MotoAdventureGal halfway to goal, but running out of time

Alisa Clickenger, MotoAdventureGal, with other riders in Honduras (Photo: Alisa Clickenger)

Alisa Clickenger, aka MotoAdventureGal, is on her way to Tierra del Fuego, a woman riding solo to the tip of South America. Periodically she checks in with us.

"If I get there I'll probably be the last motorcycle to go to the tip of the continent this year. I'm so late in the season."

Such were MotoAdventureGal Alisa Clickenger's frettings in our latest conversation about her solo ride to Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of South America.

It seems there's just too much to see and do on a ride like this and Alisa, currently in Peru, has not focused on covering the distance that it entails. Consequently, four months into the trip she is halfway there, and now needs to cover the other half in about five weeks.

Let's catch up from where we last touched in with her.

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Leaving Mexico for Guatemala, Alisa spent a week in San Pedro la Laguna where she honed her Spanish in a language school. Then it was on to Antigua for four days, during which she was invited at attend a private Mayan ceremony celebrating the New Year and the end, in 1996, of the Guatemalan civil war.

Next was El Salvador and she was in need of a new chain for the Suzuki DR650SE she's riding. Just to strike an ominous note, Alisa described the chain and sprockets as "the continuing theme and bane of my existence." More on that as we proceed.

In San Salvador she was unable to find a chain and so she left, but was then contacted by the friend she had stayed with there, who had found one, so she returned. This led to some backroad riding for fun that allowed her to see some spectacular places she would otherwise have missed.

Heading again for Honduras, she spent the night in a town close to the border and then visit the Copan Ruins, a Mayan cultural center. Seven and one-half hours at the border station killed that plan, however, and Alisa rode on to San Pedro Sula in the dark.

"Honduran roads are simply awful! There were huge woman-and-bike-eating potholes, places where the pavement had been severely damaged, places where the pavement ended and you had to ford your way across dirt and rocks."

During her stay in San Pedro Alisa and her host did manage to take a ride to the Copan Ruins, so she didn't miss out on those after all.

   Near the coast in Costa Rica (Photo: Alisa Clickenger)

(As an aside, the matter of her "host" bears some explanation. Throughout this ride, Alisa has been put in contact with locals and other travelers through Horizons Unlimited and Adventure Riders. Both are online communities where people who are into these sort of riding adventures connect and help each other connect with others. If you plan to go motorcycle adventuring these are excellent places to start.)

Into Nicaragua

From Honduras the road led to Nicaragua. Alisa had spent time in Nicaragua previously and so was not inclined to tarry there, spending only four days in Granada.

With a $5 per night room at a hostel, free amenities, good Wifi, and secure parking for her bike, plus, "there was a super restaurant right next door, and for four days I kept saying 'one more day.'"

Finally crossing the border into Costa Rica, the lines were endless and a test of patience but Alisa met up with another rider also heading for Tierra del Fuego. They rode together to the coast, to Playas los Cocos, where she stayed two nights.

"Costa Rica was really expensive and really gringoey, I didn't like it at all."

Alisa's trip is, in part, a fundraiser for breast cancer research, so while in Costa Rica she made a point to hook up with a doctor in Liberia whose passion is breast cancer screening. Together they did numerous breast cancer promos, which the doctor had set up with the local press.

Moving along, Alisa was riding down the Pan American Highway and pulled over to check the map. Smelling gas she found fuel gushing from a ruptured fuel line. Fortunately, a local stopped to help, found and paid for a replacement, and then bought her a beer to boot, and then guided her to an inexpensive hotel for the night.

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