We all want to get the most out of every ride. When traveling by motorcycle we need to be both in good shape and confident that we can manage the ride without worry or trouble. It’s always a balance. Personally, I find that riding with people better than me helps to push my limits but in a semi-controlled way. Being with friends who can help you gain the extra confidence to learn a new riding technique or skill is important. Taking a full-on training class with a professional is the best idea over all to truly get the most out of your desire to be a better and safer rider. Some people just have a way to explain a concept that can help you “get it”.

​I get asked often about how hard or technical the riding is here in Patagonia. While the riding is not technical in terms of off-road riding like single track or maybe some of those crazy videos you see of mud riding in Colombia it is demanding it terms of technique. The roads are unimproved, remote and can at times be rocky or muddy. They require riding skill to be able to cover miles each day despite the conditions. Being able to ride dirt roads with ease is important and the short sections of tough road conditions need to be handled with confidence.

In general, the riders that come to Chile specifically to ride are coming here with anticipation and therefore have time to train and we always recommend riders put in the time and come prepared both physically and mentally. Training will help both. Keeping your skills up to par is a great way to get the most out of your time riding here in Patagonia. Riding with your buddies and taking new routes keeps your reactions sharp and you focused on your riding. Both key to riding in remote and new areas. Taking new roads that we do not know helps keep our skills sharp. It’s an easy and free way to train.

I want all our riders to come here to have fun and create a lasting positive experience riding in Patagonia. Creating a team within our groups keeps everyone happy and on the same page. So, get out there and put your skills to the test and improve your riding as much as you can!       

Fall in Chile.
Every season we get the same question from around the world.
“What is the best time of year to ride in Patagonia?”
It is a fair question as the season is short if you are looking for the absolute best chance of great weather. The answer in that case is December through March. Our summertime is short and sweet but worth the travel time and logistics to ride these remote and beautiful roads here in Patagonia.

​But if you do not mind some cooler temps and chance of rain then late fall and early spring can be rewarding. I write this having just finished a ride through some remote areas in the Araucaria Region of Chile. From the Araucaria to the south until here in the Los Lagos Region the riding is great, lots of back roads and small towns to ride though and visit. I personally do not mind riding year around catching the good days and taking advantage of the slower pace during the “off season”. Being coped up all winter just does not sit well with me, if it is not snowing, I’m riding.

The advantages are also duly noted, the roads are not dusty, the colors in the mountains area just as special as the flowers during the summer months. The over all vibe is still positive and fun. Of course, during the summer everyone has that great high energy summertime travel vibe, but the fall, winter and early spring also have their own vibe that make off-season riding and adventures seem just as special.     I realize bad weather riding is not always everyone’s jam and trust me it is not my pick but on short trips I do not mind if the overall experience is rewarding. Certain areas have charm and are special enough that even without perfect weather it can still make a great trip and create a lasting experience. Southern Chile has that and then some, making the shoulder season worth it!

We have some great riding opportunities to offer all riders at every skill level.  From experienced riders to novice riders looking for their first international trip. Year around riding can be had here in southern Chile if you are willing. Let us know what type of riding you are interested in and we can help!

Stay safe and Keep the rubber side down. 

Having involuntarily taken a whole riding season off we ended up focused on expanding our business infrastructure. Things we had planned to do in the future suddenly became a focus for what could be done right now.  We invested heavily in equipment, in the form of new bikes, new pannier systems and a whole new office. But also, in tools and equipment to help improve our maintenance facilities and make things run smoother between rides. Now we are going into winter and focusing on pulling off a grand re-opening of all thing’s tourism, lord willing for 2021/22. For us personally we have missed riding with people from all over the world and helping new riders accomplish their dreams of riding in Patagonia. I will be all to happy to get back in the fast lane of riding and setting up bikes for these long rides down here. 

For those waiting to see what happens I would recommend taking advantage of the low-cost air fairs we are now seeing. Book your motorcycle rental or tour now for next season. Start planning because next summer will be here before you know it and you don’t want to miss out on a grand re-opening of Patagonia. Do not wait because bike and tour availability will only get more difficult as we draw closer to next summer.  What we are seeing in the tourism industry is companies having to combine the reservations they moved from this past summer AND the new reservations for next summer all into one time frame. Things will get busy, and you may miss your opportunity to get out and ride!

