mufflerbearings

Anyone want to ride some singletrack around Rancho Santa Veronica this weekend? I plan to truck my little 2-stroke down to RSV early Saturday morning, stay one night, and come home Sunday evening. Probably won't venture outside a twenty mile radius of RSV.I've only scratched the surface of the RSV trails on a way-too-big bike, so this will be a lot of aimless wandering and route finding on a more appropriately sized bike.Pic of smoker for attention. https://photos.smugmug.com/Anza-Borrego-Nov-2015/i-tRwHSxr/0/053bfb6d/X2/IMG_1097-X2.jpg

I don't know why my previous post shows up so funky. Here's a pic:

What a killer ride! I knew I should have ditched work and gone with you guys. Of course, I'd be looking for a new job now... but probably worth it.

I know it's very short notice, but I'm thinking of doing a mellow loop from Tecate to Rancho Coyote and on to Cal's this weekend. Those destinations aren't set in stone; as usual, I don't have any firm plan. I'll be on my XR650R and not tackling anything too difficult. Anyone interested in going?

It was a great ride! Not as hot as I had anticipated, and in fact I even got rained on a bit. Since I was solo, I rode my KLR to force me to keep it mellow (it's also a much cushier ride for the three hours between my house and the border). I rode through the pine forest past Laguna Hanson, which still had a decent amount of water. I stopped and chatted for a while with Ruben at Oxxxo de la Sierra. He has two very basic but clean little cabins to rent. I think I'll head back up sometime this summer for a dedicated Laguna Hanson exploration trip and stay here. It was still early in the day by the time I reached the highway, so I pointed it for tacos in Valle T. I love old Japanese cars, so when I saw this Civic at the park, I had to ask the owner about it. He said it's been passed around between 17 brothers and sisters for the past 40 years. I took the wine road out to Highway 1, and crossed the highway to the coast and up to Erendira. I met a friendly group of riders at Coyote Cal's, and they introduced me to the legendary Larry of bajatrailrides.com fame. Larry is living the dream in San Vicente. I look forward to returning with a more appropriate bike to check out some of Larry's stash of singletrack. I rode Compadre back to the border. The road appeared to have been graded very recently, which created invisible grabby pockets of sand and silt (extra fun on a KLR!), but it should improve as it sees some traffic. Can't wait to head back...

I'm the King of Short Notice. I'll really try to plan ahead next time and give some advanced notice so that I might have some company for a change!

Well that's a bummer, Jacob. I hope you're up and running again soon. I'll be heading south again in a month or so; I'll hit you up then.

Thank you for the heads-up, William. One never knows what kind of trail conditions to expect between Mikes and Coyote. I just take my time and look for bailout lines.

Day three photos?...... C'mon Tim - help me get through this work day!

All the functions of the phone work. Text, email, internet, calls. There are sometimes weird connectivity issues, but for the most part, everything works the same as at home.

Thanks for posting, Goofy Footer! Awaiting more photos!

I have a pretty basic Verizon plan. When I cross into Mexico, everything works. Coverage isn't great in some rural areas, but that's to be expected. Verizon automatically charges $2 per day for each 24 hour period when the phone is used in Mexico. So if you use your phone in Mexico for three days during your billing cycle, you will only pay an additional $6 for unlimited usage in Mexico during those three days. There are no additional charges from Mexican carriers. This works in Baja and on the mainland. Just call Verizon and tell them you want this service.

I think the drunk guy is rather handsome. Thanks for letting me camp and ride with you guys! I'm just glad everyone made it home safely after all the head-on collision/flat tire drama. I managed to get exactly one photo before my camera gave up. (No Kato, this is not a tweaker disassembling a weed wacker.)

Sweet pics and write-up, Jacob! I wish I could have joined you, but it looks like you managed to find the goods and had a great solo ride. I was laughing at your description of the hippies and their hippy food; I'm guessing they didn't source that Organic Sesame Tahini Sauce at the local tienda. And great news on the job!

I believe you're referring to the route through Uruapan. As of last weekend, it's in good shape. The steepish section that descends into Rancho La Lagrima is in about the best condition I've seen. There were only two unlocked gates.

Great pics! I was up there last weekend also, but on my mountain bike. I skipped Just Outstanding this trip because I assumed a good portion of it would be snowed in; looks like it was from your photos. Was Dutch Flat the steep trail you guys rode from the bottom of Just Outstanding? I've done a lot of pedaling up in that area, but one of these days I need to drag my KDX along with me since there is so much legal single track to explore.

As GoofyFooter already knows, I initially posted this ride report over at Bajanomad. I'm lazy, so I cut and pasted it here; let's see if it works. I had a few free days recently, so I packed up my old Honda and pointed it south. I crossed at Tecate, where I secured my tourist card from INM and some adobada tacos at one of my favorite places. I hit the Compadre Trail towards Ojos Negros. I was somewhat concerned to see that survey crews have been busily placing flags and stakes along much of the trail, and there are some new concrete crossings over certain washes. Is pavement in the future for the Compadre? I hope not. Parked at the charred remains of the old palapa at the south end of Compadre: I crossed Highway 3 at Ojos Negros and rode the trail south past Rancho Tres Hermanos and down through Ejido Uruapan to Highway 1. I encountered these characters along the dirt superhighway from Santo Tomas to Erendira: Coyote Cal's was my destination for the first night. I always run into interesting folks at Cal's. This time there was a nice mix of off-road types and Mexican families. In the morning, I headed down the coast and found one of the blow holes was pretty active: There happened to be a local desert race taking place that day, and the course was running along my planned route. Where else but Baja do you get scenery like this for a motorcycle race? Some random scenery from getting lost along the edge of Cabo Colonet: There seems to be less of the shipwreck at El Barco every time I see it: Friends often ask me, "Why ride in Mexico? What's wrong with just riding in California?" Well, try this in California and see how long it takes to have your bike confiscated: I made it as far south as El Rosario, where I had dinner at Mama Espinoza's. This was the first time I'd visited Mama's, and while the food was nothing to write home about, I was impressed by the old XR500 prominently displayed in the dining room. This gives me some ideas for my own home décor: I spent the night at Cielito Lindo, where for 350 pesos I got a huge, sparkling clean, recently renovated room with two beds and indoor bike parking (with the permission and at the suggestion of the manager). This was the first time I've stayed at Cielito Lindo, and I will certainly be back. Although the management is working to rehab the rooms, they've managed to retain the 'Old Baja' feel of the place. This is most evident in the dining room/bar, where I felt like I had stepped into the 1950's. It's really a very cool place. Day three started with a leisurely ride back north on Highway 1, where I got a shot of my sexy gordita in front of the sexy gordita store: I initially started up the Observatory Road with the intention of riding from Rancho El Coyote up to Mike's Sky Ranch, but before I got too far up the road, I had a stroke of good sense and realized that I would be foolish to attempt that route solo. I stopped for a rest in this little settlement along the Observatory Road: I wasn't excited about riding Highway 1 all the way back through Ensenada, so decided instead to take the Wine Road from the military checkpoint north of Colonet to Valle La Trinidad. About halfway along this route, and a very long walk to anything resembling civilization, I found this bit of bad luck which reminds me that I should do some front-end work on my own Tacoma: In Valle T, I was fortunate enough to find my favorite taco shop open and slinging quesatacos and Coca-Cola. This place alone was worth every mile. From Valle T, a quick blast along Highway 3 and back up the Compadre Trail put me in Tecate in time for dinner. It was a short and uneventful trip, but it was enough to recharge for another week in the trenches.

I'll hit you up next time I head down that way, skeelo! You're the one who clued me in to this route way back when, Kato. Now I no longer get to experience the joy of Ensenada traffic.

Thanks for the comments, guys. Robertaccio, that's some interesting history on the XR500 at Mama's. I figured it was a historically significant bike, but I didn't realize it was actively raced so recently. I shouldn't be surprised though; my brother has a 1983 XR350 that recently made it down too Loreto and back without a single problem. The old XR's just won't die...

I saw your report on the Nomad. Looks like you had an awesome time! Post up here next time you're headed down and maybe somebody can jump on with you too (I also totally get if you wanted to ride solo and get the heck out of town). Catch you downI there sometime. I tried to recruit a certain Frenchman who is active on this site, but my ridiculous short notice ("Hey man, I'm leaving for Baja in 30 minutes; wanna go?") is not sufficient for people with lives, plans and things to do. I will post up here next time, and even try to give some notice!

Thank you for the pics. It's good to see my old stomping grounds through some else's eyes. More pics of the KDX please!

I just returned from a Cal's - San Quitin - Valle T loop. There were no locked gates on the route from Ojos to Uruapan. In fact, there were only two unlocked cattle gates to deal with instead of the usual five or six.

Jawhitmoyer, did you turn to the west at Rancho Tres Hermanos or continue south? I've heard of routes west of Tres Hermanos that are blocked by locked gates. But if you follow the most obvious trail due south from Tres Hermanos, you'll eventually get funneled into a wide river valley, through Ejido Uruapan, and pop onto Hwy 1 about six miles north of Santo Tomas. I hope you didn't encounter locked gates on the Uruapan route; that would be a huge bummer indeed.

I rode through there three weeks ago. The corral gates at the bottom of the hill were open, but there were four or five other closed but unlocked cattle gates along the road west of there. I take that route fairly often and haven't encountered locked gates so far. By the way, the trail from Ojos to the rocky hill is in great shape - fast & flowy.