Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Baja adventure, overview.

My Baja trip in a nutshell;
Total miles on the bike - 3541
Miles on a trailer - 140
Days/nights in country - 12
Breakfasts of huevo rancheros - 12
Nights in a haunted motel - 1
Times faced death - 1

The ride down;
A = Home, West Valley City, Utah
B = Lake Havasu City
C = Jesus Maria
D = Loreto
E = La Paz
F = San Jose del Cabo

 The ride home with a very few differences is just a reverse route.

Baja is a beautiful place with beautiful people. Nearly everyone I dealt with had a friendly smile; the cynic will say that is because of the money the gringos bring to Mexico, and in some cases I would agree.
However, too many times I was helped by someone who didn't directly benefit from our interaction to believe it's all about money.
I loved the country, the roads, the food and the people.







I think all of Baja is magical....I can't wait to go back!


Lots of art in Baja









The complete ride report is on the following posts - just keep scrolling down for 7 more posts....if you can stay awake that long.

Since this turned out to be my final ride;
My total miles for 2013 - 20,961
All in all a pretty good year! :)

Thursday, November 7, 2013

El sol en Noviembre - 1

The fallen leaves raked and bagged it's time for a ride.

Baja sounds like a good November destination, so I invite Blake and Phil to join me on a Baja ride.....
 ................so Strom Cache buddy, Blake rides over from Portland area and stays the night at my house.  Then we're off for Lake Havasu City the next morning.....
 ....where we spend the night at Phil's house and then off for Baja with the rising sun.
 I've never eaten at 'in and out', so we stop here in Yuma.
 The border crossing was uneventful, but a few miles later we have our first flat. We can't see a nail hole so we fluff up the tire and press on but.....
 
 ......it lasts for several miles and goes flat again. Lucky for us it was across the street from a llantera shop (flat fixer). It was the only place for MILES...so it really was lucky.
 I did what I could to help.
 This is wearing me out.
 Flat(s) fixed we are off again. We stop for the night in San Felipe at this place.
It's the shrimp fest in town......
 ..........but Blake gets fish.
 to honor the fest I get garlic shrimp.....delicioso!

And off to bed. Tomorrow we go to Coco's corner.

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..!.