​My recommendation is to book early and be sure you get ahead of the curve. And in our case because we didn’t stop the new ideas and the improvements during the C19 downtime you will get an even better experience because of all the hard work and improvements being made. This may very well be the case for much of the tourism industry. Take advantage and get out there to explore!      

​Well, it has been a wild bunch of years, from starting the business, to growing it, and now to expanding our ideas. From the start, we wanted to create a company that truly served adventure riders looking for an authentic travel experience here in Patagonia. Part of that original business plan was to eventually start importing products from the United States that I felt were a positive addition not only to our own rental fleet but also to the local riding community. We wanted to help riders in Chile gain access to top notch gear that has been proven around the world.

I was fortunate enough to have been given some Giant Loop gear by a rental client--a Great Basin Saddlebag and a Diablo Tank Bag. I promptly swapped out my existing Mosko Moto gear and started testing these bags. I decided to test them out on my personal KTM 950 Super Enduro, a bike I ride hard in some rough terrain and varied weather conditions. I figured if the gear could stand up to the brutal riding I do on my personal time, it would be great stuff for Moto Patagonia to use on the rental fleet. Plus, testing products in Chile to then sell them in Chile made perfect sense and will help the local riders see that these bags are getting used on their home turf.

After some time with these bags on my personal bike, I decided to reach out to Giant Loop to see what it would take to become their distributor here in Chile. Several emails later, we signed a contract and placed our first order. The Moto Patagonia rental fleet, all new for 2021, will feature Giant Loop’s 90 liter Round the World Pannier kits, a set up I think our clients will like for its capacity and ease of use.

Once the rental bikes were set up, we placed a full stocking order and decided to start building out the first grassroots adventure motorcycle shop in Puerto Varas. With our base having many amenities, like a full-service shop, cabins, and now the Giant Loop Chile partnership, we will be able to offer our tour and rental clients excellent products, combined with the best possible service. And our local riders will benefit from the same amenities and service and be able to stop by any time they want to say hello, buy great tested products, or even rent the cabins with their buddies and go ride the Los Lagos Region!

One step at a time we are building what we feel is the most authentic rider-owned and operated tour and rental business and locals-only adventure shop in southern Chile. We hope to see you here one day!
Cheers and welcome to 2021!   

That Time Trent fell out of the Helicopter
In what situation did Trent fall out of a helicopter? Well, long before I was guiding motorcycle tours, married to a Chilean, and living in Chile, I was in a vastly different kind of business. I worked 7 years as a Wildland Fire Fighter for the United States Forest Service. During this time, I traveled a lot for different fires, and I moved around to different National Forest bases in the United States.

One summer I was based out of Jackson Hole WY, on the Teton Heli Rappel Crew. This was a good crew--a two helicopter, 20-person interagency Park Service/Forest Service Crew. It was an interesting crew for many reasons, one being we had two matching A-Star B3 Helicopters. We had 20 fire fighters from both the Forest Service and Park Service. It also happened to be a Rappel Crew, which meant we got to rappel out of hovering helicopters to access remote areas. It was fun to say the least.

Now typically I was the only person from back East in most of my old fire fighting crews, but in WY there happened to be two of us, not just from the East but both from GA. My Georgia buddy’s name was Trent, and during the season we became fairly good friends. Although the dynamic of the crew was such that we would get spread out all over the place and not always work the same fires, we did happen to be on one fire together in Alpine WY, about one hour south of Jackson.

