Change of Plans '09: Cabo Edition

Time to start a thread for the next adventure. Having never followed through and produced a meaningful ride report, I want this time to be different.

Actually...it probably won't be meaningful, but I will follow through.

The Basics...
F650 Dakar
Texas to Palmilla, Cabo, Mexico
11/27/09 to 12/6/09
1 Wedding
Solo

Your humble Ride Reporter:



Route:
Dallas, TX
Wimberley, TX...Turkey Day...
Bisbee, AZ
Ensenada
Gonzaga Bay...Alfonsinas
Mulege
Todos Santos
Palmilla
Dallas by plane and the bike Stored till February for trip continuation either south or towards British Colombia and points north...


Originally, I was going to get to Palmilla via the Mainland through Galeana, Catorce, Guanajuato, Mazatlan, and ferry to La Paz...ONTHEBORDER and TURY were signed up for the ride, but had last minute conflicts...DANG!

So...things change...After a bit of pilsner induced contemplation and meditation on the subject, I thought my new route would make a nice first leg of an even larger trip and give me an opportunity to visit friends along the way...

Indirect? Hell Yes...

Fun? Absolutely!




[be right back]

Tell Alfonsina's you won't pay more than $40. It'll work. They want $70 for a room with creaky floors, creaky bed and lukewarm shower with terrible water pressure. Not! Have fun, amigo! I'll be right behind you, going down starting 12/23 to Los Cabos in a jacked-up Suburban. Looking forward to the trip report!

Let's just say that I was giving thanks to the Tarahumara who didn't run me off the Samachique-->Batopilas road...

Brakes? Check
Spark Plug? Check
Air Filter? Check
New TKCs CHECK

Wanting to take the 990 at the last minute? Check!

My trusty love tractor, the 2002 F650 Dakar is the only bike I've ever taken to Mexico and she has the battle scars to prove it. Let's just say that I was WAY inexperienced in riding overly-laden thumpers when I met up with the Chabochis Crowd for the first time in 2007. But for some reason, I have always wanted to return to Mexico with this bike and it has logged 4000+ Mexico miles, while the KTM's v-twin sits at home...weird. It doesn't really add up...

This situation got me thinking...why do people hang onto bikes that they rarely ride? Why do I never ride my F650 around in my hometown, but I ALWAYS take it to Mexico...Is it some sort of fear of the unknown, or conversely, the comfort of the known and knowable? Is it that I am more comfortable riding a less comfortable bike, because I know how to do 80% of the repairs it may need on such a trip, or is the decision purely emotional?

[be right back]

Packing...more tools in the garage, but I am getting close to the tipping point...

I like this picture. Makes me want to GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[be right back]

Woohoo!

Mexico baby

I don't see a SPOT in that pic!

I got up this morning knowing what was in front of me...AT LEAST 874 miles on a bike I have never ridden more than 400 miles in a day. This was going to be tough.

I needed to get on the road at first light, about 6:30AM. Quite early considering the tryptophan had barely worn off from the thanksgiving lunch that we enjoyed at my wife's (Kay's) Aunt Uncle's house the day before departure. Kay's uncle, Gerry, had a fine dining restaraunt in Houston for many years, and has subsequently run hotels for Doubletree since those days...let's just say that the man CAN COOK!

So, at about 6:20, I kissed baby Anne Marie and Kay goodbye and hit the road.

The bike felt very heavy with all of the crap I was carrying with me and I wondered how the weight was going to affect my gas mileage. I usually get between 60 and 70mpg on the "Love Tractor" so I was very curious to find out...more on this later...

I pulled into Fredericksburg and had breakfast...



I had really good huevos rancheros...this is Texas, so German, Mexican, and Czech foods intertwine on menus all over the place...I can imagine the situation seems very strange for non-Texans to be in a German eatery, being served Mexican dishes...




So, I gassed up and hit 290 towards I-10. Then...121 miles later, I got my first yellow light...3.3 gallons only got me the 150 miles to Ozona, Texas on that tank....45.5 miles per gallon...I knew that the day just got much, much longer.

So, I gripped down and got back on I-10. I was making good time, but I was getting a high-speed wobble at about 85mph on the new TKC's...it was really scary at times and required maximum concentration. Until the wobble worked its way out of the bike, the XM radio on my Zumo was going to be offline.

I made it to Fort Stockton and had a look at the rear TKC. It was wearing evenly, but at a relatively alarming rate :eek1. I gassed up and headed out. for Laird's Ranch in Balmorhea, Texas...



Laird's Ranch is a funny place located just off of I-10 near Balmorhea. It is a mandatory stop for any trips to Marfa, or the Davis Mountains area. I first went there with my jerky-addicted friends, Adam and Charles, a couple years ago. Laird's has just about any smoked meat you could want, as well as sausage, hunter's sticks, and the like. With my needs met, I headed back out on the road, bound for Van Horn and LUNCH!

I pulled into Van Horn about 1pm and headed directly to Chuy's:



Chuy's is a very funny place. They are the proud home of the John Madden "Haul of Fame" which is a saran-wrap ensconced case of newspaper clippings related to the great John Madden. Due to Madden's well known fear of flying, he has become a regular on I-10 in West Texas and Chuy's is one of his regular stops....very strange.

I inhaled my Carne Asada tacos and beat feet to get back on the road. Next stop was my last for Texas in the great town of Anthony on the New Mexico border...579 miles of Texas highways was enough for one day...

Around Lordsburg, NM:



I arrived in Tucson at 6:50pm MST...13 hours and 20 minutes after departure...It was a long day and I went to sleep at 9pm...

GOOD DAY.

[be right back]

Mexico! Nowhere like it!

Subscribed!


After 50k of a nasty-ass 'road' out of San Juanito, finally to pavement!

Day 1 was amazing. The terrain varied from the bulbous hills of the Texas Hill Country to the mesa and mountain country of the Trans-Pecos, transitioned to the Chihuahuan desert scenes around El Paso, and I finally encountered the Sonoran Desert in and around Tucson.

Beautiful! The part about this trip that I was always leery about was the trip down I-10....typically, the long and straight monotony of interstate driving holds ZERO appeal to me....What I experienced on Day 1 was a bit of a revelation; my XM radio went unused, my iPhone was turned off, and my head was down...I was in some sort of ZONE and was loving it. Traveling at 85 miles an hour with 40 to 60 mile views does strange things to one's sense of time and space. My F650 felt spacious and comfortable; I settled in and hit a rhythm. Thoughts about whether I had brought the correct bike were sapped away and I knew that I was now "doing the trip" regardless of conditions.

What would Day 2 have in store for me?

I awoke at the Tucson Airport Holiday Inn after a very early evening with no TV. Trip planning had been replaced with "Trip Doing" and I knew the mileage from Tucson to San Diego, less than half the Day 1 total; 408.



I set off at a leisurely 85mph pace around 7:15am. My day's plans were to enjoy the ride along Interstates 10 and 8, arriving in San Diego at about 2:00 to 3:30. I wanted to stick to my schedule so that I would have ample time to clean up for the nights activities at the La Jolla Playhouse, where I was supposed to see Bonnie and Clyde, The Musical.





I made it to Yuma, AZ without delay. The winds were beginning to pick up, but luckily, it looked like I had avoided the rain that was forecast for the area around Tucson...what a relief! Desert roads that get "washed" about once every couple of months at most, can be a bit tricky when the rains finally come.

I crossed the California border and there was Much Rejoicing;




<object height="340" width="560">
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/enSYlCEz5VI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></object>Now securely within the border of the westernmost state on my voyage, I immediately started thinking about Mexico. I had been checking the Customs and Border website and I knew there was a crossing into Mexico near Yuma; