Palapa Chair

Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

This next part is something I've been struggling with. I wasn't sure how to post it.

The day we crossed back into the US, we posted in another thread that really only a few of us read, but I don't think I can really do any better than we did that night, when the thoughts and emotions were fresh. I'm just going to drop the story in here, from Tami (Bonnie Abbzug and me)...

This is what we wrote:

Bonnie Abbzug said:

.

Okay, as much as I hate to screw up the timeline for the ride report, I will tell you all a sad, and long story.

So, there we were, completely naked!

Just kidding .

Okay, for real. We woke up in Bay of LA on Saturday morning. It was cool and cloudy, but still better than snow . We took off down the highway until Duke found a little two track that led us to Chapala dry lake bed. The boys were having one hell of a blast hauling ass at about 100mph and making big wide figure 8's and big dust fences that I got caught in, it was fun for sure! Then we hit the road that goes past Coco's and on to Gonzaga Bay, stopped at Rancho Grande for some lunch and barrel gas, the Pemex was out of gas, and took off on down the road for San Felipe.
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Bonnie Abbzug said:

We made it through the military check point without too much hassle and took off at full speed. I was leading, Mommer was right behind me and Duke a little ways back from Mommer. I got about 5 miles from the check point and there was a wash out with sunken concrete, with a square edged curb like thing. I saw the edge and thought I could make it over it, I just said to myself to get the front end light and I'll make it over. I was doing about 50 with Mommer pretty much right on my tail. I did manage to get the front end up and over it, but the back tire hit it with a ton of force, it popped up and smacked me in the ass then landed back down, with me still upright, but I knew right away that I had a flat tire. I skidded to a stop about 80 yards later, Mommer went skidding by and stopped about 15 yards past me.
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Bonnie Abbzug said:

Duke came rolling up, I got off the bike and said I think I have a flat tire, he said to get the tools out and move the bike out of the road. Mommer made a comment up the road that he put one hell of a dent in his front rim, which made me look at my front rim and I saw that I had a nice little taco going on up there, then I looked back at my rear rim and saw a spoke going the wrong way, then I saw a piece of my hub hanging from a few other spokes and I said, oh shit, that don't look so good :eek1 . Duke and Mommer both came over and looked at the wheel and pretty much said, yur fucked .

The hub was in about 4 pieces and the spokes had gone through the tire. The bike wasn't gonna go anywhere anytime soon. We were all kind of in shock and really unsure of what the hell to do now, but really, really happy that I didn't pile it up and end up breaking me in four pieces instead .
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-more-

Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

Bonnie Abbzug said:

So, we all have a seat and start discussing what to do next. We could leave the bike in the desert, stip it off all cool parts that were recently added (except the $200 battery) and take off. We could take the 2 gallons of fuel I just put it in and light the sucker on fire and have a little memorial for it, then take off, or we could sit there on the side of the road for a while longer and hope that someone will come along and help make the decision for us. Oh, and Mommer offered to ride back to Yuma, get the truck and come get it. We opted for the sitting on the side of the road for a while longer option....
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Tami was sad. Tears were shed- she figured this was the last she'd see of her bike....

The lip on this thing is much higher than it looks...especially when you're rolling at about 50mph...

-more-

Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

After awhile...

Bonnie Abbzug said:

...a really nice guy named Brian rolled up on a DR 650. We showed him the carnage and he said right away, no problem, my Dad has a truck in Gonzaga and we'll just go get it and come back and get your bike. A few minutes later a friend of Brian's, named Mike and Brian's Dad, Dick, and Dick's brother (who's name I've forgotten at the moment) rolled up. Dick instantly offered to go and get the truck and come back and pick me up. Mommer said he'd ride back with them and Duke said he'd stay with me and the bike.
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Dick on the red quad:

Bonnie Abbzug said:

Duke and I hang out by the side of the road for about an hour, then finally we see Mommer coming back. He rolls up and proclaims that the plans have changed. Dick (who was riding a four wheeler), had a little crash and broke his leg right before the military check point :eek1 . Holy Crap! So, now I'm really thinking, screw it, that's just awful, my bike can be replaced, but this sweet man just hurt himself. Mommer said they were gonna go get their truck and come and get my bike and go ahead and take it up to the border and take Dick to the hospital up there. But we needed to unload everything off of it and be ready to just throw it in the truck when they get there, because Dick was in a lot of pain. We decided to offload everything and drain the fuel, but if they showed up and Dick was really hurting we'd tell them to just go on, we'll deal with the bike later!
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Unloading/draining Tami's bike, and loading everything onto the 950's...

Hayduke said:

What Tami hasn't mentioned is how quickly she was riding. Her skills took a huge jump on this trip, and she was riding smooth, quick, and smart. I had stopped worrying about her when I didn't see her, and just hung back as she led... she was just having a blast on these roads. Maybe she got overconfident, but I think a huge factor was that the light was completely flat that day- high clouds made it hard to judge what was just a little rock and what was a huge rim-buster. The poor little XT was on it's last legs anyway- she rode the piss out of it this trip and it was tired.