It was a “good fire” up in the mountains and we got to fly a lot and work in a nice valley. Since the crew was a rappel crew, we had to rappel every two weeks no matter what was happening in order to maintain proficiency. So during this fire we had to make a proficiency rappel. Generally our Heli boss would do these “in place” as it was good practice to not always rappel into a field, but to sometimes add in real world complications. It happened to be windy as hell that day--a real-world thing we dealt with while flying. So, what happened with Trent? Well, first off nothing bad--Trent is good to go and did not get hurt. It was more a situation with several comical errors…

Since it was windy, the helicopter was bucking around a bit and that makes it harder to get out onto the skids to prepare for the rappel. As Trent went out onto the skids, he got bucked right off the skid and fell in between the skid and the fuselage. That’s not really the place you want to be at 200 feet if the helicopter has to make an emergency landing.
Everyone is watching from the ground, as the spotter inside the helicopter is helping Trent back up and onto the skid, laughing his head off the entire time. Trent gets reset on the skid and the spotter gives the rappel hand signal. Trent lets loose the Sky-Jenie rappel device and heads down rope. But he gets caught and tangled in a quaking aspen patch and struggles to get free; he goes down a bit more, cussing like hell I imagine. When he finally reaches the ground, the helicopter gets bucked up and Trent gets lifted up off the ground again and is not able to release the clip of the rappel device. Then he’s back down again and on to the ground, basically falling. In the last second, he unclips and heads off clear of the ropes that must now get tossed out the helicopter. Everyone is laughing like hell at this ridiculousness, not at Trent, as he did nothing wrong. It was just unpredicted circumstances, but funny nonetheless.

All I could do was grab Trent’s Skoll can and hand it to him as he walks up. I did not say a thing; I just gave him his tobacco and kept my chuckles to myself. A few minutes later the helicopter lands, the spotter Gomez in the back laughing so hard he can’t move. As the Heli winds down, we head out to talk, and we all recount the story several more times to our comical delight and Trent’s dismay.

In the end all’s well than ends well, and it was damn funny to see all this from the ground. Trent was a quiet guy, but always a good sport about these things. In fire fighting, things rarely go 100 percent all the time, so for us it was nothing to be alarmed about.

​Now here we are in 2020, and I feel like if we can get back on the skid, rappel down, and get off the rope, we will be able to get back at it and survive to fly another day. The old saying is “what a shit show.” Now I’m thinking people will adopt the saying “That’s a real 2020.”

As we all wait to get the global Covid-19 crisis behind us, I started thinking about what the remote areas we have traveled will look like when we can once again ride there. Most of these areas are by nature of their remoteness unmolested and natural. I wonder how things will have changed without any movement for what is now nearly a whole year. Will the roads be in good shape or in terrible condition? What happens to a semi-improved area once it is void of most human traffic for a year? Will it look like landscapes seen in the movies? With the forest overgrown and trying to take over again? We have seen from news stories around the globe that wild animals have been venturing into areas, like cities, previously off-limits for them and are now exploring areas once busy with traffic and noise.

​I look forward to my yearly pre-ride of the Carretera Austral to see how the roads fared over winter, to talk with the lodge owners we visit every year and to see how they have been over the long winter and now, due to  Covid-19, an even longer off season. Here in Patagonia we all rely on each other to make our rides possible.
I imagine empty roads and locals looking forward to seeing new travelers. Once we do get back to an open border and an easier way of moving around, I hope to see everyone start to relax and get back to enjoying life and exploring these areas with a new found appreciation for the freedom that is Travel. I think we are all waiting and wanting to travel again, to get out and see something new… Once that is possible, I think the tourism industry will have a gradual restart, but I hope that adventure travel once again becomes a priority.

This has been a winter of firsts for Moto Patagonia. We are trying to expand slowly, but with optimism, for next year and the year after that. Riding motorcycles is a way of life for us. We hope to see new riders and returning riders once again enjoying what Patagonia has to offer.

I have not written in a while. I started off 2020 with a broken hard drive on my old computer. I wish that had been the worst of it.

We wrapped up last season with some genuinely great rides. Good groups and fun riders from all over the world enjoyed not only what Chile has to offer in the form of Adventure Travel but what Moto Patagonia has to offer. With our unique style and commitment to small groups and fun routes, we were able to share amazing places with what I now consider new friends. That is the idea, to share and bond with different people from different cultures and explore using our motorcycles.

I can’t ignore the obvious of what is happening globally with Covid-19. Tourism is one of the industries most impacted by the abrupt stop of the global economy. Our industry of motorcycle tourism was already small and now it’s nearly microscopic. We have become more inventive and flexible with our bookings; however, with so much uncertainty we, nor anyone, can guarantee anything.

