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danrider

Valle De Guadlupe, OCT 14th Sat

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Dang!!  One of the most memorable days of the year for me.  Thanks a ton Dan for the invite!  I think Brian is alive.  Somewhere.  If you see an F700 on TJ-craigslist then we'll know we better go back and look for him. I did text him but no response yet.  Probably hard to text in handcuffs.

All kidding aside, Dan can you try to reach Brian today and confirm he's home and safe?  I'll be out of range until noon today.

Trip report with pics to follow once I can sit down and post this evening.

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Wow!!!.....What a day with some of the best hospitality shown to us SDAR riders by the local Tijuana SOLO.ANGELES biker club members.  Oscar from the club met us at Denny's at 7am sharp, Kelly Zubb was already having coffee.  We set off to one of the best rides I have done in a while and it was all in one day.  Oscar led us through TJ to the SOLO.ANGELES clubhouse in the heart of TJ upon arrival at the clubhouse the street on both sides was lined with bikes.  I have never been in a biker clubhouse before, so I took the opportunity to take a look see.  The club was established in 1958 and has been going strong ever since then, inside the clubhouse the walls where covered with pictures of the past members and bike along with two pool tables and of course a bar.  The club had gathered early to escort one of its own members (Taco) out of town and wish him well on his three month trip to South America.  All of the biker boys I met yesterday where very friendly and polite to us SDAR riders.  

All of sudden a loud whistle went off and that meant it was time to saddle up and ride, with Taco riding behind the club boss being escorted by at least 50 bikes behind him.  Oscar secured a spot in the lineup for Zubb and I as we rumbled through town going through every stoplight and stop sign.  How this played out a couple of the club biker boys would stop in the intersection at a major stoplight or stop sign and keep traffic at bay as everyone rumbled trough the intersection.  We made our way up the HWY 2 for about 60 miles around the Campo area but on the Baja side to a Taco joint that was called Taco Lalo and as the bikes pulled into the place we where all greeted by the sound of Mariachi's playing,  the club went all out for Taco to send him off for his journey to South America.  We had lunch with tasty carne asada tacos along with the sounds of a Mariachi band in the background.  It was time for Taco to start his trip and everyone said their goodbyes to Taco and the club left to adventure their ride to Chicano Park in San Diego.  Oscar (a club member) and one of his riding buddies stayed behind to give us one of the most memorable rides to Valle De Guadlupe.  

We made our way back down to Tecate where we stoped at the Plaza to pick up and meet Brian (Beezzz) who joined the the ride.  We made our way down through the valley of windy blacktop roads to the wineries.  I really took in the views while we made our way down through the valley,  I had never been on this road before and really enjoyed the ride.  Our guides took their time escorting us to Guadlupe, which made it very enjoyable for us so we could enjoy the ride.  It was warm as we made our way down to the valley and when we pulled into Guadlupe in true biker form, Oscar had decided to pull into the local grocery store and pick up some Tecate beer to take to the wineries, go figure! (it was ice cold and we all decided to have one right there).  We made our way to one of the best wineries I had ever visited.  We made our way into the winery and they really know how to put on a show.  First of all the wine tasting is totally free, and as you walk in they give you a board with about ten different cheese on it and they tell you to make your way to on of the five wine tasting bar.  At the bar you are greeted by a host who will tell you all about the cheeses  that are on your board and will let you taste different breads with multiple jam's to spread on the breads.  While this is going on they are pouring you different wine to taste the whole time.  

After this Oscar took us to someones private house who made his own wine (Kelly it can't remember the mans who owned the home)  they took all of us down into a basement where he had his own barrels of wine stored and gave a us a private tasting.  This was so cool!   I bought a bottle of cabernet form him that tasted out of this world, and he only charged me six dollars, I was happy to give him a nice tip.  Then if this was not enough for our trip Oscar and his friend had planed to take us to his friends beach house outside of Puerto Nuevo.  We left Guadlupe area and made our way to HWY 1 to Puerto Nuevo. 

