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WilliamArcher

Short Jaunt to Mexico with a World Traveler: Looking for Riders this Weekend

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Tom from the UK is currently on a trip from Alaska to Mexico on his new Africa twin. He will be passing through in San Diego tomorrow and Friday and then heading down into Baja Saturday. I offered to tag along across the border with him on Saturday, and if anyone else is looking for a quick Baja trip that's big bike friendly, we would welcome the company. It's going to be pretty warm (mid 80s forecast in Tecate), so we'll probably stay toward the Pacific Coast. I'll be heading back up to the States Sunday because I have to work on Monday.

Anyone interested?

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Yes. Interested. Will do some figuring tonight. 

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I'm heading south early on Saturday but I have a tight agenda so I can't join you.  Let me know if I can help in any other way. Will be in Erendira if you need anything there.

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45 minutes ago, Dan Diego said:

I'm heading south early on Saturday but I have a tight agenda so I can't join you.  Let me know if I can help in any other way. Will be in Erendira if you need anything there.

We will probably end up in Eréndira on Saturday night. Might see you there.

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1 hour ago, WilliamArcher said:

We will probably end up in Eréndira on Saturday night. Might see you there.

I'll be a bit south of town but can drop by Cal's for a beer and to say hey.

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I have a visitor from the devastated BVI's for a bit.  Holy shite you should see the pics!  I'm out.

 

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I just realized I never gave a report on this trip.

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In normal form, I did not take many pictures. Let me summarize the weekend by saying

1. Compadre is beautifully graded right now as is most of La Calentura.

2. The CRF1000L does not like sand.

3. Ensenada is not much fun to ride through.

4. Keep your eyes on the road in the mountains... don't end up like this guy:

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We crossed in Tecate early Saturday. It took about half an hour for Tom to get his TVIP sorted so he could continue South to Mazatlán. We took the free road to Compadre and rode it down to Ojos Negros.

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The Africa Twin did pretty well except in the sand. Tom kept it upright with difficulty until the last long, straight stretch of sand going into Ojos Negros. He started fishtailing and ate it doing about twenty mph. He bruised his leg pretty well, and did a number on the Honda's fairings. It took some time to get the bike up and repacked and ridden out of the sandy stretch with bruised legs and (even worse) shaken confidence.

We wanted to get to Erendira, but I didn't think taking the Honda down La Lagrima was a good idea, and we were running too late to go through Valle de la Trinidad and over on La Calentura, so we slabbed it through Ensenada. I can't recommend it. Lots of traffic lights.

We stayed at Coyote Cal's and met with a group of riders, all women, on an annual ride they called "Hooters on scooters". They were mostly on rented CRF450Xs, but there was also a 72 year old lady on a YZ250. That was impressive. About an hour after the women arrived, a second group (the husbands I guess) showed up too, so there was a good crowd at the bar.

Tom got some good route ideas from the guy leading the group trip, and I heard that the trail through El Mano Canyon is open and passable now. I'm thinking about going down it to get to the oasis at Canyon De Guadalupe for my next trip in October.

I said goodbye to Tom in the morning and headed south out of Erendira along the racetrack then cut over to La Calentura.

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I saw a big thunderstorm coming in from Valle de la Trinidad, so I got on the slab and raced it to Ojos Negros, then I went up Compadre keeping just in front of the storm. I was back in the US by 15:00. It wasn't a very exciting trip as far as the riding went, but I met some interesting folks, and I got some interesting information about routes for next time.

 

 

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I saw a lot of folks in town on smaller bikes that Saturday. Most had come over the mountains to Cal's. Was tied up most of the day and didn't make it back to ththe border until late Saturday night. 

That didn't sound like too boring of a ride at all! Those are the areas I always enjoy riding.

#HootersOnScooters

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