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

Weed Hopper? I never told anyone about that!

OK, Tony I'm in. Great opening pics! Wish I could have gone along...maybe next year? Brian B

Team Magoo Baja Ride Day 2

Leaving Arizona and crossing the border is just happy happy happy. Typical border scene, vendors, Cha Cha kind of music, street vendors, ruins and shops, dingy dogs, trash, ugh.


But hey, we are now in Mexico, Baja California Big Sur. Huba FFFKKKing huba!



Big Sprocket knows just the place to convert about $800 in American cash into something like 10,000,000,000 pesos. Veinty, uno, tres, gaghsujsuhdgfasddigadc, buenos dias Senior. Wow, what a wad of funky do da currency. Thank you, I think? We all are now Mexican rich and ready to get the hell out of Mexacali. Onward following Ateam's most lousy GPS to San Felipe.

After about 20 hours, well actually around 3 hours later we roll into San Felipe. The drive down farm to market road 5 or AKA Mexico Highway 5, I was looking out the window at the barren and desolate mountains to the west. Occasionally we could spot the Sea of Cortez, otherwise moon scape with a scattering of "homes" or shanty's; casa's. I was a rubber neck on a ball bearing socket. Pictures of these mountains provide no scale, no contrast. So I just was not feeling it for photos. I was hoping there would be good photo opportunities.

We stayed our first and last night at the same hotel recommended by Big Sprocket. See how this pro guide thing is going? Please note that Kevin was our guide but we paid him nothing but compliments and an occasional comment such as; El Spockito Grande waits for no one.

The Mirimar Hotel was perfect. A few blocks from the main streets and an enclosed court yard with a security guard.



Abbey Baja Road. I received large volumes of grief over the making of this photo and it turned out like crap. Oh well.


Beer Run. Beer Run time!. Get on the bikes and go cruise for beer. You know to never drink the water right? Chuck and Bruce stayed behind while the three of us took off on our bikes. Total non ATGATT riding. I was just crazy happy to be on the bike, riding on the main streets and by the beach. Everything I thought this town would be like was in fact better. We went into many stores as precocious cervasa shoppers that we are.



I think this song is appropriate?
http://youtu.be/rmcJWPYcr1I

We come back loaded in liquid and Chuck is playing dual sport trials in the sandy parking lot. Chuck said this sand is tricky. Awe, the sand can't be that bad, right.



Time to go eat.


And maybe visit a bar. The decals are everywhere and I really love decals.



Then we spot a Baja map.


Wow, Baja is really long, a considerable distance to get into Southern Baja province. How much of this ride will be off road?

Our first night in Mexico started and was supplemented and sustained by tacos and seafood from this point forward. I really love the Baja food.





Bodies fueled, bikes are ready, the atmosphere is Mexico, smell of salt air, distant sounds of the street. Where is the Jimmy Buffet music? We wander back to the hotel, we talk, we are ready. It was hard falling asleep. Tomorrow we are in for one of the longest days, one of the hardest days and one of us got lost. . But I get to visit Mike's Sky Ranch. I think the road there and across the mountains there is all pavement. I hope it's not a boring ride.

What, "Margaritaville" isn't just piped everywhere in Baja?! Note to self: bring iPod...

great pics, great narration

The last time I "posted up" was sophmore year at Eldorado(1977) at a jounior varsity basketball game, but I'll give it a shot.

First off ,Tony, you shorted me about 8 state trials championships , but whos counting?

Hi my name is Chuck .I'm now known as Captain Nemo Because my 525 KTM is actually a submersable vehicle , which I didn't know about until the 7th day of this trip!! Stay tuned for for details!!

This was a great trip with a great group of guys, and I was totally blown away with the riding & scenery in Baja!!

Chuck, your KTM525 will always be known as the "orange submarine" after our Baja trip!

Welcome aboard Chuck! Hope to hear more insight from you about the trip as the posts go on!!

Ahhhhhhh.... I remember the food in Baja...Awesome!!!

Day 3 but really day 1. We are off to Mike's Sky Ranch.



I woke up at 9:30 AM, everyone was still asleep. We all agreed to just hang out in San Felipe and enjoy this little town. Ha ha, no FFFKKKing way. We were all up and ready to pack stuff, ready to twist throttles, ready to ride Baja.

So breakfast, our first in Baja Sur.


Back to the hotel and prep the bikes. Really I'm feeling a bit silly, a bit apprehensive, a bit excited. When the kit is secured, the gear is all arranged, the bike is running, you know you have 200 plus miles to go. The feeling can't be described. But this bit does it justice me thinks:

Roy McAvoy: Well, I tend to think of the golf swing as a poem.
Romeo Posar: Ooh, he's doing that poetry thing again.
Roy McAvoy: The critical opening phrase of this poem will always be the grip, which the hands unite to form a single unit by the simple overlap of the little finger. Lowly and slowly the club head is led back, pulled into position not by the hands, but by the body, which turns away from the target, shifting weight to the right side without shifting balance. Tempo is everything, perfection unobtainable, as the body coils down at the top of the swing. There's a slight hesitation. A little nod to the gods.

