Monday April 26th: A Rough First Night in Copenhagen
I had decided to pass on any travel/hotel assistance from the Copenhagen office as I’m a seasoned veteran when it comes to flying into and out of Copenhagen. I booked myself into a hotel for my first night, knowing that after that evening I’d be staying at a company apartment for the rest of my stay. Prior to leaving it leapt out at me to once again stay at the Avenue Hotel, I had stayed there before and remembered that it was quite a nice little boutique hotel that would make for a great first night’s stay, or so I thought.

A beer, my laptop and a nice fire in the hotel lobby, what could go wrong?

After checking in I suddenly remembered when I’d been there before, it was during Ming’s first ever visit to join me on a business trip for Unity Tech right after I was hired in December 2006. Ok, no trippin’, yet. Things got ugly when I realized that the room they’d reserved for me was the exact same room we’d stayed in too! Ugh, the uncomfortable night on the couch in my room couldn’t end fast enough and the next morning I hurried off to the company apartment to meet up with Brett and get over to Sweden for the first day of the conference.

Tuesday April 27th: A Surprise Overnight Stay in Malmö!
Tuesday was the first day of the Nordic Games 2010 conference and after a deliberately slow morning, Brett and I hopped on a train bound for Malmö in the early afternoon. Our plan was to find the conference hall, get ourselves registered as sponsors and speakers and make it over to the speaker dinner/drinks event before wandering over to the Indie Game Night party. A rough day indeed!

We managed to get business handled and while at the speaker dinner/drinks event I chatted with Brett and caught up with many old coworkers/friends I’d not seen in person for a while. Then someone who’s more of a competitor was spotted, that being Philip Belhassen, the CEO from Stonetrip Software (makers of ShiVa, a competitor to Unity). Philip and I had met once before and we actually get along quite well, he joined Brett and I for countless beers and lots of talking. Not surprisingly we’re more alike than anything else and I quite enjoyed working on my buzz with him.

Philip from Stonetrip has Brett laughing about something…

After spending way too much time at the speaker event Brett was already draggin’ ass and saying he was tired, at the same time I was ready to head over to the Indie Night party and have some fun well into the night. We opted for a compromise plan and Brett secured us two rooms at a local hotel, he went off to an early night’s sleep (jetlag) while I went out for a late night of partying and fun! At the Indie Night party I met up with Samantha, Emil, Joe, Alex and Dave, all good pals that managed to keep things rolling until some time after 3am, good times in Sweden!

The Indie Night party (Emil and Samantha are in there, can you spot ‘em?)

Dave, Samantha and Joe in a nearly 2am toast

Emil, me and Alex with our part of that late night toast

Wednesday-Thursday April 28th-29th: Nordic Games in Full Swing
Despite the late night before, I had to be up and coherent on Wednesday as I had two interviews scheduled and a presentation session later in the afternoon. The sad/funny/annoying part of my presentation was that it was originally pitched to me as a casual “stand in the corner and demo Unity 3.0 during cocktails” sort of thing at 5pm, yet at about quarter to 4pm I was told that it was instead a proper one hour session that would have a decent number of people in attendance. What the… ? Luckily I’ve done the Unity dog and pony show enough that I was able to pull things off, even with Mark Rein (Unreal) in the crowd trying to play hard ass with me. During the afternoon we also met up with Andy Brammall for the first time, Andy being our new sales rep out of London. After my presentation Andy, Brett and I enjoyed a few beers before heading back over to Copenhagen for dinner and a decent night’s rest.

Thursday was Brett’s turn to present and he was actually set to deliver a relatively important keynote level presentation about where Unity is going and why. We started it off on the wrong foot by having some monitor output adapter drama, with Andy (the new guy) stepping up like a champ when needed. Brett delivered his presentation, his first ever as a Unity Technologies employee (for those that don’t know, Brett came to Unity Tech from Garage Games – a competitor!), to a warm and welcoming crowd and the day went smoothly as a whole. I think that Brett did well in his presentation as he couldn’t view his presenter’s notes as expected, kudos to him for performing under fire! Once again, Brett, Andy and I closed the night out with dinner and a few beers back in Copenhagen together, closing out another great Nordic Games conference.

Looking down the main expo hall at Nordic Games 2010

Brett preparing for his keynote presentation

Friday April 30th to Sunday May 2nd: Hanging Out in Copenhagen
After the end of the conference Brett quickly scampered off and came back to the USA whereas I spent Friday hanging out with Andy talking shop and getting him up to speed in terms of our sales effort. We had both decided to be there that day so we could have that chat together and with others from the Copenhagen office, but nobody informed us that it was a holiday and so nobody was in the office anyway, doh! I spent the day with Andy before his flight home and I then proceeded to spend both Friday and Saturday nights hangin’ out with Copenhagen coworkers, notably Samantha, Emil and Mircea among others.

Emil, Samantha, Nicolaj and Mircea at the UT CPH office (others had long ago left)

Samantha having fun down at the Irish Rover

Emil and I goofin’ it up at the Irish Rover

Over those last two nights I burned what liver and brain cells I could spare, had a fantastic time relaxing with coworkers, and all in time for an early Sunday flight back home. As always I love going to Copenhagen and I cannot wait to go back again!

Ramble On
by Led Zeppelin

Leaves are falling all around, It’s time I was on my way. 
Thanks to you, I’m much obliged for such a pleasant stay. 
But now it’s time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way. 
For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it’s headed my way. 
Sometimes I grow so tired, but I know I’ve got one thing I got to do… 

*Ramble On, And now’s the time, the time is now, to sing my song. 
I’m goin’ ’round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way. 
I’ve been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On, 
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams. 

Got no time to for spreadin’ roots, The time has come to be gone. 
And to’ our health we drank a thousand times, it’s time to Ramble On. 

* Chorus 

Mine’s a tale that can’t be told, my freedom I hold dear. 
How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air. 
T’was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair. 
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her….yeah. 

* Chorus 

Gonna ramble on, sing my song. Gotta keep-a-searchin’ for my baby… 
Gonna work my way, round the world. I can’t stop this feelin’ in my heart 
Gotta keep searchin’ for my baby. I can’t find my bluebird!

I will love you forever Ming and I wish you nothing but happiness even if that’s not something I can provide for you. I’m happy our paths crossed for as long as they did, and now I retire into my cave to cry…

Day 1, Saturday March 27th: San Francisco to Ojai (410 miles)
At long last it was finally time to get outta town so I loaded up my KTM and hit the road, once again bound for Ojai but not knowing exactly how I would get there. The weather was nice and I was quickly lured out to the coast where I would end up staying almost the entire way down. I left San Francisco using Highway 280 but cut over to the hill and met up with Highway 1, going through Pacifica on down to Santa Cruz and beyond. The ride worked out perfectly, there was a reasonable amount of traffic all the way down past Monterey/Carmel but after that I was pleasantly surprised when it began to clear out a bit and I was left to ride along at a crisp pace with an ear-to-ear smile. My thoughts wandered about, thinking about my life, the coming ride and everything in between, I stayed in motion except when necessary for things like gas, small bites of food and the periodic photo stop. That all came to an end when I found myself stopping for a while at “Seal Beach” (more correctly known Piedras Blancas Beach).

My KTM once again loaded up and ready to roll

Panoramic coastal view looking north at Piegon Point Lighthouse (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Further down the coast I took a break to take in the view

I just can’t enough of the awesome California coast, this time it’s again a view looking back to the north

Self portrait shot, good times!

I hadn’t planned on or even known about this “Seal Beach” until I rode by it. It was a beach with a fence keeping people off of it yet the parking lot was packed full of cars and people peering over the fence toward the waterline, I had to see what was up. I spun around and joined everyone in the parking lot and quickly found out why everyone was there, the beach was crowded with seals, elephant seals to be specific, all lounging on the beach soaking up the sun. I had to stop and watch for a while as I’d never seen anything like this despite being a life-long resident of California (lame, I know)! I hung out a while, stretched my legs and enjoyed the view, and of course took a bunch of photos.

I stopped at a beach (which one?) where there were lots of seals napping on the beach…

…and I mean a lot of ‘em, a panoramic view to show what I mean (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

This guy decided to say waddup, is he throwing up the shocker?! Can’t tell…

After my stop to check out the seals I made my final push on to Ojai, sticking to Highway 1 to somewhere north of Santa Barbara where I cut in-land on some local highway just to mix things up. I found myself pulling into Ojai at nearly 8pm and was tired from a long, but incredibly fun day of riding, and of course starving hungry as I’d really only snacked all day. I found a room at the Chantico Inn & Suites, took a shower and went out for some dinner. It was a perfect end to a great day on the road, the shepherd’s pie and beer selection at The Village Jester were great and I eventually called it a night so I could rest up for tomorrow once again entering Mexico!

Day 2, Sunday March 28th: Ojai to Tecate (296.6 miles)
Day 2 started with “breakfast” (a few pastries, a banana and coffee) at the hotel and then some quick packing/loading as I was eager to get going. Once again I was treated to near perfect weather as I slipped out of Ojai heading south towards Highway 101. I cut across the north end of the “LA Area” (Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Pasadena, San Bernardino) and then turned south towards La Mesa, it was all less than exciting but on the up-side it did allow me to stop for a tasty lunch at an In-n-Out so it wasn’t all bad. By the early afternoon or so I was riding through La Mesa and out towards the border crossing at Tecate.

Me in Ojai getting ready to roll

Ahhh, good ol’ SoCal slab work… <yawn>

It’s only 30 miles or so from La Mesa to the border and I was soon at the border where this time I would stop for a pre-crossing photo. I snapped that photo, climbed back on my bike, rode approximately 150 yards during which I was once again waved into Mexico without even stopping and stopped to exchange my dollars for pesos. The crossing into Mexico is so ridiculously easy, I’ve yet to actually have to even put my feet down when going into Mexico! Of course the same can’t be said for re-entering the USA…

¡Bienvendios a Mexico! Ok, just the border but c’mon…

After stuffing my pockets full of pesos I left Tecate heading east about 10-15 miles where I pulled into Rancho Ojai, a great place to stay whether camping, wanting a cabin, in a RV, etc. I asked about a camp spot and just like last November I was quickly offered a cabin for $20 instead, the normal price being $60. I took the cabin offer and settled in, taking a quick hour nap before heading back into Tecate for dinner. I went right back into the center of town as I had a specific restaurant in mind, one I ate at last trip as well. Once again their food (a carne asada plate) was delicious and the double-dose of Tecate beer refreshing.

First I secured a cabin out at Rancho Ojai (east of Tecate), once again they gave me a great deal…

…then I went into Tecate for dinner at the town’s central square…

…where I met up with this lil’ guy (son of the restaurant owner), we chatted in Spanish and he was cute as can be

After filling my belly with tasty Mexican food I made my way back out to Rancho Ojai, stopping along the way to grab a couple of tall-boys to sip on back at the cabin. I drank my beer, looked over the map and guidebook I had and eventually went to bed content to once again be in Mexico. I knew that tomorrow would bring the real start to this trip as I’d finally grab a little Baja dirt!

Back at Rancho Ojai I enjoyed a few tall boy Tecates before nodding off to sleep

Day 3, Monday March 29th: Tecate to El Rosario de Arriba (292 miles)
I knew that a long day lay ahead of me, one that would finally offer some dirt, so I woke up early and quickly got on my way after some coffee, a power bar and a little route planning for the day. I knew that my target was either Eréndria, or if I had the time and inclination, all the way down to El Rosario de Arriba, but I hadn’t yet sorted out exactly how I’d get there. I set out east on Highway 2 and rode to Rumorosa where I topped up on gas and turned south in search of Laguna Hansen, finally gettin’ a bit dirty.

