wsmc99

Okay, I don't feel so silly now. Made it through all the hard stuff pretty easily just to drop it in a sand wash and bruise my ribs. Will ride more before next years event, will ride more before next years event, will.......;-)

March 27th - Horse Thief Mile May 1st - Streets of Willow May 4th - Buttonwillow June 5th - Streets of Willow October 16th - Willow Springs October 23rd - Buttonwillow Nov-Dec (TBA) Laguna Seca www.velocetrackdays.com

Check out the requirements on our site. They are minimal as far as bike prep goes and there is an outline of personal equipment there too. If you have questions mail me and I'll be happy to help.

HORSE THIEF MILE (11 turn road course featuring major elevation changes, tight turns and canyon-like surroundings) Join us for the fun at this tight technical track at the Willow Spring International Raceway complex. This track is well suited to practice your canyon carving skills as well as a perfect venue for supermoto style riding. This will be a 2-session event running two sessions (25 riders per session) in 30 minute rotations for lots of track time. http://tinyurl.com/boyodf

LOL! My god, did you tighten anything before you left? Hair dryer, really? ;-) So are we combining forces next year? 12 riders, 9 days, lots of dirt, night riding, trail terrors, losts souls and happy to be alive binge drinking? Oh yes, it will be fun!

Okay, 3 days is enough to recover and write! Let's have it!

If all went well you should be home! How was the trip?

Yeah, I've heard a lot of stuff going down in TJ. That's why we cross in Tecate. Be safe kids! Have fun!

But they make those cute butaine ones now! ;-)

Love the flowers, that would be the one I'd nick! ;-) Bikes are way too pretty! Didn't we tell you to pack light???? See I packed too much too!

And we never know what to do with the other two beds in the room... ;-)

I've got the tool to do the sprocket and I'm usually free. Let me know if you need a hand.

Kevin, Mr. VP.......this is our 4th Annual Event !! We have the ride flyer made up, will be posted on the website soon. Oops, my mistake-4th year. Correct information would require the VP to receive a pay raise. What pay? I was VP the first year! Is there back pay?

quote name='piratemonkey' post='13893' date='Nov 14 2007, 07:41 AM'] "Outerlimits" Brett has provided me with a pretty good route with some GPS coordinates. In summary, I think we'll end up doing something like this: Day 1. Tecate to San Quintin Day 2. San Quintin to Catavina Day 3. Catavina to Puertecitos Day 4. Puertecitos to Mike's Sky Ranch or Meling Ranch Day 5. Back to Tecate For this first trip out full of Baja n00bies, it's sounding reasonable to us. If we don't come back, someone chase down Outerlimits to see if he actually sent us into some chupacabra stronghold. I'm planning to document this event, starting with the planning stages where we are groping for help and buying way more than we probably need. I will also confess to whether or not I pack a hairdryer -- you're not going to know unless you stick with this story to the end. The bike changes are still underway. I got the bulk of my stuff yesterday. Last night I put on the Unabomber, er, -biker, radiator guards. The left side went on fine, but I couldn't for the life of me get the right side on. Turns out a previous crash had bent the bottom of the radiator out a bit and I was fighting a losing battle. I bent the radiator back into place and that helped, but there was still interference between a bracket and a hose so I had to Dremel down part of it. Man, I hope like hell the Clark tank doesn't give me as many problems. Here's the bike ("Bito"), looking ready. A continued thanks to everyone posting comments. I'm packing a regular front and rear tube. It'll be easier to fix on the trail than a heavy duty one. Picked up water purification tablets at REI last night, along with a few other things. I'm working very hard not to be an underprepared dipsh!t riding into disaster. (Hey Tony D, I'm riding with John-Mark and Britt. J-M said you guys had done some streetriding and you might be going back to WSMC. Small world.) Ah, can I counter that route plan? Most of those are what I would term as the least desireable places I've been in Baja sans Mike's! Day 1. Tecate to Erendira (Coyote Cal's) Day 2. Erendira to Mike's via dirt route into Valle De Trinidade Day 3. Mike's to Gonzaga (Alfonsina's) Day 4. Gonzaga to San Filipe Day 5. Back to Tecate Yeah, J-M and I have ridden a bit and I was planning on being back to WSMC this month until the broken thumb!

Oh one more thing! GPS is useless unless you want to know exactly where you are lost! The Baja 1000 course map was a much better resource! AAA maps aren't bad either!

Zina! The tourist card is not needed unless going below Gurerro Negro and if you go around that point in the dirt it's not needed either! We were going to wait to get one since Tecate was on fire when we crossed and when we got to Gurerro Negro there weren't open either. We took dirt across to El Arco and up to Bay of LA so we were back in Baja Sur without going through a check point. Packing: Take Aluminum wrenches and half the clothes you think you'll need! I wore MX gear the last two years and have been very happy with that choice. I brought a light windbreaker to put under if it got cold. I used it this year since the Santa Ana's were so strong on the first 2 days. The rest of the time it was packed. I think it's warmed up since our trip two weeks ago. Swimsuit, adventure pants and a couple of T-shirts is enough. Bring a Slime pump for tires, one of each tube. I don't use HD tubes as they are "heavier" and just harder to change. I still packed way too much crap on the DRZ this year! KTM LC4 tail pack and Chase Harper Stealth bags worked great though! Borrowed (demanded) a friends Corbin, but after 3 consecutive 240 mile days my ass was done and I sat on my camel pack bladder for a 320 mile street day from San Ignacio to Erindira. Shoot me an e-mail and I'll hook you up with Cushy-Tushies that will save all your asses, literaly! Tires: I ran 606's and they work fine, but you can't run them low on the street. At 20 psi the rear knobs tear off! I started with used ones and ran them at 32F/34R and had no issues. A freind ran 20 in the rear and had knobs tearing off by the time we got to San Filipe (240 miles). You might want to try an MT21 front for durability and a bit more dirt prowess. Gearing: We ran on the highway at 70-72 mph. I had stock gearing at 15/44, If I had it to do over (and more than one day to prep) I would have run 15/42. Route: Well what you have planned is not quite realistic unless you want to put in some longer days and street miles, I guess you have to ask yourself why San Ignacio? We did find an awsome place to stay there, but beyond that...there's lots of magic in Baja without going there. After this years long days we are looking for ~160 mile days as well. Maybe consider this route: Day 1: Tecate to Mike's via Highway 2 to La Rhumarosa through Laguna Hanson to Valle De Trinidad. (200 miles) Day 2: Mike's to Gonzaga Bay (Alfonsina's) Via Highway 3 to 5 to "The Road from Peurticitos to Gonzaga". (180 miles) Day 3: Gonzaga Bay to Bay of LA via Dirt after Coco's Corner Not Highway 1. (~120 miles) Day 4: Bay of LA to San Francisquito (short day) (45 miles) Day 5: San Francisquito to ?, see how you need 6 days???? I'd say back to Gonzaga then back to Laguna Hanson and on to Tecate on day 6! We'll talk more once you've digested this....

Zina! It's Tony D'Augusta! Long time no hear! Call me and I'll give you some insights as me and the boys just got back last week from very similar trip. I borrowed a DRZ. Tony