Baja Husky Ride Report

Thought I would get this started while it was still fresh in my head. Everyone else...lets hear the stories from your perspective.

Thursday night:
Dave and my Dad showed up at my house in Temecula around 5:00 PM. We unloaded the stuff that my Dad and Dave brought and added it to the pile of my stuff in my garage. We then loaded up all the stuff into my truck and were surprised that everything we wanted to bring fit without any issues. We ate dinner, watched some TV and went to sleep. At least I tried to sleep, but I was just too excited, so I put on Timerider (Thanks StrokerAce) and that made me knock out in about 20 minutes :P

Friday:
I woke up around 6:30 to find my Dad had already gone to Starbucks and brought us coffee. We took showers and jumped in the car and were on our way around 7AM. 2 hours 30 minutes later we hit Calexico, got some gas, and crossed the border. We hit San Felipe around 12 and first stop was to grab some fish tacos and Dos Equis. Felt great to be in Mexico.

We swung buy the El Cortez Hotel, and saw that a truck and 2 bikes from Ontario Canada were already there. Found out later that they were Armin (Hammer) and Jami. We headed out from there and drove 40 minutes south along the beach to go and see our friend, Hank. He is retired down there and he and his wife live on the beach. We kicked it with him for about an hour, gave him some steaks and we exchanged stories, and then we headed back to El Cortez.

When we got there, a bunch of people were showing up. We spent some time meeting everyone, and inspecting the different stuff on everyone’s bikes. We hung out at the bar, and had a few beers and tequila shots. Waited for the NW group to show up along with Mike. They showed up a bit after dark.

Dinner was in the main dining room of the El Cortez, and George had arranged a delicious dinner. We all sat around and began bench racing. Telling various stories about riding and the like. After everyone had some food in them George and Mike went over what the plan for Saturday was, and how everything down in Baja works, etc. Plan was to wake up around 5:30, suit up, and grab some breakfast. Dean gave away Café Husky stickers and Armin gave everyone some birchen Husky beer cozies. Thanks again guys! Every one pretty much hit the sack after that.


Saturday:
Woke up around 5:30. Went and grabbed some breakfast in the main dining room. After getting some protein and carbs in me, I suited up and made sure everything for me was in order for the day’s ride (bike, equipment, water etc.)

We had a total of 27 people show up in this group. 3 of them were chaise drives, 1 riding a KTM, 1 riding a Husaberg, 1 riding a DRZ400, and 21 Husky Riders! It was a BIG group. So getting everyone together and planning with the chase trucks in the morning provided to be a bit time consuming, but we were on our way around 7:15. We jumped on dirt power line road right away and began cruising at a pretty good pace.

I had a helmet headset that was in contact with the chase trucks on me while riding. Since the power line road parallel’s the pavement that the chase trucks were on, I could hear them on the radio saying how they could see the long line of dust that the line of 24 bikes was kicking up. I am just sorry for the last guy in that our group. That must have sucked with all the dust!

The road soon turned into Old Puertecitos road. That is the road that is so famous in all the Baja races as having the largest whoops and terrible rocks. Everyone in the Baja racing community bitches about the San Felipe Whoops. George decided to turn out of them before it got really nasty. At 8:15 we stopped at a turn to head toward the pavement, and some of the guys were already bitching about the whoops, asking how much more and how long. I could tell that not all of them were having fun, especially the guys on the big bikes. Anyway, I think it was good that everyone got a bit of a taste of what people mean by the famous San Felipe whoops.

Then next section heading toward the paved road was a great sand wash section. I know at least a few of the guys and I had a blast and really loved that windy sandy section. I also know that some of the guys DID NOT (more about that later). We hit Pavement, and decided that since we got a bit of a late start, we would take pavement the rest of the way to Purtacetos. We made sure that to leap frog to ensure no one went the wrong way. So pavement it was for the next 30 miles into Puertecitos.