Time for the morning route planning session

Heading south from Rumorosa in search of Laguna Hansen

The ride south out of Rumorosa is easy for the most part, there are occasional patches of sand, a few rocky/steep sections, but overall it was all easy to handle even for me and I’ll admit I still feel like an off-road noob. The ride obviously put a smile on my face as I rode south looking first for having crossed into Parque Nacional de Constitucion de 1857, and then after that a turn-off for Laguna Hansen.

Panoramic view of the terrain north of Parque Nacional de Constitucion de 1857 (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Yes, I’m excited to finally be enjoying some time off-road

Another panoramic image just before entering Parque Nacional de Constitucion de 1857 (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

I’m stoked to have reached the entrance to Parque Nacional de Constitucion de 1857

Entering the park things finally started to get a bit wet with numerous “puddles” like this one, but no real water-crossings

After entering the park (translation: after riding past the sign and a boarded up ranger hut) I plodded along and soon realized I wouldn’t need to look for a turn-off for Laguna Hansen, instead it just appeared there on my left. I pulled up to the shore of the lake and took in the view, sitting there all alone for a good 20-30 minutes relaxing in the sun, stoked to be sitting there after such a fun ride. After my pit stop I mounted up and continued on, heading south and soon realizing two things: (1) the lake is actually two lakes and I was only at the northern one, and (2) that I wasn’t alone at all as just down the way I found about 5-6 families camping/in cabins at the southern lake. Ah well, that faux sense of solitude was enough for me and on I went in search of Highway 3 somewhere south of me.

Me taking a break when I finally reached Laguna Hansen, a gorgeous place where I had the north end all to myself

After hanging out at Laguna Hansen I rode south a bit, then made a pit stop here for a cold drink

Occasionally winter’s damage could be seen, the bridge partially washed out but the locals quickly adapted

Up and over the hills I went, it’s now downhill to Mexico’s Highway 3

The dirt road was much better than before and I was able to ride along at a quick pace, having fun and enjoying the view. But as you can expect the faster pace almost meant a quicker end to the dirt-section I was enjoying and all to quickly I found myself at Highway 3. I turned right, heading west towards and quickly through Ensenada where I continued south on Highway 1. During this stretch of the ride I found myself marveling at the difference in colors this trip (spring) versus my last trip (end of fall). Last November things were all shades of brown and orange, it was dry and parched after the long hot summer as it had yet to really start raining. This trip I found myself in Baja in the spring after lots of rain had been falling and everything was lush and green, offering gorgeous view after gorgeous view along the way.

As I turned west on Highway 3 heading towards Ensenada, I enjoyed the lush green landscape

A photo from November 2009 while stopped along Highway 1 near Eréndria…

…and a photo taken in March 2010 at the same location, notice the intense color changes

As I mentioned earlier I had two possible destinations in mind, either Eréndria or a bit further south, El Rosario de Arriba. I pulled over at the turn-off for Eréndria to go to the bathroom, sip some water and make a decision as to whether I’d stay there or ride on. Luckily it didn’t take long to decide, I could easily reach El Rosario before dark and I just didn’t feel like I was done riding for the day so on I went set on El Rosario de Arriba as my destination for the night. On I road, enjoying the parts I could (sweeping turns, passing traffic by romping on the throttle, etc.) and slogging through the parts I couldn’t (town after town, countless topes (speed bumps) and traffic I couldn’t pass). I pulled into El Rosario and shacked up at Mama Espinoza’s, conveniently also the site of my dinner for the evening (more carne asada please).

While stopped we made eye contact, that made my mind wander to thoughts of dinner…

The reward I gave myself for another great day of riding: carne asada at Mama Espinoza’s in El Rosario

Day 4, Tuesday March 30th: El Rosario de Arriba to Bahía de Los Angeles (212 miles)
Once again I was up early and after breakfast I again broke out my maps and guidebook to make a plan for the day. I quickly settled on Bahía de Los Angeles as my destination, with a side trip out to a place called El Marmol along the way. I topped off the tanks and rode south on Highway 1 enjoy the views (notably the cacti and boojum trees, they are so cool!) and trying to keep an eye out for the turn-off towards El Marmol, a point I also had marked on my GPS so it’s all good, right? Nah.

Another day ready to begin after breakfast at Mama Espinoza’s

Mexico’s Highway 1 winding it’s way south from El Rosario

The cacti (like behind my bike) and the Boojum Trees (to the right) were huge!

A lil’ thorny face with my KTM in the background

As I rode south on Highway 1 I kept my eyes out for any signs along with watching the GPS, especially as I neared the waypoint I’d punched in that morning that supposedly marked where the turn-off to El Marmol is according to the map set I had loaded. Well, the waypoint came along and there was flat out no sign of any road or path, I backtracked a bit to see if I missed it and came up empty once again and so I decided to just keep heading south and see what might happen. Another few miles down the road I came upon some houses with (as is usual in Baja) a hand painted sign that said “El Marmol” with an arrow pointing down a dirt road. Gotta love Baja! I turned down the road and found myself enjoying the 9-10 mile dirt ride out to El Marmol. When I arrived at El Marmol I was less than impressed, especially as the Rough Guide Baja book made it sound so neat. Bah, it offered little more than a pit-stop and turn-around point and I was soon on my way back out to Highway 1.

I was not impressed with my visit out to El Marmol

At least I had fun on the twenty mile (or so) ride out there and back…

…and  enjoyed a break sitting in shade of this tree

While heading south on Highway 1 I soon realized I was approaching Cataviña and that meant it was time to keep an eye out for anyone selling gas. The area I was traveling in simply didn’t offer any real gas stations, there was a Pemex back in El Rosario and one down in Guerrero Negro, and according to what I’d read the one out at Bahía de Los Angeles was sometimes open and sometimes not. So while I had enough gas in the tank to make it to Bahía de Los Angeles, I was worried about getting there and then being stuck without enough gas to leave. Luckily Cataviña delivered what I needed, as I rode through town I easily spotted a kind gent selling gas out of the back of his pickup. I topped up on gas and continued on my way, heading south bound for the Bay of LA!

Just to be safe I topped up on gas in Cataviña

Mexico’s Highway 1, speed limit? 80 km/h… yeah right

Approaching Bahía de Los Angeles

Panoramic view looking out over Bahía de Los Angeles (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

I pulled into Bahía de Los Angeles and discovered two things, the first is that it was definitely a small little town, but that it had not one but two open and active Pemex gas stations, I lol’ed at my earlier worries about gas. I rode around town, then to a few campos north of town, but eventually settled in at a hotel along the waterfront right in town. I opted for that as I was once again able to bargain for a good room rate as the place was nowhere near full despite it being a holiday week in Mexico (Semana Santa, all schools are closed). I’d not yet had any fish tacos and now that I was pleasantly along the gulf coast, with a nice breeze coming off the water, I naturally ordered up an order of fish tacos and cold beer. I spent the evening lounging about the hotel, talking with a few other Americans that were there as well as one Mexican family visiting there from Tijuana. All told it was a relaxing end to the day and I once again went to bed with a massive shit-eating grin on my face, good times in Baja! Unfortunately this is the part of the story where foreboding music plays and a voice over says: “until tomorrow…”

Man those fish tacos tasted good!

Day 5, Wednesday April 1st: Bahía de Los Angeles to Bahía Gonzaga (188.4 miles)
I crawled out of bed in the morning and went for a walk along the waterfront before breakfast and my daily ritual of packing and loading up the bike. It was a peaceful way to start what would eventually prove a frustrating, yet in the end entertaining, day on the road. After packing up and I rode north out of town as folks told me that I should at least check out La Gringa, a beach area some ten miles north of town. I arrived at La Gringa and found that it was a pretty little spot at the north end of the bay, I hung out a bit watching some locals wrestle their boat and stuck trailer up and out of the water while sipping a Red Bull and planning my day’s ride.

Panoramic view of Bahía de Los Angeles from La Gringa (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Ready to roll, leaving Bahía de Los Angeles from La Gringa

Upon leaving town I topped off with gas and set out on my way, my destination for the day being Bahía Gonzaga. I’d settled on a route that had me riding back out towards Highway 1, but part-way turning south into the desert (off-road) towards Misión San Francisco Borja and then out to Highway 1 where I’d turn north. The ride was fun and as I’d read about a bit on the rough side, but for me on my motorcycle it was all very doable and on I went into the desert. During the ride I was amazed once again by the size of the cacti and boojum trees and stopped a few times along the way to snap some pictures. After a bumpy and fun thirty miles (plus or minus, I don’t recall exactly) I came up on the mission and as usual I did so with a big ol’ smile on my face. The mission was out in the middle of nowhere, yet I pulled up to find a few small houses where the caretakers lived, and I was quickly offered entrance to and a tour of the mission by a kind old lady. We got by on her limited English and my Spanish, they let me on the roof where I enjoyed some great views.

Riding south towards Misión San Francisco Borja

Misión San Francisco Borja

Visiting inside Misión San Francisco Borja

A panoramic view from atop Misión San Francisco Borja (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Me in front of Misión San Francisco Borja

After spending an hour or so at the mission I was mounting up and heading out, I was going to continue on the same dirt road out to Highway 1 and the southernmost point of the ride. I waved at the caretakers on my way out and I looked forward to another twenty to thirty miles of dirty fun. Not a mile or two down the road the rear felt odd, a bit “squirmier” than normal and so I stopped to give it a look. Fuck. It was going flat and I needed to fix it, so I turned around and limped back to the mission so I could park and fix things in the shade (and frankly, around others just in case). I got back to the mission and found myself alone, they’d all gone somewhere, so I settled in the task at hand: unload the bike, remove the rear tire and replace the tube and finally remount the tire and reload the bike so I could continue on.

My quick and sad return to Misión San Francisco Borja, look at that rear tire…

…it had gone flat due to this lil’ bugger…

…which was a screw picked up way out here in the desert, seriously?

I pulled the rear wheel off and set about replacing the tube (I had a new tube with me for the trip)

While wrestling about trying to break the bead I heard something coming up the road towards me, it was a “clippity clop” type sound and I turned around to find some guy riding up to me on horseback. His name was Jose and he offered to lend a hand, and his help made things go a lot quicker. Together we replaced the rear tube, remounted the tire and put the rim assembly back on the bike. After offering Jose my thanks for his help I took a picture with him, I appreciated his help in getting back on the road as quickly as possible. I once again left the mission heading west out towards the highway, at first riding a bit conservatively with an eye on that rear wheel to make sure all was ok, but eventually my confidence was restored and I picked up the pace, having some fun and as seemed normal on this trip found myself simply loving the terrain I was riding through. Eventually the dirt came to an end as I reached Highway 1 and the southernmost point of my trip, from here on out I’d be heading back north towards San Francisco.

Thanks go out to Jose, who rode up on a horse and offered to lend a hand

Back on the road, a panoramic shot heading out to Highway 1 (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Back at Highway 1, and at the southern most part of the trip, good times

Upon reaching the highway I turned north and began a long-ish pavement ride to the turn-off for Coco’s Corner and ultimately Bahía Gonzaga. The ride north on the highway was and enjoyable scoot with little traffic and nice weather, and after a while I turned east off the highway and on to a dirt round bound for the coast once again. The ride out to Coco’s and Bahía Gonzaga is easy, it’s a rough dirt/gravel road with the occasional soft dirt or sand section, but nothing dramatic. Along the way I passed a few pickups but was otherwise alone until pulling into Coco’s Corner for a visit. I pulled in and parked my bike to find Coco chatting with three Americans, two guys my age and the son of one of those guys (sorry but all names have been forgotten). We all sat there chatting a while, of course sipping a few beers and shooting shit. They ended up leaving first, I hit the road after a second beer, I knew that Bahía Gonzaga wasn’t far off now and I wanted to hustle in the hopes of finding a room at Alfonsina’s, yeah right…

A note about Coco’s health: last time I posted about a visit to see Coco lots of folks asked about his health as he’s been battling health issues for a few years now. I’m pleased to say that he seemed very healthy and even confirmed that when asked. So even with having lost both legs below the knees he’s healthy and kickin’.

