San Carlos 10-19

[2Wheels 0]

Who's Going so far?

2Wheels

GB007

Mostly this ride should be pretty easy, but sometimes you encounter bad road conditions in Baja California. Mike from Mike's Sky Ranch said that the road between his place and Meling Ranch was in really bad condition. I've never been on it. I don't know how bad it is.

Although this ride is mostly easy, there will be a few difficult sections. Anyone who wants to go should have some experience riding a motorcycle off pavement and over rocks. Fifty miles from the nearest phone isn't a good place to learn.

One hundred miles is the farthest we'll go between gas stops so you won't need a big tank. Mexican insurance for your bike is a really good idea.

Here's the plan.

Friday 10-19

AM - Cross the Border at Tecate and ride pavement to El Rosario - 6 hours. Break for lunch and breaks for monkey butt.

PM - Stay at Mama Espinoza's Hotel in El Rosario ($35/night per room)

Saturday 10-20

AM - 100 mile loop to San Carlos and back on (I think) easy dirt roads.

PM - Stay at Mama Espinoza's Hotel in El Rosario once again.

San Carlos

I've never been there, but to go see this has me wanting to go.

Sunday 10-21

AM - Leave for Jamau (79 miles of pavement and 86 miles of dirt for a total of 165 miles)

PM - Stay at the Hotel Jamau ($60/night per person includes dinner and breakfast)

The Hotel Jamau looks like it's pretty basic. http://jamauoutpost.com/hotel.htm

Monday 10-22

AM - Leave for Tecate (54 miles of pavement and 64 miles of dirt for a total of 118 miles)

PM - sleep in your own bed

Summary of Estimated Mileage

Fri 10-19-07: 229

Sat 10-20-07: 100

Sun 10-21-07: 165

Mon 10-22-07: 118

TOTAL: 612

---------------------------------

EDIT 9-17 8:50 PM

This won't be a fast ride. On pavement we'll average about 55 to 60 MPH. On the dirt roads, we should average about 30 MPH. On the chewed-up dirt roads, we should be going between 15 and 30 MPH - 2nd or 3rd gear. To put this in perspective, the fast Baja racers average just under 50 MPH on the race course.

If anyone does want to go, you should probably decide soon so you can reserve hotel rooms. Guys will be pre-running for the Baja 1000 around then so I don't know how the situation will be for getting rooms. You need to speak a little Spanish to reserve at Mama Espinoza's or the Hotel Jamau. If you need someone to reserve for you, PM me or post here and I'll help with the reservation. Mama Espinoza's didn't ask for a deposit, but Hotel Jamau did ask for a 20% deposit via PayPal.

Also if anyone wants to go on Friday and Saturday and bail early to go home on Sunday, that wouldn't be a problem.

9-19-2007 Edit: Plans up in the air.

[Guest Hammerin Hammon]

Wow that sounds like a great ride. If only you guys were surfers rideing to the best surf destinations I be rolling with you big time. (maybe sometime) I hope you guys have an awsome adventure, and I look forward to reading all your posts about Baja rides. Craig

[2Wheels 0]

Wow that sounds like a great ride. If only you guys were surfers rideing to the best surf destinations I be rolling with you big time. (maybe sometime) I hope you guys have an awsome adventure, and I look forward to reading all your posts about Baja rides. Craig

I think San Carlos is supposed to be a really good wind surfing spot. I don't wind surf (Is that what it's called?) but I just wanted to go down there and take a look.

Well, thanks for wishing us luck and I'll definitely be posting some pics of San Carlos.

[GB007 0]

Okay, I'm all for it!!! :scratch_one-s_head:

[No Shift 0]

Hey 2 Wheels

Beautiful place! The turn off to Punta San Carlos is 9.9 miles south of the bridge from El Rosario. By truck the dirt road takes 2 hours. Lots of moon dust filling in deep holes. I used to go here in the late 80’s before the wind surfers started to trash the place. The surf is great, but by 10:30 am the wind is blowing 20 mph and by 12:00 it is more like 25 to 35 mph and wont die until well after sunset. PM me if you have any questions. Oh yah, out of my whole life surfing this is the only place I got chased out of the water by a shark, I got lucky.

[2Wheels 0]

PM me if you have any questions.

I know this isn't a PM, but hey, I figure you'll see it here anyway. Do you know whether they ever have gas there? I'd like to figure out a way to ride all the way down to Guerrero Negro along the coast sometime, but it's a pretty long stretch without gas.

[No Shift 0]

PM me if you have any questions.

I know this isn't a PM, but hey, I figure you'll see it here anyway. Do you know whether they ever have gas there? I'd like to figure out a way to ride all the way down to Guerrero Negro along the coast sometime, but it's a pretty long stretch without gas.

