I have been carrying a SPOT for over a year. I will have it with me on this trip. You can track me on my trips here: http://bcvisin.com I recommend that at least 1 person in each group carry one while riding. They are fairly inexpensive, and a good back up safety device where there is no cell coverage (most of Baja). No one knows how well pressing the 911 button in Baja would work, but I know FOR SURE that in the States, you get almost immediate response. There is a good thread detailing the use of SPOT devices in Baja by JohnnyAirtime over on TT: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=712515&highlight=spot Also, in that thread, there is a post showing how someone activated the SPOT accidentally in the US and cops where there shortly after: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7492101#post7492101 Also, they just came out with a new, smaller, better device that looks and works great! Check it out. http://findmespot.com/en/ Besides the fact that it is a good safety idea, everyone likes the fact that they can see where I am and if I'm okay. Good for family and friends back home. -Blake
SPOT works great. I've tested it on rides and while over at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite Nat. Park I looked at the monthly "incident' report from the local Rangers and they did 4 Search and Rescues based on SPOT reports. That's just one area of Yosemite and one month. I'll loan mine to the group if you need it and supply the code stuff to test and make sure it works before you leave.
A few things Start time on the 27th Regarding the 0600 start on the 27th: is this on the motos, wheels up, etc? Meeting time? I ask because I'm returning to LA from Atlanta on the 26th and need to figure out the where, when, and how of my truck + bike. If 0600 is a hard wheels up time, then I'm looking at driving my truck and bike to San Diego and riding across the border at Tecate and to RSV at night...would like some company on that one George, what time are you rolling from your shop on the 26th? Radio Any recommendations for a radio? Make and model would be great. Spot Got one, the original model (user interface sux), HIGHLY recommend you bring your own. Sat Phone Anybody got a sat phone? Anyone interested in splitting the cost of a rental? No idea how much it would be but I'll front it regardless.
Introduction Sorry, Mike asked me to introduce myself Rich Strauss, Monrovia, CA, about 10 miles east of Pasadena. 41yo, self-employed. I coach a team of Ironman triathletes, Endurance Nation. Fortunate to have tons of time to ride, so this Baja trip will come after 3 days in Bishop this weekend and LA-Barstow-Vegas over Thanksgiving. Looking forward to it!!
Rich, That's great! Glad to have you along. My brother is racing the Ironman in Tempe Arizona this November. He has been training for about 2 years. He just recently raced the Las Vegas Triathlon and placed 2nd overall: http://www.mountainmanevents.com/newresults/09lvtho.htm As far as sat phones are concerned, I am renting 2, possibly 3 for this trip. One of the phones will be always on in the truck (external magnet antenna on the roof) in case we need to get in contact with the truck. I will carry the other one on me. I am possibly thinking about getting a 3rd so when we split into A and B groups one can be with each group. Cost will be ~ $40 - 50/per week/per phone + $20 magnet mount for truck. Calls will be $2 per minute, and they will charge me for minutes after they are returned. So we are looking at a little over $100 a phone for the 2 weeks. I was already getting 2, but if people are willing to chip in, I would like to get 3. What do you all think? -Blake
Cool! Tell your brother to download this: https://www.box.net/shared/45yvi29k7h, ebook and some other stuff on how to race Ironman. Lots of other free stuff on my site as well. Have him check it out. I'll be at the race with my team and I do a free pre-race talk at every race, have about 100 athletes show up. Friday, 10am near the swim start area. I've ridden motorcycle support for the race a couple times on my VStrom. Sat Phone: In, definitely.
I love electronics, especially radios. I have the Baja Designs headsets with the Yaesu VX-170. Works on all race bands with one small modification to it (cutting a circuit): http://blog.fourherrings.com/2009/03/26/yaesu-vx170-mod/ I know it's best to get antenna's that are tuned to the specific frequency you use them on, but I just use the stockers for all the freq's. They don't have the best distance when not close to the freq's that the antenna's were tuned for. There is a lot of good info over on TT here: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=476283&highlight=radios
Mike: Yossarian (P.J.) and I will not be riding back north in the truck. I have booked passage on the big 'ole jet airliner (apologies to Steve Miller) from Cabo to LAX on the 7th for a grand total of $138.60 -read 'em & weap, boys. P.J. will be on same flight. Also, booked the Bahia for 6 nights, $336.06 total (NON-refundable) And last but certainly not least, booked the wife's flight from Charlotte, NC to Cabo for Jan 1st., $342.83 r/t total. Oww! Expensive day. I guess that means I'm officially "in".
Confirming I'm booked on the same flight as BentAero. My wife is checking on Cabo accomodations & will get those set up. I'm in for helping $-wise for the satellite phones. BentAero reminded me that arranging liability insurance in Mexico is a needed thing.
I'll be renting an Iridium for 1 mo given that I'll be riding back up, going to want it for my return ride anyway. I am on the lookout for a decent place to rent from in the OC area though. Any hot tips would be appreciated. As far as contributions, not needed, unless you intend on making non-emergency calls, then yeah. kick down bitches . I'll have my stop watch out, timing your calls I intend on swapping out my SIM card on my GSM based cell phone to a local prepaid sim, then I'll just wait til I get into a cellular area to make any non-"oh shit" calls. I'll try to get the info out to everyone for the free texting via the Iridium web site before hand that way you can give the info to your families in case there is an emergency back home you'll have the text waiting for you when we stop. Is the 9555 that much better than the 9505A? It's roughly $300/mo rather than $200/mo from what I've seen.
Thanks guys for posting up such great info! VERY HELPFULL. To answer some questions: 1) Ride starts 6 am with an orientation meeting in the restaurant of Rancho Santa Veronica. Meeting will include group breakfast, coffee, etc. that George and I will set up. We will all get to talk to the chase team too. Bags will be transfered into chase truck. I hope to pull out of there, bikes fired up and off we go around 6:45-7am or so. If it snowed the night before, then yeah we might have to deal with that. Chance of snow about 20% based on other rides ive done out of there that time of year! So bring warm stuff. I have heated grips and a plug for my heated vest, and a fairing....good news is that it will warm up quickly as we go south. But the first day will be cold. 2) No need to reserve rooms other than in Cabo. George and I will deal with the other hotels.... In some cases it will mean getting rooms reserved ahead of time, in other cases we will just get a room when we show up. Some places are too remote to contact ahead of time, but they dont sell out, so its ok. Also--depending on the weather we may need to change the course (flash floods) and so we need a bit of flexibility. Same too if someone gets hurt or lost or serious breakdown. 3) Route Its subject to change depending on the chase trucks' needs, the weather (flash floods) and other concerns. Most of this is on old Baja 1000 routes. Tecate San Felipe Bay of LA San Ignacio Loreto Ciudad Constitution or La Paz Cabo San Lucas 4) I keep saying this is a 7 day 1000 miles ride....but its actually more like 1250 miles. Just sayin' 5) Insurance. For trucks and for bikes liability insurance is available at the border. I have used Oscar Padilla Mexican Insurance with good results in the past. They even payed to have my broken truck window replaced, after i got home. Baja Bound Insurace is another one. Instant Mexican Insurance another one. Normally one gets insurace at the border, on the US side. We can get it at the Tecate border crossing on the US side at the gas station. Just stop and fill out the papers. For my chase truck I will get insurance for the F350 and pay for it from the $100 everyone is kicking in. For my bike i have never gotten it, nor ever been asked for it. But thats just me. I know baja, meaning i dont crash oftern, dont run into things, am very aware of my surroundings. Its up to you, but on the whole i would recommend getting it. I will say this: If you cause damage to a Mexican's truck or donkey or whatever way out on some dirt road somewhere, they are gonna want to settle right there and then. Meaning you wip out some cash, and negotiate whats fair to pay for the radiator you just smashed or the donkey you ran over. Thats just how its done. They wont care about your insurance papers, at all. If you injure or kill someone with your bike or are in a big accident in the towns or on the highway, then yes the cops will want to see your papers, and even with insurance you will be locked up in jail for 1-2 days while they work it all out. I HAVE bailed a dirt biker out of jail for hitting a pedestrain. Meaning it does happen, but not often. Guy was drunk, stepped backwards into the dirt bike, traveling at 10mph in a town. Not his fault, but bike was impounded and he spent night in jail. He had to pay for the drunks broken arm. Luckily he had insurance, and they came thru big time and helped out. So there ya go, its very very rare, but does happen. 5) Radios: There are three main brands of VHF radios that dirt bikers use. All are 5 or 6 watts, and have a usefull range of just a few miles, less in tight canyons. But they are really really nice in a group. Especailly for those "watch out cattle on the road" or "watch out a ranchers truck coming your way around the blind curve" The link to Johnnieairtime's discussion on radios is helpfull. I am no techy and i will defer to Blake and Johnieairtime. Let me just say: Most racers use ICOM radios. They are super beefy. Other good brands are Kenwood and Yeuasu. You want: VHF, 5 or 6 watt. You want external jack for push to talk. You want to be able to change frequencies for your rides. Meaning a tuner. (some race radios have no tuner, just pre-programmed channels-great for racing, not so good if you show up for a future ride and everyone is using a non-pre programmed frequency) So along with your radio, you will need a dirt bike remote mic and push to talk. The remote push to talk and mic is available from: Baja Designs or PCI race radios. Overall i prefer the Baja Designs units. They are super super beefy. But the PCI unit is also very good, i own both. 6) Dont forget those tie downs! 7) I need your shirt size, and emergency contact info. Please PM me with it. 8) Rooms at the Hotel Bahia are often double occupancy, so if you want to buddy up, you can save some money. 9) Sat. Phones--nice going guys, really helpfull that you guys are taking initiative.. THANKS!. I have the older Irridium, and its a bit bulky for dirt biking. I recomend smaller models to slip in your camelback. I will have mine with me. Its always nice to have. Wrap them in a sock or something in the camelback. They get scratched up. 10) Chase trucks will all have 20-50 watt radios, just FYI. 11) SPOT. I dont know much about them, but maybe its time i did. Seems like a nice way to go-family back home can see right where you are. 12) thats if for now!