We got to Puertecitos at 9:00. The chase trucks were there and we all filled up with gas, and realized that there were 5 riders missing. We had confirmation that 3 of them had made it to the pavement, but no one knew what happened to them. Among them was Mike, so we decided to wait a bit. George also had some issues with his battery screaming and overheating, but he just disconnected it and decided to worry about it later. We waited there for about 45 minutes, and then decided to send one chase truck back to find them. The other truck carrying gas would follow us, and I would the truck that went back on the sat phone to see what happened to the riders, and where they were. Just as the truck was about to take off, all of the missing riders showed up. It seems that they had a bit of issues in the sand, but thankfully Mike was able to get them out and moving. They all got gas, and we got moving again by 10:00.

Since we had lost a lot of time in the morning, we pretty much had to take the main road to lunch. This was a bit of a bummer for me, but at least it wasn’t a paved road, which would have been even more boring. I have been on this main road a dew times in the past, but both George and Mike agree that it has never been this rocky and cut up. All the dirt, dust, and sand have been blown away, just making the pass through the 3 Sisters (3 mountains’s that the road travels through) pretty bad for bikes, and even worse for trucks.

I was up front with George most of the time, but I heard WoodsChick got a nail in her tire along this section. Her husband was up front with us, and he was conveniently carrying the spare tubes and tire irons. That’ll show him not to leave her in the dust. We made it to the lunch spot at Alfonsina (Gonzaga Bay) around 12:00. They fired up a delicious fried shrimp and fish lunch for us. We all ate and rested, and bitched about the condition of the road, but were just having a great time and happy to be there.

I called the chase trucks on the sat phone, and they were not going to make it for quite a while due to the crappy condition of the road so we all suited back up, got gas at the pemex, and headed to our next stop at Coco’s Corner. We left the Pemex at Gonzaga bay around 2:00.

The next section was much better. Although we were still on the road, there was a ton of fun trails that ran parrallel to the road, and were much smoother and had some nice sweeping turns, as well as a couple jumps to get air off of. It was MUCH more fun that the road through the 3 sisters.

We arrived at Coco’s around 2:30 and everyone signed his book. It’s been a LONG time since he’s seen that many husky’s and I don’t think there have ever been that many Husky’s all there at the same time. George and Coco go way back and Coco told us a few good stories. I called the chase trucks and they weren’t even at the Pemex in Gonzaga, so we just told them we would meet them at the hotel in the Bay of LA.

We left Coco’s around 3 and split into 2 groups. There were 6 riders that went in the A group and the rest took the road around with Mike. Coco warned the A group that there was a lot of water, and it was really muddy up the stream we were going to take, so anyone coming should be absolutely sure of their ability.

It was an absolute blast! Some of the best riding on this whole trip, hands down. We were running up a creek and wheeling over puddles, and really just tearing it up this canyon. We came across a really deep crossing that didn’t seem to have any way around, and George was the first to hit it. He hit the throttle and let her rip. About 5 feet into the crossing, his front tire just sunk, and he tried to save it and put his foot down, but it was just too deep. George and his bike went for a nice swim in the creek. The top of his helmet was the only thing that didn’t go under.

We ran in and helped him get his bike out, and then went about finding another route through the crossing. We decided that it was best to just hammer it across the smallest section, and then just ride through the muck and weeds on the other side. As long as you stayed on the throttle you’d make it. We all made it without any problems.

We set about draining the water out of George’s exhaust, wringing out the air filter, draining the float bowl, and pulling the plug. As soon as we got all this straightened out, the bike fired right up, second kick and we were on our way. We weren’t stopped for more than 25 minutes.

The next section was also a blast. We met the rest of the group as we came out of the wash at about 4:30. We took the pavement (Mex1) to Parador Punta Prieta (where the turn off to Bay of LA) Since we got there at about 5:00, we had to take the pavement (about 40 miles) into the Bay of LA.

