Dirtdiver

Anyway, I mostly lurk on this website but I do check in periodically and I appreciate the support that was offered last year. I'll see you guys/gals on the trail! steve

His friend borrowed our 230 and came with us. That poor guy is 6'5" and rode that small bike for over 500 miles in the 3 days! I would think that that bike would be worn out but it just won't die! It has probably taught 20 kids how to ride and done almost 10 baja trips with luggage.

My son is now 13 months from his accident and is doing really well. The surgeries and the recovery could not have gone better. He has put a lot of work into his recovery and getting much of his old capability back. We wanted to do an anniversary ride on the same days as the last trip (from the accident 13 months ago) but with one thing or another we just went this weekend. Friday Sat Sunday. Tecate to Ojos to Urapan, to Santo Thomas to Coyote Cals on day one. Day two down to Camalu and back to Coyote via the beach route. Day three repeat day one in reverse. The weather was a factor but we hit it pretty much perfect. Enough snow and mud to make things interesting but not enough to bother us. I had hoped my son's accident would have a silver lining to slow him down a little. No such luck. Or maybe I have just gotten even slower so our relative speeds are still the same. haha. Anyway, it was great to be back in the saddle with him and this was another symbolic way for us to put this behind us. Some pics of the route many of you know well.

The only silver lining is that maybe it will give the rest of us a moment of pause as we are riding down the trail. Stay on your side of the track and think of on-coming riders at every blind curve or rise. It has been almost 13 months since my son had his head-on collision. It could have been much worse for him even though it was awful. It is a significant risk to all of us trail riders. RIP and condolences to the families. steve

wow, great report. I checked out the surf crash video but could not tell what caused the crash? It looked like the water got deep? DD

My wife and I went to Rumorsa for lunch at that restaurant next to Pemex the other day on the 990. I had dressed warm but I still froze. She at least had me to block the wind. It only took us 1.5 hours from the house so it was a nice little jaunt. Those pictures looked nice. DD

were you thinking of camping?

+1 on this. My friend and I both did this and it is a HUGE improvement. I can now do a "quick" oil change in 20 minutes vs the hours it used to take me. Note that with this Mod you don't clean the screens with a "quick" oil change. I clean the screens every other oil change. I rarely found any debris anyway.

You may have already, but I think it would be worth your while to take an afternoon and change out the inner tube on your back wheel. Then start packing the tools that worked with you while riding. I think your mostly likely issue will be flat tire. There is an amazing amount of riding south of the border for 2-4 days. Variety too. desserts, alpine, and beaches. The north of the border organized dual sports rides are a good place to start too like others suggested. A cheap and organized safety net. Cool t shirts. My first ride on MY first DRZ was the big bear trail ride that that happens each June. I tried to do all of the hard sections. It just about killed me. But it somewhat opened my eyes to what skills I didn't have. Also the tires, tanks, guards, lights, etc.. that I didn't have. That bike aged about 4 years in one weekend. haha You are probably better than me, though, so way ahead. Anyway good luck. You will know if this is your sport when you get kicked in the nuts and then come back for more thinking it was the best day you've had in a long time! Steve

That sounded like a great trip. Wow, some wide open country. Glad you are OK Bagster. I need to get out an ride more. :-) Steve

I have a recluse on one of my bikes and I am only so-so on it. It HAS saved me on a few technical up hills. When I get knocked off my line and I am riding the bike like a bucking bronco - I am holding on for dear life and I can't/don't feather the clutch. The recluse helps here. It also helps when you are looking at a hill climb wondering whether to go in 1st or in second gear. With the recluse just put it in second and let it slip. However, I don't like that when stopped on a hill I can't hold the bike on the slope with the gears. Also I don't like the noise I get when taking off in first gear and the bike is hot. I get some chatter I can't get rid of. Finally you can't jump start the bike nearly as easily as you could before the recluse. Im glad i tried it but I don't plan to get it again. It seems like my opinion flies in the face of everyone else-but there you have it. steve

Here is my 90% probability plan. I was thinking of leaving Jamul saturday at 0800-0830. Tecate to Ensenada via that wine hwy and then down to santo Thomas on Hwy 1. The only dirt I planned was santo thomas over to Punta cabras via that back dirt road. Get premium gas in ensenada + maybe a taco. PM me if you want to ride together. Regardless I will be bailing out at punta cabras to spend time with the young guys. steve

I may stop by CC and see you guys on Sat night. My plan is to take my 990 from Tecate early sat to camp at punta cabras on by Sat afternoon. Home on Sunday. Riding alone but camping with my son and friends who will be surfing. They are doing a Friday- Sunday thing. steve

