alfalfa

Scenery around Coyote Cals:

Day 8 - The nite at the hotel was kind of low key, with some pool playing and drinking. But, it was apparent that people were ready to get home. We woke the next day to nice weather, packed up and headed out. That day's destination was a place known as Coyote Cals, south of Ensenada (cant figure out why the map shows up twice...) The main group took off for El Rosario, the next gas station about 85 miles away. I hung back to escort one of the guys who was recovering from the night before. Margarita poisoning, or something like that. When we hit the road, about 10 miles north of town, i thought i would check my gas only to discover that yesterdays ' 75 mile range' had become '55 mile range'!! And, with 80 some miles to go, too. Going back wasnt an option (is it ever?) so we motored on, hitting zero range about 20 miles south of town. Given that BMW has some of the best corporate lawyers, i had a good feeling that the miles remaining would be very, very conservative and we finally pulled in for gas with no issues. The east coast of Baja is my favorite because it is usually warmer. The west coast (above) is just as awesome, when the weather cooperates. Mexican fast food. If you ever see one of these, stop! The food was excellent! Unfortunately for the locals, we wiped out that days supply! Things had been going pretty smoothly, which is a sign that an FTroop moment was overdue. Our FTroop nickname (look up the old 60s era American TV show for an idea of what i'm referring to) comes from the fact that during a club ride, it is a 50-50 chance on whether we all end up at the same place, at the same time, even with starting out together. A common thread in an FTroop episode is when Lu is leading, as he was to take us into Coyote Cals after lunch. He split out of the lunch stop at warp speed, with the majority of the riders in tow. Gary and I were lagging for some reason and took off to catch them. I had the route in my GPS and was watching the screen as Gary and I were starting to catch the main group. Getting stuck behind a truck, i didnt see them miss the upcoming turn onto the road to the coast. When i reached that road, i knew something was amiss. No one was waiting for me at the next corner, and i couldnt see them up the road. I thought they may have taken the second turn to this road, so headed up there to wait. Nobody. I turned around and headed out to the beach, sure that they were in front of me and had just kept going at the turn. Reaching Coyote Cal's i realized they were no where around?. So, figured i would check in to the rooms and unload the bike. About 20 minutes later, i went outside at the sound of motorcycles and found one of the funniest sights of the trip. The last 3 miles of road to the hostel are dirt. Given that it had rained that morning, there were large puddles and muddy sections. The guy above prides himself in a clean GS (i know, the first sign of a sick mind), so he of course, went down in a puddle. He unpacked and spent the next hour or so cleaning his gear and his bike. I guess he didnt understand we would be riding out the same way we came in, the next morning.?? Coyote Cals

Day 7 was pretty much a slog north on pavement, our destination being a hotel in Catavina about 300 miles north of San Ignacio. gas stop in Guerro Negro, the border between Baja and Baja Sud. Not sure of the purpose of the Harley monument, which is an army bike. There is an army compound right here, as well. Pemex gas stop at the border. Catavina is known for.... well something that we have no clue about. Strangely enough, there is a nice hotel located there that is a twin to one in San Ignacio. It is notorious for being the only gas supply along a stretch of nothing. And, that gas supply is usually a pickup truck with barrels of gas in the back. I had checked in with the fellow leading the club ride, our buddy Lu, who stated that a new PEMEX (state run) gas station had been constructed in Catavina. True to form for Lu, there was a gas station there, but it hadnt opened yet. So, we were back to finding the truck with gas. I passed on the gas service as my bike said i had enough range (barely) to reach the next known gas station in El Rosario, the next day. This would prove to be wrong <G>. The hotel in Catavina Oh, we hit a little rain coming in to town Bike count was now up to 16, inundating gas stations and restaurants and pretty much everywhere we we went <G>

Day 6 - continued. We had finally reached pavement again, and reached out to the BMW club riders who had been south to do whale watching - here is what that experience is like: (1) A Day With The Whales - YouTube We found out that three of them were in San Ignacio, so we headed south to meet up with them, spending the night at Rice and Beans. The day had been long, warm, dusty and extremely tiring so we made sure to rehydrate. This required 50 margaritas and ended with a large decrease in the Tequila supply in San Ignacio, if not in Baja! so much tequila was consumed that some even changed their pet allegiance.... The plaza in San Ignacio Ran across some fellow GS riders from Sonora, mainland Mexico. They had taken a ferry across from the mainland, and were headed north. Very clean GS's and they eyed our dirty beasts with a grin. Rested and hung over, we left San Ignacio the next day, Day 7. It was time to head north, back to the good ol US of A.

Guy on a motorcycle, so not @Bruce

Best part of being in Death Valley is that you feel like you are on another planet. With none of the day to day BS back home.

Got away with the FOGs of BMWCOSC to Death Valley. Nice temps in the 90s during the day, 60s a nite. Titus Canyon - fun dirt road, 33 miles long. Finishes into Death Valley thru narrow, winding section with steep walls hydrating by the pool in Furnace Creek

Road thru Gateway is a Butler Maps Gold Route - some fine, fine tarmac! I think each time thru there we've been "cautioned" by the locals on our speed ? Have you ever taken that dirt road cutoff along the Dolores River? Comes out near Bedrock

No cry babies, yep. We arent allowed near children....

oh, yes. and coming after 3 hrs on the road, already, made it even more fun. Well, the next day it seemed like we had had fun

Cow pie. or, his brain. same thing, really ?

