The first crash of the tour was crossing a creek in Texas hill country in mid-November. It was one of those fun crashes. When I do all the back posts I’ll write a bunch about this beautiful part of the South that I’d never heard of but turned into the first major stop since the few day stop in Ottawa. In the interim, for your pleasure, here’s a video of my first crash back then. Luckily I had the GoPro on
The second crash was doing a u-ey in sand. Low speed and unspectacular. The good news is no one saw either of them.
I have a feeling there’s another one coming.
Anyway, Lucinda’s been overheating. Not in a good way. For the last few days I’ve been looking nervously at the guage. The heat bars are at the maximum but not into the red zone. This isn’t entirely unexpected. The HPN gas tank modification includes a relocated oil cooler that runs uncomfortably hot. All the HP2 owners who’ve gone with the mod have cut off the rear of the mud guard to expose it to more breeze, so I did too.
Not exactly imposing is it? But we’re not sure it’s the problem
I’ve never actually met another HP2 owner, let alone someone with the mod, so I have no one to email and ask if what’s happening is normal or excessive. I talk to the group about it. Helge talks about the mod and says that’s probably it. We talk about keeping the cooler cleaner and alternate possibilities – filters, hoses, etc. No-one’s sure what’s going on or whether I’m in the danger zone or not. I decide I’ll not stop and strip the bike unless the bar goes one tick over the current high mark.
So I’m not worrying too much as we ride towards Oaxaca, but it’s on my mind.
Into the countryside. the deeper you get, the more basic the farming. Here a farmer plows his field with oxen. His horse follows him around
Through these beautiful towns
Stopping to eat at the typical roadside stands. The food is always excellent and costs a buck or so
They’re harvesting sugar cane everywhere
Loading the cane onto trucks
And on to Oaxaca, where the story’s really strange
