The pace of our trip has slowed considerably. Initially, this was supposed to be an entirely South American motorcycle trip but we had to change that. From the beginning I just wanted to get through Central America as fast as I could so that we could spend more time in South America, but I’ve changed my mind for a few reasons.

As my friend, John, asked just before we started, “Is the trip about the journey…or the destination?” When you are focused on the goal of heading far into South America it’s easy to lower the priority of seeing and experiencing the places that you are actually in. There’s a lot to see in Mexico and Central America and it’s worth the extra time to check them out.

The blistering pace we took through Mexico really started taking its toll once we hit Guatemala. The riding, traveling, partying, and sightseeing takes a toll on your mind and your body. The fatigue just doesn’t go away. You have to make time to rest and recover. It gets to be too much.

We’ve spent a lot more time in Guatemala than I thought we would but it’s been a pleasant surprise. The people have been really friendly, the country has a rugged beauty to it’s green mountains and volcanoes. The only negative so far has been the dangerous roads. The truck and bus drivers are out of control!

In Antigua, we made a couple of friends from Guatemala City, Mario and Lucila. We arrived in Guatemala City yesterday (February 22nd), bought some new rear tires (Bridgestone Trail Wings) at a huge moto store, took them and the bikes to a bike shop, and met up with Lucila, who introduced us to her friend, Ramon.

Ramon has been riding motorcycles his whole life and has ridden pretty much all of the good and bad roads of Guatemala. Together, we planned a ride using as many unpaved roads (read: FUN!) as possible from Guatemala City to the border with Honduras, near the Copan Ruins, which every person we’ve talked to has recommended.

Today, we’ll get on Google Earth so we can plot some waypoints in our GPS’s and buy some things we’ll need because we can get them here. It’s not so easy to find things in the smaller towns. Last night was a lot of fun partying in Zone 10 and I expect that tonight will be more of the same.

I’d like to give a special thanks to Ramon, Mario, and Lucila, for their time and for their help in giving us expert local knowledge and helping us plan this part of our adventure….