Adventures with Larry

Sometimes certain events, things or people stand out so clearly they simply command their own chapter. Through this journey the one stand out was Larry...or LARRRRRRRRYYYY as the team referred to him. If there was ever someone with bad luck it was Larry. Larry was also known as “Jackie Chan”. As Chile’s nation martial arts champion he was our security man and we were well advised to remember that as we hassled him. One time Larry found himself up against 5 would be muggers, took them all on...and won. He’s also a paramedic and pharmasitst which has some clear potential benefits to a pile of guys riding motorcycles into the unknown.

Problems started early for Larry...as early as day one. He’s a fairly new rider who found out the hard way that too much gas on gravel can drop you like I dropped grade thirteen science. The crash broke off one of Larry’s panniers and caused some minor yet easily repaired damage. A few days later the top box snapped off unbeknownst to Larry. The support team recovered the box and placed it in the truck with the panniers that broke off the day before. Then there was the “Service” guy in Espinar who certainly knew how to take the bike apart to replace a flat tire. What he lacked was the knowledge to put the bike back together. Pepe came to the rescue using his motorcycle as a point of reference to put Larry’s bike back on the road. Later that day I’d pass Larry to see his rear wheel flopping around like it was on a bad shopping cart. I can still see Larry rolling into the hotel parking lot in Tacna Peru closely following the support truck having ridden through the night with no lights. The old Honda’s electrical system had packed it in leaving it to Pepe to push the bike to get it started each time we’d ride. We also lost a $300 first aid kit that Larry had borrowed. It was lost during one of the stops to fix his bike.

I can assure you’ve I’ve forgotten half of Larry’s motorcycle troubles. Throughout all of this Larry never complained. He took a ton of heat from the rest of the team and he just kept going. He didn’t quit and I have a lot of respect for the man for that.

When we met for our final meal in Arica Larry told us of how he learned to ride. He’d bought the old motorcycle in a method similar to how he first rode it...under cover of darkness. Waiting for his wife to head out of town Larry pushed the Honda several blocks from his home at 1 am to not wake his kids. Then with the assistance of the local police, after some questions, he figured out that the horn and starter button were in fact two separate things. If I was Larry I’d feel pretty good to have survived the roads we travelled with only three months of experience on a motorcycle that was a little less than up to the task.