The Baja Wan-Thousand: A Quick Trip to the Tip

I'm doing Baja early 2014 so I'm really trying to read as many RR as I can. When I saw a Baja Wan-Thousand report, well, IN of course. Thanks for another great read!

looks like Bartek got a new helmet !



the route you guys took on day 1 is the same as our route.. we even stopped at the same taco stand and ate at the same table... lol




Loving the ride report... keep it up !

Looking GOOD!!!! Keep it coming!!!

I want to go back!!!

Scott

Great job so far on the RR LW!! I'm jealous of all the great pictures you can take riding two up. It slows things down so much to keep stopping to take pictures I'm always looking back and wishing I had taken more! Its cool you guys aren't afraid to take the tough routes riding two up! Cheers!!I'm looking forward to the rest of your journey!

I am trying not to spoil it but, what i saw with my own two eyes, riding two-up through some very tough terrain,well, lets hope there are some pics of it.

I am working on a mathematical equation that will prove that it is actually easier to ride two-up through the toughest and steepest routes. Therefore proving that Bartek and i were actually at a significant disadvantage!
that's my theroy and i'm sticking to it.

CJ's two wheel drive would have been nice to have.

Hola amigos!!


Sorry I'm slow this morning (afternoon! crap!).
I forgot I had 2 videos for Day 2. Tried to do one in HD last night but it was going to be 12 hrs to upload.
My connection must have timed out, 'cause it wasn't done when I got up.
Did a lower res version this morning. Coming up soon.


I want to reply to everyone's comments - they're so great! Thanks you guys!
But, I don't want to fall behind in posting, either.
We love that you're reading along and enjoying the report, it's the sharing that makes all the work worthwhile.
Rest assured I'm reading every single one and cracking up.
We always have the best RR readers participants!


Just real quick -
- Glad to offer some Baja "inspiration" (soon to be "cautionary tales" )
- yes, we had fish tacos (lots!)
- ooh - sorry to hear that it's ZERO degrees in wisconsin!
- the route was close, Paul - very close.
- Dingweed - hope you're healing up fast!

Hi Joel!
Hey, I saw 2 of your PYYPP stickers! I took pics.
Hope I can get to that part of the report before you leave for the n00b rally!

Haha, yes - Norman J. Delorman made it.
He’s been clean and sober for 6 months, so we gave him another chance.
One day at a time, Norm. One day at a time.

Also - Coney the Safety Cone!
He did some relaxing on the beach and worked on his tan.




gah! Photobucket has made some changes and I lost all my default settings.
You may have noticed all the ginormous photos.
sorry if you have dial up or if you're reading this on your phone.




And, Goggles - It's OK, buddy. Whatever it takes to get you through the day...










Ah, crap - I forgot to give you guys the last map yesterday!
It doesn't do you a whole lot of good today, but here it is.











Day 2: 2/18/13 Gonzaga Bay to San Francisquito
191 miles






We all slept great last night. A lot better than we would have on a beach.
I stole this off the internet. That website goes to their Facebook page.






I walked around and snapped a few photos.
Baja sunrises are the best.










Flowers for Ladybug!





Our cabana (#6)





Bartek took some photos, too. I love this one!


photo by Barteknologie™



During the morning inspection, we discovered that Scott had a few screws loose.
I mean, bolts.





The oil tank bolt, to be specific. That sucker was gone.




Matt went through his spares and found the bolt that Scott needed, but it was an 8mm, not a 6mm.
Scott had a 6mm bolt, but it didn'’t have the right shoulder.
They fixed it up with a washer and some electrical tape.
Good as new!




Took some tire pics.
I thought it would be fun to see how the different tires hold up over the course of the ride.
Too bad I only did the rears for some reason, dammit.


Bartek'’s
Motoz Tractionator





Scott'’s
Mefo Explorer (super explorer? - not sure. Scott?)
It was already a little beat before he left.





Our
D908
(bartek got a little carried away with the chain lube this morning)






Went over to the dining room for coffee and breakfast.












Is that a shark jaw?






The guys were bright eyed and bushy tailed.






Considering that we were in "the corner of the drunks"






Bartek and Scott ran into this guy on their way over to breakfast.
John (and his dog, Gaucho) have been coming to Baja for years.
You can see John'’s Sportsmobile in the background.





Huevos Rancheros






The owner really wanted to give us all calendars, which was sweet of him.
But we had to explain that they would never make it home in our soft bags.
Bartek and I took photos of it instead.
This one is nice and clear, so it’'s probably Bartek’'s.