Dr. Molly Griswold: A, a nod to the gods?
Roy McAvoy: Yeah, to the gods. That he is fallible. That perfection is unobtainable. And now the weight begins shifting back to the left, pulled by the powers inside the earth. It's alive, this swing! A living sculpture and down through contact, always down, striking the ball crisply, with character. A tuning fork goes off in your heart and your balls. Such a pure feeling is the well-struck golf shot. Now the follow through to finish. Always on line. The reverse C of the Golden Bear! The steelworkers' power and brawn of Carl Sandburg's Arnold Palmer!

This is sort of how I felt as I threw my leg up and over, doing the "Can Can" mounting move - getting on the DRZ.



Kevin is always ready to go.


The The Zoo Road was our first taste of Baja. We went north out of town and then went to dirt in no time, west toward the general area of Sierra De San Pedro Martir, a national park and in the area of Mikes Sky Ranch.



Some of this kind of riding.



I passed the gang doing like 120 on the DRZ, saw this grave marker ahead, threw down a vicious tail slide and whipped out my vest pocket Binford 5000 camera and shot this picture. They caught up in about 10 minutes and told me I was wicked fast.......



Chuck going about 85.


And some of this.




Then we have some sand.


And way ahead I can see power lines stretching across the land east to west. There are also people, bikes, a "trophy truck". Not really sure what you call those Baja rally trucks, but there was one there. Tires mounted in the back, the real deal. I'm so easily impressed.



There was also a large gathering of motorcycles, dudes and a few dudette's hanging out, maybe 20 or so. I chatted with one guy and he said they were doing a "tip" ride. Wow! They were on day 1 and just visited Mikes. I told them that we are riding 7 miles of the race course at this intersection under the power lines. He gave me that :huh look. I later talked to another guy, they had a sag truck and were slabbing/gravel riding and ending at the tip. Not returning. Bikes shipped home. I wonder if they had a battery powered daiquiri machine in the sag truck, just kidding. So Big Sprocket, okay El Sprokito Grande, tells us the next 7 miles is whoops and some sand. Heck yea baby, lets roll.

I can't see the beer bottle in the cows mouth. The realization just hit me, the cow needs stiiiiickers. I should have put a sticker on the cow. Damnit!



But before we leave, the Baja Monster cranks up. The sound is like thunder. It rolls off into the direction of the race course trail. The beast takes off and it rips. unfffkkkingbelivealbleholycow. The body of the beast is barely moving while the suspension and wheels are jack hammering. I was told they can go well over 100 mph on these whoops. It quickly disappeared, the sound rumbled on for a while.

This is the intersection where you can bypass the 7 miles of whoops.
Does this translation mean Canyon of Hell? If I had my Vest Pocket Spanish Book I could look this up. Diablo, Angeles, which is which in Spanish? That is the way we are going? :eek1:eek1:eek1:eek1:eek1:eek1:eek1


Okay, I will be the first to say, the whoops were hell. Kevin, Bruce and Chuck soon passed Magoo and I. The whoops were deep, sometimes you could not see the rider ahead. The sand rolled over the front tire and across the legs, even across the tank. The troughs were very deep and filled with powder, not even silt. I was thinking that my family is skiing right now in Purgatory Colorado. I could be skiing. I am skiing! This is deep powder skiing. This is awesome, so hard and I have never ridden a motorcycle where the handle bars go back and forth, like 100 RPM as you ride. I ride trials, shift the weight around, reposition, peg pressure, bar pressure, open the knees, extend, pressure, lift, absorb, compress, rebound, rotate, angulate. Oh my God I'm gonna crash into cacti and die a hideous and horrible death in the desert of Baja, under power lines. Where are those guys,how far do I have left of this hell, fun, whoops? I look at my totally useless piece of crap handle bar weight Garmin Nuvi and it says repositioning, set course for home, turn around, recalculating.

Where is Magoo, has a cactus eaten him? Sometimes there is a teaser line on the edge of the whoops, so you venture, steer, guide, muscle the bike to the edge, ride on solid ground and then here comes a big ass cactus tree. Back in the whoops, slide, skid, wobble and then back on the gas. Ride, buck, roll, compress and extend. My arms are now 2 inches longer than they were 20 minutes ago. But then you get into a zone and start breathing right, focusing on the line, looking for the righteous line. You hear the bike and see nothing but sand and cactus, deep moguls and you know, this is nirvana. This is Baja baby.

After 18 hours of whoops, well maybe an hour, I see the three rippers ahead, already off their bikes. I stand up and look awesome for the last 100 yards. I am knackered and I am also thinking dang, we have over 150 miles to go. Can I do this?

I take off my jacket, I am hot and thirsty.


After a while Kevin is concerned about Magoo so he preps to go look for him. About the same time, here comes Magoo. He took a wrong split and had to back track. Not 7 miles but maybe 9 miles of whoops. Team Magoo just christened this ride as Team MagWhoop.

Lets get to a road or something without whoops, lets go to Mikes Sky Ranch.


