OUTERLIMITS

Christi, it's the same as the KOA. Just a name change, but operated the same way and I believe by the same people.

I am thinking about doing a day ride out of Rancho Ojai, likely on Saturday. Would be heading towards Laguna Hanson at some point and looking for some single track on the way. Where are you launching out of or are you riding across the border?

My sentiments exactly. I will say though that I think you are a much less attractive target on a bike (especially with a surf stick strapped to it ) than in truck pulling a trailer or in an Escalade wih all kinds of bling. Personally, I'm boycotting the whole TJ/Ensenada corridor until the Baja cops and government give the the warm and fuzzy again. They have their hands full so that isn't likely to be any time soon, but I have no worries of crossing in Tecate or Mexicali to get where I need to go. Anywhere from San Quintin south and it's all good (so far).

Can I ride sweep? . . . . . . . Just kidding. You have no time for that Gene. You need to get going on that ride report from the Sierras.

JAT, links no workie, but I may have seen the pics already. Was the 1 dayer the coast run with your girlfriend and 2 up on the KX? If not, bring it on!

Gene, that is just a sign that you are on a good trail! Those are great pictures. So being that your son was riding with you, I take it some of these trails are green sticker legal? I'm not surprised that Barbara Boxer wants to shut it all down. Her and Feinstein have never been good to us.

That article seems to be about a couple of events that already have been reported, but interesting info from the informant. Either way, it would be wise to avoid the TJ to Ensenada corridor altogether until someone proves it is safe, which has not happened yet. Hopefully, the 500 will pass w/o incident next weekend, but I have my doubts.

Christi, to save for some hard feelings you might want to check with Tim and Jennifer Morton about the GPS idea. I'm not sure about this ride in particular, but if they plan to take you on single track they may tell you up front that GPS is not allowed and that request should be honored. I know that Tim spends a lot of time both creating and preserving single track so it's a real bummer to see something that you spend a lot of work on turn into a whooped out road that you could drive a truck through. Not trying to rain on the GPS parade, but it's worth asking ahead of time. Just an etiquette thing. Have a great time, I'll look forward to the ride pics as well.

Pics look great, but one question. How come no one is taking a dip in the green pool water? Gene, I'll be hooking up with you on some Tecate rides. I plan to ride that area a lot this year and hope to do a number of overnighters at RRDR as well. I think even during the summer the pine forest will be a nice place to ride.

sounds great! can you send me gps info? Yes, will check it on Google Earth and send you the info today in a pm.

I know of an awesome camp spot south of San Felipe. You can get to where you can park right on the beach of a very nice cove with cliffs and dunes behind you or you can park on the small bluff on one end of the cove. You gotta have 4wd though and cannot pull a trailer. We're talking bottomless sand if you camp on the beach necessitating airing down to 10 psi, but if you can get there you're golden and it's fairly private.

In regards to the battery issue, I have seen a few people on Thumpertalk relocate it either into the airbox or under the seat. I did not like the airbox idea because it forces you to use a pod filter that is completely exposed to water, but the under seat option was interesting. That one used a 450X battery which is a couple pounds lighter and cut into the bottom of the seat just a bit for clearance. It gets rid of the giant battery box and mounting frame and allows mouting a flat XR600 side panel. The guy who did this mod has a high comp XR628 engine and has not had an issue yet using the smaller battery. I suppose that because the 650L engine is such a low compression engine, the 450X battery would be doing less work turning over the engine compared to the stock high comp 450x. The 650L also has a pretty thick seat to start with and cutting into it a bit would probably not be an issue, but there is always the taller Guts/Baja Design foam and cover available if it is. Just a thought

To get back on topic, I think this is the latest that I have seen on the subject. This has been coming for qute some time. The requirement for a passport is still a ways off and a birth cert can be used, but if you have it, the passport is a far better option. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/...27crossing.html

Vinny, where about are you running into locked gates. It has been a while for me since I was down there last and have only followed others from Hanson to Valle T or Indepencia. I would be very interested if anyone has gps points to the gates that are locked. For anyone that rides in Baja, I would strongly urge you to join Racers and Ranchers http://racersandranchers.com/. It's not just for racers, but for enthusiasts in general and the purpose is as a medium to work with the land owners down there to keep the land open. Usually these gates get locks slapped on them when careless people (many times us off roaders) pass through gates and don't shut them, causing rancher's animals to get loose. I don't race, but I recognize that this organization right now is the best shot at keeping those gates open (or getting them opened back up) so that we can all enjoy the trails down there.

