pedro pops out of a room in back and sells us a couple bottles of water, perfect.
Heidi enjoys taking photos of the scene and the local traffic.
We pass through a few large cities and several beach communities before reaching the Samana peninsula.
We stop for a rest and hydration at the village Sanchez, this is the start of Samana peninsula. Our plan is to loop the peninsula. Samana village, a couple nights in Las Galeras and a few in Las Terrenas, sounds good to us. When we rode through here back in 1995? there was no place to stay in Las Galeras and the road to Las Terrenas was so bad we never made it. However, the word is that things have changed a lot in the past fifteen years. We will see?
Hang On, more is on the way?
After a few minutes, I try the bike again. It fires right up. Heidi and I both thank the rancher for his help and say we enjoyed talking with him.
So what the heck is with the bike? I remember riding my first bike, a Suzuki 100, through the snow. When I rode on salted streets, the sparkplug would short out and kill the bike. I remember wiping off the plug and plug wire with pure snow to get it running again. I thought that having our bike parked a hundred yards from the ocean surf everyday was our problem. I am sure the plug and plug wire is coated with a layer of salt slime, just like the slime that coats our sunglasses every day we walk the beach. My guess is that the salt slime mixed with rainwater is what is shorting out our bike.
We are getting ready for a week long ride to the east end of the island, and chances are we will hit rain. I do not want to have the bike stall with Heidi on board, ever, especially in a heavy rain. Because of the radiator on the engine and all the plastic cowling that goes along with that, the plug, wire and coil are hard to get to. I purchase a can of WD-40 and spray it all over the plug and wire in an attempt to clean off any salt. I will not know if I did any good until we get caught in another heavy rain. Fingers crossed.
All Right, Heidi and I have our island life routine down. We lift, swim, windsurf, beach walk, read, write, try to eat healthy and play cards. We call our life ?our job?. We like what we do but like with any job, sometimes we need a vacation (wink).
We are off to the Samana peninsula, the extreme eastern tip of the island. It is a long ride so we get up early, slam a fruit and yogurt shake with plans to eat a more on the road. Fifteen minutes down the coast, we stop at our favorite Dominican restaurant in Sabaneta.
Two fried eggs and a mound of mashed potatoes is a perfect way to start a long motorcycle ride.
The north coast of the Dominican Republic, east of Cabarete is a beautiful ride filled with incredible scenery, palm trees and ocean surf.
Our bike is a Yamaha DT-125 Enduro. I love the bike, we both do but the seat is not a touring seat. So that means when we are on a long tour we need to stop often. OK with us, that is the way we like to ride anyway.
When we see a spot to pull off the road with palm trees and an ocean view, we stop, rest our behinds and talk. We have this cruising system down. Our conversations are geared to our ride, our planned destinations, what we need to be thinking about while on the road and what we need to be looking out for. I light up inside when Heidi is into the conversation as much as I am. I am so lucky to have her as a riding partner. I have never been so in-sync with anyone. But, I know I need to be smart, I must constantly be vigilant, I must keep us safe and I need to help make this fun. It is not an easy job, but it is a job I accept with every ounce of my being. The payback is huge!
We love checking out the beachside homes here and envisioning the Robinson Crusoe life people must have who live in them.
I see another nice looking spot to pull off the road but Heidi thought it intruding on the game if we rode through. We stop short of the beach and get off the bike. The players stop the game and tell us to pass. We tell them that we are just resting and will enjoy watching the game. I said ?!Republica Dominica beisbol es primero!? (Dominican Republic baseball is number one!)
I prefer to stop at places like this to buy water or juice while on the road. I do it mainly for the cultural experience. Plus, we enjoy helping support the rural economy. I cannot get anyone to wait on me here. I try several polite ?Hola? s but no one appeared. Then a person sitting at the restaurant next door comes over to help and shouts ?!Pedro! !Pedro!? That works. Pedro pops out of a room in back and sells us a couple bottles of water, perfect.
Heidi enjoys taking photos of the scene and the local traffic.
We pass through a few large cities and several beach communities before reaching the Samana peninsula.
We stop for a rest and hydration at the village Sanchez, this is the start of Samana peninsula. Our plan is to loop the peninsula. Samana village, a couple nights in Las Galeras and a few in Las Terrenas, sounds good to us. When we rode through here back in 1995? there was no place to stay in Las Galeras and the road to Las Terrenas was so bad we never made it. However, the word is that things have changed a lot in the past fifteen years. We will see?
Hang On, more is on the way?
.......... makes you look younger!!
