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Laura Pena

Seeking Advice: Ride from Imperial Beach to Yuma

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Hi all, 

I am new to the forum, and I am working on a project for which I am seeking advice and hopefully some folks who may be interested in working with me. A bit about me - I am a former ICE officer (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). I worked in both downtown LA and downtown San Diego for the feds there. I am also from a small border town in South Texas. In short, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly about the US-Mexico border.

I am proposing a ride from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas - along the U.S. side of the borderline where the wall will be built or is already built. My proposal will be to partner with Google Maps to help capture this area so that when (or if) the wall is built, there is more transparency about the specific areas that will be impacted by it.  I may also partner with Facebook to livestream parts of the trip.

But first things first. Is this even possible? I know one man has walked the 2,000 miles and a second man is embarking on the walk. But can we ride a motorbike the entire way? If yes, what do the routes look like, and what do I need to prepare for this trip financially and logistically? I am looking at probably an October time frame. I have estimated 100 miles a day = 20 day ride (ish). 

So let's start with the first leg - Imperial Beach to Yuma along the borderline. I would love your thoughts and if possible I would love to connect offline. I will be seeking to have captains in various parts of the ride that can sort of adopt me with their wisdom and knowledge.  

Hope to hear back! 

Laura

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It is not a straight shot from IB to Yuma.  The existing fence (and associated dirt road) starts and stops.   You can see this on Google Maps.  Assuming you get a Border Patrol escort you can ride from IB to about a mile past the existing border wall prototypes at the foot of Otay Mtn.  On this initial section from IB, you would have to be escorted through the double fence security zone and you would have to circumvent the San Ysidro and Otay international border crossings themselves.  With an escort it would be a pretty straight route.

The border fence/road ends at Otay Mtn and you would have to venture inland up and over Otay Mtn and ride to Barrett Junction and then eventually to Tecate where you could pick up the border fence/dirt road again.  This is the route which takes you away from the border from Otay Mtn to Tecate:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/32.5822623,-116.9125759/32.5784438,-116.6287275/@32.5574518,-116.8633837,26144m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-116.7529336!2d32.572164!3s0x80d96b4dc95b9ff3:0x5b81e11eb829f660!1m0!3e2

From Tecate you can ride at least all the way to Campo along the border fence.

To log your route you can use a 360 camera mounted on your bike or helmet and upload to Google maps/street view as described here:

https://www.google.com/streetview/publish/

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Super helpful - thank you David!! I do see the paths on Google Maps, but not street view. Love the cameras, and I am thinking about getting the Google camera and outfitting a bike with it.

Any other advice would be appreciated!

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I've ridden most of the California border. There are only a few sections in San Diego county you can actually ride along. The desert is ridable until you get to Calexico then it isn't until the imperial dunes. Arizona has the Guadalupe mts and I don't think there is a road directly on the border for the Eastern half of the state. New Mexico is mostly open but once you get to Texas there's will be a lot of private property abutting the Rio Grande. About 18 months ago I flew the entire Texas border for a photo mapping mission. There aren't roads along most of the border. But I've heard Big Bend Park is worth seeing. 

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A 2013 attempt, ADVrider write up, from east to west:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=872817
Damn PhotoBucket gutted the pictures though.
 
Their legal premise:
The Roosevelt Reservation is a 60-foot (18 m) strip of land on the United States side of the United States-Mexico Border under the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Government. It was established in a 1907 Presidential Proclamation by Theodore Roosevelt in order to keep the land "free from obstruction as a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and Mexico"
 
 

"Provided Further, that the said strips, tracts, or parcels of land, reserved as aforesaid, may be used for public highways but for no other purpose whatever, so long as the reservation of same under this proclamation shall continue in force."

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    Laura,  

   What is your Angle?    Professional or Recreational?

   Dave /  The Governor of Anza Borrego

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3 important pieces of information missing: riding skill, experience, and the motorcycle that will be used.

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13 hours ago, Sneeker said:
A 2013 attempt, ADVrider write up, from east to west:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=872817
Damn PhotoBucket gutted the pictures though.
 
Their legal premise:
The Roosevelt Reservation is a 60-foot (18 m) strip of land on the United States side of the United States-Mexico Border under the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Government. It was established in a 1907 Presidential Proclamation by Theodore Roosevelt in order to keep the land "free from obstruction as a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and Mexico"
 
 

"Provided Further, that the said strips, tracts, or parcels of land, reserved as aforesaid, may be used for public highways but for no other purpose whatever, so long as the reservation of same under this proclamation shall continue in force."

Laura- this is the thread which we discussed via PM.

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If the goal is to upload a google street view path directly along the straight lines of the international border, you would have to fill in the gaps by either hiking/climbing along those sections that are not ride-able.  You could also fill in the no-road gaps using a drone with a 360 camera (but that wouldn't really look like street view).  So, ride the border where you can and upload those sections first, then go back and fill in the gaps.  It would be a hell of lot of work.  Even if you never filled in the gaps, it would be cool to be able to view the sections that are ride-able.

Also, that google street view "loaner" camera cluster is huge compared to the consumer 360 cameras hitting the market now.  Good luck!

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As a ICE officer(past or present)  I would think you would have more information and access (along the border) on this subject than some Dual Sporters here in San Diego. This sounds fishy. What do you ride or are planning to ride. 

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Have you contacted The Border Angels, Sierra Club ect.? 

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1 hour ago, kkug said:

As a ICE officer(past or present)  I would think you would have more information and access (along the border) on this subject than some Dual Sporters here in San Diego. This sounds fishy. What do you ride or are planning to ride. 

X2

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8 hours ago, Bp619 said:

X2

X3

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360 FLY.   but X4 on the info gathering fishyness

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