Heading off-road out towards Coco’s Corner and Bahía Gonzaga

Me and Coco, hangin’ out (he remembered me from my last visit)

Panoramic shot of Coco’s Corner (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Fast and fun riding on the way north to Bahía Gonzaga

Panoramic shot of the approach to Bahía Gonzaga (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

I pulled up to Alfonsina’s to find it packed with cars and my hopes of getting a room quickly disappeared. Oh well, I had my tent with me so plan B, not a bad plan at all mind you, was to grab a palapa at the southern end of the beach and camp there for the night. I asked about a room just in case and was of course told that none were available. I ordered a beer before hitting the road and while sipping on it started chatting with Oscar, a father there with his and a few other families for the weekend. Oscar was cool and asked the owner if there really was no space available, between that and the owner seeing my bike and remembering me from my last trip I was soon offered a place to stay: the couch in the office!

Ok, I didn’t end up sleeping on the couch as instead they put me up in what was clearly a second rate room where family, friends and staff sleep, the bathroom was less than complete, there were no power outlets, etc. But no matter, after a quality dinner (camerones al ajillo – yum!) and a few beers while chatting with Oscar and family I quickly fell asleep without any complaints.

Day 6, Wednesday April 2nd: Bahía Gonzaga to San Felipe (108.3 miles)
I woke up relatively early in the morning and decided that I’d start the day with a walk, the tide was low and I walked north from Alfonsina’s along the beach enjoying the fact that I was making “first tracks” along the way. As I looked about it was clearly time for the birds to feast on the various fish that were stranded in pools of water after the tide had gone out, and it was time for the locals to all be out digging for clams and whatnot. All told the walk was a great way to start the day, but my stomach started to growl at me and so it was time to walk back for breakfast. After some huevos rancheros (a classic) and coffee I walked outside and was treated to the site of a low-altitude fly by on the part of a small airplane, they were checking the wind sock and getting ready to land! For the first time in my two visits to this area I was finally treated to an actual fly-in arrival. They were a nice couple from Oregon that had flown down and around Mexico for a few months, they were hoping for a room to stay in that night but at a minimum just wanted to eat some grub, how cool is that?

Not long after sunrise I made first tracks on the beach at Bahía Gonzaga

Panoramic view of the back bay at the north end of Bahía Gonzaga (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Oh yeah, Bahía Gonzaga is a fly-in location! (nice old couple from Oregon, long-time Baja visitors)

After chatting with the older couple from Oregon for a bit I began the morning ritual of packing and loading up my bike and was soon ready to hit the road. I started to push my bike backwards in the sand to turn it around and I found that quite difficult to manage, at first I thought it was simply due to the sand but upon closer inspection I had a larger problem than that. Lucky me, my rear tire was once again going flat! As I sat there in the sand unleashing a small series of expletives I asked one of the hotel guys if a “llantera” (tire shop) was close by and he said there was, out by the Pemex. So I unloaded my gear, removed the rear tire and was about to make the walk of shame out to the llantera when Oscar appeared and offered to give me a ride in his truck (it wasn’t far but it was a good mile plus). He and his two sons gave me a lift out to the llantera where we found two other friends of his already getting a flat fixed on their van. We all sat there while our tires were getting repaired, sipping beers, talking shit (in Spanish) and having a good time. This flat was turning out to be much more fun than yesterday’s! Today’s flat was a pinch flat based on how well, or not, I’d repaired things yesterday, but at least it was a simple tube repair and about 100 pesos and I was on my way once again.

Upon attempting to leave I noticed that I had yet another rear flat so off it came…

…but this time I took it to a llantera (tire shop) to get fixed as one was nearby…

…and then finally get things back together and hit the road (this is out back of Alfonsina’s)

I had started the day with the idea that I’d try to reach Guadalupe Canyon for a nice break in the hot springs, but now it was nearly noon and I was finally hitting the road so I figured I’d see how I felt when I got to San Felipe and make my decision then. So off I went riding north in the dirt, a smile slowly creeping back onto my face after a second round of flat tire drama. I remember riding along, having a good ol’ time and peeking in my mirror wondering “hey, what’s that blue thing flapping around back there?” and for a moment I shrugged it off as nothing to worry about. But then I quickly came to and realized that “blue thing” was my rear dry bag and it was flopping around and rubbing on the rear tire! I pulled over to find that in my rush to mount up and leave I’d failed to strap that bag on properly and it was now torn to shit. The tire had rubbed through the dry bag (ruining the bag) and gone through parts of my tent as well (now also ruined). Yay. Needless to say I wasn’t exactly pleased with myself.

On the road headed north towards Puertecitos and on to San Felipe

Unfortunately some lazy work strapping on the blue dry bag resulted in catastrophic bag/tent damage, damn

I don’t approve of my gear tie-down skills, or rather my lack thereof that day

After getting things properly secured I hit the road once again, this time finding myself in the middle of a pack of trucks/jeeps making their way to San Felipe as well. The dust at times sucked, blocking almost all visibility, and at other times it simply wasn’t a problem as the wind blew it sideways long before it bothered me. But in any case I enjoyed traveling, even if only for a little while, as part of a group, but all too soon we found out just how far they’ve come with the pavement heading south. Last November it was a good 40-45 miles of dirt between the southern end of the pavement and Bahía Gonzaga, now it was just a hair over 30 miles of dirt and that means they’re closing in quickly. With a bit of a frown I turned north on to the pavement and continued north towards San Felipe.

I made a pit-stop at a familiar location where I’d taken a photo the year before, notably this one

Soon enough I found the pavement, it’s now only 30-miles of dirt heading north out of Bahía Gonzaga

As I rode north towards San Felipe I quickly started to realize that Guadalupe Canyon was falling off the radar and that I’d likely stop in San Felipe for the night, then make a run for the border the next day. I wasn’t too crushed by that as it had been a great ride already and I could save that spot for next time, but there was a certain sadness that the off-road parts of my trip had come to an end. To assuage those worries I found a long-ish dirt road that cut out towards the coast and took it, having some fun heading out there and back, making sure to pause for the cause (bathroom) as well as a Red Bull to soak up that last bit of Baja dirt.

I pulled myself a ways off-road somewhere south of San Felipe to sip a Red Bull, the off-road part of the trip was all but done

After that last pit stop I rode on in to San Felipe and realized just how large and popular a vacation time Semana Santa really is, I rode around to numerous hotels and in-town-ish camping spots only to find they were all full! Finally I found one hotel, once again the Costa Azul, that had a room, for only one night and for $100! By this time in the trip I’d managed to travel on the cheap, the hotel was right there next to the malecon (waterfront/beach area) and so I said fuck it and charged the room for the night. Price be damned I was ready to clean up and join the festivities as the town was packed with people lookin’ to party, I wanted to join in! After my shower and change of clothes I went out for the afternoon and long into the evening. I ate countless tacos and drank countless beers, I met a number of Mexicans there on holiday and a pair of Americans from Wisconsin that lived in Baja importing cheese! Wild times to say the least and somewhere around 1am or so I realized I’d about had it and with blurry vision and a less than steady walk I bumbled my way back to my hotel and crashed out for the night. The ride that day had been cut short due to yet another flat and a late start, but the day as a whole was awesome so it was all good.

Day 7, Thursday April 3rd: San Felipe to Palmdale (368.7 miles)
Given my previous night’s events I slept in a bit later than expected, then took my sweet ol’ time eating breakfast and sipping my coffee, meaning I just made it out of the hotel before check-out time and was on the road late once again. I topped off at a nearby Pemex and hit the road heading north on Highway 5, my plan was to cross back into the USA at Mexcali and then just keep riding north towards San Francisco until I was tired and/or felt like stopping for the day. The ride was mostly uneventful, but it did provide two highlights (well, one was almost a low-light) in particular. The first was the potential low-light and that was due to the fact that as I reached the area where Highway 5 intersects with Highway 3 I entered an area where some road construction/repair was underway. What struck me as odd was the fact that the temporary solution was to route traffic on to a parallel dirt road for a good 10-15 miles! Once again, gotta love Baja! The second event of note was traveling behind a pickup truck for a number of miles, in the back of the truck sat 6-8 kicks that just couldn’t get enough of me (smiling, waving, giving me the hang loose sign, etc.), it’s always fun to see kicks get excited over motorcyclists like that. Otherwise I plodded on, making my way to Mexicali and through the border after a bit of a wait in line. All of it rather boring and simply a matter of working through the steps in order.

Topping off the tanks at a Pemex before leaving San Felipe

Mexico’s Highway 5 was under repair, this was the replacement route (yup, dirt) that went on for a number of miles

Looking northwest at Laguna Salada while on my way to Mexicali and back into the USA

A final in-motion self-portrait before a tame ride to Mexicali and across the border

After crossing back into California and the USA I decided to once again do all I could to avoid the LA area, and in fact I wanted to avoid Interstate 5 at all costs. My plan was to ride north and get on to Highway 99 which I would take through Bakersfield and Fresno, until I would turn west on Highway 152 to skirt the southern end of the bay and ride home on Highway 101. I had no idea how far I’d make it on this day but that was the “today and tomorrow” plan so on I rode. With my feet pulled up on the crash bars I sat there all comfy cruising my way north, thinking about how good of a trip it had been. Soon enough I saw signs for the Salton Sea, a place I’d heard about but never visited and as I came to Salton City I saw the Travertine Grill, a truck-stop diner type place, and decided to stop for some lunch. I was treated to roughly the worst hamburger ever and I immediately felt like turning back to the south and getting my ass back into Mexico… but alas, home was calling me and so north I went. I continued on through Palm Springs, past the edges of San Bernardino to Hesperia and finally pulled into Palmdale at roughly 9pm, it was dark and I was tired and ready to call it a day, but not before getting one last “gift” courtesy of the moto-gods. <insert evil music here>

After crossing the border I rode for a while, stopping for the worst burger ever in Salton City

It was starting to cool off and I needed some pep, I closed all vents and sipped coffee while getting gas

While doing slab work scooting around the LA area I was treated to an awesome sunset

I had been on the road for a good ten hours, I’d covered over 350 miles and endured a border crossing, I was tired and beat. I’d punched in the Days Inn as my GPS destination and was making my way through town to get there when the front end started to feel, well, “funny”. At first I blamed it on feeling tired, but as always when something doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t right so I kept an eye on it the rest of the way. As I pulled into the hotel parking lot and came to a stop I soon realized exactly why it was feeling funny, it was a reason I was now familiar with on this trip, my front tire was going flat! I stood there out front of the hotel office and must have looked quite the crazy man, I was in full moto gear helmet on letting loose a train of expletives like never before. I caught my breath, relaxed a bit and decided to just ignore the problem for the night. I booked a room, limped my bike over to a parking spot and proceeded to have a great night at the nearby sushi restaurant/bar, washing down my sorrows with a delicious tuna steak, gyoza, way too many pieces of sushi/sashimi and three tall Asahis for good measure. Like the night before I staggered back to bed resigned to dealing with yet another flat tire the next morning.

Day 8, Friday April 4th: Palmdale to San Francisco (407.1 miles)
I woke up and for at least a few moments had forgotten about my flat front tire, but that was only a brief break from reality. I had the front tire off the bike, using both my room’s garbage cans full of water as counter-weight for the bike to sit on the back tire (with much pleading, in Spanish, with the maids to *not* fuck with things, they were nice and understood). As I sat there pondering the fix I noticed that it was roughly 8:30am and after a quick web search (thanks iPhone!) I realized that by waiting 30 minutes I could call the local Honda motorcycle shop and ask about having them fix my flat. I used that 30 minutes to get some breakfast and coffee and at roughly 9:00:01am I dialed the shop, the phone was immediately answered by a nice older gent who heard my sob story and who responded with incredible generosity.