Stay tuned though.... this story just gets more and more fucked up....
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Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

I'm crying again here as I read through this again.... one of the worst days ever.

Bonnie Abbzug said:

So, we unload the bike and figure out a way to get everything loaded up onto Duke and Mommer's bikes. Mommer looked like a KLR rider . A couple, hours go by and we start to get a little worried that maybe the plans have changed again, but we had a little day light left, so we'd wait a bit longer and if they still didn't show up, we'd push the XT off the side of the road and come back in the morning and deal with it. About 30 minutes later and truck headed for Gonzaga comes rolling up. They ask if we need some help and we tell them our story. They instantly hop out and say load her up, we have a house in Gonzaga, we can take ya back down there . We managed to get the bike in the back of their truck and they tell me to climb in too and off we all go back to Gonazaga Bay. Duke and Mommer were in the lead and made it to Rancho Grande before we did. As soon as we pulled in Duke came running over to the truck, he took a deep breath and said "the guy died" :eek1 .
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Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

Hayduke said:

As Mommer and I rolled into the Pemex in Gonzaga, we knew we'd be waiting a bit, but we were planning to meet Tami (in Doug and his wife's truck) at Alphonsinas. We sat there a few minutes and saw Brian riding from Alphonsinas toward the Rancho Grande store. He saw us, smiled, and waved, and crossed over to the store. Mommer and I turned and saw that the truck that was going to take Dick to the hospital was over at the store and thought, "oh, lets go over there and see what's up." As I rode up behind the truck, I saw Brian standing at the side of the truck at an open door, then I saw him fall to his knees on the ground at the rear tire. I didn't know what was happening, but as I got off the bike, I realized I had just witnessed a man lose his father right then and there. Words can't describe the thoughts that went through my head.

Mike ( a friend of the family ) came over to confirm... "he passed on" he said. Oh my god... I paced back and forth for several minutes not knowing what to say or do. I looked up as Doug was pulling up with Tami and her bike, and I ran to the window of the truck to tell Tami "the guy died" as quickly as I could before she got out and jumped into this situation without knowing.

fuck.
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Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

A pic while I gather it together...

Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

Bonnie Abbzug said:

To say I was in shock, would be putting it lightly. This sweet ol' man, who had just offered to go way out of his way to help me out, a complete stranger, was gone . I just couldn't believe it. I jumped out of the truck and saw Brian, his son, standing at the back of the pickup where his father lay in the back seat, his head was bent and his shoulders were shaking and he simply looked like a needed a good hug. I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, told him how sorry I was and let him cry on my shoulder for a bit. Then, of all things he looks at me and says, we'll get your bike for you soon :eek1 . I told him to please not worry about it that another nice guy had come along and had brought the bike back to Gonzaga and that we could store it at his house there. He still said he'd be happy to take it back to Yuma for me, but I told him not to worry about it, he had enough on his plate at the moment.

We went over to Alphonsina's then and got a room (the room Brian and his father were supposed to be in ) and met up with Mike (the family friend) at dinner a little later. Mike said that Brian was headed to San Felipe in the truck with his Dad, his Dad's wife and his Dad's brother, but that Brian would be back down in a day or two with a great big trailer and they would for sure get my bike back to Yuma and Burt's house for me. Mike is friends with Burt too and figured it wouldn't be a problem to keep the bike there until we could come back for it.

And there you have it, the story of the day that I wish had never happened.
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Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

I've been putting off finishing this up because I just didn't want to read through that again.

Hayduke said:

It was a really somber night at Alphonsina's last night. I don't think I slept at all... too much to think about. The bike was the last thing on our mind at this point, but in the morning, Mike told us again that they would bring it. I don't know if it will really make it back home- they have alot to deal with. I'm sure it can't be easy to get through the beauracracy of getting a persons body back across the border, then all of their equipment. There's no way to communicate out of Gonzaga, so no one knew what was happening as of this morning.

We shoved the little XT between a couple of trailers down on the beach at Doug's house, and maybe it will rust away there.

Then we loaded the 950's up with Tami's stuff, and she hopped on the back, and we motored for the border. The road out of Gonzaga sucks two-up, BTW. I hate that they are paving it, but I will admit to being happy to hit that new pavement and blast up to 80 as soon as I could. We kept up a good pace all the way through the farm country around Algodones, and crossed the border about an hour before dark.

What an amazing trip. I could do without the stuff that happened yesterday, but right up until noon yesterday was the best trip ever. Riding the dry lakebed in the AM was surreal. And wait until you see the pics and video of riding the beach out of San Juanico.

We had an Adventure.
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Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

The XT stuck between some trailers on the beach at Gonzaga Bay...

I have to say, I didn't expect to see it again, and I still don't know why they did it, but it's a testament to the kind of good people that Brian, his Dad, Mike, and the rest of this great family/crew are; they brought Tami's bike to Yuma as Dick promised. I don't know how to repay them.

The bike is still in Yuma at Burt's house, and we'll get it and get it back into running shape whenever we get a chance to go back.

Thank you Brian (bajazona) and Mike (shortcutsmc).

scarysharkface · Feb 16, 2010

Wow. So sad.

Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

January 17th....

We didn't sleep much, but we were ready to get on the road before the sun came up. Still, by the time we had some breakfast, packed, etc., it was warming up nicely. We headed over to the Rancho Grande store to pick up some water, and we were happy to see Coco roll in in his pickup.

He saw that we were two-up on the 950...

"Where's your bike?" he asked. "I broke it. We have to leave it." Tami said.

"Well, you can just stay here and live with me! "

Coco's hittin' on my girl again.

On the road again...

I really like riding 2 up with Tami, but not on this rough, loose SOB of a road. Sitting down was just painfully slow, so soon we were both on the pegs and rolling pretty good... 48mph seemed most comfortable.

Soon we hit the new pavement and could wick it up a bit.

Not much to tell after that. It didn't take long to get to San Felipe, and we visited Rice and Beans for lunch, then we sort of hauled ass all the way to the border. We crossed the border in Algodones in a few minutes, and rode to Burts place to get the truck. Driving home was uneventful, and we had fun reliving some of the trip and making plans for our next one.

I've often seen Gaspipe swear off Baja for awhile- so many other places to see, and so little time. Yet he always goes back. Baja pulls you in; the mysterious mountains, the history, the alien plant life, the beaches, the friendly, helpful people. I don't know what it is about this place, but it's calling me back already. You can't just go once. I promise.

The End.

Amen.

ganshert · Feb 16, 2010

Hayduke said:

The End.

Amen.
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I think I just lost a bet

jjustj · Feb 16, 2010

for the pics, the laughs and the sharing.

knybanjo · Feb 16, 2010

That was a great report of an awesome trip!!

You proved my early prediction of this becoming one of the top ten best unfinished ride reports to be wrong.

I wish the sad part had not happened

I was stalking...er....I mean following all of your Spot trackers while you were in Baja and posting a few screenshots for the other basement dwellers each day.

We all became concerned the day your spot got "stuck" out in the middle of nowhere!! :eek1

knybanjo said:

I hope all is well with Duke & Co.

His spot stopped shortly after that lunch break and has made the last 6 or so updates from the same place....at what looks to be out in the middle of nothing.

Let's hope it starts moving again soon.......
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CLICK HERE to see all the chatter that day....we were all relieved to hear from you the next day.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences with the rest of us!!

Charla · Feb 16, 2010

As the events unfolded that day the rest of us were all home safe following Duke's SPOT and wondering what the heck was going on and hoping that everyone was ok.

Imagine how shocked we were a couple days later when the whole story was posted.

Brian found us in Pull Up A Chair and made this post

BajaZona said:

Tami, Duke, Mommer...<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o></o>
Thank you for your thoughts, your prayers, and your kindness. The arrangements have been made in San Felipe, and we'll have my Dad back in the States tomorrow. We got my stepmother, Jan, home to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">Yuma</st1:City> last night, and I arrived home in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Glendale</st1lace></st1:City> this morning. As wonderful as Baja is, when tragedy strikes, <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Gonzaga</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Bay</st1laceType></st1lace> is a LONG way from home. It helps to be back here with my wife and my boys.<o></o>
<o></o>
Please keep in touch.<o></o>
<o></o>
Brian Wilson<o></o>
<o></o>
Dick Wilson<o></o>
1936-2010<o></o>
Vaya con Dios, Papa<o></o>
<o></o>
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Godspeed Dick, and our thoughts continue to be with Brian and his family.

Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

Godspeed, Dick.

Thanks for posting that, Charla.

mommer · Feb 16, 2010

Hayduke said:

I'm crying again here as I read through this again.... one of the worst days ever.
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well, he did pass in a place that he loved, i heard some of the stories of what he had done in his life....

anyway, duke and tami.. i love you guys, and wouldn't have wanted to have that happen with anyone else.. i really can't wait till the next time..

Charla · Feb 16, 2010

I hate to end the report on such a sad note so we'll toss in a bit of melancholy and hopefully get a few more smiles.

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Hayduke · Feb 16, 2010

Charla said:

I hate to end the report on such a sad note so we'll toss in a bit of melancholy and hopefully get a few more smiles.
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That was awesome!

Despite that last day, this was the best trip ever. I can't imagine a better group to ride with.

Let's go again!

IdeaWife · Feb 16, 2010

NICE!

Thanks everyone, that was awesome!

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mommer bring on the world!!!!

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