*A derby from the local boards*
Sometimes plans just don't work out, and sometimes, that's more then OK.
Plan A:
Get a passport,
Hop a plane,
Fly to San Felipe in Baja for my Birthday,
Drink a cerveza on the beach as the sunsets.
Couple issues with that plan...
My passport never arrived, the pilot wasn't able to get his passport, and we found this out 3 days before we were supposed to leave.
Shit... Plan B... OK, well, there is actually no plan B. Wait, waaiiitt it's coming to me. Of course! I'll be stupid! I'm good at that. Alright, how dumb can I be? Let's see, broke my pelvis a couple months ago... really shouldn't be on a bike. Bingo! So I'm going to ride to Baja. Shoot out an email to see if anyone else is crazy enough to do this with me. With only a 3 day notice, I figured this is mostly just a heads up to people where to look for me in case I don't come back. :P
Much to my amazement, I got two takers, DTM and Vindingo. Short notice means nothing to these two. [laugh]
Two days of planning and we were on our way
I'd be dusting off the 620 and leaving early on Thursday to ride down from San Francisco to just north of San Diego to grab a campsite on the water at South Carlsbad Beach and hold it for the other two to meet me.
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After a restful night there, we headed down to a friends of Dan's in San Diego, had a great breakfast, then zipped off to the border in Calexico.
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The change from one side of the border to the other was really pretty amazing. You could immediately tell it was a different country. Finished up our paperwork, got a bit lost, then continued to haul ass down to San Felipe. Dust storms, heavy winds, lane splitting cars, crazy jumps (aka wheel bending speed bumps), military checkpoints with 18 year olds toting rifles, and 15 kms of construction that ended up with us hauling ass off road in the desert. In short, soo much fun.
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San Felipe is really nice. Parts of it are pretty run down, but everyone is super nice, the food is great, and the cerveza flows freely. ;D
Having a bar, pool, and beach all within a 20 foot walk, wasn't bad.
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Some of us fared better then others. [beer]
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Also not a bad place to pick up a few cigars. ;)
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Beautiful place overall.
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The ride back was pretty uneventful, more crazy wind, more dirt roads, more getting lost, etc.
Made it back Monday afternoon after a 1500 mile round trip. Little sore, but no worse for wear. [clap]
Overall, things worked out just perfectly. [thumbsup]
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Sounds like a cool trip! [thumbsup]
Very cool.
Reminds me of the trips that Dietrich from the AZ board always posts about.
[thumbsup]
INTRESTING!
Cool ride! Glad to hear things were "uneventfully"; there was much discussion about riding in the Baja this in Feb 09 link below; lots of reports that things are dangerous!
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19001.msg343014#msg343014 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19001.msg343014#msg343014)
something I've contemplated; but not for now ... you'v proven things overstated or you were luckey; probably a bit of both ...
oh and no amiga stories?
Quote from: DuciD03 on April 08, 2009, 07:37:00 PM
INTRESTING!
Cool ride! Glad to hear things were "uneventfully"; there was much discussion about riding in the Baja this in Feb 09 link below; lots of reports that things are dangerous!
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19001.msg343014#msg343014 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19001.msg343014#msg343014)
something I've contemplated; but not for now ... you'v proven things overstated or you were luckey; probably a bit of both ...
oh and no amiga stories?
May have been lucky but i didn't feel threatened or intimidated at all. No doubt the news and reports are correct, but its not like they are waiting to ambush us as soon as we cross the border. And well we ride motorcycles, how much more dangerous can life get.
Didn't go so well con las chicas. Partied with a few but the conversations were limited. <---Need to learn Spanish
My take on the trip from the lb
It was a fun, no planned trip. Despite all of the travel warnings from the state department and such, we had no issues at all. Felt comfortable and safe the entire time. But I think that added to the adventure sort of felt like we were walking into the lions den with all the bad press. The locals were friendly and inviting. Every restaurant we passed, would go out of their way to show us a menu and invite us to their restaurant. The street vendors took the time to present their goods no matter how far away we were when they spotted us. Beer flowed like water and you don't dare drink the water, seriously, the hotel said the tap water is not for consumption. Drinks were allowed on the beach, so was camping and quads. We should have rented a quad to ride up and down the beach during low tide. No body seemed to really care. Only problem is we live so far from Mexico. It was a great adventure and I cant wait to plunge deeper into Baja. when I return it will be with a dualsport to experience the off-road paradise that is Baja.
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Looks awesome! I like the beer tray in action [beer]