Terrible619

The Wieners!!! Ranger and Bronco.

Yeah, that is a big factor in this whole thing. The call of the open land is pretty tempting. Ive just got to change my mindset. I will still look at it as a great beautiful place that is very rewarding but I will take the risk of it more seriously. Having to keep your guard up constantly will take away from the overall enjoyment and relaxation but thats ok. I know I will go back, but for starters I only want to do the occasional day trip on the bike until things cool down. I dont want to ask for trouble by looking like the rich American with no clue. Just like here in SD, I try to avoid the cities as much as possible because you would think that avoiding big groups of people would mean less chance of meeting up with the "bad guys". unfortunately this doesnt seem to be case with some of the roberies recently. They are out looking for people to attack. This is a bummer because you cant let your guard down even when you think you are safe on a deserted beach. Another thing is I truely like most of the people down there. they are friendly and easy going. I do all I can to not be the @$$ hole American. I want them to be ok with me being there, enjoying their country. For the most part I feel comfortable down there but Im still getting a feel for it. Maybe a few more visits will give me more confidence...

Well gosh darn diddily... I really wanted to check this out, but I am on the weekend shift and will be stuck at work until 4pm sat and sun. The good news is I have mon and fri off next week so I will keep an eye out for any weekday rides. El DRZ has some dust on the seat and needs a good riding/cleaning

I am pissed off at this whole situation, but also very thankfull to have not been a victim in one of these storys. I went down the day after the guy and his friends got carjacked in early Sept. I drove down the same way in my truck with all my camping gear,my bike, 2 surfboards, a wad of cash, and not to mention my wife. I drove through TJ, I camped Between Quatro Casas and Shipwreck. I know now that I was in all the wrong places but I guess I was lucky. To our advantage we did not camp alone, counting my wife and I, there were three guys and three girls. We would not have been able to protect ourselves from someone with a gun though. Its pretty scary to think about that. I feel that I have had my fun camping in Baja and will be very hesitant to cross the border anytime soon. As a lot of other people have said, Its just not worth it. These recent happenings have givin me a real appreciation of our local deserts and mountains.

I live right at the base of El Capitan mountain. I cant believe how slow the fire moved towards us, I know that was not the case for most of you out there. I first saw flames from our house tuesday night. They continued to creep closer for the next two days before being attacked by 2 helocopters and many firemen on the ground. Ground Crews climbed up the mountain and worked at putting out hot spots all night after the helocopters did all they could. Had it all out by Thursday morning. Thank you to all of the hard working guys and girls who are still working on these fires. 8PM on Tues 2:30PM on Wed 7PM on Wed 12:15AM Thurs

I live in Lakeside near El Capitan lake. I took a early morning ride today to see how close it was. At that time it was only a couple miles away but it has been moving very slow. I hope the winds die down soon. Here are some pics from above the lake. I will be watching out my window all night looking for those flames. Hope everybody is OK. South towards Harbison Canyon West towards Lakeside, and my house. North towards Country Estates

I worked in PB for a year or so and I have had plenty close calls in that exact spot. I'm Glad the truck took the beating and not you because we all know bikes dont do as well. This is My brothers KLR after a truck pulled out in front of him last year on old hwy 8 near Lake Jennings. He is OK now, but he was in extremley critical condition for a while at the hospital. Careful out there on that scary asphalt stuff....

Damn straight im stupid! I asked my buddies about the crash but they say they didnt see it happen. I was leading the ride and was over the hill in front of them. They just found me taking a nap under my bike at the bottom of a dune. So it will just be an unsolved mystery. Thankfully I didnt do any damage other than snap off my brake light mount and kill a few brain cells (probably the equivilant of a good night at the bar) Although I can say, I know I had to have been going to fast and not paying enough attention, What else could it be?. I get out there sometimes and think Im in control until I find my self flying through the air trying to keep the rubber side down. I have had plenty close calls, but this one got me. My advice to any one new to sand dunes is always expect the smooth dune to suddenly turn into a steep razor or cliff a because it almost always does. Slow down towards the top and turn to ride along the ridge until you can clearly see the other side. Now if you will excuse me its Friday night and im thirsty.

Sand huh? If anyone wants training on how to endo off a dune and get a concussion, then just ask me. Last Friday me and a couple buddys decided to do a night run at superstition.... Or so they tell me. I remember leaving Lakeside and a little bit of the drive out to the desert but after that, my only recollection Is sitting in my wifes car being drivin to the hospital.... and being very confused about why I had a headache. Oh well, Im fine now....but I think I will sit out this trip to the sand. I will catch up with y'all next time, have fun.

Hey all, just checking in to let you know I made it home in the dark I had a good ol time. I had a couple favorite moments I can think of right now... *The first was when we were cruising bear valley towards pine valley and there was that awesome cloud with the sun glowing orange behind it. I wanted to stop there and take a picture but I didnt want to hold up the group. Instead I just bounced along the rocky dirt road, trying not to crash because I couldn't stop staring at it. *The other was back at Corral Canyon of course, relaxing and enjoying chicken and shrimp after a good ride. I am blown away by RideOrange, Joliet and the others for hanging out on the side of the road for the entire length of our ride which I am sure was more than a few hours. Also want to say thanks for the food and for setting up an awesome pit stop... good times..........good times.

