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

hey bastimentos - thanks! tacos coming up in valle de la trinidad!
heh. hiya Nixels! glad to see you, too!

Thanks, Gale! Aww, thanks for the support, but I don't think we're really going to do it.
2500 miles was a lot...
to turn around and ride it all again next month?? :eek1
Also, we have some obligations to fulfill (work) and there isn't enough time to race.
We appreciate your confidence, though!

hi MasterMarine! thanks for checking in. heh - you like tacos, too?


Hahaha! Dave62538675309!

thanks for the link!
This RR might be a little light on the linkies. I have 3000+ photos to pull from and not a lot of time.
Also, you guys just had like 4 months of all my best jokes (gettin' dirty RR). I got nuthin' left!
Hopefully, the riding content will be the main draw...







Day 1: 2/17/13 Tecate to Bahia San Luis Gonzaga
326 miles




I don'’t know how well everyone slept -
Matt and I had gotten sick at a Superbowl party and we were still a little stuffed up and coughing.
I have a bad feeling that we were snoring our asses off that night,
but the guys were too polite to say anything.
I hope it wasn'’t too horrible.





So, I don’t know if Rancho Ojai is a KOA, but this cabin was identical to the one Matt and I had stayed at after the UTBDR.
Didn't take one at Ojai, but here's an interior shot from the Utah KOA:





We all had camping gear for Rancho Ojai but were leaving it in the truck.
Camping in Baja is awesome and everyone should do it at least once,
but for this trip - The Baja WanK was all about riding.
We were all traveling light for maximum speed and agility.




As we left Ojai, Bartek was having trouble with his rear tire.
It was new and the bead didn'’t seem to be set.
We stopped at a Pemex so he could use their air.







As I mentioned earlier, I’m sucky at maps. But I know you guys are curious.
Here’'s our old tattered AAA map of Baja with matt'’s scribbled notes.
This was a long section, so I have 3 map pics for today.
The highlighter doesn'’t stick to the scotch tape, so there are a couple of blank spots.
Unfortunately, the highlighter is the exact same color as the AAA notation for Toll roads.
So, look for the messier green line.
I’'m sure you can figure it out.





Starting at El Condor





I guess it had been raining in Northern Baja.
We had some mud and big puddles.





But it kept the dust down and we had (mostly) good traction.






Our GoPro was crapping out on this trip. There’s something wrong with it.
Maybe the temperature sensor? It seems to get hot and shut itself off.
Could be a short somewhere, too.
It’s going back to REI soon (we’ve had it less than a year!)
Anyway, we have a little bit of footage, but not nearly all that we wanted.
Matt could usually get only one section of video a day.




This is on the way to Laguna Hanson.
Scott and Bartek were super excited and ready to GO!!!!





Smiles all around.







photo by Barteknologie™



He'’s smiling on the inside.






Pretty soon we were at Laguna Hanson.










I love Hanson, but we had miles to cover. Only stopped for some quick pics.
And a pee.






Forgot to start with tire pics - These are ours.
I didn'’t start taking pics of Scott and Bartek’'s tires until Day 2.

Front - Scorpion Rally




Rear - Rally Raid D908





And then it was back on the trail.
Oh, wait - here'’s a quick shot of the most photographed rock in Hanson.


(not sure what Scott'’s doing...)








Rocking horse?






Here’'s Scott really going for it! Thanks, Goggles! Ride report content.





That was quite a bath.





Had some gates today.
I usually try and open them for the guys so they don'’t have to get off their bikes,
but Bartek beat me to a couple of them.





Fast sand.





The boys were loving it.





Yep.






This stuff, however. Ugh. Deep and soft.
Not the best for 2up.




That morning, while we were putting on our gear,
Matt had freaked me out by saying we were going to be crashing all day long.
It had been 6 months since I had been on the 990 with him and I was nervous.


But it wasn'’t too bad. I think we had maybe 3 get offs this day.
Mostly from losing our momentum or going too slow (having to check the GPS while moving is tough).
There were a few close calls at speed, but those come with the territory.


I think we we’re ready for map #2.
Again, the blank spots just mean that the highlighter got rubbed off.






Some of these images might be out of order. That deep sand might have been after this part.
When I mix photos with screen shots, things get confusing.





We were on the Baja 1000 course now.
This section was crazy. We were hitting the whoops and bouncing all over the place.
Laughing our asses off but also almost crashing.
2up sand whoops are a special kind of hell. And these were little baby whoops.
One time we had some 3-4 foot ones near Rancho Santa Veronica.





Right about here, Matt said - “don'’t worry, if we were on the course, we would only have 1000 more miles to go!”
And then we realized that in actuality, we had like 2350 miles to go.

WOW! kudos for going on the 45th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 course after the race... I'm sure it was a mess this year! Can't wait for more pics! keep em coming!

Lurking along , no spoilers.

great job on the photos Little Wan, have you considered working for the Tour de France?

Scott

Nice ride and pics.....

Recognized Googles right away in that video....as he stands on those pegs all day long.

Looking good kids

My Baja plans fell apart, so i've been waiting for your report to hold me over 'til next opportunity



-M

Great ride report, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing the link Big John, I recognized Scott, he's definitely fun to ride with, I remember the boots but not the red pants.

Lookin forward to more!!!!

When I would slow down and start dog paddling my copilot would say "get on the power".

She was right...but I'd have those confidence shaking moments that slowed me down for awhile..

To bad about the GoPro...

Hey, there you are! and you brought some friends - cool!