That kind old gent on the phone was the shop owner, hearing my situation he immediately offered to come pick me up, have my tired fixed right away and then drop me off once again, saving me from yet another possible walk of shame (from the hotel to his shop and back). Not only that, but he offered to do all that and only charge me $20 for it all, despite the shop’s minimum service charge of $80. So he picked me up, his shop guys fixed up my front tire while I drooled over the owner’s bike collection which included both a Honda RC30 and a RC45 and then I got a ride back to the hotel where I mounted up the front once again. I can’t thank those guys enough for their speedy help on the cheap, so I’ll give them a plug here: Palmdale Honda on Palmdale Ave., quality folks in my book! (if they had a web site I’d link to it)

Note: this third flat was a result of having heavy duty tubes and me pushing a 360+ mile day, all on pavement and all at speed. The tube rubbed on the inside of the tire and wore a hole through which the slow leak began…

I started my last day on the road dealing with flat tire number three, this time up front

Luckily the owner of the local Honda dealership (Palmdale Honda) offered to give me and my tire a lift to/from his shop, thanks!

And I got things put back together again so I could hit the road for the last leg of the ride

After getting the front remounted and my rituals performed (packing/loading) I managed to once again check-out just in time and then hit the road for the long slog home. While I could have taken two days to get home, I really wanted to get there in one day and leave Sunday as a day of rest in my own space before rejoining the crew at work. So off I went knowing that I faced 400 some miles of road work on my way back to San Francisco. This part of the ride was really quite boring compared to everything else and it was all just a matter of sitting back and letting the miles, and hours, tick by. I rode north on Highway 99, turned west on Highway 152 and eventually north on Highway 101. The ride took me through central California farm land as well as the south bay on up to San Francisco, I spent those last hours on the road flipping between memories of the ride I’d just had and thinking about the life, and in some cases problems, I was returning home to. No matter, I looked forward to being home and seeing friends and telling the (tall) tales of the trip and so with a big smile I pulled up to my apartment and dismounted for the last time of the trip.

Funny, I have a friend named Hanford Lemoore…

I stopped to sip some go-juice…

…and gas before starting the last 200 or so mile push home

And after all of that I return home safe and sound and in one piece

As I’ve mentioned before, I climb on my bike for fun and mental health, and as a way to seek my own connection with God, whoever he/she/it may be. On this trip my bike was a source of stability in a time of emotional turmoil, a cocoon for me to crawl into and out of each day to ponder the drama and events spinning around me, something I needed to do away from everyone. I found my connection with God once again, we talked at length and I was able to glean some insight into my life’s current direction. Through it all I had a great trip and returned home with a sense of calm about how to walk the path that lays in front of me. Motorcycles and Baja, for me the two are an exercise in perfection and together they once again offered me a slice of paradise and I can’t wait to go back!

Superlaced Excel Rims With Galfer Wave Rotors & Fresh Knobbies
The stock rims that come on KTM LC8s (both the 950s and the current 990s) are known to be a bit on the soft side for such a heavy bike and sure enough, on my first trip to Baja (ride report) I managed to dent my front rim in a few different places. Luckily for me and the success of that first ride none of the dents were big enough to end the trip, but the largest was severe enough to make me worry about taking it down for another Baja ride. So what was my solution? In early December I ordered myself a set of custom rims from Woody’s Wheel Works out in Colorado! The new rims were a set of superlaced Excels with Galfer wave rotors front and rear, and of course a fresh set of Pirelli Deserts to cap things off nicely. So now that I sat on the rims for a few months, shaggin’ out the tires on the stock set, it was time to mounting them up, should be a bolt on affair, right? Wrong…

My new rims right after they arrived in San Francisco last December (yes, I waited until now to install them)

My Honda generator came in handy to weight the rear of the bike so I could remove the stock front rim

Easy enough the stock front rim came off and the new superlaced Excel went on, but then as soon as I tried to do something crazy, like spin the wheel for a single revolution I ran into trouble. It turns out that not only is the central hub (beefier than stock) a millimeter or so wider than the stock one, but the mounting bolts for the brake discs don’t recess in very much on the Galfer wave rotors (on the stock rotors the bolts recess in a good 4-5mm, on the Galfers it’s maybe 1-2mm or so) and when I gave the newly mounted Excel a spin I could tell it was rubbing on something, so much so that I didn’t dare give it another try. I pulled the front back off again and could immediately see where the contact was being made, the bolts were rubbing on the speedo sensor as shown in the photo below.

You can easily see where the rotor mounting bolt rubbed the speedo sensor, ugh

After checking and double-checking various items like checking for mounting bolt recession depths, whether swapping caliper mounting bolts would help (not, same bolts both set-ups), etc., I decided that the simplest thing would be to revert back to the stock brake discs up front and get on with things. Ok, swapping the brake discs was easy enough but then like layers of an onion peeling back the first problem revealed a second one now that I was able to actually spin the rim when remounted. As I mentioned above the new hub seems ever so slightly wider than the stock one and it was just enough to now have the stock discs rub on the end of the caliper mounting bolts (caliper bolts now, no longer the disc mounting bolts). The caliper mounting bolts poked out the back of the calipers by a millimeter or two and so the fix here was simple, I slipped a washer on each of the caliper mounting bolts thus allowing the front rim to finally mount and spin freely as expected. Way too much hassle for what was supposed to be a simply front swap, and it left me without my blingin’ wave rotors. Oh well, style points don’t count for much in Baja anyway.

With the front rim situation sorted it was time to focus on the rear rim swap, a task I approached with bold confidence thinking “ok, now this one should be easy!”. Wrong, but at least it was easier than the front! I pulled the stock rear rim off and mounted up the new superlaced Excel and it all went on easy and dreamy. What’s more is that while mounting the new rim it was clear that the disc mounting bolts on the rear would have no problem with clearance, I thought I was home free. I got everything mounted up and chain slack adjusted and went to spin the rear with a smug smile on my face, the wheel spun a tiny bit and I was immediately made aware of the fact that I had problems once again. This time it wasn’t the disc mounting bolts that were rubbing, it was the disc carriers (non-existent on the stock rear brake rotor) that weren’t clearing the rear brake caliper assembly. Ugh. I immediately jumped to the same solution as I used up front, I swapped out the fancy new wave rotor for the stock rear disc rotor and everything bolted back on just fine.

You can easily see that the rear disc carriers wouldn’t clear the caliper assembly

With both the front and rear rims mounted up I checked the tire pressures and went out for a test ride, all went well and after a bit too much hassle over something that should have been an easy swap I was ready to move on to two other tasks. Luckily, both of those would turn out to be exactly as easy as I hoped and so my preparation troubles were now behind me (although I didn’t know it at that time).

My KTM 950, with superlaced Excels and fresh knobbies after my successful test ride

Remounting the Right Mirror
I truly love my KTM but there are a few curious engineering decisions/efforts that went into this bike that puzzle me a bit. One example of this is the fact that they decided to mount the right mirror directly to the front brake reservoir housing, on a dirt bike. Why is that odd? Well, while riding off-road it’s not uncommon to have the occasional tip over or quick dirt nap, in most cases you just pick up your bike and keep going along your merry way. With the stock mirror set-up a minor tip over on the right hand side just might result in the mirror hitting the ground or a rock and if done hard enough it can damage/destroy the front brake reservoir leaving you with no front brakes until you get home and repair things! Duh. The fix here is easy and cheap, Scuderia West/KTM Twins sell a small bracket that moves the mirror mount so it’s not directly attached to the front brake reservoir. With the bracket in hand the remounting of the right mirror was over and done with in just a few minutes, no hassles, no drama.

In the yellow circle you can see the stock mirror mount attached to the front brake reservoir

Now in the yellow circle you can see that the mirror mount has been relocated to a safer (and correct) location

Installing a European Headlight Assembly
The final modification I wanted to make before Baja was to replace the stock USA-spec headlight assembly with the European one instead (also purchased from the guys at Scuderia West/KTM Twins), the premise being that the Euro rig was plug-and-play and would offer a lot more light. I loosened the left/right side upper fairings and removed the windscreen, at that point it was easy to pop out the assembly holding the headlight in place and remove the four screws holding the light in place and pull the plug from the wiring harness. In no time flat the stock headlight was out and the new Euro-spec headlight assembly was in, it truly was a plug-and-play affair and in less than 30 minutes I’d managed to install a much improved and much brighter new headlight assembly.

The new Euro-spec headlight (left) and the stock USA-spec headlight side-by-side

The front-end opened up with the stock headlight in hand

Post-install with the new Euro-spec headlight assembly ready for use

The prep work is done and now it’s time to do the last packing of bags and then soon enough I’ll be on the road bound for Baja once again!

Saturday February 13th: Disney World’s Magic Kingdom
My first flight left San Francisco at 7:30pm bound for Los Angeles where I’d have a brief wait before flying on to Orlando. The flights were nothing special, relatively drama free and they had me landing in Florida at around 6:00am, well before Ming’s normal wake up time. After a sleepy cab ride I was checking myself in at the hotel (Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek) and nodding off to sleep for a few more hours. We lounged around the room until the early afternoon when we finally hopped up and got on our way over to the Magic Kingdom itself.

We caught the hotel shuttle bus over to the Magic Kingdom’s parking lot, then the monorail from there to the park gates themselves. We made our way into the park and strolled our way down main street walking right towards Cinderella’s Castle. We’d decided to start off in Tomorrowland as we wanted to check out Space Mountain, unfortunately we got there and found that it was out of service! What?! Disappointed, we started to ponder what to do when we got in touch with a coworker of Ming’s that was also there and we decided to meet up (Greg and Theresa). The three of us took in the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, a stand-up comedy show featuring various characters from the movie. Naturally I was on camera as part of it, and naturally in doing so embarrassed those around me. Good times!

Looking down Main Street towards Cinderella’s Castle in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

Entering Tomorrowland

After the Laugh Floor we all wanted to leave Tomorrowland and instead head over to Adventureland (it all sounds so exciting doesn’t it?). We made our way over, grabbing some tasty churros to snack on before getting in line for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Waiting for Pirates gave us our introduction to a common trend, long lines for just about every ride, ugh. We waited in line well enough, joking and talking, and it all made the hour or so wait go by <sarcasm>quickly</sarcasm>. Unfortunately the wait was “rewarded” with a ride we all found less exciting than our memories told us it would be, with the odd Jack Sparrow (remember, the movie came after the ride) animatronic figure thrown into the mix. Sigh, it just wasn’t as neat as when we were kids.

Ming, Theresa and Greg enjoying the tasty churros

Pirates behind bars on the Pirates of the Carribean

After Pirates of the Caribbean Greg and Theresa parted ways with us, they were heading off for dinner and a night out, we were going to hang out in the Magic Kingdom a bit longer. By this time we were hungry and Ming had repeatedly been talking about the giant turkey legs they served and once we found ‘em we bought one each. Oh man… So delicious, until a point, after which they’re kind of gross – lol. We chowed down the turkey legs and went off to get on the Thunder Mountain ride but were disappointed and put off by the two hour wait, we weren’t going to do that so off we went to check out Fantasyland instead.

Ming and her turkey leg

Me and my turkey leg

Once in Fantasyland we paused for a coffee/hot chocolate and watched the tea cups go ’round a few times on the Mad Tea Cup Party ride, to me it’s one of those classic “Disney” rides. After that we strolled along and decided we’d take the next ride, however cheesy/childish/whatever, that had a short line. Sure enough we happened upon Snow White’s Scary Adventures with next to no line, we joined the queue and were soon taken on a cute ride through the story of Snow White.

