Monday March 4th, 2013, Chimbote, Peru, Hotel Gran Chimu

Why does this seem to be a familiar picture from all my rides? Our plan for Friday was to make a run south through more desert and stop near the ruins of Chan Chan. We planned on an 8:00 AM launch and met on time at the garage under the hotel where we securely parked the bikes. I looked at mine and the front tire was flat! It was so low that the tire came off the rim. I looked carefully and couldn’t find any nails or punctures so I considered just pumping it up and going. Then I remembered we had a day of more hot, straight, fast riding through the Peruvian desert and decided not to chance having another flat along the road so I put in a new inner tube I had been carrying. The whole process took about 45 minutes and we were on our way.

Back on the road with Deby close behind.

For some reason the desert cities in Peru reminded me of the scene from Star Wars when the were in the rough city looking for transport. I kept hearing the words “these aren’t the drones you are looking for” running through my head.

Long, straight, hot, fast….

Here’s Keith passing two cars and a overloaded truck tucked behind another truck he was about to pass. All Normal.

Here’s Deby going around the truck. 

Every so often we came to a town that was full of these little put put cart/motorcycle things. We eventually found ourselves in the beach resort town of  Huanchaco, at the Hotel Cabalito de Totora.

Deby and I immediately stripped off our hot riding gear and walked across the street to the beach. 

Like beaches anywhere there were plenty of people and kids playing in the water. 

Did something wash ashore? No, it’s our riding partner Jim soaking up some rays. 

Back at the hotel, Jim had arranged a van and driver to take us to the nearby ruins of Chan Chan for the next day so we decided to stay a second night to allow the complete day for exploring. More on that next…..

Donn and Deby 🙂 🙂