Zubb 1061 Posted February 9, 2023 The Baja riding season is upon us, and I wanted to do a two-day recon mission to either confirm or deny rumors of trail conditions in the north. Random teaser pics. I’m continually amazed at how much adventure Baja gives back for each day of riding. Crossing Tecate border getting home, Steve and I were talking about how it felt like we’d just done a 7 day BDR. That was day 2, Tuesday night. We got our calls into the wives telling them we were on U.S. soil again just before the Sena’s died. But I digress. Let’s start at the beginning. To be continued… 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zubb 1061 Posted February 9, 2023 (edited) I’d heard Santo Tomas to Cal’s was in pretty bad shape. Well, you all know opinions are entirely anecdotal. And one man’s “ bad” is another man’s “fun”. So I called a couple solid ADV riders to go and check it out. One cancelled late but Steve and I were good to go last Monday morning. We rolled the TJ crossing and went in for our tourist visas. I wanted to show Popotla to Steve as it’s as authentic as it gets. But we were too early for tacos. Is that even possible? So we headed through Ensenada to La Bufadora for one of my favorite taco shacks. Besides, I knew the ocean was pumping hard right now and would be giving a helluva show. And it was… The view at our taco table was stunning. So after the usual gorging ritual we rolled back down the wonderful twisting grade and turned south to Santo Tomas. Bought some fuel and hit dirt. THE GREENS! Man everything is electric green right now. More than once I asked Steve through the intercom’s if it was just me or do the green hills and valleys look absolutely electric? He confirmed that he saw it too. Maybe there was something in the tacos, but holy cow is it gorgeous right now. this dirt road splits eventually and if you go right, you’ll end in an abandoned lighthouse on the cliffs. There is no one there. And it almost felt apocalyptic in a beautiful sort of way. We soaked in the solitude for a bit and then took 4th gear back out to the “Y” and followed the coast down to our dinner and a bunk. We checked in and showered, then immediately went to the deck with …… you know this already….. Chupacabra Margaritas. ‘‘twas a dam fine day. We toasted the sunset and went in for those Langanista lobster tails in Thai sauce. Pretty amazing to think all this stuff is only 150 interesting miles from us. Edited February 10, 2023 by Zubb 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shutterrev 469 Posted February 9, 2023 @Zubb that sounds like a nice trip 🤙🏻 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zubb 1061 Posted February 9, 2023 One of the cool things about hostels, is the people you meet. Tommy, was pedaling his bicycle down to Cabo. Riding the Baja Divide route. Then would hop a ferry to the mainland and continue to Mexico City. He's 62 and says he want to do this sh*t before he gets too old. He's also hauling all his camping gear with him. He . . . . is . . . . a . . . . stud. He also ate 2 each full dinners that night. And 2 full breakfasts the next morning. He listened to our few stories and bought the bar a round of ..... chupakabras. We listened to his stories for a while and then we bought the bar another round. He told us about a guy that is currently on the divide, running the whole trail on a unicycle. Yep. A fat tired unicycle. And IIRC, he's hauling his camping gear. And even better yet, he's doing zero..... as in NO social media. Doing it just because he wants to. WOW. There was a young couple there that were touring a couple months from Pennsylvania through Baja to the mainland and home. They own a group of ancient cabins back there off the Lincoln highway. And just like sometimes in Mexico, you gotta tell the owners to turn on the hot water so you can shower. Everyone has a story. We all do. And sitting around a hostel, by the ocean in Baja is a perfect place to just unplug, unwind and listen to people talk. We fell asleep to the sounds of heavy surf pounding the shores. A full moon came up and made it hard to close my eyes even though I'd had a full day. A few more minutes on the deck just soaking in the semi solitude. Good stuff. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zubb 1061 Posted February 9, 2023 (edited) Tuesday morning. A 6am stumble down the steps for coffee and then out to the deck again to watch the sunrise. Then went in for a couple cups with Rick and Steve. I love this place. And if you've been there, you probably do to. We dally'd a bit too long as all our new friends were in the mood to just hang out. But we did get rolling not too long after 9. We dropped south along the coast line watching and hearing the ocean pound the shore with the storms leftover 10ft waves. There was a stiff off shore wind standing the waves up and blowing the tops over the back. If you are a surfer, it's a sight that shoots adrenaline straight to your heart. All down the coastline you could see the surf-made "fog" from the waves pounding the shores. If you know what you're looking at, it's very cool. Way up in the distance we saw these geysers firing up. A number of them in a line down the coast. But to get there we rode past a bunch of this. This was a powerful and special morning. I could have stayed there all day and just watched it, heard it, smelled it. Strong medicine. We approached the blow holes. I don't know. You tell me how high that is? . ! . ? I really don't think Old Faithful had anything on these bufadoras. When we first rode in and killed the bikes, we literally thought there was a 5.0 quake going on!! Then we realized the whole shelf was booming and shaking with each of the big sets that rolled in. We figured if it was going to break off, we’d go out happy in a dramatic flood of glory. Edited February 9, 2023 by Zubb 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zubb 1061 Posted February 10, 2023 Alas, we had to carry on as we intended to be on US soil by dark. An hour and a half later we were on about the middle of Camino de Lazaro Cardenas, and came (rather suddenly) upon a cattle drive. We both estimated about 200 head by the time they were all past us. We of course killed the bikes and got off and let them pass with minimal disruption. 3 horseless Vaquero's and 1 ferocious cattle dog to keep it all moving. That little guy was all business! Experience has taught me to always go around mud puddles if at all possible when on a 550lb bike. Once and awhile, maybe during a friendly sprint race with your ride buddy. . . you just gotta center punch one or two of them. We had taken longer breaks that normal due to the amazing views and experiences of the day. So we were aware that we might need to grab a higher gear or two for the rest of the ride. These trails, and next up on Compadre Trail, there are miles of potholes and ruts. And due to the competitive nature of the next couple hours. . . it took it's toll on Steve's luggage rack. We didn't know how far he'd been dragging that bag! And had we enough time, we would have backtracked a bit to see where it first hit the dirt. But as you can see the shadows were long and we still had a good stretch to go. And with recent reports of a farmer putting out trail spikes in the next section, I really didn't want to ride it in the dark. So we attacked the problem like a Nascar Pit Crew and strapped the whole shebang to the frame and Altrider tail rack, and took 4th gear pretty much all the way out, drifting corners where prudent. The orange fireball was touching the mountain tops as we blew Santa Veronica. And just as we touched the overpass at highway 20, the last tip of the sun vanished. Success (mostly). We jumped that nasty curb on the edge of highway 2 and switched from enduro to road mode as we shifted into 6th. The border crossing was typical in that we cut the line to the front where BP waved us in, and then hit the gas station on the California side. We called the wives on our Senas telling them we missed it by an hour.... but will be home and hungry right at 6pm. And we were. It's 3 days later and we are both still high as a kite from this quick little overnighter. I go there often, as many of you do. And each time I do I come back amazed at how cool it is!. It's much closer than Disneyland, and waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more fun !!!! So grab a friend, stuff a hundred bucks in your pocket and go have an epic weekend! 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr.JAJA 380 Posted February 11, 2023 I will join you one day. Looks like a lot of fun. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zubb 1061 Posted February 11, 2023 Looking forward to that Udo. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MacDuncan 131 Posted February 11, 2023 Well done Zubb, - Nice riding and writing! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bfar33 165 Posted February 12, 2023 You boys must have been in the zone to drag 50 pounds of Mosko and not notice. Looks like an awesome time! I've got the bug I need to go back soon. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zubb 1061 Posted February 12, 2023 Yeh, I wasn’t watching my mirrors, that’s for darn sure and he was chasing too hard as well. We were pretty focused …. We were laughing pretty hard at how ridiculous the situation was and you could easily see the long drag line in the dirt. Not enough sunlight left to back track it though. The wear on the bag indicates it was drug a heck of a distance though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