Patagonia is still here; it is still amazing, and I can say without reservation that you should still come ride with us. Once we get on the other side of this health crisis and the borders open, I know these routes will be better than ever. The people along them will be happy to see new riders and the industry as a whole is working together to create fantastic memories for those willing to travel again and go explore. Here in Patagonia we all work together: the fly fishing guides, rafting guides, the motorcycle guides…we all work with the local lodges, restaurants and ferry systems.

Our different activities blend and rely on each other to create our own little micro economy. Patagonia may be big, but the population of full timers living down here is small and we all count on travelers, not only to make a living but also to get out and explore ourselves. It is the greatest self-motivation there is, to share and show you what this place is all about. We started Moto Patagonia because of our own passion for travel and motorcycles. The whole business was designed around one thing, YOU!

Think about that for a second. Every small business offering unique tourism opportunities was built to share their passion with you. This makes you--motorcycle riders, fishermen, kayakers, mountain bikers--some of the most special people on earth! You are the explorers, the risk takers of the world, so don’t forget that Adventure IS for the Risk Takers of the World.

We hope to see you next season riding a moto here with us.  

How can you learn Spanish? Well, for starters you must want to learn the language.
​The commitment it takes to learn a new language and be fluent takes practice and time.

I get asked two questions a lot from our riders.
One: Did I know Spanish before moving to Chile? Answer: No
Two: How did I learn to speak Spanish. Answer: total immersion

I put in a serious effort before moving to Chile. For months I took classes two nights a week for two hours each night at the Latin American Association in Atlanta, GA, which I highly recommend for anyone in Atlanta with the desire to learn Spanish. I put in the time; I was the only student to show up on time to every class every night. I studied, I tried to follow the lessons. But I just didn’t advance as I thought I would, considering the time I was putting into learning. That is not a knock on the Latin American Association more a fact of the mater about how learning a new language requires some type of immersion.

If you can establish a base and then immediately start some type of ¨intercambio¨ classes to speak with a native speaker that is what will help you progress. I found that all the classes I took did very little in comparison to my first year in Chile and the fact that if I wanted something, or I needed to go somewhere I had to ask and I had to ask in Spanish. When you have no choice, you learn quickly the phrases, words and sentence structure so you can get out on your own with the basics.

Advancing to a higher level:
My first few jobs in Chile were in auto shops, that is my trade so naturally it’s a trade I can take anywhere. But like all things in a new country, I had to learn the technical words and the cultural shop dynamic. In short, the learning curve for me personally was steep. None of the guys in the shops spoke English except the owners but they were not in the actual shop with me working so I had to interact with other mechanics and express the things I needed so that I could get some work done. Just think, if you’re a mechanic and you need a rag but don’t know how to say “I need a rag” in Spanish, how frustrating something like that is.

Now think you are working on a new Range Rover and you need to say; “a rat ate all the control wires under the battery tray and it will take me all day to repair the wiring harness, but don’t worry I can do it.” How do I say, “Battery Tray”, “Wiring Harness”, “don’t worry” … etc. All this became a game of patience on my part because I felt dumb, even though I knew what I was doing.
However, most of all it limited me in a way I had not experienced before.

This is the most frustrating part of not speaking Spanish in Latin America. The limitations it puts on your experiences. When you travel you really want to talk to the locals and have some type of connection with them, in my experience language is a deep-rooted part of every culture. Learning the language opens doors and can help you to have a better experience and be less frustrated at times.      

If you plan to spend any amount of time in Latin America it is a great idea to learn a few phrases beyond “dónde está el baño” and “más cerveza por favor.”  Although those two are important I think being able to talk to someone face to face and express yourself and then understand them when they reply will be a game changer in what you experience while traveling here in Latin America.

A couple of tips I think might help you during your quest to learn Spanish. Establish the basics through classes, either online, or in a real classroom. After getting the basics and gaining confidence, search for a Meet Up and try to find groups in which the sole focus is to speak Spanish. There you can try out your newly learned basics in the real world.

After that, it is up to you to maintain the new skill.
If you don’t use it, you will lose it.

Bellow is a typical open air market in Santiago.
If you wanna buy your fruits and veggies here, Ya better speak Spanish!