The Mad Tea Party ride

Snow White herself (yes, we rode on Snow White’s Scary Adventures)

After our Fantasyland visit we decided to head over to Tomorrowland for another look at Space Mountain as we really wanted to go on that ride in particular. We got there only to be disappointed by a two hour wait just like Thunder Mountain, lame. But then an angel appeared, ok really just a young girl asking us if the two of us were hoping to go on Space Mountain. Duh, yes! She then offered us two fast passes that her family wasn’t going to use and they were good right then! So instead of a two hour wait we had a twenty minute (or so) wait and we absolutely loved the ride! Our thanks go out again to that girl and her family!

Space Mountain was awesome, but we were too cheap to actually buy the photo

After Space Mountain we waited for a ride on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (a fun shooter style rider) and then decided we’d head back to the hotel to hang out in the lobby bar, have a drink or two and a snack. It had been a fun afternoon in the Magic Kingdom but I was ready to go as was Ming, so we waited in one last annoying line before boarding the monorail back to the parking lot. As we did that we realized we might miss the shuttle bus back to the hotel, sure another one would come but not for another hour! The monorail pulled to a stop, the doors open and we ran, and ran, and ran! We made it out to the parking lot and found our bus just in time, the doors were closing as we were sitting down in our seats. When back at the hotel we lounged in the lobby bar, had a few drinks/snacks, watched the Olympics and hung out until it was time to sing for Ming, the 14th had officially arrived! Happy Birthday Ming!

Walt and Mickey in front of Cinderella’s Castle at night

Sunday February 14th: Happy Birthday, Happy Valentine’s Day, Gong Xi Fa Tsai and Disney World’s Animal Kingdom
It hadn’t been midnight long when Ming got her first birthday surprise, one that was even a surprise for me! We got back to our room to find a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us courtesy of some coworkers of Ming’s, how nice! But her birthday really hit in earnest the next morning and we started the day with some room service breakfast and Supercross races on TV! Of course it’s worth noting again that it was Valentine’s Day, and to top it off it was also Chinese New Year (gong xi fa tsai!). We particularly enjoyed the PowerPoint presentation sent to us by Ming’s father, it was a sixteen slide show accompanied by music.

Four of the sixteen slides Ming’s father sent us for Chinese New Year

After a lazy morning in our room we made our way over to the Animal Kingdom park where we planned to spend the afternoon and once again hang out with Greg and Theresa. Ming and I got there first and decided that we wanted to ride on the Dinosaur roller coaster so we booked off quickly to get ourselves a pair of fast passes that we’d use later in the day.

Ming & I out front of Disney World’s Animal Kingdom

Ming out front of Disney World’s Animal Kingdom

After getting our passes and a snack (hot dog, fries, soda – naturally) we met up with Greg and Theresa and wandered around the park a bit. We were all in a strolling mood so we left Dinoland U.S.A., walked through Asia checking out monkeys and the Maharaja Jungle Trek, then on to Rafiki’s Planet Watch where we waited to take in the afternoon parade.

Ming (rockin’ her birthday button!) and a tapir

Rawr, a tiger

Ming and her birthday button with the tiger pen in the background

The Tree of Life (not a real tree y’know…)

We didn’t have to wait long for the parade to come by and it was a healthy mix of interesting, cheesy and entertaining – I’m glad we waited and watched it. It featured the usual cast of characters as well as number of cool human-powered vehicles, some dancers and more. After the parade passed by we again parted ways with Greg and Theresa as they were heading off their own way and Ming and I were going to go on the Dinosaur ride with our fast passes!

Baloo leads the parade …

… and then came Goofy …

… and then Donald …

… and then Pluto …

… and no Disney parade is complete without Mickey! (doing what with his hands?!)

As we walked to the Dinosaur ride we realized we actually just wanted to head back to the hotel and laze about before going out for a birthday dinner, but first we had to return the karma we’d benefited from just the night before. We walked over to the Dinosaur ride and found a couple that was walking up to the stand-by line with a quoted wait of over an hour. We offered them our fast passes and they were quite happy in return, in fact the guy tried to offer me the last half of his bag of peanuts, I said no – lol.

After leaving the park we went back to our hotel and lounged about in our room for a few hours, we had a late dinner (10pm) that night at Blue Zoo, a nice seafood restaurant Ming had heard about. Our dinner was delicious, we took our time and enjoyed a great dinner, some wine/beer and of course dessert before returning to our room for the night. It was a great birthday but it had to come to an end, and all too soon (at 6:40am the next morning) I was on a plane heading back to San Francisco. The trip was a lot of fun, Happy Birthday Ming!

Joe, Ming and yours truly

Panoramic view of the track build inside of AT&T park  (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Ryan Villopoto on his way to victory in the Supercross race

Unfortunately the bike sat at work for just over a week as I’ve had a foot injury as of late but that’s done and so today I made my first ride home from work aboard my (still) new Marin Nail Trail 29er. It was a nice way to end the day, but it also showed me how out of shape I am so it’s an extra good thing I’m doing this I suppose. And of course I’ve got a helmet, front/rear lights and some gloves to keep my hands warm, but I’d still like a new laptop bag and some sort of high-viz jacket to wear as it’s a bit dicey riding across San Francisco in the dark and in commute traffic.

Ah well, it was a fun ride home and once I get some legs I want to go hit some trails too. Ride on!

You can view the video above as well as any others I post in the future by checking out my page on vimeo.com:

http://www.vimeo.com/higgyb

Hopefully I’ll get some content up that won’t suck and that you might enjoy, stay tuned.

Day 1, Friday November 6th: San Francisco to Ojai (390 miles)
It all started in San Francisco as I was departing from my girlfriend’s house, bound for SoCal. The plan for the day was to head south along the coast until Santa Cruz, then use 101 to get to the Carrizo Plain before dropping into Ojai from the north. While I had rain gear at the ready I was hoping not to use it and oddly enough, woke up to a mild drizzle going on, but by the end of sippin’ my pre-departure coffee and loading the bike it had stopped. KTM flight 950 bound for Baja was ready for departure!

Loaded up and ready to roll

Part of my trip preparation involved blingin’ out my ride with stickers, +10hp!

I left San Francisco and as planned took Highway 1 down the coast to Santa Cruz and beyond, enjoying an easy cruise over familiar territory. I stopped in Castroville for a quick break and a coffee before heading inland a bit to get on Highway 101 south. I opted for 101 as I had a fair number of miles to cover and taking Highway 1 all the way just wasn’t going to cut it, besides, the Carrizo Plain was on my mind and so off I went. The ride down 101 was relatively boring, but then I turned east on Highway 58 and found myself for the most part alone, riding along with a smile on face.

Heading east on Highway 58, I rode the whole way and only saw two other cars, nice!

After rolling down Highway 58 for a while I soon came to my destination turn-off, Soda Lake Road heading south through the Carrizo Plain. For the first stretch the road was paved with a few dirt excursions for things like a view point and my stunted visit to the Painted Rocks. I road the mile or so of dirt road out to where folks park their vehicles and then make the hike out to see the pictographs, but I couldn’t be bothered with the walk, call me lazy. I climbed back on my bike and continued south, soon enough the road turned to dirt, really an easy graded dirt road, but I had fun blasting along with a big ol’ grin on my face.

Entering the Carrizo Plain

Panoramic view of Soda Lake, still bone dry from the summer (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Ah yes, a sign of good times ahead!

For sure I approve!

I had a great time blasting down roads like this for a fair stretch (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

After reaching the southern end of the Carrizo Plain I turned south on Highway 33 which would take me through the Los Padres National Forest and into Ojai. The first piece of business was to get some gas as my calculations said I had roughly 50 miles left in the tank, and I rode past a sign saying “Next Gas 50 miles”, which would have been in Ojai itself. To be safe I flipped the bike around and returned to the last gas station and found a not so nice surprise. The gas pump had a funny little sign on it, it said “Out of order”! I inquired as to the state of the pump and after some haggling secured two gallons of premium from the owner, more than enough to ensure a safe arrival in Ojai. Up and over the hills I went enjoying a fantastic road (seriously y’all, check it out some time!), along the way I was treated to a gorgeous sunset as I dropped into Ojai, bringing my first day of riding to an end.

Last gas for 50 miles, pump out of order…

The setting sun baked everything in a gorgeous late-day glow, simply incredible.

I spent the night at the Ojai Rancho Inn, but only after a long night tipping beers and eating a delicious shepherd’s pie at the Village Jester. All in all it was a great first day and I staggered back to my hotel room for a solid night’s sleep.

Day 2, Saturday November 7th: Ojai to La Mesa (245 miles)
I woke up a bit later than expected Saturday morning, but given the beer count from the night before I was just happy to not be hung over. I took a shower, packed up my gear and headed out of Ojai, the first stop of the day being Riverside for lunch with my friend Paul. I left Ojai heading east on Highways 150 and 126, I eventually hit I-5 just north of Magic Mountain, and almost immediately I felt an allergic reaction to the SoCal traffic. I quickly bailed out off I-5 and stopped for a quick posing session at Starbucks, naturally!

Loaded and ready for departure from Ojai

Panoramic view over the Ojai Valley (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Heading east from Ojai on Highway 150

Posing at Starbucks in Santa Clarita

After a coffee and topping up on fuel in Santa Clarita I skirted the LA area and made my way to Riverside where I met my friend Paul who claimed to know of an awesome Mexican joint called Tio’s. I met up with him and we had lunch, he wasn’t kidding, Tio’s was the bomb! I had a delicious plate of carne asada and a nice cold Dos Equis to wash it down (I don’t always drink beer, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis – lol!).

Paul at Tio’s in Riverside

Oh how tasty that carne asada plate was… yum!

Tio’s was a weird overgrown junk-art installation type affair

I hung out with Paul for a nice long lunch, taking my time to eat the great food and chat with him a bit afterwards. But soon enough the need to move on came over me and so I bid Paul goodbye and left Riverside by making my way south on Highways 215 and then 15. The day’s destination was La Mesa east of San Diego where I was to stay for one night before crossing into Mexico. My stay in La Mesa would not be suffered alone as Keith, a long-time friend from Sonoma who now works in SoCal quite a bit, met me in town to hang out for the night. We met up at the hotel (the ever so deluxe Days Inn La Mesa) and after cleaning up went out for some Thai food and a night out having a few drinks. We hit up a few bars, spending the bulk of our time at a joint called Effin’s which proved to be quite the spot, it’s apparently popular with the local college crowd and that soon enough had us feeling like quite the “old guys” – lol.

Keith is all smiles after Thai food and beer…

I apparently need more beer… lol

Keith and I spent the evening talking shit, getting drunk and having fun. I happily note that while he clearly beat me at darts, I managed to beat him at the punching strength game machine despite him having two attempts compared to my one. Hey Keith, you hit like a sissy! lol We were out a bit later than I had expected, but worries that’s the easy living you can afford when you have no schedule to live by on vacation, nice.

Day 3, Sunday November 8th: La Mesa to San Felipe (250 miles)
I woke up Sunday morning and was more excited than usual, the day to finally hit Mexico was upon me! Keith and I had breakfast in La Mesa at the shitty IHOP like Omelette Factory. Regardless the coffee was hot and the food serviceable, so there wasn’t too much to complain about. Keith and I parted ways after eating and I made my way down to Tecate in order to cross into Mexico. The ride out was nice as it’s a fun and twisty bit of road along Highway 94 and there were a lot of bikes out in the morning. Most of those folks cruise right past the turnoff for Highway 188 to Tecate, but not me, I swung right and soon rode to the border! The border crossing was entirely uneventful as there was no line whatsoever and I was waived straight through without ever even having to put my feet down.

