alfalfa

Day 4 With Fernando now on board, the BNB group headed south to Gonzaga Bay to meet up with the Alfonsina's boys. Turns out they had a little fun with Gary's bike. Little on the road valve job, in the most cleanest of clean room conditions.... Some pics from the ride down - me and Chris At Alfonsilas, with the bikes packed, it was now time to pick the day's route (of course, that could have been done earlier so we would have more riding time. But....) The loose plan was to head south along the coast and find a little village to camp for the first time of the trip. Things changed. We HAD to go past Coco's Corner, a mainstay for the Baja 1000. Coco's Corner is one of the most infamous crossroads in Northern Baja (stolen from the interwebby). Coco lives in a little hut and sells beer and cokes to passersby. The hut is papered with panties from fans who have stopped in. (chicks are cool!) When we went by in 2016, the road past Coco's was the only way south and back to pavement. Since that time, the government has finished the paved highway, but has unfortunately cut Coco off from all the travel. There is a sign on the hwy calling it out, but fewer people seem to go by now. Fortunately, friends and volunteers are building him a new place closer to the pavement, keeping the tradition going. (someone in the group has a great group shot of us all with Coco that i will track down and add. In his 90s now, he has been in a wheelchair for years having had his legs removed below the knees due to diabetes) There was talk of dirt from Cocos to Bahia de Los Angeles, but Coco scared us off with talk of 13 miles of sand! Instead, we headed south out of Cocos, rather than return immediately to the pavement. There was a point further south on Hwy 1, where the dirt route came close to pavement. Our thought was to possibly head off there, cutting the corner down to Bahia. The area: Google Maps hasnt updated theirs in some time, so this shows the hwy still running by Coco's Bing Maps is a little more updated: (I've circled Coco's Corner. As you can see, they have left the poor guy way off the new highway. A blow up of his abode: We made it back to pavement on Hwy 5, then on to Hwy 1. Heading south, we reached the point where the original dirt track was close to pavement and half the group decided to chance it. Others figured a nice pavement ride down to the coast would be smarter and easier. Guess which choice was the best? Some pics from the pavement pussies, i mean smart guys

liners will do that to you ?

The two following it are pretty damned good!

Proof of life from Baja, Sea of Cortez side. I wasnt on Flames, so i hope @Bruce isnt too sad.

The one and only. A very experienced rider, but new to dirt. So, we did our best to vet him. If he comes back after being left in the dirt, then we know he is a keeper. Truth be told, Allen had been doing phenomenal all day, including 30 miles of El Compadre Trail, and all but 6 miles of the road into Mike's. He finally succumbed to sphincteritis sandus maximus. That is the tendency to soil oneself and let off the throttle at the sight of the smallish dirt particles known as sand.

you must hang around @Bruce a lot.....

Allen's in the house!!! But, did you die?

patience, mule. had to ride all weekend. That, and the pics are all on my work computer and i was going nowhere near that until today! ?

Fernando, the fellow on the right and owner of the DR is ride story by himself. He had a Multistrada at the beginning of this trip, but didnt make it to the border before the italian stallion started misbehaving. He left us, rode to San Diego (this is Friday) and tried to get it fixed. We wake up on Day 4 to a text that he was in Mexicali and wanted to know where to meet us. The text was old, as he was outside the gate of this complex by the time we went looking for him. He had ridden thru the night, crossing the border at 3am, and was raring to go! The Fernando/cactus story is coming shortly. Followed at the end by the Fernando "I know a short cut in TJ, at the border" debacle.

Day 3 - cont: Originally, the list of riders for this trips was somewhere around 8 or so. It exploded to 15, by the time we left. Because of that, all the hotel reservations i made had to be revised, or alternates found. In this particular case, Day 3 we were to spend at Alfonsina's, in Gonzaga Bay. Why? Because you wake up to this: or, this but, you have to stay here: Tough life, eh? Well, we had room for 8, so now to find room for the 7 tag alongs. That involved finding an AIRBNB in nearby (90 mins away) San Felipe. You know, the town mentioned above with the teenagers on their fones during lunch, and the dancing harley riders. Turns out, a BNB in San Felipe is an awesome choice, too!! We got this place: for $120/night. Sleeps 12! The views arent quite the same, but they aint half bad, either. We did have to suffer thru our own cooking tho. Alfonsina's serves meals like shrimp, stake, tacos, etc. Our BNB served PopTarts. (but, it cost us $30/nite each, versus $95!) End day 3. Next, we get to start getting really dirty. And, we get to meet the most famous Baja 1000 hero.....

in the works. wanted to finish the Baja story before they get here. Like herding freaking squirrels when we are all together!

Welcome! Dont let Bruce scare you off. Ever since he quit riding, he's lost his bite. (if he ever had one)

still stings, dont it

??

Isnt there always? ? (i usually take mine wherever i go)

The mill has been decommissioned and the owners hired an artist to come do that work.

we are known for our fight for freedoms ? Baja has in place measures to help with the virus - temp checks going into restaurants, etc. We were in the hinterlands, so spacing wasnt an issue. The wide open spaces in the west help us, plus we dont really listen to politicians. Here's hoping we are all soon able to roam again

We do that here! Place known as the Beta Factory, outside Las Vegas, just across the state line into California: And, the reason its called the "Beta Factory"? Named by the friend of a guy who thinks Betas are the only bike! Oh, and because the men's room is "adorned"

ahh, lady riders - swoon!!