I Will be leaving Lakeside with one other Friend around 5:00 AM. Going to truck the bikes down past Ensenada and find somewhere safe to park the truck. We are going to try to stay on the coast as much as we can. I have only been to Baja a couple times so we expect to get lost. For the most part though we will just follow the coast so we can scout out some good camping spots for an upcoming camping trip we have planned, but it should still be a fun ride. So if you're OK with A quick pace this should be a fun ride. The guy I am riding with is a pretty fast so I will be trying to keep up with him so we can cover a good amount of ground.

I missed the last night ride I am in for this one though I am guessing we are camping at corral

After gassing up, eating breakfast and loading bikes we crossed the border at 7am. Mexican officials wanted registration papers for the bikes and my friend did not have his. I could not understand him well enough and he only knew a few english words. Right when it seemed that he was going to not let us in he asked my friend if he was the only person to be riding the bike. When my friend said yes he let us go. I need to learn more spanish. Arrived in Santo Tomas and took the dirt road at km 48 to Puerto Santo Tomas. We parked the truck on the side of the road and rode the bikes the 16 miles to the ocean. We hoped to find a way south along the coast but no luck. There was a large fence and we found no ways around so we had to go back, past our truck and to the asphalt. We topped off the bikes at the Santo Tomas Pemex and Went to same route 2wheels went towards Erindera. The road from Santo Tomas to Erindera is all race course from the recent baja 500. It doesnt get rough though until it turns towards the ocean about 13 miles in. We passed some very cool spots for camping and took a couple pictures. We rolled into Erindera and grabbed some awesome fish tacos at the taco stand and asked about gas. He directed us to the store with the Corona sign on the front. We bought a gallon each and took off. From Erindera we stuck to the coast going backwards on the 500 race course. We tried to stay along the coast but the road we were on stopped at a barbed wire fence on private land. So we went back to the race course and north to San Vicente. From there we needed to take about 30 miles of asphalt to a random dirt road that headed west. After 5 miles of straight flat road we ended up at the ocean and headed 5 minutes south to Quatro Casas. A guy from one of the nearby trailers came out and offered us some cold beer. We hung out for 30 minutes and headed back to the truck. From Quatro Casas we went east on another dirt road for 5 miles to the asphalt highway. It was getting late so we decided the smartest thing to do was take the highway back to the truck. So 1 hour and 60 miles later we loaded the bikes and headed home. The odometer on the bike read 214 miles since I reset it that morning. Somewhere on the toll road Puerto Santo Tomas Looking out towards the dunes by Rancho Boca de San Jose Some houses near Erindera Near Cabo Colonet and Quatro Casas Quatro Casas This is the route we took from Santo Tomas on the bikes. This only shows The route down to Quatros Casas. This doesnt show our run down to the dead end at Puerto Santo Tomas or our ride back up on the road.

I have never been in through TJ. Is the toll road pretty easy to find? Its fairly new isnt it?

The terrain is unknown, mostly rough dirt road though im guessing. As far as speed we will just go a comfortable but fast speed. We are not crazy so I would say definately slower than Baja 1000 but faster than intermediate. I myself am not a surfer but the other 3 people I will be camping with are. I have a map on my computer that shows about 60 surf spots and gives a little description for each. We just want to go down first hand and pick out our camping spots ahead of time so we do less wandering next time when we go down with loaded trucks. I will be driving my dads 89 single cab ranger with 2 bikes in back. I am not sure about a good safe spot to park the truck down there but I am sure we can find one. I also dont know if I should enter through Tecate or TJ. Which one would be better to Ensenada?

I consider myself a fairly safe guy and I saw nothing wrong with your pictures. Leave them. They are just portraying your great time in Mexico.

Hey that looks like fun. I had planned a Baja camping trip for September A while back and I am heading down there this Sunday to scout out some good spots. It just so happens that you have hit some of the same places I wanted to see. I really like the write up. It gives me a lot of good info, so thanks

Im meeting up with someone for some camping at corral canyon this Saturday. Maybe I will just head up early Sat. and meet you guy for this ride. Not 100% sure i will make it, so if im not there at 7am dont wait up.

The closest place there to get the pass is the gas station in Pine Valley, get off the 8 freeway at Pine Valley exit and go down the hill to the stop sign.

I just remembered something Around the same time I arrived at the closed gate there was a border patrol helocopter circling the area where you were working down below, Isnt Doctor Dynamite one of them border patrol chopper guys....... Im just sayin.

Only when I have to...

It crossed my mind to bring some other shoes but at the last minute I decided I didnt need them. I wish I had though, riding boots are not hiking boots........

Yeah really....Just picture this baby carving around the track at 190 mph, Truly an awesome sight. :clapping:

COOOOOOOL!!!! That looks like a lot of damn fun. One of these days I will make it to a race weekend down there. Have fun, let us know how the truck does.