¡Bienvenidos a Mexico!

I stopped in Tecate briefly to handle a few necessary items, not the least of which was to get some pesos. Once I had things sorted I hit the road taking Highway 2 east towards Mexicali. Soon after leaving town the highway actually splits in two parts, the older rougher road that’s free or the newer and much nicer toll road, I opted for the free route as I assume it would be less “sterile” actually taking me through towns and whatnot. Well, that couldn’t last forever as there comes a point where only the toll highway exists winding up and over some mountains. I ponied up the toll (something like 20 pesos or so, about $1.50) and then blasted along the windy but well maintained road having a blast. Along the way I stopped at a scenic overlook to take in the view (see the panoramic image below), what caught my attention was a black truck with three guys hanging about, the truck was blaring Mexican music at an ungodly volume. The three guys were chugging beers and I figured that wasn’t going anywhere good and wanted to get clear of the place before they resumed any driving. I hit the road and sped on my way, continuing east towards Mexicali.

An incredible view along Highway 2 east of Mexicali (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

After coming down out of the mountain pass I soon passed by a tempting treat, one I probably should have at least given a go, and that’s an entry point into the northern end of Laguna Salada, a massive dry lake bed with loads of tracks heading out. Wanting to keep moving, I rode past and soon turned south on Highway 5 with San Felipe in my sights!

Heading south in Mexico’s Highway 5

Lots and lots of sand along Highway 5… Lots!

Awww yeah, San Felipe coming up!

Once in San Felipe I quickly found my way to the main strip along the waterfront and in specific to the Costa Azul hotel. The Costa Azul is a nice beach front joint and with so few people in town I was able to haggle for a decent room rate for the night. I secured a room, unloaded my gear off the bike, cleaned up a bit and then went out for a stroll. I soon found out that I was in town in time to enjoy the “Festival de Camaron”, or the “Shrimp Festival”. What that meant was a night full of music (live bands on stage) and a street full of vendors selling everything you can imagine. I grabbed a seat at a beachside restaurant and stuffed my belly full of tacos (fish, chicken and pork!) and beer. After dinner I spent the night strolling the waterfront, taking in the bands, music and scene in general having a good time chatting with locals and the very few other tourists that seemed to be in town (it was kind of cool to have it be such a heavily local event!).

A panoramic view from my hotel room balcony (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Tecate and tacos, god it was delicious!

Something about this lone boat on the beach caught my eye

The stage along the waterfront where bands played throughout the night

After my night out on the waterfront I made my way back to my hotel room where I crashed out for the night. I’d only spent one day in Baja and so far it had been great, I knew that so much more was yet to come!

Day 4, Monday November 9th: San Felipe to Gonzaga Bay (115 miles)
Despite being out a bit late the night before I was up relatively early and found myself out and about for a walk along the waterfront. It was quite a change from the night before as the booths, stage and whatnot were all still up and waiting for use, but the masses of people weren’t there. I walked along the beach until I found a restaurant open and serving breakfast, I grabbed a seat and ate a tasty plate of huevos rancheros while taking in the view.

I think it’s clear that this boat is for the birds…

What would become a daily routine, huevos rancheros with a dash of coffee (often times really just Nescafe)

Looking back down along the San Felipe waterfront

After breakfast I refilled my Camelbak with water, packed up my gear and took off, the destination for the day being not just Gonzaga Bay, but my first serious dose of Baja off-road fun! I left San Felipe heading south on Highway 5, the pavement lasting until just after Puertecitos, roughly 50-60 miles to the south. What was funny is that despite being on a “main” highway, there were periodic “dips” in the road that were incredibly sever/deep at times. During the day it was easy to spot them which allowed me time to slow down then hit the gas hard on the up-side jumping my KTM a bit (a tiny bit!), spinning up the rear wheel and generally causing minor mayhem – w00t! Of course the paved ride was also another chance to realize that in Mexico traffic laws are rough guidelines at best, double yellow lines mean little and speed limits mean nothing. Lawless on the road in Mexico, perfect!

Beach and water on the left, miles of sand on the right, heading south on Mexico’s Highway 5 leaving San Felipe

I tried stopping in Puertecitos for a snack and some photos, but failed. How is that? I pulled into the coastal town and happily saw a sign that said the resort/restaurant was open. Upon pulling in and coming to a stop I was quickly approached by this woman who (in Spanish, I was rockin’ my Spanish all week long!) promptly informed me that the restaurant was closed. She directed me on to some other restaurant another stretch down the road (I passed on it, thanks), but surprised me again by denying my request to take a quick photo as that simply wasn’t permitted. Ummmmm, ok… what could I say. With a smile I put my helmet back on, rode outside the restaurant grounds and up the hill to another spot and took a photo there anyway.

Following that I made my way back onto the highway but quickly started coming upon construction crews. I’d heard that they were extending the road south so I knew that the construction meant dirt was soon to follow and sure enough that proved true, but not without some trouble. Unfortunately I repeatedly suffered from a bit of misdirection, I’d ride in the dirt past the construction crews only to find the road come to a dead end, then backtrack to find I’d missed a turnout hidden behind some large piece of construction equipment (dozer, truck, whatever). What made it worse is that because I’d occasionally wind up on “new road” nothing matched up to the GPS map I had loaded onto my Garmin, doh. Luckily there were a few of us, me on a motorcycle and a few other cars, all headed south so we helped keep each other on track by pointing out the way and using each other as guides of a sort.

I paused for my first water-side photo op not a few miles after hitting the dirt (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Miles and miles later… and yes, that island is covered in bird poop (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Once past the mountains the road was rocky and rough, but was generally easy enough to move along quickly

One thing I found odd was that all along the way I’d be riding in the middle of nowhere, miles since the last sign of civilization, and all of a sudden there would be a road breaking off to the side that would lead out to some house! I kept thinking “damn, folks live way out here?!” What I also rode past every once in a while would be abandoned buildings and odd little shacks, each time left me wondering why the heck someone built those houses/stores/restaurants/whatever in the first place, but oh well they made for places to grab a rest in the shade or take a few photos.

I rolled past what should at some point become my new home

And decided to take a self-portrait while there

The dirt road offered a variety of surfaces, from hard pack to loose rock to plenty of soft sand, and while it started in the hills with lots of climbs/descents, it eventually flattened out for the most part with occasional “vados” (dips/gullies) along the way. As time wore on I found myself getting into a groove and I was eventually blasting down the road at 60+ mph, getting more and more comfortable with the loose dirt and soft sand. But each time I did that I’d soon come across patches of deeper sand that would remind me I was riding alone and that I wasn’t all that comfortable with deep soft stuff, so I’d reel it back in a bit to keep myself in check. Through it all I rode with a big shit eating grin as I was having a total blast riding hard and dirty.

At one point one of the “traveling buddy” cars was stopped ahead of me, it was an elderly couple that had been nice all along the way. They waved me down to let me know that the turnoff for Gonzaga Bay as about 15 miles ahead, they were peeling off as they owned one of those homes in the middle of nowhere! I thanked them for the help and guidance and sped off on my own, knowing that Gonzaga Bay wasn’t far off!

As promised the turnoff to Gonzaga Bay appeared, offering this approach view (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

I pulled into Alfonsina’s and found the place a bit of a ghost town, nobody was around. I eventually found three guys sitting towards the beach side and asked them if this was in fact Alfonsina’s and he said yes. I asked if any rooms were available and he kind of snickered, at that point I was in fact the only guest for the night. Hah! Knowing that I haggled with him for a good room rate and then he quickly offered up a cold beer, I parked it on the patio and proceeded to drink three beers, I’d earned them!

The lovely, and on this day all but empty Bahia de Gonzaga (Gonzaga Bay) (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

A nice cold Pacifico

While looking at the stickers I found some SF local love…

Then later at night I found more!

While I’d arrived as the only guest for the night that didn’t last long as we were soon joined by two Mexican guys arriving in the area for work (fishing). They’d been a part of the caravan of vehicles I rode with (although I easily arrived first, clearly) and it was my first chance to just sit and chat with someone using my Spanish. We mumbled through things well enough and my Spanish was better than I’d expected, despite the fact we were steadily knocking back beer. After them another two cars from the tail of our caravan, one a Jeep the other a truck towing two SeaDoo like skis, arrived, although they arrived much later and a lot more beat up. It turns out they were a father, his sons and a friend of the family all there from San Luis Obispo. By night’s end another four people arrived, a pair of women from Ontario as well as another couple from the USA.

I hung out chatting with crew from SLO (owners of Ciopinot), they did some fishing getting a bite and some snags within a few casts! In the end we wound up eating dinner together (a feast of camarones al ajillo and some fried fish special, “chef’s choice”), sipping off a bottle of tequila while drinking beer and eventually playing some poker – I won $40! But at 9pm the generator was shut off, and the place went dark and we all took in the incredible starry night sky before heading off to our respective rooms for the night. I wish it would have been a peaceful sleep though as we were all woken up at 0-dark-thirty by a bunch of coyotes out front yippin’ and yowlin’ for way too long. Ah well, “that damn wildlife!” – lol.

The San Luis Obispo crew (dad in the orange, his sons in the dark shirts, family friend at right in the white)

Day 5, Tuesday November 10th: Gonzaga Bay to El Rosario de Arriba (145 miles)
Without any alarm clock or other prompting I found myself waking up and getting out of bed before 6am and in doing so I was greeted by an absolutely gorgeous morning sunrise over the bay. What made it even better was the fact that among the whopping nine of us there, only three of us were even up and those two went on a walk to the other end of the beach. My point? I woke up and got to slowly take in the sunrise on a gorgeous beach, alone and in peace. Damn it was nice…

The sun coming up over Bahia de Gonzaga

Panoramic shot from the beach looking back at Alfonsina’s (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

A normal shot of Alfonsina’s, the open (black) door on the upper floor towards the right is mine

Around 7am the kitchen started rumbling to life with coffee being the first item prepared, something we all were all too glad to get our hands on. Soon after that they took everyone’s breakfast orders and in no time flat food was rolling out. Once again I’d ordered huevos rancheros and it was delicious.

Huevos rancheros, the “potatoes” served were really just fries, but they were crispy and good

After breakfast I slowly gathered my stuff together so I could hit the road. For the first time on the trip I needed to pull a fuse on my bike, it’s one that by design allows me to use lower octane fuel in the bike, and that was needed as down south there just wasn’t any premium gas to be found. I got that sorted, packed up, and then loaded the bike so I could hit the road. I made a pit stop at the Pemex right there to top off the tanks and then turned south heading out towards Highway 1, but along the way I’d make a stop at the legendary Coco’s Corner.

The road heading south away from Bahia de Gonzaga

Panoramic view along the road heading away from Bahia de Gonzaga (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

The ride out was generally fast and I had a lot of fun scootin’ along in the dirt, taking in as much of the scenery as I could. Soon enough I was coming upon an intersection, one that I knew was the home of Coco’s Corner, a legendary stop for Baja off-roaders. As I pulled off my helmet I could hear someone, he sounded old and gruff, yelling something, I think in Spanish. I walked on in and saw Coco and his helper standing off by a truck and I strolled over. Coco has now lost both of his legs below the knees but he seems tough as nails none the less. After some pleasantries I was offered a cold drink, I happily opted for a beer (I hear he’ll mock you if you don’t – hah!). We moved to a shaded area (me by walking, Coco gets around on a small ATV) and I sipped my beer and chatted with Coco in a mixture of Spanish and English (mostly ’cause I kept pushing the Spanish side, his English is fine).

