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Ride Tales Post your ride reports for a weekend ride or around the world. Please make the first words of the title WHERE the ride is. Please do NOT just post a link to your site. For a link, see Get a Link.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

25 years of HU Events


Destination ANYWHERE...
Adventure EVERYWHERE!




Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 16 Aug 2011
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Everettt, Washington, USA
Posts: 278
And the SCHPEAL continued..
I got a few emails, and messages, and responses on the ride report. They want to know why I'm having problems getting my bike back.

So, let me enlighten you to a bit of the behind the scenes action.

People seem to be worried that I might be getting pulled for a loop by the local Colombians. My motorcycle

I got an email from a friend of mine. He thought it would be a good idea to get in touch with the Horizons Unlimited Community inside Colombia. I told him that that sounded like a great Idea.

(I post this exact same ride report on Horizons Unlimited (HU) as well. Currently the second most viewed RR "ever" over there! Aaaaaawesome.)

So, in less then an hour, my friend sent out a request for some help. The way it works over there, is that you can add your location to your profile, and incorporate yourself into an HU Community, such as Snohomish County (my community at home)

Less then an hour after that, I received a response from a HU member in Cartegena. He asked what my situation was. I responded. He told me what he could do. I accepted.

I gave the name, mobile number, and office number of my lawyer to the man. He told me he was going to cut to the chase, and figure out my dilemma.

He also made it clear that he suspected some fishy stuff was going on, demonstrated a knowledge of the situation, and told me he'd help. I thanked him appropriately.

Then I got another email from my first friend. Some other top dogs, big wigs, and important people, are interested to see that I come out in one piece and don't get tossed in the ringer.

Things will be ok. So I'll share a poem I wrote a while ok.


Why We Ride
"Where we are, we hardly know;
For all purposes, our map doesn't show;

Any more then North, East, South or West;
As for us, that may well be the best;

We don't mind where the path may go;
For us, the path simply flows;

On, around, across and down;
We simply keep two wheels on the ground;

While we travel this tiny world;
We see it through a hazy swirl;

As the landscapes fly on by;
We ask ourselves the simple question, Why?;

The answer lays ahead of us;
And so we ride on, for we must;

Until the day comes when we are done;
For then we may know what is to come;

When the trip reaches its entirety, we will have been changed entirely."


ONWARD!!!

--Alex
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  #2  
Old 16 Aug 2011
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Location: Everettt, Washington, USA
Posts: 278
Pistol whipped and pissed off!
August 16, 2011
Our night has had a turn of events. Tom was literally held at gun point in our hotel lobby, by three individuals, (two men, one woman), and robbed.

Here are the events as they transpired:

Tom went to get some water and snack goods in the lobby.

He went downstairs with what is basically a $5 bill in his hand.

 He asked the bellhop guy if he could buy some water (350ml water in a bag).
Bellhop guy said they were out of water.

Tom could see the water, weird, but ignored it.

Tom then just asked for some of the chocolate bars that they have. That was when a man, whom Tom had noticed talking to the bellhop, approached him from behind and with a hand on his back, and a pistol to his gut, told him to come with him as he lead him to the door.

Tom instantly said no, and tried to turn around, shoving the guy’s hands away.
 The guy then got physical and another guy joined in, and they passed the gun to a woman. All the while Tom is looking at the bell hop that is doing nothing.
Soon, Tom was knocked down, and the men started throwing kicks and punches, and somewhere in between Tom got Pistol Whipped. Tom was now in fight mode, and was not otherwise injured.
Bellhop guy meanwhile was scared out of his mind.

Tom didn't budge, and then, in the midst of this outrageous occurrence, manhandled his way to the hand railing of the stairs he had just come down, away from the front door, and started raising HOLY HELL.
I heard him yelling from the 3rd floor, but people yell all the time, so I didn't do shit. I didn't even get out off my ass. Why would I?

So, Tom just tore his way up the stairs trying to run away, and the other three, discouraged and obviously not prepared to shoot, ran out the door as he was SCREAMING at the top of his lungs.

 He then ran up the stair and burst in the room with blood on his chest, right arm and neck, missing his shirt because it was ripped off him, and declared to me in no uncertain terms that he was just held up and robbed by gun point. The blood was coming from his head where he was hit with the butt of the revolver.



At this point, I have Tom sitting down, and I'm looking at his head. We are not hurt badly, nor discouraged. Just angry and pissed off at this point.



Just a little blood.



We’re now wondering what the hell happened. WHEN:

We heard more yelling from the room. Tom hears these words, “Van para Argentina”. (They are going to Argentina). We get apprehensive.

It turns out it is the police who were running throughout the hotel, in force (I saw at least 6, all uniformed the same).

However, to find out it’s the police, I have to open our door. I do so with Tom’s power assisted knife in my hand, wide open, with serrations gleaming.

Then I see the police, and stash the knife.
I notified them that Tom is ok. The bellhop was with the police, VERY visibly shaken, and when he saw Tom, he started to cry, VERY visibly relieved. They hugged, it was good.

The police told us to close and lock our doors. All of the hotel staff (three men including the bellhop) were very distraught.

We closed and locked our door.

Tom begins to relax.



And so we sat. And wide awake, decided to watch an episode of "Making the Cut" on my comp.



Then we went to bed (3am).

And that, my good people, was last night.

Onward!!!!!

--Alex

P.s. On the bright side, the call out to the HU community garnered a man that lit a fire under the ass of my traffic lawyer. We got things signed, copied, printed, stamped, and signed again. I should get my bike tomorrow morning.

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  #3  
Old 16 Aug 2011
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 376
Whoop whoop! You two really are living the dream huh?

Nice to have some scary tales to tell the Grandkids. Just keep getting lucky please, I'm enjoying the story!
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  #4  
Old 18 Aug 2011
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Everettt, Washington, USA
Posts: 278
Bike...
Well, obviously I didn't get my bike yesterday. And I was hoping to get it today. And I didn't. BUT.

Well today was a good day....

I learned that I will get my bike Tomorrow. (I HOPE)

As it turns out, at least from my point of view, my traffic lawyer man wasn't being a slow pain in the ass. He was really just going with the crappy flow of bullshit that slides downhill in the district attorneys office.

Today I met a man, from the US, originally from Puerto Rico, living part time in Barranquilla. He spoke better English then some of my American friends. He told me, last year when he was involved in an accident, it took HIM 2.5 weeks to get his own car back. And that is with perfect spanish. So...

Also, I over heard my traffic lawyer man bitching with other lawyers about how much corruption there is in the Barranquilla traffic office as compared to the Cartegena, Medellin, Bogota, and Cali offices. They all agreed and said they hated this shit.

So. I got my stuff signed. I can pick my motorcycle up tomorrow. I'm ready.

Kristi arrives in Bogota on the 22nd. Monday at 8pm'ish. I want to be there by Sunday. Here's hoping that the next 1050km (650 miles) isn't too rough on me.

--Alex
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  #5  
Old 18 Aug 2011
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne UK
Posts: 252
Brilliant, its great to follow your adventures.. hope you get you bike

Ride safe
Geordie aka Will
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