Thursday, November 7, 2013

El sol en Noviembre - 2

The next morning this is my 'pre-breakfast'.
 Then on to this place for some real food; huevo rancheros, muy bien!
Then we are southbound on Mex 1 
We stop for a rest and Blake and Phil do some chain maintenance.
 I'm standing somewhere in Baja pointing to a sign that says "New Harmony Utah 650 miles"....haha. 

 The Baja 1000 will run in two weeks, we see numerous 'pre-runners' practicing.
 If you look closely there is a fishing boat between Blake and Phil.
 
 This is where the road that follows the coast and goes past Coco's corner, turns to dirt. We stop to air down our tires and up rides this guy on a beemer.
His nombre is Randy Masters, he is riding to the southern tip of South America (Tierra del Fuego) to raise funds and awareness for South American orphanages.
I invite Randy to join our little group.
 And off we go to Coco's corner.

The 40 mile road to Coco's alternates between merely "bad" to "#***ing miserable". But we all make it (lastly me).
Coco's corner is a place that's been on my "must see" list for a few years now. Coco, a double amputee, has scratched out a living by being imaginative and friendly. He welcomes visitors to buy his beer and hang out for a while. 

By the time we get there it's getting late in the day, I want to spend the night then press on in the morning, but one of our group flat refuses to stay, so after way to short visit, off we go. 


 Iban, me, Coco.
 Iban is pre-running the 1000 in his daughters car and blew the engine..... uh ohhhhh! lol
So, back om the road we go. After about 6 miles Blake takes a rock hit on his oil filter resulting in a slow leak. Between the three of us Blake, Randy, and I we have some materiel to try a repair with. My RTV and some tape make a hasty roadside fix.....sort of.
 Back on the bikes, but the 'repair' only gets us 5 more miles before Blake's oil is drained. Our faces are as long as our shadows as we try to decide what to do next. It will be dark in about 15 minutes.....
Randy goes the last two miles out to Mex 1 (paved) and finds another tire repair shop at the dirt /paved road intersection. He is able to borrow a hefty rope and Phil returns the rope to Blake and me. We hook the rope to my bike using a cable and lock that Vegashotwheeler (Mike) gave me years ago, and to Blake's bike using a friction loop, then up to his left hand on the handlebar. 
 It worked, I was able to tow his bike the two remaining miles out to the paved road. 

This is the middle of nowhere...There is nothing for miles and miles except the tire shop, and a tiny restaurant.

We try another repair using JB weld, and then go to the nearby restaurant hoping the 'weld' will dry hard enough to work, but to no avail.


 In the end we very  reluctantly left Blake with the two very friendly tire repair guys who promised their uncle would come with a pickup truck the next day and help however needed.
Blake spent two nights there in his tent and finally got it fixed and is on his way home.

We ride off into the very dark night to find lodging. Finally at about 11pm we find a little motel, wake the manager and get a ............room.

Somewhere on the 40 mile dirt road to Coco's I had taken a rock to the shin and finally get to see my little booboo at our motel.
Tomorrow we ride to Guerrero Negro where we find out our nights motel is haunted..!.

4 comments:

Trobairitz said...

Damn, that boo-boo from the rock to the shin makes me glad my boots come up as high as they do. Ouch.

RichardM said...

Looking forward to further adventures. I rode down Baja over thirty years ago but on pedal power. It was a great trip. It looks like you are venturing quite a bit off the beaten path. Are you following the Baja 1000 course?

Ken said...

Trobairitz - I'm looking with envy at the higher boots the others on this ride have. What are yours? Do you have a recommendation?

Richard - We followed part of the course. We probably will follow more on the way back.
Pedal power???? WOW!

George said...

I should be with youse guys instead of sitting here at home with a broken rib... Phil invited me but I had another event already planned. Fell down on the way to Salton Sea.

It'll heal.

Too bad about Blake's oil cooler.