What was funny was that while talking I mentioned having passed by a folding table a few miles back. The table looked in perfect shape and was out in the middle of nowhere and I’d seen no one since I’d left Bahia de Gonzaga. When I mentioned it Coco lit up a bit, he asked me a number of questions so he could sort out just how far away it was. When he convinced himself it wasn’t that far away he asked me to watch the place so he and his helper could go get it! I was offered a second beer and off they went while I sat in the shade sipping on a second cold can of Pacifico. They quickly returned and he was all smiles, when I asked how much I owed he offered that second beer for free, I happily paid for it and left the man a tip. He appreciated that, and he seemed to enjoy the new table!

A nice cold can of Pacifico at Coco’s Corner, a perfect late morning beverage

Coco’s Corner

The cans on the fence at Coco’s Corner

Eventually I said my goodbyes and hit the road, continuing on my way out to Highway 1. Much like the day before my confidence was growing and the road was a fun romp covered in what seemed like no time flat. I’d not only reached the southernmost point on my route, but I’d done so at exactly the mid-way point of my trip (4.5 days into a 9 day trip). I turned right and began heading north on Highway 1, the cacti were cool as hell and the road was generally fast and smooth. I rode Highway 1 until I found my way into El Rosario de Arriba, pulling into the Baja Cactus Hotel where I’d stay for the night.

What I found odd about things like Highway 1, a main route in Mexico, were the speed limits and the lack of concern for them. At times the speed limit would drop to ridiculously low numbers like 40kph (24mph)! All while people seemingly ignored them entirely, I was rolling along at something like 75mph passing most but with others passing me.

Heading north on Highway 1

The Baja Cactus Hotel, a really nice place to stay!

Luckily enough the Baja Cactus is right next door to Mama Espinoza’s, another Baja institution to go along with Coco’s Corner. I had arrived in town early and ate a lunch lunch, then my dinner that night as well as breakfast the next day all at Mama Espinoza’s. Each meal was delicious as hell, and of course I had the huevos rancheros for breakfast.

Panoramic shot of Mama Espinoza’s in El Rosario de Arriba (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

At Mama Espinoza’s I changed up from drinking beer and opted for margaritas instead. I knocked back a few, chatting with a few other riders that were there having dinner (a couple of Harley riding Mexicans). After dinner I bought a few cans of beer (Tecate if you’d like to know) and retired to my room to flip through my photos and such, managing to catch a buzz and drift off to an early sleep (9:30pm ish).

Day 6, Wednesday November 11th: El Rosario de Arriba to Eréndria (150 miles)
Once again I was up relatively early and found myself packing my gear and getting ready to roll while enjoying a hilarious bit of TV, an original episode of 90210 that had been dubbed over in Spanish, quite entertaining! After packing up my gear and another dose of huevos rancheros at Mama Espinoza’s I topped off the tanks at Pemex and hit the road. My first destination for the day was going to be Punta Baja, a small fishing village at the end of a dirt road, it would be on the order of about 30 miles or so round trip.

My KTM sitting on the Pacific coast for the first time this trip, this is just outside Punta Baja

Panoramic shot of the road heading back towards El Rosario (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

After getting back to El Rosario I once again turned north on Highway 1, the day’s destination was Eréndria but the hope was to take the highway part way, then peel off and use coastal dirt to complete the journey. My first attempt to meet that goal was quickly dashed as I’d pulled off the highway in Camalu as my maps showed a route from there all the way up the coast to Eréndria, but unfortunately that road soon hit private property and so I turned around and went back to the highway to hatch plan B. I wasn’t going to give up on the off-road plan and another 10 miles or so up the highway I found another turn off which proved more fruitful. I sped along the graded dirt road but soon found myself approaching a dead end at another coastal village with no passage onward. What was I to do? Inquire with a local, that’s what!

I came across a guy in his truck and stopped to ask him for help in finding Eréndria, his answer was curious but effective! I had apparently missed a turn somewhere, but instead of going back I was told to ride along a nearby fence, and to do that until it reached another fence which would force me to the left. I was then to follow that fence until it hit yet another fence at which point there would be a gate, and on the other side of the gate would be the road I needed to take. Happy with my new direction off I went as instructed. The path along the fence line was interested, it went from hard dirt to soft sand, then I was surprised by the fact that it suddenly dropped off into, then back out of a creek bed (steep drops on both sides), but it was all quite manageable and I enjoyed the “where the hell am I going?” feel of it all.

Along the first fence, down and out of the creek bed and now out there somewhere was the next fence

I’d come from somewhere out there

I rode along as instructed and sure enough I eventually found the gate in question and the road I needed, as promised, lay just the other side of it. But something else was there waiting for me not 100 yards up the road was three truckloads of military guys carrying a variety of automatic weapons and whatnot, all of whom took immediate interest in the lone motorcyclist popping out of nowhere along the fence line. Before I had the gate closed and had remounted my bike three guys were approaching me and I was waved down and stopped for a nice thorough search of my gear. What I found funny was the questions I was asked, notably when I wiped some sweat from my brow I was specifically asked if I was nervous. Umm, no bro, it’s hot, I’m in full riding gear and I’m sweating, but that’s cool. Oh well, they’re out there checking for drug/gun runners and I had nothing to hide so I let them sift through my gear until they were happy and on I rode when done.

Funny add-on: I had my helmet camera on and running through it all and soon after being stopped I had the presence of mind to ask if it was cool to remove my helmet, my real motive being to put it on my mirror facing backwards to get a better recording of the search!

Me and the local military patrol getting to know each other

The military guys all appeared twelve years old, but they kept a nice stern appearance and hard looks until I passed muster, then they were super friendly and smiled, assuring me the road ahead did in fact reach Eréndria, but none of them knew exactly how far it was. I mounted up and rode on, the road slowly deteriorated from a graded dirt road, to a rough and rutted road, to sand, loose dirt, climbs/drops, gullies and lots and lots of uneven tough riding. I plowed through it all with a smile but soon found myself (my out of shape self) getting tired and out of breath, and despite knowing that a rest was likely a good idea I pushed on, almost too far. I came upon a moderately steep climb, one with lots of rough rocks and loose scrabble to climb over and as I gassed it to climb on up the front hit a rock, I let my body weight move too far back and all of a sudden the front is lifting and bouncing all over the place. Pucker up, hang on and sort shit out time! I managed to avoid looping the bike or even putting it on its side, but the message was clear: take a break, sip some water, catch your breath. Luckily while doing that I managed to snap what has turned out to be my favorite photo of the whole trip, nice.

This is where the road is in great shape, from here it deteriorates to a rough and uneven jeep trail

Lots and lots of gates to pass through, each one needed to be opened and then closed behind me

After my near loop event I paused to catch my breath, I was hot and winded, the break was welcomed

While paused for a rest I snapped this gorgeous (to me) photo, this is what it’s all about!

After a nice rest I mounted back up and pushed on, a few miles on the road began to improve again until to my joy I began seeing little orange sign thingies with arrows. Those in the know might already realize what I’m referring to and that’s the Baja 1000 course markers! I was riding in the direction that pre-runners would be going but I kept a constant eye in the mirror as I really didn’t want a desert runner or trophy truck to come crawling up my ass, bad for me and of course for them!

Baja 1000 racers go this way! And yes, I looked way up road before stopping in the middle for a photo…

After meeting up with the race course I followed it along and it soon wound it’s way out to the coast. I wandered up the coast, taking side roads here and there, dipping inland and back, generally having a great time. The coast was gorgeous in contrast to the gulf side as here there was surf to be seen and what’s more is that I finally spotted my first Baja 1000 pre-runner! It was a desert runner/dune buggy type vehicle that came up from behind me (I saw it well in advanced and moved over) and blasted past me like a bat out of hell. It was insane to see just how fast that guy was moving along in comparison to my own speeds, and so my appreciation for the balls those folks have swelled to new heights – they’re nuts!

My KTM taking in the salty sea air and the view

After enjoying the calm gulf waters it was nice to hear and see some pounding surf again

I’d been riding all day and the last meal I’d had was breakfast way back in El Rosario, I was getting tired and my stomach was grumbling for food so I soon found myself pushing on with a bit of “let’s get there” urgency. That urgency only proved frustrating as my maps (paper and GPS) once again weren’t matching the reality of the roads on the coast as I was moving through some recently establish farm territory. After poking down a road or two here or there I had things sorted and in the distance I could see a large concrete pad for a soon-to-be-built building, and atop that pad I could see a crowd of people, two grills with smoke coming out of them and a KTM dirt bike. How interesting…

As I neared the group one guy, an American, came walking out towards me and waved me on over. As I pulled up to them he walked up and asked me “You hungry”, and the only answer I had to offer was “I’m fucking starving”. Here is where these guys turned from random strangers to utter and complete angels: not only did they proceed to feed me grilled fish and grilled steak, with fresh avocado and warmed tortillas, but they proceeded to offer me copious amounts of beer all topped off by an offer to crash at their house along the coast (one I’d just passed by a few minutes earlier)! What turned out even cooler is that the American is a lurker on Adventure Rider, he uses the screen name of beezergeezer and he’s a long time rider, former racer and an all around great guy. They were all cool as can be and it made for an awesome way to end a long and great day of riding, sipping beer in a comfy coastal house knowing I had a nice bed to crash in.

The extremely nice and generous guys that took me in for the night (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Day 7, Thursday November 12th: Eréndria to Eréndria (200 miles)
I woke up earlier this day than any other, not just because it was another early night the evening before but also because the guys I was staying with were all up and chatting by 5:30am as they had a few hundred acres of crops to check in on first thing. We were all up together, sipping coffee and whatnot, but they were getting ready to roll out and do the morning rounds while I was ready to consult some maps and ponder the coming day’s ride. They left me at the house while they did their rounds for a few hours giving me a chance to sort out my plan for the day and to get myself ready, slowly, for my eventual departure.

Talk about a nice way to start your day, this view and a hot cup of coffee, bliss

A panoramic shot of the beach house I stayed in, not a bad little shack eh? (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

Once the guys came back a few of them had to turn and burn as they needed to drive to Mexicali (where their other farms are) for some afternoon meetings. I took that as my cue to load up and move on, I was headed off to Mike’s Sky Ranch and was quite excited to get going. We said our goodbyes, exchanged email addresses and whatnot and off I went. I rode into Eréndria then out to Highway 1 where this time I turned south, eventually covering the same highway near Calamu I’d been on the day before. Along the way some hunger kicked in and I rode by a “loncheria” that said they were open for breakfast, naturally I pulled up and asked about some huevos rancheros!

Another delicious dose of huevos rancheros for breakfast

And those huevos were served up hot and delicious from “el trailero”

With my belly full and topped off with coffee I continued south looking for the turnoff for San Pedro Mártir. Unfortunately my GPS once again led me astray as I turned off earlier than I should have and was soon wandering about some farm land knowing that things weren’t right. Luckily the locals were once again friendly and they quickly set me on the right path and I found the proper road and began having fun riding up and into the mountains with my eyes peeled for the dirt road peeling off the left that would take me by Rancho Coyote and then on to Mike’s Sky Ranch.

The road in was a nice twisty road with great sweeping corners, too bad they were covering it in chip seal

I rode in for a while and soon enough came to the turnoff I’d been looking for, I rode past a gawking road crew and headed into the dirt with that buzz of excitement knowing that the day’s adventure lay just ahead. The road in started off as an easy graded dirt road, then it slowly worsened as it became rutted, threw up stretches of sand and rocky climbs, but the sand, dirty, whoops, climbs and descents were all to be expected and I was having fun, until…

The ride into Mike’s Sky Ranch from the south, this picture was taken a few miles past Rancho Coyote

The road had thrown a variety of terrain at me including a few relatively steep climbs with loose rocks, but none of it was close to stopping me and all of it was proving fun. Eventually I came to one climb that started off as manageable but as I pushed on it continued to get steeper while also turning more and more to loose rock. At this point a combination of my large bike and need for more riding skills became a problem, in the middle of a steep section I lost my momentum and then stalled my bike. Ugh, not good, not in the middle of a climb! For a good 45 minutes I tried to get moving again but only found myself repeatedly spinning up the rear tire digging it in, or I would get moving (slowly) and then manage to lose traction again and/or stall out.