We got to the Hotel at about 5:40. It was a good day and a good ride. We undressed, I called the chase trucks that were just about an hour behind us, and grabbed a beer. Turns out that the hotel was not as nice as the one in San Felipe (this was to be expected) but there were some issues with water pressure and temperature, but that’s Mexico, you never know what you’re going to get. Dinner was delicious. I had the fish and it was some of the best fish I have eaten. A few beers at the bar and a call home to the girlfriend to wish her a happy Valentine’s Day, and I was hitting the sack. The plan was to wake up around 6:30 and head out after breakfast.

Stay tuned… more to come.

Please, please, tell me that someone had a helmet cam

Should be some pictures when I came up for air I think I saw some flashes going off, Was Cold and tasted really BAD. Just hope the Tequila killed the bad stuff. Later George

Photo's here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=77829&id=574651950&l=05a5a

And for those of you who were on the trip, I have uploaded all the photo's I got off of 8 camera's on Sunday night to a server. They are zipped up to compress them, but it is still a 2.4GB download, so it'd be best to let it go over night. Just PM me and I can send you the link and user name/pass.

Thanks,
Blake

Ya, I'm glad my SPOT worked. I have only used it once before this trip, and I'm glad to see you all could track us.

Great pics, quick I need more, this is the only way for me to enjoy this living vicariously through you guys

Not me! ask Coffee I didn't even touch the brakes, he sure wanted me to as he pushed his alot on the other side of the truck. Couldn't get him to hang out side window to vid the riders as we came up on them so he took them thru the windshield. At that time knew it would be to no avail to ask Coffee to hang out the window and see how high off the ground the front wheel on his side of the truck was in the corners. Later George

Brakes.......... all they do is add weight and slow you down.........

...And the rest!

Sunday:
Woke up at 5:30 and walked out to a beautiful bright sunny morning along the Sea of Cortez. There was some miscommunication with the hotel as of to when we were going to have breakfast, so Mike just took everyone down the street to eat. I had a power bar and banana, and got ready. When they all got back from breakfast, we lined up all the bikes and took a bunch of photos of all the Husky’s in the Bay of LA. It was a sweet sight to see. I’m not sure there have ever been that many Husky’s in the Bay of LA. If there have been, it’s been a LONG time.

We jumped on the bikes and hit the pavement for about 30 miles. We then jumped on part of the Baja 100 course, and that was some AWESOM riding. It is definitely one of my favorite spots to ride in Baja.

I volunteered to be sweep for this section, and I soon came up on a rider who was down. Jamie got him and his bike up, but his ankle was really hurt. I told everyone to go on ahead and I would wait with him, and let him rest. He was well enough to ride the last 6 miles to the road where we would meet up with the chase trucks, so I got him back on his bike, and let him take off. I stopped and waited to give him a head start, and then would hammer it, and catch back up to him. I did this about 3 times and was having so much fun!

There were some huge whoops that I was hammering at about 50 MPH and just having the time of my life when all of a sudden my bike got really loud. I immediately shut it off and jumped off to see what the issue was and saw no muffler. I looked behind me and about 30 feet away it was lying on the ground. I ran back and grabbed it and immediately saw that the brackets had broken off, and it looked like my tire had eaten it a bit. Luckily whenever I ride in Baja I come prepared, so I pulled out some wire and began to wire it back up. Since I was the last rider I radiod the chase trucks and let them know what happened. All the other riders made it there safely, and were waiting for me. I got it wired up good enough to limp to the chase trucks, luckily only a mile away.

When I got there, George took one look at it, and knew exactly what to do. He grabbed the drill that I packed in my chase truck and drilled 2 new holes in what was left of the brackets. He bent them out a bit, and we spaced the exhaust away with a bunch of washers. We buttoned my bike back up and I was off for another fun section.