Once we all got to the Puerto Nuevo we entered this gated community and made our way down to this Frenchman beach home that was right on the bluff with the ocean as his backyard with views.  Oscar  introduced us to him (I forgot his name because i had been introduced to about 50 new people that day!) he led us to his back patio which was on a bluff with great views and sounds of the ocean.  He turned on his stereo with great tunes.  We had dinner on his back patio and enjoyed pizza, beer, tunes, talking with each other about the day while we took in the sunset. Then we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the US.  I will let Kelly tell you about Oscar taking us on an adventure back to the boarder. 

Kelly & Brian share what I left out and your pics from this ride of wonder!!!

 

 

 

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What a great time.  A day well spent on an unique baja day wine tour.  I did miss out on the early morning classic biker club events.  The send off the bike club's brother to South America.   P.S. Dan, the Puerto Nuevo beach home is owned by the Claudio.  He spoke 5 languages and studied at Cambridge in London "language arts" and owned a fantastic HD.  Just sitting on it made you smile.  I have not ridden a HD so I don't know what I am missing.  What a enormous following HD has.  From classic biker clubs to lawyers and CEO's.  There must be something to it.  Those that are in the know, please share what it is like.  What a day.  A guided tour in another country, neighborhood wineries, coastal views, local beach house dinner and drinks, and a maze at the border crossing in centro T.J.  I know I would have struggled to drive through T.J. centro and the border crossing on my own at night without a guide.  I did not even bring a map.  In the end, it would have been me joining the "solo angles of T.J." club and turning in my BMW f700gs for a "real motorcycle" with the "proper exhaust notes" of a Harley.  I do wish my BMW sounded like a Harley.  Our guides HD's sounded like they could set off every car alarm in the Baja California.  What a great sound.  Then it was onward to a beautiful evening ride home and where I arrived home in Jamul at 9:00 pm.

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 I don't even know where to start with this one. I feel like this one day in Baja deserves a full on ride report as though it were a weeklong trip.  I don't want to oversell the experience, but it's almost impossible to relay the adventure without seeming to do so. 

 Memorable moments; 

 Riding right through downtown Tijuana in the morning is reminiscent  of Mardi Gras, the day after. Except that it's in a Third World country.  The mangy dogs wandering the streets, digging through garbage. The broken concrete,  potholes and steep Windey streets  through a mixture of poverty and three-piece suits,  I had no idea where Oscar was leading us but I was happy to follow.  Revolucion Avenue is a mixture of flashing disco lights and the faint smell of sewage with garbage filled gutters.  I was glad to not be there at 2 AM. 

 The poverty was stark, but not in a bad way because people everywhere seemed happy. 

 We eventually rolled over the hilltop to see the street filled with over 50 Harleys in front of the Solo Anglos clubhouse.  I had no idea Dan and I were rolling into  Tijuana's oldest biker gang ---- on a couple of BMWs. The ferocious snarl of our German sewing machines competing for space with all those straight pipes!

 Fast forward to the end of the day, watching a stunning sunset into the ocean. Everybody knows not to ride in Mexico at night. Somehow though we just couldn't seem to leave.  So not only did we, we rode right through the heart of Tijuana, up Revolucion Avenue once again.  Only this time it was dark, and the nightlife had begun. Lane splitting and gutter hopping, and riding the yellow between the beeps and honks and oncoming cars. Classic TJ, kind of stupid, and worth every moment.

 Today in spite of all the other things I had going on,  I kept having these "pinch me "moments, feeling like I just had a whole week long adventure in a Third World country. 

 Tonight my wife and I were sitting by the pool,  drinking an awesome six dollar bottle of wine from the celler of a friend of a bike gang member, and thinking here we are just moments away from a crazy adventure anytime we want to go.

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Great Job on the video Kelly,  Oscar just texted me and told me he had a blast. I find myself staring at these pics wishing it did not end, like you said do not want to over sell it but it was something for the books.  All the stars in the ski where on our side Saturday.

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12 hours ago, danrider said:

Great Job on the video Kelly,  Oscar just texted me and told me he had a blast. I find myself staring at these pics wishing it did not end, like you said do not want to over sell it but it was something for the books.  All the stars in the ski where on our side Saturday.

 

TRU DAT!

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How cool!  Would be fun to do more cross-border stuff with a group like that.  

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That's awesome, what an incredible day! I'd be more envious if I hadn't been on my own Saturday adventure. 

Well done??

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Wow! Excellent stuff guys! Thanks for sharing your adventure! :thumbsup_anim:

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