Day 6 - the big one! We had basically reached the end of paved roads along the east coast, when we got to Bahia. The next stretch was all dirt, 160 miles worth, and no one had been on it in quite some time. Dennis had done it years ago, but things change in Baja. We knew that the rode south along the coast connected several little fishing villages, so we figured the road wouldnt be all that bad. Definitely not like the sand the day before. And, we were right. The start of it was some good gravel, a little thin sand in places, and awesome desert scenery. a Baja superhighway Mandatory FOG pee stop. 2nd FOG pee break A couple of hours of easy gravel and we reached the southerly end of the dirt stretch, near the village of San Francisquito. And, then...... SAND! The thinner stuff Resting after the 3rd drop. The sand lasted about 6 miles or so, then back to good gravel. oh, wait! with hidden sand sections mixed in for when you were just getting comfortable again! ? We eventually reached pavement and at least one guy was relieved.

So, let's see where was I? Oh, yes. We all made it to Bahia de Los Angeles, and found accommodations. I'll start off with a lodging picture, just to make you jelly. The hotel had 2 bed, 3 bed and 4 bed rooms available, so we spent about 15 mins doing Common Core Math in order to figure out the room combination that worked. I had it worked out, cause I is college edumacated. It fell apart because 15 type A personalities, you know. Given there was only one other room taken, we commandeered all the facilities and proceeded to cook dinner. (actually, the gracious host gave us his truck keys and said go shopping in town and you can use the outdoor kitchen (left in picture above). We ate well. with full bellies and beat riders, what was left to do? well, sitting around the fire, drinking and telling each other how great we were and how much the others sucked that day! You have to have really thick skins to ride with these idjits. Just keep in mind, however, they have your back. You will just hear about it afterwards ? Did i mention drinking was involved? Nothing better than arm wrassling on beat up wood tables. Plans were made for an early fishing trip, with our own boat fleet. Plans were made, but plans werent followed. Drinking late into the night and waking up after fighting sand and gravel the day before makes one revisit ambitious, drunk-induced activities. No one got up early enough to catch the boats. So, we headed off for a good gring-style breakfast, mixed with Mexican entrees. Then, we took a little ride around the village, ending up back at the hotel where more sitting and more drinking was called for. The trip itinerary had two days in this general area, so had no great need to head further south. The comfort of the beds, convenience of the cooking facilities, proximity of stores, etc, made us abandon the goal to camp along the beach. I wasnt that upset. Mexican covid masking. Dennis had heard enough "suggestions" so he hit up a little village swap meet and bought this for his bike. Guesses on what it means? 4 star eatery. Well, for Baja it is

Even the southern route is out? May is a good month, normally, its before school gets out and the parks and roads get crowded.

luckily, our only traffic jams are self-imposed. We tend to go away from crowds. However, the proliferation of side by sides out here in the west is making it harder and harder to get away.

The big girls do have a tendency to look for a soft landing, tho. Usually a human body. Our buddy Rob went over the side in Colorado a couple of years ago. Nothing happened to him until his loving steed caught up. Broken foot on that one!

Funny thing is that we were relieved, but felt less manly ?

We were to start camping on Day 4, but given the delayed starts every day, we didnt make it to our camping spot, stopping in Bahia de Los Angeles, instead. The most fun we have on a trip is bagging on the one with the most luggage. Bruce is right above, speed is your friend in sand. However, you will have to overcome your sphincter, which is constantly telling you to slow down! The red bike wasnt damaged much, cause sand is soft ? The valve cover work shown previously was due to some other tip over earlier in the trip. We had several great riders on this trip, with Matt (KTM rider) and Dennis probably being the top dogs. In the videos posted you an hear Dennis saying he went down 3 times. Matt never did go down. Bastard.

I need to figure out how to embed the videos again. but, in the meantime a quick video summary my brother put together... (Paste in the link you get from the SHARE button)

Day 4 continued: (sorry for the delay, but the sand section from this day was pretty entertaining, afterwards, and i've been trying to collect pics from the others who attempted it. in the meantime .....) So, while the saner riders of the group were busy finding that nights accommodations, the true AGALOS guys were taking a "shortcut" to the highway into Bahia de Los Angeles, located on the east coast of Baja. Small fishing village, as well as a ferry terminus. Being a shortcut, they showed up in stages, with the last to arrive only an hour or two later than the pavement peeps. some iPhone videos: First to arrive were the Louisiana boys on the small bikes. I'm guessing they only have swamps in Louisiana, and not much sand! Second up were Fernando and Chris. They had made it a few miles deeper into the shortcut before bailing back to the main road. Fernando was sporting a bandaid under his eye, and had decorated his jacket with red stuff that appeared to look just like blood. All due to getting up close and personal to a cactus! I guess you could call this truly a face plant? He was escorted out of the mess by Chris. The last 4 to show looked a little wiped out, but were still laughing. They had busted all the way thru the sand, but it wasnt easy. Especially for Gary: (Facebook banned this pic for being too graphic! ? They must have thought that was Gary's brain between his gloves. It was a cow pattie, much smarter than Gary) Our favorite prick .........and his cactus: Sand shit show!! Gary's little helper

Temps werent too bad, but it was really cool at night and first thing in the a.m.

You took ANOTHER knee, Bean?

Lockdown keeping you from getting your meds? They cant mail them to you? ?

ditto

You know what sailors use for birth control? Their personalities