This next section was the same wash we had rode the day before, except backwards. We knew what it was going to be like, so a few more riders came along. I was the last one to get going and decided to try to catch up with the lead rider. It was really fun trying to catch people. I felt like I was back racing Baja. It was just as awesome as the day before, except for when I decided to take a soil sample of the wash. I was riding in a pretty open section of the wash, and I noticed a football sized rock in the middle of the road, and for some reason, I could not take my eyes off of it. My front tire hit it and because it was wet and the rock was loose, instantly slid my tire off and put me down hard. I was going about 40-50 mph and the fall knocked the wind out of me. I laid there trying desperately to breathe, and Dave (fitness2go) came up, turned off my bike, and asked if I was OK, and all I could say was “WIND…KNOCKED…OUT” and he instantly understood. I laid there for a minute longer, wiggled my fingers and toes, and felt fine so I got up to inspect the damage on my bike. Only 2 things damaged, my stock throttle tube which I will be replacing by one from George at Up-Tite, and my GPS unit. Other than that, I am fine, and all my gear protected me head to toe.

I jumped back on my bike, and rode to Coco’s where we met up with the trucks. I gave my Dad the GPS and started heading down the road to Alfonsina for lunch. When I got to Gonzaga there were a few other riders at the Pemex, so I got some gas and then went to the restaurant to have a beer and some lunch.

My buddy Dave who was driving my chase truck, swapped trucks to go for a ride with George in Mike’s chase truck for the section between Coco’s and Gonzaga Bay. He came into Alfonsina with a gigantic grin on his face and told me that Gorge drives like a bat of hell. I told him, that is what you’ll get when you jump in a truck like that with a trophy truck driver behind the wheel. They were only a few minutes behind the riders. Of course my Dad in my truck showed up about 30 minutes later.

We ate, drank, and since everyone pretty much knew the way back over the 3 sisters to Purtacetos they headed back a few at a time as to avoid the dust. On the way back Hammer’s GPS unit came off the bars and he didn’t notice it. When I pulled up to him, he was a bit bummed about losing it. Turns out that when Dave and my Dad were driving back in the chase truck, they came across a bicyclist on the dirt road who was riding to Cabo. They spent a few minutes talking to him and he said hey, did someone in your group drop this, and held up a GPS. Needless to say Hammer was ecstatic to get that back.

When we hit Purtacetos Mike tried to take us to see the hot springs, but the locals there wouldn’t let us pass. Not sure what the issue was and it would have been nice to show everyone, but not that big of a deal that we missed out. We waited about 30 – 45 minutes for George to show up in the chase truck, and he gave some of the guy’s gas. Coffee was able to jump on a bike and ride the pavement back into San Felipe, so at least he got on a bike once this trip. He was accompanied by Mike and a couple of others.

I took a group of 8 along the beach towards San Felipe. You can literally ride the beach a couple miles north of Purtacetos right up the beach in front of El Cortez hotel. We didn’t make it that far because Dave(fitness2go) and I were having overheating issues with our bikes, and the sun was setting. We decided to hit the pavement and ride that the rest of the way in.

When we got back, it was nice to get a room and take a shower that actually was HOT and had pressure. Mike was already there with the chase truck. My Dad and Dave were about 1 hour behind. When they rolled in, my dad had a bunch of Italian sausages and he started grilling them up while a few of us went into town and hit up a bar with some micro brews. They were playing some Baja videos on the TV and that was fun for everyone to see right after they experienced it firsthand.
We went back to the Hotel and ate grilled Italian sausages and drank beer and Tequila. I was up with a few others for a while just bench racing and shooting the shit. The last of us decided we better get some sleep around 11:30 – 12:00.

Monday:
I woke up around 8 and we started packing. We made sure everyone got all their stuff out of my chase truck, and began packing it up for the drive home. We all said our goodbyes, and it was a long and tiring drive for some, and a short and tiring drive for others.


All in all I would have to say that this was an extremely successful trip. There were no major injuries, and no major breakdowns. In retrospect I don’t think Mike and George will be planning a ride that has to cover so many miles (425 Round trip!) with such a big group (24 riders). But from the sound of everyone talking on Sunday night, there will be A LOT of guys coming back on the next Baja Husky trip! I Hope to see all of you again and hopefully some new faces on the next ride.

-Blake