Next segment, we visit Mikes Sky Ranch and leave on our first techy trials trail. Also, when one Team Magoo member goes AWOL, the day gets longer. 200 miles or more on a winter day in Baja allows no room for long visits, mega photo time nor getting lost. Do you write a note, do you blow on your whistle, do you backtrack when your separated from your group? You do all of the above and maybe some more. The answers to these questions and other problems of life are solved in the next segment.

And to think, Captn' Nemo's first ADV post is to this ride report.

Please Chuck, Magoo, El Grande Sproketo? Contribute or I may take my ride report and go home.

Captain Magoo to the white courtesy phone? This report needs you.

Mike's Sky Ranch is now the next stop. The road is way better than the Magwhoops and deep sand.





Such trials form juiciness. I could see this form from a mile away and know it's a trials rider. This is Chuck making a classic turn on the road to Mikes.


Captain Magoo crossing a creek just before Mike's.






Awesome friends and Team Magoo.



Lets go inside and look for NMTrailBoss decals. He and Paul and El Sprokito Grande put decals in here 3 years ago.



Team sponsors decals applied. Now we will be receiving ubber sponsorship dollars.

Fastbecks for Chris Beck, Parts Unlimited for Ronny Huckabee, for my pal John Straderat at Revzilla. And my most favorite place to ride and live large in New Mexico, Sipapu Ski and Summer resort, courtesy of from Bruce "Chopo" ,


Love the decals, they are everywhere.



Captain Magoo wuz here.



Mandatory eh?


So I stepped outside and set down on the sidewalk. the place was deserted. It was cool outside at 4000 feet. The absence of people/riders was due to the US economy, malo as we were told. It was nice to be there with no one around but also sad. The Baja natives love motorcyclists.

As I sat there, looking at the surrounding mountains, I realized I'm deep in Baja. I am riding a bike with all my gear for 7 days. Were are less than half way done with our first day. I am apprehensive. I am not thinking about home or life in New Mexico. I am thinking about the awesome guys I'm with, I'm thinking the bucket list is ready for a scratch off. I feel gracious and also alive. The moment is real and spectacular. I am still a a wonna be adventure rider. However, I like this photo. I think what you see is how I feel?



So we are ready to leave. The single track techy trail awaits us and I am pleased with the thought. NMTrailBoss shared pictures with me of the cactus gardens down from Mikes. Oh I have not forgot about the lost soul rider. Imagine laying directional sticks in the trail to show those that are looking where you are? There is a difference between being lost and voted off the island right?

Stay tuned for the first "go down" , a lost trail, a lost rider, twisty scenic slab run down a mountain, buena vistas of beaches and we cross the peninsula and touch the mighty waters of the Pacific ocean. Lazaro Cardenas is the destination for today, over 120 miles to go.

Looks like you have plenty of fuel in the tank...was gas plentiful? Curious about logistics. Did you carry extra fuel?

That's awesome that you found our stickers from 2010!!

Here's Paul applying the first sticker in Feb. '10.


And myself after the job was done.


That was an awesmome trip for sure and Big Sprocket is the guide from hell!!
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=556285


How many people were at the Sky Ranch while you guys were there? We had the place to ourselves... almost ghostly quiet while we explored the Ranch area.

Awesome report boys! More please!!

Great ride report, Tony---Keep up the good work!

Curtis, we were the only people at Mike's Sky Ranch, other than one employee-----kind of sad, we noticed this at several of our stopping points, either the economy or American's fear of the "cartels" is keeping people out of Baja---too bad, because all of the people we met down there, including the young federales with their AK-47s were very friendly, glad to see the "motos"---

Chuck and I decided to strategically place a couple of business cards on a fine piece of framed artwork in the bar at Mike's.......


The "rescue Jeep" fueled and ready sits outside of Mike's Sky Ranch.....


Brian, don't be fooled by the gas tank on the DRZ, which we nicknamed the "Exxon Valdeez"----that bike just sipped the gas, while the KTMs were chugging petrol!

We all carried a small (1/2 gallon) extra container of gas, our leader Big Sprocket was nicknamed "Jugs" because of the extra plastic containers he carried for fuel on the longer ride days. (I hope Tony has a picture of "jugs"-----)

Fuel is scarce down there, whenever you see a hand-painted "gasolina" sign, make sure to stop and top of the tanks! (here's a picture of one of the barrel gas places we "pit stopped" at:


Here's a photo of a "steeker" I spotted on one of the windows at Mike's, the greenies would love this one!----


and here's a picture of the Cabo-bound moto gang, along with the trophy truck at the start of the infamous 7-mile "mag-whoops"----(they kicked my ass!)



What an incredible ride! all types of terrain, with a new twist around every corner.......(the trials guys got in a little of their specialty on the ride out from Mike's Sky Rancho, but I'll let A-Team tell you about that....., along with the rider who went MIA.....)


Here's a pic of some cactus singletrack that was waaay cool!

One thing you got to like about Big Sprocket, he has big jugs.



Chopo MacGyver also liked to play with Kevin's jugs.

This ride report is just great. Keep up the good work Tony.
I have only seen Mikes Sky Ranch on Speed channel. Way cool to see pics of the inside.

Great RR and pics Ateam, and magoo-team.........keep it coming

Those are bigger jugs than he had in 2010! Surgery?