It took a while but eventually my spirit waned, I was become extremely worn out and tired from all the effort, I’d spent almost an hour and only moved a dozen yards with lots more to go and I had no clue if it was the same, better or worse up ahead. What’s more is that I was pointed up the hill and it had been a long climb already, and I didn’t fancy the idea of trying to back my way down, so I began the task of getting myself turned around – not an easy feat. The path/road was narrow, barely the width of my bike turned sideways, and the grade was steep so I feared tipping over to the downhill side. Eventually I got myself turned around (yay) and began the shameful task of heading back out the way I came (boo).

The start of the climb that beat me, ugh

After I got myself down and out I rode back towards Rancho Coyote where I took a break to consider my options. By that time in the day it would be nearly impossible to make it all the way around to enter Mike’s from the north and I was bummed out to say the least. I decided that I’d get back to Highway 1 and start moving north and let the final decision come to me on the road. As I was riding out I had an interesting wildlife experience as I came across a coyote walking the other way, the lil’ bugger was simply not afraid of me at all. I sat there stopped watching this guy as he just kept walking right towards me, finally stopping something like 20-30 feet away in order to begin a stare down. Perhaps the coyote smelled me out as fresh and weak meat? The shame was strong at that point, anything along those lines seemed to make sense…

A self-portrait that should clearly demonstrate the mood I was in at this point

Let the stare down begin!

I made my way back out to Highway 1, riding a bit faster than I should have in the faint hopes I might still make it to Mike’s from the north. I rode hard heading north but by the time I reached the turn off to go back to Eréndria I knew that it just wasn’t going to happen, at least not without riding the dirt road into Mike’s at night. Riding at night, let alone off-road at night, just wasn’t going to happen and so I decided to head back to Eréndria and stay where I was supposed to have been the night before, at Coyote Cal’s. I rode into Eréndria and then to Cal’s, only to find out that I was, and for the night would be, the only person staying there besides the two young folks living/working there. I opted to stay in my tent that night and after setting up camp I rode back into town to fill my belly with food. The recommendation was to eat at Vannia’s Cocina Familiar and they were right, the food was outstanding! I shoveled down my dinner with glee and then rode back to Cal’s where I wiled away the night in their cantina drinking beer and chatting with the two “kids” (mid-20′s) that worked there. With my buzz on I crawled out and into my tent for the night, once again falling into a deep and needed sleep. My ego was bruised and needed the alone time to recover – lol.

All alone at Coyote Cal’s in Eréndria

I’m back to smiling after a delicious dinner at Vannia’s Cocina Familiar

FYI, this place offers absolutely delicious eats, it’s not to be missed!

The cantina where I washed down my “sorrows” with cold beer

Day 8, Friday November 13th: Eréndria to Tecate (190 miles)
I woke up to the sounds of seals barking and the surf breaking on the rocks, such a nice way to start the day. I slowly made my way out of my tent and began the task of packing everything back up and onto the bike once again. Unfortunately this day had an extra bit of sour twinge to it as I also woke up to the realization that this was to be my last full day in Mexico – booooo!

Another bitchin’ morning view to start the day

I hit up a corner market to top off on water before once again heading back out to Highway 1 where I turned north bound for Ensenada. The drive started off quite nice, rolling through pastoral farm/ranch land, riding by an occasional winery, etc. But that didn’t last forever as I was quickly approaching Ensenada and the surrounding area where I began to find myself in busy, crowded traffic and I wasn’t liking it much at all. In fact, I was so not enjoying it that I did my best to get into and out of the area as fast as possible, getting on to Highway 3 heading east towards Ojos Negros where I hoped to find some dirt that would take me north all the way to Tecate.

Heading north on Highway 1 past a winery (on the right)

Once I past through Ensenada I finally started to see some real signs of the coming Baja 1000 race as there were a number of trucks loaded up with motorcycles, trophy trucks and desert runners all making their way out to Ojos Negros (the place where outbound pre-running could begin). I followed along checking out their rigs and vehicles, getting and offering lots of thumbs up along the way. The turnoff to Ojos Negros also happened to be right at a military checkpoint and while the trucks and their gear were getting inspected I was waved through, I rode on another few miles down Highway 3 before turning off in the dirt bound for Rancho San Faustino somewhere half way between Highway 3 and Tecate. Once again the road started off as a nice graded road with a great surface (lots of traction and thus lots of speed!), but this time it stayed in good shape the whole way, the only variation being the occasional stretches of road covered in a bit of shallow sand, or the odd wash that had sand that was a bit deeper. All the way though I was having fun hard on the gas, blasting through remote territory with another shit eating grin on my face.

Somewhere south of Rancho San Faustino along a typical stretch of road

As I’d been told by Luckett (Chris) on BARF, there were pine trees to be seen as well

Along the way I did have one interesting diversion and that was a religious shrine (a small “temple” to the virgin Mary) that I came upon by surprise. I was cruising along enjoying the ride when above me to the right rose a small rocky peak and atop it I saw this small building. I couldn’t tell if it was a weather station or what so I looped around the back side and rode, then climbed on up to it. When I did I finally saw that it was a religious shrine so with respect I took a few photos and then marveled at the incredible views that were to be had!

Out in the middle of nowhere I spotted this structure

And it turned out to be a religious shrine

With incredible views like this looking north – the direction I was headed (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

As well as incredible views like this looking south – the way I’d come (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

After my photo op at the shrine I threw my leg back over and kept on riding, I’d decided that upon reaching Rancho Faustino I’d be roughly half way through the day’s dirt ride and so that would make for my next resting point. As I had all day I rode hard and fast along the road as it was in great shape and it kept a nice smile on my face, but unfortunately riding fast means the time spent is less and all too soon I found myself riding past Rancho Faustino where I stuck to my plan and again pulled over to sip on some water and take a few more gorgeous pics (the terrain was too much, it was beautiful in every direction).

The road continues north

A panoramic view of the valley floor through which I was riding (click the image to view a high-resolution version)

And I figured it was time to pose up for another self-portrait

After a good 15-20 minute break the desire to ride overcame me and so I moved on, quickly forgetting the speed lesson I’d just learned. According to my GPS I had roughly 30-35 miles to go before the dirt would end at Highway 2, and yet I was happily charging along at 60+ mph meaning I’d hit pavement all too soon. Oh well, the fun factor was way too freakin’ high and so on I rolled, feeling as confident as ever with the sandy bits that would appear, finding myself trying to jump (lol) off anything that offered a mild chance at getting air (never much) and having a blast trying to spin up the rear whenever I could. It had been an awesome week and I knew this was my last stretch off-road so I made the most of it!

Somewhere out there the last off-road stretch of my trip comes to an end, boohoo

Sure enough I reached the highway in no time flat and soon after that found myself pulling into Rancho Ojai, something like 10-15 miles east of Tecate. The reservation I’d made was for me and one other (Terry who couldn’t make the trip) to camp there, but now I rolled in alone and asked about a cabin. The folks there were super cool, they let me rent an available cabin for a bit less than 1/3 of the normal cost (normally they’re like $60 per night, they gave it to me for the 2-person camping rate of $20 per night)! I happily unpacked my stuff into good ol’ cabin #7 then headed into Tecate as I was starving after not having eaten much all day (no huevos rancheros today!). In Tecate I sat along the main plaza/park area in the middle of town and threw down a delicious torta and knocked back a few Tecates while doing a bit of people watching, a relaxing way to end the day.

Cabin #7 at Rancho Ojai, my room for the night

Awwww yeah, that torta was tasty and the cold beer refreshing

After my torta and beer I rode back out to Rancho Ojai, stopping at a liquor store on the way to grab a few extra cans for the night. I spent my evening texting with folks at home to coordinate my return the next day and to let everyone know I was alive and well. I threw down the three Tecate beers I brought with me quick style and as with many nights before I found myself crashing out early, which was good as I knew that I’d have a looooong day ahead of me tomorrow. For one last time (this trip) I bid Mexico goodnight and went off to the land of nod, snoring like a mofo I’m sure.

Day 9, Saturday November 14th: Tecate to San Francisco (569 miles)
Day number nine, my last day on the road… sniff sniff, boohoo. I was up and moving early, leaving Rancho Ojai by 7:30am as I knew that well over 500 miles lay ahead of me as I planned on legging it all the way back to San Francisco in one day (I wanted the full day Sunday at home before returning to work on Monday). I took Highway 2 back into Tecate and was soon queued up and waiting, like a sucker, at the border crossing. After sitting in the line of cars for a few minutes an older Mexican gent gestured at me that I should go around and cut to the front. I asked, in Spanish, if that was cool to do and he made it clear that it was. So around the line of cars I went and soon up I was next at passport control!

Here’s where things get a little interesting as I had my helmet camera on and recording, the guy checking my passport either didn’t notice or he just didn’t care as we did our business and he waived me forward. As I moved forward I pulled into a fenced in area where they’d get a dozen or so vehicles and then bring out the drug dogs. I was asked to pull my bike over to one side and get off to stand elsewhere, at first it seemed again that nobody cared about my helmet camera. Until one guy got all serious on me and in a stern voice he asked “that thing’s not on is it?”, when I said it was and promptly removed it to put it in my pocket he went on a rant for  bit, threatening to seize my camera and all that. Eventually he stopped and went back to his business while I waited for it all to be over so I could move on.

Soon enough to drug dogs had done their thing and our group of inspected vehicles was allowed to re-enter the USA and be on our way. Shortly after the border crossing I was riding through Barrett Junction and so I paused for some breakfast, a non-huevos rancheros breakfast, at the Barrett Junction Cafe. While there I chatted up some other folks that were in the area for downhill skateboarding, apparently it’s quite the spot for that crowd and they had a crew from AndrenalineTV filming them (funny to watch the camera guy get shots of the breakfast buffet bar – lol).

Barrett Junction Cafe, the buffet was actually quite tasty

After breakfast I began the long, oh so long and boring slog home. First I rode through San Diego, then up through eastern LA and eventually on to <yawn> I-5 which I took all the way to the East Bay. It was a tough choice to make, I really wanted to get home on Saturday and enjoy Sunday in SF before work the next day, but I also loathed the idea of capping off such an incredible ride with a day full of slab work. My desire to cover the 500+ miles as quickly as possible won out and I spent the day droning along in boredom.

I “enjoyed” hours and hours and hours of this sort of lovely (not) view…

As I neared the Bay Area and started working my way through Livermore towards the Bay Bridge I was treated head-on to a gorgeous sunset, then a striking view of the Bay Bridge and SF skyline against a red/orange sky, it was an epic and gorgeous way to re-enter San Francisco. I pulled up to the exact same spot from which I’d departed nine days earlier, without a doubt the smile is still on my face and I doubt it’ll come off any time soon.

Back at home once again!

Nine days and almost 2300 miles of bliss on my motorcycle. My motorcycles are where I go to find my god, to get to my inner soul, to find action and adventure. Baja served all that up in spades, all while also delivering great food, cold beer and tons of super nice people… ¡Baja, te amo!

What now?
Now that I’m back I’m settling back into regular work life but already dreaming of going back. The whole point of this trip was that I was supposed to ride down with my long-time friend Terry but he sadly had to back out only a few weeks before departure. Naturally he’s been bitten by the jealousy bug after hearing my stories and whatnot so I’m hoping that’s enough to convince him to roll down with me some time soon. I’m thinking March or April, and making it a full two weeks so we can ride all the way to Cabo San Lucas and back. Waddya think Terry, we rollin’ or what?