Mike, do you know what time on the 26th the truck is leaving from tha LA area? Think I'd like to get my bike and I a ride in that truck to RSV.
Septic, sounds good. I'm only getting 2 then. I'm just getting the 9505A models. I have carried them on me on all my trips to Baja and been just fine. They are not THAT big or heavy. If you are trying to save space, or don't want to carry more weight than you have to, go with the 9555 cause it is smaller and lighter, but once again, personally, I don't find the cost benefit worth it. As far as phones go, I have an iPhone and just called AT&T and got international roaming turned on for like $5 a month. Calls are around $.30-.70 a minute depending on what network you are connecting to in Baja. Prepaid will probably be cheaper, but it may be a hassle finding a card unless you get it before you go, and there will not be many places on this trip that you will get cell coverage. Radios - If you still have more questions, feel free to PM me and I can answer most questions, or point you where to get answers. +1 for the Baja Designs headsets. They make great quality ones. I have used many cheapo ones, and it really just ruins the whole experence for ALL the riders using headsets on the trip. Your PTT button gets stuck on and no one can talk and only hear you, people can't hear you over the wind because of a crappy mike. You're looking at about $100-$150 for the radio and at least $175 for the headset. If you don't have the $ to buy a good quality headset and radio, I wouldn't waste money on cheap ones. They suck and you will hate riding with one, everyone who has a good quality one will hate you, and you'll spend more time dicking around with it than you will riding. -Blake
FYI: Did some web hunting of liability insurance in Mexico. For Baja newbes like me, this is interesting: http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/cnty/travel/index.html On the Oscar Padilla site, the quick quote for 7 days coverage (24 hr blocks, 5:00am Dec 27 - 5:00am Jan 3.) was $84.92 . When I drilled down for a real quote it dropped to $74.92 . Full coverage is not available for motorcycles. http://www.mexicaninsurance.com/ On the Baja Bound site, their quote was for $48.38 including "medical assistance" from one provider, and $34.80 w/o from another provider. Couldn't figure out why there was such a disparity between Padilla and B.B. http://www.bajabound.com/ Couldn't get the Instant Mexican ins. co. to switch from Auto to MC. Appeared as if it was only set up for Auto.
I'll have to enjoy this one from the sidelines. February of this year there was a Husky ride to Baja. It was advertised as open to all skill levels, save for novices. This looks a little more serious. It looks like this ride will be 150-200 miles per day. How much of this is pavement? I did a dual sport ride last summer and put in 130 miles in ten hours and was dead tired by the days end. Granted only a few miles of that course were forest service roads where you might hit 30mph. I am in pretty good shape but I don't know if I could put 7 days like that back to back. Thinking about next year, maybe. NC
Can take a day off and put bike on trailer and ride in the chase truck, excuses are like asses everyone has one. Beats the hell out of working. Later George
I hear you. The ironic thing is that I have plenty of time to ride now that I am unemployed. Of course I sold my last bike to upgrade to a new one at about the time work ended. I told myself no job, no toy. Maybe I'll get real lucky and land something in the next few weeks and I'll crash the party. NC
Yes, thank you. I will make sure to do that. Already had someone at my company travel to Europe with data on, and let me tell you, the bill was massive. I am the CTO of my company, so I had to deal with that already!