You can’t count on gas in-between El Rosario to Guerreo Negro. Occasionally gas is sold out of drums at the LA Bay junction and is always sold in LA Bay ( I have had to wait an extra day for diesel in LA Bay but they always have gas.) If your looking for a good Ride, Bahia Los Angeles south to San Francisquito through El Arco to Guerrero Negro. I have done this in my truck and I think the first half is my favorite stretch of road down there.

[2Wheels 0]

You can’t count on gas in-between El Rosario to Guerreo Negro. Occasionally gas is sold out of drums at the LA Bay junction and is always sold in LA Bay ( I have had to wait an extra day for diesel in LA Bay but they always have gas.) If your looking for a good Ride, Bahia Los Angeles south to San Francisquito through El Arco to Guerrero Negro. I have done this in my truck and I think the first half is my favorite stretch of road down there.

Thanks

[GB007 0]

Seeing that there's nobody interested from SDAR I think I'd like to reconsider plans and dates for Baja exploration... Want to make sure we have a good safe plan in place... Any member who may be interested in Baja, please respond. We can plan some rides in the future, making sure we ride through safe places with appropriate support. :scratch_one-s_head:

[Guest Hammerin Hammon]

I would love to go, my wife also saw your post and wants to go. A four day trip is hard to plan with kids and work.

Dont get discouraged so quickly. Keep posting your rides and have fun.

Some of us were bummed you posted your rides when you knew Mikes was already full. Kinda like posting, we got candy and you cant have any.

[Guest Hammerin Hammon]

Its kinda funny to me, but tonight my wife asked me if I got any replies for my Baja surf and ride. I said no with a smile and we both started loughing.

[GB007 0]

I would love to go, my wife also saw your post and wants to go. A four day trip is hard to plan with kids and work.

Dont get discouraged so quickly. Keep posting your rides and have fun.

Some of us were bummed you posted your rides when you knew Mikes was already full. Kinda like posting, we got candy and you cant have any.

Thanks for your response and comments Craig! I'm not offended or discouraged. The reality is that there is some general apprehension about going down to Baja, and I can understand it. Even though I grew up in Mexico, I have my own concerns for safety. In addition, as you mentioned, it is not easy taking four days off. I just thought it would be good to find a group that likes to explore Baja so we can better plan trips in advance.

As far as the other rides we posted, the reason we did not have an open invitation for Laguna Hanson was that we had no idea what we were up to (our first adventure going south). The trip to Mike's was a sudden personal invitation of our friends Joaquin and his wife. This time around we felt more confident about venturing south of the border...

This ride is not canceled, but just postponed for some other time... Correction: the date of October 19th is still open for plans... thinking about it as we speak. Open to suggestions...

[RogerTOWM 0]

This sounds like a great trip. I didn’t respond because of the timing. I’ll be out on the road part of that time and I also hope to go to tech day on the 20th. But if it is rescheduled for another date… I just might have to go.

Roger

[2Wheels 0]

I was the one who wanted to go to San Carlos; I still do. Here's the problem with planning that ride: It takes 8 hours including breaks for lunch and for monkey-butt relief to get down there. If you do the trip in three days, you spend two days riding pavement just to go on a 100-mile round-trip ride to go look at a beach. Even if you surf or wind surf, you'd probably only get in a few hours on a three-day trip.

If you want to do more riding on dirt roads, you have to add a fourth day. Either on the way down or on the way back, you ride dirt roads and take two days to get there or you make a one-day excursion from the El Rosario-San Quintin area. You get home Monday night tired and have to go to work the next day.

Since nobody showed any interest in the ride, we wouldn't affect anyone else by changing plans. After talking about it, GB007 and I decided to scrap the four-day ride.

This ride is not canceled, but just postponed for some other time...

I thought were still considering the three-day option or a different shorter ride for the 19th?

[husky4me 0]

This ride is not canceled, but just postponed for some other time...

I thought were still considering the three-day option or a different shorter ride for the 19th?

You are right 2wheels. I guess the date is still open, we are just not sure yet (plans pending). Plans are on the works as we speak. We just want to ride and have fun!

[dirt dame 561]

This ride is not canceled, but just postponed for some other time...

I thought were still considering the three-day option or a different shorter ride for the 19th?

You are right 2wheels. I guess the date is still open, we are just not sure yet (plans pending). Plans are on the works as we speak. We just want to ride and have fun!

Opps, I just realized I'm singed up as husky and not GB, now I'm confused about who I am... Well, I'm the same guy, Martin, with the husky bike...

Why don't you just be one guy and then it will reduce confusion for you and everybody

[husky4me 0]

Hey Dirt Dame,

When are you going to Baja with us???

[dirt dame 561]

Hey Dirt Dame,

When are you going to Baja with us???

I think it looks like fun. I would consider a day trip first and then I would be up for a longer one I think. Around 1980 or 1981 was the last (and only) time that I rode in Mexico. I entered the Gringo 100 Enduro near Roserita Beach. It was fun and I got a 3rd place trophy, too