I think it will be relatively dangerous. Those guys will be "racing" as if they own the road. Drifting sideways in the turns, etc... The guy that started this thread "deepsea" almost got nailed two years ago. It was a close call and left an impression on all of us in the riding party. I am recently gun-shy for oncoming collisions but even before that I saw the danger on a handful of situations. On the other hand if you are listening and looking for dust and paranoid it is probably manageable. Every blind turn be looking for an escape route. steve steve

Maybe you could get the gpx files, find your way through the mountains south of Tecate and then over to SF without ever touching the course? It looks like the usual way to Coyote Cals is pretty much going to be worked by the pre-runners. Or Deepsea, have your buddy come down here, borrow my 990 and take the main dirt roads/slab it over to SF. Make it a big bike trip. I'll be jealous either way! steve

As a quick update. My son came back to SD for surgery during spring break. The surgeon tells us that he re-attached the ACL, LCL, PCL and a tendon. Took most of the parts out of his good leg. He said things went really well. Good holes, good anchors, etc... Dave convalesced at home for 10 days and now he and I are back at college. He started on a walker and now he is on two crutches. He is doing PT twice a week and getting better. Hopefully within another 1-2 weeks he will be down to one crutch. I am leaving him tomorrow and headed back to SD. So, things are going pretty well - everything considered. We are talking about an anniversary ride back to Baja on the same date as the accident (December 2015). steve

Troy, if you have not been to the Mexican back country then you are missing out! The Mexican's are generous and the land is free. Other than common courtesy and a few parcels of private land you can do whatever you want. Again, no one appreciates visitors trashing the place but if you want to ride to the south- have at it. Ride to the north- have at it. Pee in a bush- have at it. Drive your moto down the beach - have at it. No park rangers, no tickets, no designated anything. It is like the wild west in good way. But don't forget common courtesy and to shut closed gates. My .02 is that: - the density of people is so low that people are hugely more tolerant. - the Mexican's for the most part have more free time than we gringos do. So, they are REALLY helpful and willing to bend over backwards to help you out. - Mexican people in general will help others because they may need some help. On the other hand if you get into a situation over your head then there is not a lot of help to be had. The same lack of rangers and first responders can bite you in the butt. My above comments are not pointed to the cities. I am talking about the countryside. I go down every 6-8 weeks usually with a small crew. You are welcome to jump in with us or Rigger Dan knows his way around too. I want to go with Rigger dan because seeing his reports he has some routes unknown to me. The guy above was kidding about the drugs and guns. Don't bring those. :-) steve

yes, the difference is huge. Thanks. steve

Here is the latest from my son.

The funny thing is that he pulled up his pant leg to show me HIS scar from a motorcycle accident. The scar is hard to see but it goes all of the way down his shin. Very similar to my son's scar.

Deep sea rider and I went back down to Valley T on Friday to thank the guy that gave my son and I a ride to the border on the day of the accident. I found him with no problem, I told him what happened after he dropped us off and then gave him a bottle of rum that I had brought for him. He was glad to see me and appreciated me making the effort I think. karma! I am the invisible guy below with a fanny pack and white boot. haha

Wow, hats off to those guys on the big bikes! Those sandy washes are no fun on a 990! steve

+1 on this. If I park at the border I always park there. 4-6 times per year with no issues. They only take cash and it is still $5/day.

So, it has been two months and two days since his mishap and my son reports that he is doing little "around the house" journeys without crutches! It is a huge improvement in his life being able to carry stuff. To be able to carry a bowl of soup from the stove to the table sort of thing, is new just this week. He could not do that with crutches. He still uses crutches out and about and he said when he is "walking" without crutches he moves like a 98 year old man. He can do about 30 steps without crutches and it is getting better day by day. Really good news. He is having the 3 ligaments re-attached in mid march. The surgeon says that he won't be as capable as he was but - he WILL be walking, running maybe, surfing, bike riding, all within 12 months. We asked about dirt bike riding and he just looked at us. No response. Then he went back to talking about the surgery. I think he was disgusted with our question. So, we let that issue lay on the table to re-evaluate later. haha. I get the impression that the surgery is going to be a bit of a setback but we are hoping that he has turned the corner in a general sense. He will be back to crutches for some weeks but at least he won't have the massive trauma that he experienced in December. I guess that they are going to harvest some body parts from his good leg to put in the bad leg. So both legs will have some cuts. Thanks again for all of the positive thoughts and prayers coming our way. It helped a lot. steve

If the roads aren't too rutted this might be a trip for the big bikes. steve