Hep guys !

I'm a 23 years old belgian riding a Honda NX 650 of 88' from Chile to Canada (for now . For now I'm in Colombia and I plan to pass in Panama at the end of the month (May) or the latest at the beginning of June.

I travel alone (you can check to have an idea at Back Home From Home) and will have to cross the central America quite fast actually (fast compared what I'm used to : 80 miles a day of average - I like enjoying the places I pass by). As I meet some friends in California in July, I will have to choose what countries I want to discover and my choice is for Colombia (right now) and Mexico.

So I will cross the central zone (Panama to Mexico) quite fast. I normally travel alone and like it, but for this kind of faster driving, I guess something like 400 miles/day, I wouldn't mind to have some company, related to these famous security issues in central America. I know it's always exaggerated but as I got some problems in Peru, I do care a bit more for this month.

If someone has part of the road similar, tell me !
I'm quite open, don't mind staying in a place for a few days if it's worth. Just in case, I also do rock climbing and have the material (rope and expresses). I like playing music (have my guitar and harmonica). I'm not that much into too touristic places, I prefer random tourism, just seeing where the road leads me.

The principal idea would be to do Panama - Mexico in max ten days, maybe less, maybe more, depending.

Hoping someone's interested !
Cheers !
Alex

Hi Alex ,
no I,m not going anywhere, but just thought I would drop a few comments on your plan for sort of racing through Central America at a rate of 400 MILES per day ....over 600km perday !!!. Not Necessary, and very uncomfortable and often impossible.
At most double your stated average or aim for something like 200km in a day. CA countries are rather small and the last thing you need to do is drive yourself so hard and try crossing two borders in ONE day. Pace yourself so that you avoid the BIG capital cities for overnight stops and your security concerns will be less.
D o not drive at night, ,get well rested at night and drink plenty of safe water.But then you knew al that from South America .
If you need to be in the USA in July you have plenty of time yet so no need to rush too much.

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

Thanks for the answer !

Anyway, this is the way I travel. Now to July I have 45 days, and to enjoy a country, I need to take my time without any pressure. This is what I will do in Colombia for at least 20 days more (even if I'd stay months) and 15 climbing days in north of Mexico.

I travel since 6 months and sometimes I stay 2 weeks at the same place, sometimes I do 700km/day for a few days, heading another destination I have in mind.

By traveling you have to choose. I hate doing stuffs by half, and I know I will never be able to visit everything a country has to offer. So there it is

Anyway, thanks for the advices !

Alex,

In 2009 I was on a schedule to get back to the US from Costa Ricca. On the second day I linked up with two riders that were also on a mission to get back to the US. We rode fairly long hours for 7 out of 8 days. We were up and on the road most days near sunrise and off the road by late afternoon. Rarely stopping for anything interesting...

It is a little easier keeping the bike secure at borders when traveling in a small group. Traveling in a large group will slow you down, especially at borders due to the volume of paperwork that is multiplied by each rider.

If you really have to get to California by a certain date, I would recommend getting to Panama sooner than later. It might take longer to cross than Darien than planned or something could happen in CA to delay your progress (ex. mechanical issues.) Cut your time in Colombia and eave more time for CA for relaxed travel. There is so much to see in CA, you shouldn't rush through too much.

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Thanks for the advices.

I will finally leave Colombia a bit sooner actually, the 29th of May and should arrive 5 days later in Panama, so I have one month to cross CA, more comfortable. Anyway, I still think I won't do that much discovering stops on the way before Mexico, but I have time in case of problems.

I know there's too much too see in CA, as well as Colombia, Mexico, California ... You never finish it. But well, I choose to do some climbing in north of Mexico so I don't mind having ten uncomfortable days to have then 10 exceptional days. I travel for fews years, I will have a way more than 10 uncomfortable days. This is what makes good days actually better

I'll be there in June but your scheduleis wway too fast for me