My alarm went off at 330 (set for for 5) and I cant fall back asleep....
A group of riders and I set off for the Baja ride of a lifetime 2 days ago, 8 days 1200 miles tracing the trail of the Baja 1000 from 2 years ago. 1200 miles of dirt bike riding bliss!Amazing the pros do this ride in 17 hours what takes us 8 days. We had our motorcycles trailered down last week by a couple of or riders. Bringing you up to speed, we all chipped in $250 and bought a double axle trailer, had it modified to fit 12 bikes and gear bags, and planned this adventure for the last 3 months. Last week a couple of our riders drove the support trucks and trailer to Cabo where we all flew in and started the adventure. It POURED rain the first night in Cabo and the tequila and beer were flowing!
Day one was Cabo to La Paz and had lots of wide open riding mixed in with some beach and sand and rocky mountain passes. 166 miles saw the defeat of the first Honda 450 X bike down with a bad stater or ignition (Arizona Mike). In La Paz we stayed at a drive up motel called Haciendas del mar. Apparently it was a sex motel with garages in each unit so you could pull your in and not have it discovered by your significant other. We got it for the garage factor, security for the bikes. Mario¢¥s suite had a disco ball a pole and a jacuzzi! In addition to hamburgers on the room service menu was Viagra. Kinda scarry sleeping in the beds there. Heres a pic of the scenery we had to endure...
Day 2 was the most brutal yet, 207 miles from La Paz to Cuidad Constitucion. A couple of our guys got lost on the city streets and made an illegal U-turn on a one-way street in full view of a cop. After paying $50 each, they, as well as the rest of the group were well ready to get out that town. There's 35,000 people and nothing there. Middle of baja. There's not one reason for anyone to be in that shit hole town. Here's a pic of a horse that wouldn't let us pass (im riding second)
We were really fortunate to have rain in the weeks prior to us getting here. The conditions were fantastic! The wet ground keeps the dust down and the traction up. In fact in some were swimming through so much mud that we were covered and our bikes caked in thick mud. Never the less it was a great day, dawn to sunset riding wide open trails mixed in with single track, and 40 miles of whoops just to make sure we tired enough. Ron lost the 5th gear on his 99 Yahama POS bike and is now one of our official full time support drivers. If we lose anymore bikes we are going to run out of passenger space in the support vehicles! Taking a break on the trail is our motley bunch...
Day 3 was the best yet. 134 miles from Cuidad Constitucion to Loreto. Mountain passes and water crossing with double track and hill climbs up through mountains. So many water crossings that our bikes are now spotless from all the mud of yesterday!
Perfect weather and the ground is still moist making for epic conditions. We zigged zagged through the mountains and stopped for while at a 300 year old church in the middle of nowhere hosting a 4 day long party in honor of the Saint that founded the church. Dancing horses and mexican cowboys as far as the eye could see. We lost another bike, Ernies 2000 Suzuki DRZ (which is so old it had no business on this trip to begin with). Ernie contemplates his fate with Dooglas...
So its Day 4 and a rest day in Loreto. Our hotel is right on the sand with all rooms a full ocean view. This is a much needed rest day to recuperate, work on the bikes a little and just recharge. All of us are sore head to toe. We¢¥have blisters on our throttle hands and everybody's ass is sore. After 3 days, 500 miles and 6-8 hours per day in the saddle we are exhausted and loving every minute of it!. Clem decided to strum us a tune...
We only have 4 riding days left and if you look on the map Loreto is only a quarter of the way to Tecate. We either have some long days ahead or we need to add an extra day to get it done. Only Team KTM is still intact. Team Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha have had casualties. I keep telling these guys how much better KTM's are. Since I'm the only KTM rider and very vocal about it, I have to make it or I'll never live it down!
There's no cell service here or in the last couple cities (verizon anyway) so i'll write again in a couple days.
Over and out...
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