You really have to love whoops. Miles and miles and miles of endless whoops. At the point where you feel like dying, there are still miles and miles and miles of whoops left to go!

I was really hoping not to hear this same thing about Tecate that has been happening elsewhere. This really enforces the idea that these carjackings are connected to employees at the Mexican border who may be actually tipping off the carjackers. I would still go down and not think too much of it if on bike, but driving a car across to me is entirely different. Of course the same thing can happen to a biker, but I think to a thief it is a lot less attractive and (hopefully) not worthwhile. Guys, this is going to get better. I'm hearing that businesses in the Rosarito and Puerto Nuevo areas are already complaining that business has dropped off some 80% in places. That alone will bring change and should happen quickly.

I second that. Sometimes the best riding is riding alone at your own pace and doing your own thing. You tend to take more time and are more observant and end up finding all sorts of neat stuff that you might have missed if just following someone else. Granted riding in a group is always better and usually much more fun, but I know I have for years disappeared into the desert for a day by myself when I had a really weird work schedule and was done for the week at 5am Friday and would just head straight out to the dez. Always had a great time. I take a cell phone and tell the spousal unit if she doesn't hear from me by a certain time (usually a time that I would normally be about an hour away from being home) to send out the calvary. If no calvary, bring out the scatter gun the following day to blast the coyotes and buzzards that are picking at my sun bleached bones!

Looks like on your return route you might have passed through the shell beds. Full size whole oyster shells there from about 6,000 years ago can be found if you hop off the bike and walk around a little in the area that appears black in the google earth photos.

A real nice 3 day ride that would give exposure to a little bit of everything would be Tecate to San Felipe via Laguna Hanson and the pine forest, taking the highway from Valle de Trinidad to San Matias wash and then the wash out across Laguna Diablo and into San Felipe. Day two could be heading south out of San Felipe via the old Puertecitos dirt road, behind the hills and down Matomi wash to where it dumps out on the highway and follow south to Gonzaga. Day three Gonzaga back to Tecate (coast road to Puertecitos, highway to Felipe, Laguna Diablo to San Matias, take the highway from there to just east of Ojos Negros and the main Compadre trail back to Tecate). Day three is a lot of miles, but about 100 of it is highway and all of the trails can be taken at a good clip. Just take a Friday off work to make the weekend and no one has to park their truck in Mex that does not want to.

Love the look of the terrain out there. Are all of the pictures from the south side of I-8?

I think you are still going to be good for a while w/o the passport. It was supposed to start in 2008, but I believe it will be more like June '09 before it's enforced. At least they say that will be the "latest". In between Jan 31 '08 and then you can use your driver's license, but will have to also supply proof of citizenship like a birth certificate if you don't have the passport. But you're right, the passport would still be the preferred way to go as carrying a copy of the cert would be sort of a pain. http://www.mexadventure.com/MexicoTravel/U...ving_mexico.cfm

I'm one of them. Love doing day rides from Tecate to Laguna Hanson or overnighters down to Felipe, Mike's, or Meling. In the middle of swapping out bikes, but hope to be up and running soon! I agree that's it's difficult to find people sometimes, but with a week or two heads up it should not be too tough.

I was just googling some stuff and noticed that there may be a great return route for this ride that would keep you from running the same route back to the Salton Sea. It's a bit south of the Bradshaw trail and runs through the valley north of the Chocolate Mountains. I'd have to check some other maps, but it looks as though it is well clear of the gunnery range, which is further south and eventually spits you at by Niland.

No worries, at least you guys took a route that you couldn't get lost on and I'm glad you had fun. I'm going to let Baja settle down a bit before I go there any time soon for anything other than a day ride. Some time, hopefully sooner rather than later though, I'll be planning about a 6 day ride that will be: Tecate-San Quintin-Catavina-LA Bay-Gonzaga Bay-Mikes-Tecate. Will be right around 1000 miles. Will post it here beforehand for anyone interested.

Good thing you had the ghost riders with you. That looks like a free roaming, full torso, vaporous apparition floating over your bike! How long was the ride from the start of the trail to the end (timewise)?