After breakfast, we headed out.
We’'d be riding down the beach to Punta Final,
then would take a “short cut” to Coco'’s Corner.






Before I forget - here’s today’'s first blurry map. hey, it's kinda clear!






The road started out as a mix between sand and dirt.






A little salty.






Then we headed on to the sand. Well, rocks and sand.






Goggles Pizano, messing with El Bartek...






Bartek, plotting his revenge.






I’'m starting to think that Scott likes riding in sand.






You want video?
(sorry no HD. the Letterbox format cut too much off the top)






haha, we have too much fun on these rides!












Stuck.
























Hard to get through without momentum.











We ended up behind a gate (on private property) - whoops.
There were people in the houses, but no one came out to yell at us.
It probably happens all the time.
There was a dog lying next to the gate and he barely even turned his head
to look at me when I opened the gate to let us out.




Next up, we try and find some road that Matt picked out on Google Earth.
It should bring us through those mountains...





We hope.

>"Next up, we try and find some road that Matt picked out on Google Earth. It should bring us through those mountains..."

Hmmm... I think that's a route that Coco advised.... "muy malo"

Cool
I've got a gps track for that route and it is still hard to see on GE.
This should be interesting...

-M

El Sacrificio looks like quite a find, that's going in my Baja bookmark file.

I want one of those calendars

Next up, we try and find some road that Matt picked out on Google Earth.
It should bring us through those mountains...


I've been up and down that (assuming it's the same trail) a few times over the years. I have yet to hear of anybody on beasts go up it. I assume you lived and the buzzards aren't pecking your eyes out since your typing about it.

It's like watching a scary movie that you have already seen before :eek1
Stay tuned.

Sounds like some technical stuff coming up

IN! Nice video on the beach. Looking forward to it!

Great, I love another Wan report

Hey guys!

So, does anyone have a name for this route?
After describing it to some guy at San Francisquito, he said he was sure it was "Mine Road."
That's what I put on the videos, but who knows if that's right.
He was just some random guy.
What about "8 mile road"? Is that in the area?



After you guys see the pics, maybe someone will have a definitive answer.
As I mentioned, Matt just found it on Google Earth and thought it looked promising.
It would be nice to have a proper name for it.
Scott thought we should call it "Wan way"



Hi HWD - I've never stayed at Alfonsina's so I thought El Sacrificio was great.
I don't like to be surrounded by people, even if they're moto folks.
But, Matt said the food at Alfonsina's is much better.
It's nice to have a backup plan, nonetheless.




Hola Bartek! Hola Goggles!
I know you guys are going to love this next part!







p.s. Hey oldtrucks - glad you found us. Got an ice cream pic or 2 later in the trip.
Nice to see you RedRockRider and LoudAl!







Day 2: 2/18/13 Gonzaga Bay to San Francisquito, continued
191 miles





When we were looking at the maps, Matt said he didn'’t want to take the regular way to Coco’s.
Instead, he pulled up Google Earth, found Coco'’s and then looked for alternatives.
He said he found one trail that looked promising and he hoped we could “connect the dots.”
For those of you who have read our other ride reports,
I sometimes call this “"yoinking”" (as in, "“you really yoinked that one out of your butt, didn'’t you?"”) and it usually leads to us riding something “"adventurous.”"



The road started off nice. Easy riding through the cactus.




It was pretty. A little sandy, a little gravely.
Then we started seeing more rocks.
And more sand.





BigWan and I had a silly get off in the sand. No biggie.
(no pics, but it’'s in the video)
Scott was having a blast, so we sent him off ahead.
Bartek followed.


Then there were some bigger rocks.
It seemed that Bartek was doing some stunt riding...





Somehow he landed on this one, facing the wrong way?





His shifter got bent, but he said it was no problem.





We pushed his bike off the rock and he went on ahead.






Bartek had a little trouble on this section, but not bad.
Considering that he'’s only been riding dirt for 18 months,
he’'s frickin'’ awesome!






It was not a beginner trail by any means.





Matt was getting a workout, doing it 2up.
We took a breather here.





OK, Scott - what’'s up?





Oh. That.







I like this picture of Scott.






Hmmm.
While we were deciding what to do, I found some flowers for Ladybug!






OK, all that stuff was captured by the GoPro (before it died for the day).
It’'s a longish video, but I think it’'s worth it.
You get a real sense of how our rides go.
Thrills, spills, and a whole lot of laughing.







Matt decided to send me to scout ahead.
He said, “"OK, Kel. Let’'s call this section here a 3.
Go check it out and let us know if you see anything that would be a 6.”"



Okey dokey.
See - that was their first mistake. Sending me ahead.
A smart wife would have said, “"I don’t need to scout ahead. I can see it from here.
We aren'’t doing this crap - TURN AROUND.”"
But, I’'m not a smart wife.
I’'m a Wan.


Here'’s the “3”





I hiked (ATGATT - helmet and all) ahead and took a few pics.
I don’'t do any of that tricky stuff, like putting the camera down on the ground.
This was just taken as I was hiking up the hill.
Of course, I’'m only 4'’12"” (thanks larryboy!), so I'm down pretty low anyway.






Hmm. Nothing worse yet.
They can do this.





And this.






This isn'’t even a “1”






And that'’s just sand.






Hmm. Does it get rockier around the corner?
I didn'’t know how far to go, but I was getting tired.
That Superbowl cold had really taken its toll and it was hard to hike all ATGATT.
Man, it was getting hot out here, too.


This morning, Matt had tried to get everyone to fill up their hydration packs.
“"Guys, we need to have full water today..."”
But we all moaned about how it was just going to be some beach riding and some easy stuff.
No one wanted to carry the extra weight.
After all, we were only going to Coco'’s.
He gave up. But wasn'’t happy about it.

I hope we didn'’t make a huge mistake...



I tried to call Matt on the intercom, but I was out of range.
Well, hope that was far enough.
I could hear the bikes being started up. I guess they got impatient.
Later, Matt said he had been yelling for me, but I couldn'’t hear him.




Here'’s what they were doing while I was scouting ahead:







I took this photo for Ladybug on my way back.






I told the guys I didn'’t see anything worse than a 3.
Nothing they couldn'’t handle.
It goes on for a long way, but I *think* it gets better.



I'’m pretty sure they were little disappointed with my scouting.
Especially later when they got up there and went further.
“WTF was she thinking??”
But, you gotta remember I'’m used to seeing the 990 tackle gnarly shit.
As far as I can tell, they can do almost anything.



I didn'’t have to walk all the way back to the beginning, thank goodness.
But it was pretty far.
Here comes El Bartek!







Goggles Pizano!






Hi, Mr. Honey!







Bye, Mr. Honey.
Aww, crap.
Now I have to turn around and hike the frickin'’ section AGAIN.






Luckily, I didn'’t have to hike ALL of it.
Matt was waiting for me and we rode 2 up on some of the easier parts.






I jumped off for this section, though.
Now we were beyond the stuff I had scouted.






Go Bartek!!






Oooh.














Scott came back to give Bartek a hand.












That step got him. I think his tire got stuck in that notch.






Flowery bush for Ladybug






Yay, teamwork!






Here comes Matt...






OK, now it seems like we’re through the hardest parts.
We hope.
I get back on the bike and we continue 2up.











I wish the GoPro had been working for this stuff,
but while I was scouting, Matt had turned it off to save the battery
and it now it wouldn’'t turn back on.






My photos will have to suffice.







We were able to ride 2up some more.
Until this point. We did really great up most of the hill,
but something happened (a rock rolled out from under us?)
and I got thrown off.
OK, I can take a hint. I’ll walk.



Looking back at what we just rode...







BigWan, taking a breather.






Looking forward.
Ugh. More ATGATT hiking.






Matt






So close, yet, so far.
I hate hiking.







It was kinda pretty looking back.
I think that'’s a bit of the Sea of Cortez out there...






There'’s BigWan.
I was frickin'’ dying right here.
This was horrible in Mx boots.






Taking a well-deserved rest.





I'’m a sweaty mess in this photo.
Good thing it'’s not smell-O-vision!






Here comes Goggles!






And, El Bartek!






Woooo! We made it!!
Look at those happy F’ing Fs!







We were all stoked at this point.
We did it! We survived.
Everyone was super thirsty so we drank a bunch of water.
Scott and Bartek were pretty much out, so we gave them some of our emergency water.
Whew. We really should have filled our hydration packs like Matt wanted to.
But we were going to be okay.
It looked like the road was getting easier again.




That had to have been the toughest part of the trail.
Right?


Right?
Uh oh.






Cliffhanger until tomorrow!
Man, I have so many photos for Day 2.

This trip is in my future... So excited!!!!

Thanks for the report!

"Damn you, Google Earth!"
--BigWan

SO... Are there any other individuals interested in this ride coming up soon? I'm ready to go immediately from SoCal!

Right on Wans! The nastier it gets the bigger Matts smile is. Saw this Wan report and could not wait to get started.