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

I've been lurking along here but I have to de-lurk to tell you what a wonderful RR this is and how much I've enjoyed following along on your trip.

So much that, now that this one is over , I think I'll have to bravely carry on by going back and reading your older RRs!

Thank you!

I grew up on the that original version in the early '70s and thought it was lost forever.

The Cake version is one of the best ever......

Hub huba Wans Team We came from the other way and came down the hill. This is where Keven came to the ravine and said oh shit. I think you route would be more difficult to navigate. But then you guys are on adventure trials bikes.

This:

We needed to cross this ravine -
it looked like most people went here...





Over to that section there.


This is where we came down.



Great report, bravo.

It was so much fun having another great report. Thanks for all the effort sharing with us.

Another Wan ride report comes to an end. The country goes back to work and the stock market resumes its rise.

I'm going to miss this report. I'll miss the tacos and the doggies too.

For yet another great report. What helmet comms do you two use? I love the laughing and banter on the videos.

Thanks, tilliejacques! A glutton for punishment, eh?
Sorry a lot of those old linkies are broken now.

Oh, I love the Cake one.
We used it one of our Summer of Stupid videos...

hi AteamNM!
Yep, I thought that was the way you went. It looked pretty steep!
It's been fun reading your report, too!
You guys had some nice single track that made us jealous...

Thanks, MeinMotorrad!
A couple last doggies, coming up!

We've got the Interphone F5 units. There's a link a couple pages back (replying to a comment).
I can't imagine not being able to talk to matt.
We crack ourselves up all day long.

You're welcome, you guys!!
Thank you so much for reading!!
I'm really glad you enjoyed the report. It was a lot of fun for me, too.










Day 11: 2/27/13 El Rosario to Tecate, continued.
293 miles














See that dirt up to the right?
That's where we got spit out on Day 1 (coming down from Hanson)...
We could have gone back that way, but didn't feel like doing the same deep sand and whoops.
















We were riding along this nice road, not expecting to see anyone...
When we spied this guy...








He had not 1, but 4 dogs traveling with him!
It was cute. I got photos of 3 of them.















Well, got photos of 2 and a half, anyway...




































I guess the gates meant we were close to the Parque. (great vintage photos in that link!!)
(checking the map more closely, we weren't actually in the park this time)























The riding is so nice here.







We passed the sculpture of the horse on the rock
(and the big puddle)...







As Katy had mentioned, Hanson had gotten snow a few days ago.
We saw signs of it in the higher elevations.






El Bartek beat me to this gate.
Thanks, Bartek!








We found a small section of heavier snow.
Some of the spots were icy and slick. We went through carefully.
It would have sucked to eat it here, so close to going home!














We were enjoying this last bit of dirt - what a great end to the ride...

Go, Bartek!!




































































Another interesting Baja cemetery...







I liked the giant horse shoe...







One last water crossing!






The timing was perfect -
We were going to get to Rancho Ojai, just at sunset.






Oh hai, Ojai!








We made it!







It was a huge relief to be back here in one piece.
2500 sometimes-crazy-miles in 11 frickin' awesome days!!







The guys were pretty happy.











Me, too!


Day 11 was in the books!!






Tires - at 2500 miles:
D908






Scorpion Rally







Tractionator






and, most impressive of all -
Bartek's IRC had 4500 miles on it. Wow, pretty good!








Originally, we were going to spend the night here, then cross in the morning.
But, Bartek had the good idea to pack up and cross tonight.
That way we would miss the LA traffic in the morning.

Buena idea, señor!




We must have packed up in about 15 minutes.







Turns out we didn't need those extra pesos after all.
We stopped in Tecate and fueled up the truck.
Bartek ran to the store and got a bunch of bananas and apples and snacks.
Um. I don't think you're supposed to bring fruit across the border...


But, try telling that to Mr. Banana Grabber...







Mmmmm. pig food








Bye, Baja!
We'll miss you.








It was the perfect time to cross the border. A Wednesday night.
There was hardly a wait.




When we pulled up, the border guy said,
"Welcome home! You're back in the US - don't worry, you're safe now."


Really? Are you serious?
Because I think we were way more likely to be harmed between here and home.
Sure, Mex Highway 1 is super dangerous, but other than that...
Baja is one of the safest places we've ever been.



Back at home, some kids were just shot over their sneakers.
I'd say the US is a little scarier than most of Mexico.





Matt was feeling pretty good, he managed to drive us all the way to Valencia.
(192 miles from the border)
The next day was a breeze.







We took care of some important business...







And then we were home.
Whew.



The end of the best ride. EVER!

especially since we put about 1 week into the planning.
Next time, we could probably make it better.
Or could we? There's something to be said for winging it.





A huge thank you to Bartek and Scott -
you guys were the ideal riding companions.


Always enthusiastic and excited about the trail.
Always raring to go and ready to ride your butts off.
Always up for anything (even the stupid stuff) and never complaining.
(at least, not within earshot )



Thanks for being the best WanKers we could have asked for!
We can't wait to ride with you again.





love, The Wans.

Whaaaaa.......

I want more.....go back right now and try a few different trails......


Thanks for taking us along.....next time you are in BC, get in touch and I will find you some stoopid shit to ride 2 up

This ride report must have been a labor intensive endeavor.
Much appreciated.... and keeps drawing us back to Baja.

Guessing tacos won't be on the menu for awhile...

thank you kelly, kelly, and kelly...and bartek, matt and scott.

i really enjoyed this. glad to see you all made it home.

where to next....?

joel

Another awesome Wan Adventure.
Thanks for all the hard work putting this together for our viewing pleasure!

Thanks for taking the time to do this so we could live vicariously through you guys for a bit.
Looks like I have a challange ahead to out taco you guys and to go where no Wan has gone before!

Another great adventure well told. Thank you for taking the time and doing the work to share this with us!

Indeed, another great ride report! I am sure that the ADV community supports me when I say that your next employment endeavor should involve riding to new places and making strange links to Japanese videos. I believe that you have the best ride reports out there, in no small part due to Matt's riding ability, having a stoic passenger ready for every picture opportunity and a great writer/editor to chronicle it all for the rest of us. I am glad that Norman J. DeLorman has finally gone cold turkey from sourcing his routes from Apple Maps.

All the best in your future travels,

BT

Thanks for the ridalong!!

Scott

I talked to you guys at the taco stand in valle de trinidad early on in your trip,
great read and photos, thanks.