Love France (and not because of my surname). We usually tour with Laurent, from Ride in Tours. I agree that the picture above of your bike and the trees is great!

My buddy from Connecticut, the one whose bike didnt get to Las Vegas in time so he rode Flames, was a little rough on the ol girl: Government job - 3 watching, one working On his way out the second time (first was to get Allen's bike to pavement), he missed a curve and tore off the side case. The mount was also messed up so roadside surgery was in order. Flames has about 130,000 miles on her now, has been upside down (completely) twice. Once on the way to Mike's from the south, another falling off a bridge during a competition, but she has never been treated so badly as this last trip ?. But, given that I ride with the best peeps, there is good news ahead about the ol girl! Next stop - San Felipe for lunch Given the late start due to the rescue efforts, we skipped the next offroad section that was to run thru a dry lake bed, coming out in San Felipe. Might have been a good thing, as we heard horror stories of silt. Probably worse than sand as it is slippery and you get to breathe it in the whole time. We slabbed it to San Felipe and had lunch by the beach: As you can see - AGALOS is like a bunch of teenagers, with their noses stuck in their smartphones! I chose to sit on the side with a beach view because - honeys!! (sorry, no pics) We ran into a group of hardcore bikers from Tijuana at a gas station north of San Felipe. They were headed home after a weekend in town, commandeering a hotel for their savage activities. Don't they look savage? Right, they werent. They were fun loving and we shared riding stories with a couple of the guys, while the ladies danced in the parking lot. We did see a BMW in the bunch, which they said they made ride in the back. I asked if that was to clean up the oil leaks and they said "no, to pickup the dropped parts" ? The guy on the Victory was a Prospect. The leader told me that he rode so much that he hadnt been able to put in his time as a newbie to become a full member.

Day 3 - "But, did you die?" Day 3 began with us tracking down transport for Allen back to the highway, plus recovery of his motorcycle (which we had hidden in the weeds about 6 miles from Mike's). Fortunately, there was a fellow from Ensenada with his pre-runner truck, who graciously agreed to our request to tack Allen to pavement. (one of the greatest things about Baja is the people! We've had cause to be rescued 3 times now, out of 3 trips ?, and not once has anyone not volunteered to assist. and, without pay, too!) Now, the only issue was for the AGALOS brain trust to figure out the gyrations required to get two bikes out, with only one rider. Hector (our saviour) solved that by saying he would bring a rider back from the pavement after dropping off Allen. So, we all mounted up and headed back north, with 4 guys headed over to the abandoned bike. Mike's Sky Ranch shots: 3 beds, 4 riders. someone got the floor. Bruce will agree - Fresh balls are the cat's meow Mike's Sky Ranch: Dining room Kind of an oasis Mike's was full due to a whole passle of side by sides. These guys probably own boats, too Hector: Not only did Hector not accept our money after making 3 runs between Mike's and the Hwy, he followed Allen back to Ensenada to make sure he had no lingering issues. (Allen is still reporting pain in his side due to the smashing of ribs, but fortunately he no longer pisses blood. So, no, Allen Dye didnt die!)

Yes, good ol sand. you love to hate it. Sadly, two of our riders are experienced enough that they usually blast thru it at three times the speed of the rest of us. But, they aint human. The guy on my KTM has sooo much offroad experience, that when he and I were side by side in the sand section, trying to rescue Allen above, he would look at me and wheelie thru the tough stuff ?

Patience, mule. I'm trying to get pics and vids from the others ?

At the lunch stop, we took over the little cafe. I think they appreciated the large crowd, but they got worked! Our friendly wait staff. After the meal, the normal tab gyrations started happening - who had what, etc, etc. We finally told them to just add everything together and we would divide by the number of people. After 15 mins of adding, etc, the total came to 600 pesos. Before the high level math started (each person owes xx pesos), i figured that i would just cover the $30 (US) tab and let the poor help recover. I mean, really, $2 (US) per person for some excellent tacos, burritos, cokes, etc! Back on pavement, we continued SE'ly along Hwy 3, to Lazaro Cardenas, where we stocked up on Tequila, some snacks, and water before heading off into the hills in search of Mike's Sky Ranch. Mike's is at altitude, in one of Baja's park areas. It is famous as being a stop on the Baja 1000, either during the race, or for the crews pre-running the course before the race. There is electricity (which they shut off around 9), food and rooms. Meals are served family style and included in the room price. But, you have to get there. With a setting sun and the silt and sand, it was hard riding out of Cardenas. We really didnt have any incidents until we were about 6 miles from Mike's, when Allen dumped his bike in the sand. Given how well he had done all day, i figured he must have been getting tired and in a little pain from the mud puddle drop. I was following behind him, sweeping, when i saw him lose his front wheel in the sand. (Allen waiting for the stars to rise, or leave his eyesight) He must have landed hard on an arm, or something as the pain kept him from getting up from about 15 minutes or so. Adam really wasnt waiting impatiently ? We got him up and moving again, but he must of run out of confidence, as he kept losing it in the sand (speed is your friend). Some others came back and we worked at making progress towards Mike's but eventually the pain and sand became too much. We hid his bike and Allen hopped on the back of Matt's bike and rode the 6 miles into Mike's. One good thing about arriving late, is the sunset....