This next section is pretty Scottastic.
haha, I specialize cranking out tons of mediocre photos. Is there a market for that?
Great to see you, Scott - don't be afraid to speak up!




Hi Ladybug! Hi rider914 (sorry your baja plans fell through)!

Hi everyone - thanks for checking in.
I've got a bunch to post, so I'll just wave real quick...



Don't forget - the white underlined things are links to click on.







Day 1: 2/17/13 Tecate to Bahia San Luis Gonzaga continued...
326 miles





We saw Bartek stopped on the side of the road and went to see what was up.
He said he had just remembered that he changed his back tire and then never tightened the rear axle nut!




Holy shit, he rode 120 miles (fast) with that nut barely hand tight.
It practically fell off into his hand.

Man, when you think about what could have happened...
Lucky Bartek.









We were getting close to Valle de Trinidad at this point...













Stopped at Pemex to get fuel for the bikes...






Then fuel for ourselves.






El Rancho Taquería.






El Bartek: The Most Interesting Man in the World






Scott, working on tacos #3 and 4 (out of 114)






Matt, enjoying taco #5 (out of 114).
The guys each had 5 tacos here, I had 2.
17 down, 97 to go.






After Valle de Trinidad, we were on the 2012 Mexican 1000 course,
going through Laguna Diablo (a dry lake bed) to San Felipe.





El Bartek





Goggles Pizano was ready to unleash the mighty SE






Everybody loves la playa...













Note the SCORE marker.






I love this photo of Goggles and BigWan.






OK - playtime is over - we still had lots of miles to cover.
We've got a long way to go. And a short time to get there.






Just for kicks, Matt pulled up his GPS tracks for la playa...





Wow, looks like tangled string!






Goggles Pizano, doin'’ his thing.






I think he enjoyed it.






Just a little.






This was a nice road. Sandy, but rideable.






Got gas in San Felipe





And got the stink eye from Scott.
Heh. I don'’t remember what that was about, but let'’s just assume he'’s smiling on the inside.





Some highway.





Topped off in Puertocitos.






It was starting to get dark and my photos weren'’t turning out.
I think this is one of the last ones on the road.





There were more sections of the Baja 1K we could have ridden,
but Scott said they were mostly whoops and deep sand.
Seeing as how it was getting late, we didn'’t feel bad missing them.



I tried to take some pics after it got dark but it doesn'’t work very well.
Not without stopping (or slowing down at least).
Our lights kick ass, so riding is doable.
But I don’t have any night pics for day 1.


(Day 2 was better - I’'ve got a bunch.
Actually, day 3, too. Hmmm. we rode in the dark a lot)






We were heading to Gonzaga Bay and Alfonsina's...


(swiped from the interwebs)




We had been a little concerned about this being President'’s Day weekend.
If Alfonsina’'s was full, we would be screwed.
With no camping gear, our options were limited.
Goggles was up for sleeping on the beach, but I wasn'’t so keen on that.



Sure enough, we pulled up and the place was packed.
Wall to wall bodies. And everyone was EXTREME!!






Son of a biscuit!
We were S.O.L.


While we were standing outside, discussing our options,
the owner/manager came over and said he actually had 1 room left.
With a king sized bed.
Scott said BigWan and I could take it and he and Bartek could fend for themselves.



Nah, screw that. We weren'’t going to split up.
We'’ll figure something else out.



A nice guy who overheard that Alfonsina’'s was full asked if we knew about El Sacrificio.
We didn'’t.
It’'s a campo just down the beach and he said they have cabanas.
We thanked him for that information - it was kind of him to speak up.
OK, in search of El Sacrificio we went...


Although I can'’t say that the name of the place was very inviting...







After hunting around in the dark for a bit, we found it.
Pretty much empty, aside from some friendly fishermen (gringos).


We got a cabana ($60) and asked about food.
The cook initially said the kitchen was closed, but we were so dejected and pathetic,
he reluctantly said he could make us some quesadillas.

Yes, please!






He also brought out some tacos (#s 18-25, I think)






One of the fishermen offered to take our photo. Thanks!






There were 4 beds, one for each of us. Score!
And hot showers! woo!






Scott was such a gentleman, he insisted that I take my shower first.
It was nice of him, though I really didn'’t mind waiting.
I was just happy not to be in my gear, huddled up on the beach somewhere.




Day 1 is in the books!





Everyone was beat, so we got to bed at a decent hour.
Little did we know, we were going to need all kinds of energy tomorrow...

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hi kelly. loving each post. wanderful!

glad to caught up early enough.

last december, it took us 2 days to get to gonzaga bay....i guess the big KTMs really could cut the travel time......

IN and cheers.

joel

I don't "WAN" to miss this report. This "Wan" will be exceptional I am sure..

You guys eat more tacos in a day than I would eat in a week!!!!

Norman! made the trip too!

I love this photo of Big Wan and Goggles "tangling the string" on the KTM 950 earth movers!

I'm enjoying your RR so far and looking forward to the rest of the adventure. Thanks for taking the time to share it with all of us!

Zero here in Wisconsin this morning...Need some Baja reading

Scheesh..............I've been reading 2 ride reports each morning...............Now I see "The Baja Wan-Thousand".......now I have to force myself to read 3 reports each morning.............Don't know if I can handle the added pressure............I'm gonna be strong and make myself do it...........to heck with work and chores......Thanks, for takin us along!!!

Bravo LW BW and amigos ! great riding
tried the Tacos de pescado?