Team Magoo Baja Ride - Bikes, Beaches, Badlands and Brews

surgically enhanced, fo' sho......

am gonna let Tony elaborate on the adventures on the 2nd half of Day 1 :eek1, here's a couple of teaser pics from the afternoon of Day 2......

Captain Nemo handling the stream crossing with ease---



Magoo slogging hiz way thru da crick.....

Tony seeing an opportunity to get some cool photos/videos.....("where's my camera?")....


as the afternoon wound down, we hit the Pacific side and stopped for a cool photo op.....
OK, lest ye forget, here's a coupla more whoop-related pics.....
A-Team & Magoo fighting the whoops....(pics don't do this justice!)


those whoops made me wish that we woulda paid for the wind-up San Felipe rescue ATV to follow along......


As the afternoon ran down, and the search & rescue expedition concluded, there was time for some sunset photos along the Pacific north of San Quentin.....


pulled into the Hotel Jardines Baja in San Ignacio, killer place right on the beach, and again---pretty much had the place to ourselves.....bartender was trying to hook us up with some local talent, or a trip to the local strip club-----but we settled for watching the bar/restaurant eye candy (one tall, long-legged blonde Amazon) and having a great meal, along with mucho cervezas.....

:ddog

Captain Nemo can provide more detail, he walked over and put the moves on la chica......

Nemo's got the moves!!

So we leave Mike's Sky Ranch and soon are deep in the forest, riding single track technical fun. Around rocks, between large cactus and going down. This trail goes on and on. The El Sprockito Grande stops. There is a deep and steep embankment in front of hm, maybe 30 feet down. MacGyver spots a line strait down into a ravine and drops down, I follow. Chuck stops to assist Kevin with getting his bike turned around.


Magoo follows our line after Kevin. However, Chuck was riding Kevin's bike, after they got it turned around Chuck rides a bit and makes a turn. Whammo, the bike is down. The first documented drop although Magoo said something about the Mag-Whoops and bar to ground contact. We all make our way into a very neat area that is likely where the previous NMTrailboss, Paul and Kevin expedition got turned around 3 years ago.

We are back in sync and loving the remote single track. After many miles of techy trails we are on a broader trail inside canyons, heading down.


I feel the Suzuki pulling to the right, something is not right. I look below and see my Wolfman Alpha fender bag hanging to to the right side, dragging the ground. Magoo rides on by, he doesn't know what is up. MacGyver comes by and I explain the issue. We get the pack secured and Magoo comes back. Bruce tells me to go on, Magoo and Bruce are behind me. I almost hit Chuck as I leave. I remember Magoo saying something about a gate, a cattle guard or rainbows? I ride on and encounter a gate area, in the distant is a village. I pass a guy on a tractor pulling a wagon with weeds and sage. I enter the quiet village, I circle and stop. Kevin has to be somewhere near here. I wait a while and turn back. I ask the rancher, que, donde esta quatro motorcyclists? Hmmmm he says nada, waves and smiles. I go back to the fence/gate area, I wait, I listen. After a while I leave a note and a bandanna on the post, I explain that I have ridden back to where I lost my pack. I ride back, looking for the fork or split I must have missed. Finally after a few miles I return to the scene of the crime, there is even a piece of zip tie in the sand. I go back to the gate area, my note is still there. I blow my whistle 3 long, 3 short, 3 long. I listen. I hear nothing. I am worried, have I been separated or left; voted off the island? I make a spot to lay down near the fence posts, in the sliver of shade. I wait, I blow the whistle again but it depresses me. After a while, I write another note and decide to take a hike back to the last spot I saw my team. I can't believe I missed a split somewhere.


Making sure I walk in the deepest sand for foot prints and I leave arrows made with sticks for someone who hopefully will follow me. I make it back again to the scene of the lost bag, due to a broken plastic buckle I may add.

I return and there is my bike, jacket, helmet and note. I then decide to walk up the mountain side and obtain a higher view. I crawl, climb and hike up massive boulders and then realize. One rattle snake bite here would be worse that spending a night in the village. There may be a farmer that warns me to stay away from his daughter, or his wife???? I come back to the bike, I wait, I laid down and then I paced. I blew the damn whistle again and it made me feel desolated. After a while here comes Chuck. I guess I missed the left hand turn at the cattle guard. They all took off and thought I was in front or in back. It was a near 2 hour delay. But I am so happy to be back with my hommies, I will not loose sight of the gang again.

The slab road that access the observatory is a twisty downhill roller coaster. El Sprockito is way out of sight, down the mountain going fast. We intersect Highway 1 and head south, I assume to our hotel when Kevin makes a right hand turn onto a sand road. We soon smell salt air and get glimpses of the Pacific Ocean. The views are spectacular. We take many pictures, we don't say a lot. What can you say? There is no evidence of mankind, no power poles, fence, cattle, vehicles or shanties.











Post card stuff here. The sense of timeless and lack of scale is obvious between us all. We take pictures, you let your mind roam. We get back on the bikes. Kevin is already on his bike, helmet strapped and the bike is running. Time to go guys.

There are many spots where we stop for a minute or two, we know we will be riding late, in the dark. Our first night is at the recommended and reservations pre-arranged by El Sprockito at the Jardines (Gardens) in San Quintin.

We check in. Captain Magoo was the team banker. At the start, of our trip we each gave him like 10 million each. At that point forward, the food, gas and lodging was paid out of the Magoo Stash, the Magoo Taa. Chris got to work on his Spanish and math and the rest of just ordered more tacos, uno cervasa por favor.



We celebrate another day of living large!


We quenched our thirst (s) and made our way from showers to dinner.


I had a chicken Caesar salad.


oh I forgot to mention the bar lizard lady this night. She was giving me that; "I know that you know that I know, that you could short ..............

Oh never mind, a tall drink of water with legs that went to her shoulders was giving me, I mean us the big eye form across the room. Actually Chuck went over and chatted with her for a bit. She wanted him to marry her or something. I think they got each others email. We met a dude earlier who was hustling us about a soccer team or something. He later was sitting with her as she texted on her cell phone. I think she was doing a Google search for a an old guy adventure wonna be with a gash on his nose. Or maybe she was texting Chuck.

The bikes were secure.


As Jimmy Buffet would say, I'm living on things that excite me....

But just like a fool, when those
sweet goodies cool, I ate 'til I ate way too much.
Cause I'm livin' on things that excite me,
Be they pastries or lobsters or love;
I'm just tryin' to get by being quiet and shy,
In a world full of pushin' and shove.

Oh what a day. What a meal and a salute to all hands on deck. We traveled nearly 220 miles, an epic day with a mix of thrills and an emotional low of being voted off the island. All is well. We drink another cervasa, we talk about the day, we look at tomorrows ride. I fall asleep with thoughts of sand, of whoops, cactus whizzing by the handle bars. I am tired but satisfied, I know we have only just began.

Day 2 of riding includes scenic beach side views, Mama Espinoza's for brunch and a taste of Malcomb Smith memorabilia, single track sand hell with Oboma heads and wrecks, cactus forest, dark stop for barrel gas and an inland night in Catavinia. Moto trials mecca.

Tony,

Epic first ride day! That's a lot of miles and a lot to take in on one day of Baja let alone the first day!


You are correct that was the location that we had to turn around in 2010 after the hurricanes that had destroyed many roads in northern Baja that year. It had taken us over 2 hours to ride the first 4 miles of the road out of Mikes to the Observatory highway when the road just....ended. We walked for a mile or so looking for it to continue, but nothing. Just devistation. Not knowing what was up ahead and with all the washouts we had already ridden through we thought it best to just turn around and find another way to the Pacific side.

Kevin working through rocks left behind after the flooding



This was our turn around point...no more road. Glad to see it has been re opened now!

Well, since the bar-to-ground contact wasn't *observed*, it's not a 5.


Again, love the pics!!

cheers

Good call Laurie!


No pics...didn't happen!

Great pics keep coming! I couldnt imagine riding along side the ocean like that.
How large were the cliffs, they looked massive.
Amazon chicks are so awesome.

jumping ahead, thread-stealing post.......puppy from San Francisquito!

this little pup was soo cool!!

That's not really enough food for a guy who's been riding all day, is it? :huh


Haha - I've been waiting for the puppy photos, but I thought they were going to be new ones,
not ones that I took...


I'll keep waiting.

soon, grasshopper.....---loving your ride report!....

This was probably the most scenic day through the mountains.
When Big Sproket was stuck at the edge of the wash out , I thought I'll help him turn his bike arround and ride it through the wash out to pay him back for all he has done. Can't believe I dropped his bike!!! Well sombody had to crash it, because Kevin wasn't going to do it. He and Bruce were the only riders not to take soil samples on this trip. I'll have to re-pay Kevin in another way.As for the chica in the bar, what happens in Baja stays in Baja!!!I gotta go now , someone is blowing a whissle outside , he's probably lost.....

Was it three longs, three shorts and three longs? Did you find a note?

I would say maybe 60 feet average. Those previous sea side photos it was a long ways down.

Ms Little Wan, you guys riding that big bike two up and ripping through technical sand and rock stuff is amazing. Your hubby is a big dude who certainly can handle the bike and the weight. You guys ride together very well.




Read Ms. Wans report here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=867128

We crossed many of the same trails as you guys.

Here is the puppy shot. We suggested that the dogs name should be Magoo?

Awww, so cute!!

Magoolito!



Hey, thanks for the plug (and the very kind words)!
I try and take lots of trail pics, I know it's fun to see that stuff later.
Oh, I think we went into Mike's close to the way you went out...
(except we found an easier way through that ravine/creek.)

Ride Day #2



Today we ride along more Pacific coast side beaches and cliffs, then we head to Moma Espinosa's Restaurant in El Rosario for brunch. From Mom's we head inland, cactus forest single track, silt city riding and wrecks.



The day was a bit dreary and I think it may have rained over night?




As we near the cliff sides and start our ride along the beaches we got this picture, misty.


Picture bomb coming........




Surfers paradise maybe.
















Mama's



She is a legend in Baja


Delightful food


The unofficial Baja 1000 museum is part of visiting here.









Coming up next we leave the coastline and head for single track awesomeness.

I've enjoyed the first two days of your ride and am looking forward to the rest of the adventure! Thanks for sharing it with all of us!

Fixed it for you

Mama Espinoza's was a highlight on the Baja ride, along with Mike's Sky Ranch, San Francisquito, Coco's Corner, and Gonzaga Bay----

A ton of Baja memorabalia inside Mama's, I spent about 20 minutes walking around checking it all out!

Vintage old Honda XR500 at Mama's:



I had the same bike (not nearly as clean or race-ready) back in the day:



(garage refrigerator is sporting a brand new steeker from Mama's!)


a small fraction of the wall art at Mama's!



we figured it was Day 2 of the ride, time to make sure that Captain Nemo had the ADV salute down properly, so we had him practice at the end of the day (after a couple of cervezas).......



Here's a great picture of our ride leader, Big Sprocket, halfway through Day 2:




I'm gonna let A-Team elaborate on the awesome singletrack and sand that we rode after brunch at Mama's, ending up in Catavina for the night:
(barrel gas is the first order of business upon arrival in Catavina!)



somehow, LittleWan was able to provide us with a picture of the blonde Amazon from the bar in Hotel de Jardines in San Quentin...



this was after Captain Nemo had showed her his moves......

Great stuff Captain Magoo.

After leaving Mama's, a highlight for sure we continued south along the coastline. Bahia Rosario was on our right, a really pretty bay leading to a geographic point on the coast until you get to a huge bay and whale watching hot spot; Bahia de Sebastian Vizcaino and Port of Guerrero Negro. A long ways south from where we were but soon to visit there. We immediately fell in love with a large group of tourista's from the US of A.










Burq Magoo


MacGyver.


Nice shot of our guide Kevin.

Knowing techy stuff is ahead, Chuck and I gave Magoo a trials lesson. I think we were talking about peg pressure and angulation or the Amazon woman?


Speaking of practicing good form. Chuck's practice was paying off, look at his form, nearly perfect.


We said goodbye to the ocean and headed for what Big Sprocket said is very fun single track. There is a pattern developing here. When Kevin says single track and really cool in the same sentence, beware Team Magoo. :eek1


The setting sun cast a nice shadow on Kevin.


The road is easy.


But this kind of riding didn't last long. It became awesome.


Rubber necking.


What is Chuck doing here?


A meeting of the board.










Wow, this is just a great picture.


Cactus forest riding was supreme but changed quickly. Dry sandy trails with big black round nappy headed rocks were semi buried in the sand. Some rocks would move and others were solid. The riding was first gear, very difficult. El Spockito lost the trail near some farm land and the silt & powder riding was intense. We came across a couple of ranchers burning stuff. Not sure what the hell they were burning and or why, but the trail was very hot, very dusty and very hard. I think Magoo had several slow speed drops, wrecks, dismounts or in trials; a five. I had my first and last slow speed get off. I thought I had it saved but the bike was just too heavy and it stalled. Chuck was right behind me, I know he was laughing at me. This trail sucked, it was not fun and it changed a lot. Out of the powder and up onto hard Oboma Head rocks. Although a bit better in control, the beating the bike and body took navigating through these land mines was hard work. At least we would not have to go back and ride this stuff again, so keep moving down the trail, keep pressing on. There is little doubt that the second day of riding was going to end in the dark. Not good to be riding at dark in Baja, but we were in Baja so bring it on.

We make it to Highway 1, the road into Catavinia.


If I never ride in deep silt again, that will be too soon. Barrel gas is obtained.


Check in at the Hotel Mission Santa Clara. It was a great place and good food, as standard so far.


Mr. Speed control issues Sutton had to ride a bit of trials on the porch at the hotel.


Dinner was great.



And the bikes were secure.



A great day of cactus forest riding, beach side beauty, silt and powder hell, a few wrecks, killer sunset coming in on the slab.



Tomorrow is finally a beach ride!!!!! More Oboma head riding and we stop in Guerrero Negro.

Thank you and fixed. We are Team Magoo.