This trip back to the USA we decided to reach out to the organizers of the Overland Expo and ask if they needed, wanted, and could use someone to lead some classes and discussions about Motorcycles, Patagonia, and South America in general. I offered up our expertise and current information to give away to eager travelers looking to head south and expand their own horizons with new cultures, challenges, and experiences.
I lead two classes, one about motorcycle packing for long trips, the other, tips and travel advice about Patagonia. I also participated in a third, a panel of very well-traveled Overland Vagabonds in a great discussion about South America as a whole.

The Patagonia talk was well received with plenty of travelers gathering as much info and advice as possible before heading into the unknow. As I have written before, Patagonia has a lot of things that are simply not inside the Google machine. So, it was nice to give folks a little more info about routes, places to see and things to look out for. Some lessons don’t need to be learned the hard way. Getting a little knowledge to help avoid things like running out of gas or taking a more challenging route than you wanted is always good. I truly hope all that attended that class reach out to us if they end up by the shop and need anything, even if just to stop by and say hi to tell us all bout their adventure thus far.
 
The motorcycle packing class was quite good, I think. The riders there were very interactive, and we had a lot of back and forth about what works, and what small details can help keep your gear safe and help keep the bike as light as possible. As I stated in the class, I have seen riders show up for long rides with a t-shirt and toothbrush and others pack for literally every contingency. Its good to discuss ways to keep the balance between comfort and weight. You don’t want to be uncomfortable, but you don’t want to be picking up a 700 machine all day if you plan to take a more challenging route. Which led us to talk about picking the best route given the bike, your ability and external factors like weather, time and if you’re alone or riding with friends. I really liked this class and teaching it helped me to reassess what and how I pack for my own long rides.  
 
The panel discussion about South America was very interesting. I was there with 5 others who are all full-time travelers, and they were able to add genuine details about how South America treated them from a perspective I wasn’t, since I live their full time. Spoiler, they all had positive experiences and overall good vibes.  I was able to add small details about culture and customs for Latin America in general.  It was also good to discus and listen to others talk about how they managed the ups and downs of the different countries and affects long-term travel has in foreign lands like South America. I feel that these classes at Overland Expo really help people gain confidence and real-world information to get out and travel.
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Overall, it was a first class even and one of the better venues I have been for Overland Expo. We were excited to be a part of it and look forward to more of those opportunities in the future.
 

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.