Sunrise at the El Cortez Saturday morning... Ready to go... Me getting dusted by Stroker Ace (Bob.) It certainly wouldn't be the last time, that's for sure... This is Clete the IronMan (can't remember his username?) He rode his bike down to San Felipe from somewhere in SoCal, did 200 miles each day, then packed up and rode home Monday morning... We all met up at the Pemex station and then headed down the sandy road. About 3 minutes into it I'm thinking "Oh no, what have I done? I've got how many miles to go??" I've ridden my fair share of sand before, and it's usually not a problem at all, but I'm not usually on a +300lb bike with fat 17" wheels, either But it was my only Husky, so... My front end wanted to wander a little more than a regular dirt wheel/tire, but other than that it was pretty ok. I had no issues at all in the sandy whoops, and even managed to pass a few riders during the sandy little rodeo. We even came upon some rocky sections so I was starting to feel a little more at home. I know rocks...I can do rocks...even on the 610 We stopped to help a downed rider, and when Eric helped him pick up his bike his own behemoth KTM LC4 640 Enduro fell over and he had to pick it up himself. Nice guys really do finish last, I guess Anyway, I'm competing hard in the San Felipe Rodeo there, and wondering if I'm going to get me one of them big ol' Cowgirl belt buckles if I can stay on another 8 seconds, when out of the corner of my eye I spot two riders smoothly gliding by to my left. WTF? They weren't bobbing and weaving, they weren't bucking to and fro, and they probably weren't thinking to themselves "When is this gonna end?" I wanted to be where they were so I looked for a break in the foliage, paddled my way through the sandy berm-like thing there and arrived at the crossroads fresh and happy...and in one piece. Woo-hoo! Here we are at the end of the whoops, and at the beginning of the sooper-dooper fun twisty sandy section! A few riders coming out of the sandy whoops... I think this one is Flying Trash Can... Dig that cloud cover! We had perfect conditions for riding, that's for sure. Cool, a slight breeze to blow the dust away, and no shadows or sun in our eyes. I sure wish I'd gotten a few photos of the whoops, and I'm really bummed I didn't get any photos of the sweet ribbon of sand that came afterwards. Hopefully someone did. It wasn't a wash, really, it was more of a narrow road that wound through the trees, nothing but deep sand turning this way and that. Huge fun, and a wild ride for sure! I heard rumours that I provided some entertainment for a few riders behind me, all the while giving them a nice wide swath of smooth sand to ride I didn't hit the ground, and I had a grand time muscling my 610 through that section (or was it the other way around? Sometimes it's hard to tell...) Although if we'd had 10 more miles of it I might be singing a different tune... Puertocitos... Pretty scene in the Sea of Cortez... I'd gotten a flat somewhere in this section, and I had my tube, but Eric had all the flat-fixing stuff. Of course, my fanny pack with all my flat-fixing stuff was tucked away securely in my gear bag, which was in the chase truck. After shooting some generously-offered Fix-A-Flat in there, I proceeded down the road til I came to this lovely spot...still sporting a flat tire... We'd just ridden the rockiest road known to man, yet this is what brought me down... Eric came back a few minutes later and we were back in business within 15 minutes or so. I must say, it was a lovely spot to be incapacitated. This stand is more stable than the one at home in our garage... Somewhere along this stretch Stroker Ace came upon me and instead of blowing by me at warp speed like he'd been doing prior, he stuck with me and we rode together side-by-side for quite awhile. It was fun, and I appreciated the company as there was no one in front of me for quite a ways and no one behind me for quite a ways. He did eventually end up dusting me, but this time he didn't use the pretty red feather duster. We made it to Alfonsina's a little late. Beware the faucet there, it came off twice in my hands and squirted water all down my pants... More photos tomorrow, I gotta go to bed now. G'night! SleepyChick
Thanks a bunch for the ride reports and pics guys, and woods chick. I'm loving all the pics. Glad all made it home safely.
Awesome Ride A huge thanks to George for introducing me to the Husky family and putting these rides together with Mike. Also a big thanks to Scott, Coffee and Dave for supporting the riders. This was my second ride, each ride completly different but totally awsome in their own ways. Great riding, great food and most of all awesome fellowship with an awesome group of people. I am looking forward to catching all the rides in the future. Thanks again, Jim
Alfonsina's on Saturday More photos This is the scene at Alfonsina's on Saturday... Nick, Jamie, Armin and Jules take in the view... The guy on the far right worked for the Motorcycle Industry Council. He interviewed me in Puertocitos. Lucky me... You'll probably see about a thousand more shots just like this from everyone else... Greg (Squid's Leap) and Matt (SavageKx250) aka The Twins... CafeHusky now lives on in Baja lore... If you look closely, you'll see David (fitness2go) in the background actually stitting still for a change. Well, ok, he was lying down, but still... The tacos, fried seafood, tortillas and fixin's were incredibly tasty... The gang on the beach... WoodsChick
Mike, Eric and Brett (Lairpost) at Coco's Corner... I brought treats for Cocie, Coco's cat. I felt bad for him that he was there for 7 months alone while Coco was in the hospital... This is Coc, Coco's other cat... George and Coco. Did you know Coco used to babysit George's kids 30 years ago? Coco's Corner... Necessita mas gasolina... $4 a gallon... Jules at the Loncheria... Palmer84One... Jamie and Armin (Hammer)... Gregg (IonEater)... IonEater followed by Jamie, I think... Brett (Lairpost)... JimB, before he became known as Half-Ass... The deserts were stunningly beautiful... What? Another photo of WoodsChick's bike? Imagine that... Palmer84One and Mike Kay... WoodsChick
That calico that you are feeding a tidbit to reminds me of my old calico I had when I was a teenager. I'm such a cat lover.
Me, too. My heart `bout broke in two when I heard the cats were left there alone to fend for themselves when Coco was in the hospital. I decided I would bring them some treats, since I couldn't actually carry a big ol' bag of cat food with me. If I'd thought about it a little more, I'd have tossed a 20lb bag onto the chase truck and been done with it. One thing is for sure, though: those cats are very well-fed, be it cat food from a bag or desert varmints. WoodsChick
I know! He looks like the Unabomber or something, doesn't he? Try getting over the border with that thing strapped onto your back. WoodsChick
Ok, So as you have seen there are allot of pictures that will be the same (kind of) and different perspectives of the ride. So here are a few more. A small mucky water crossing. After watching Mike cross the creek in numerous places getting covered in slime and muck I was looking for the right spot to cross and wash my bike at the same time. No sooner did I cross to get my camera out I was followed by the rest. They must have liked the idea. I think the photos are backwards but this was all I caught on film after I paved the way. George and Bob (StrokerAce) have a thing going on with messing with each other, so I distracted George for Bob so he could hang the new Uptite product of bar end tassels on George's bike. I even got George to pose for a picture before he noticed the deed was done. More to come. Stay tuned.
Hey now, I was not about to mooch gas from no one. So I took 4 MSR bottles and a Clorox gallon. Did it slow me down? I think not.
Sunday we road up the highway from the Bay of LA a little to get on the Baja 1000 course I hit the pavement to pass all the pack (well allot of) to get them coming up the road were we turned off.
These are the two I took before taking of after everyone. Blake was running sweep for little and caught up to me so we road a little side by side until he just vanished. The youth man, to be young again. Enjoy, I have more, but that's it for now, hopefully some one will flavor the pot.
Thanks for the water crossing shots and the others too. I'm having fun being an armchair adventurer, right now.
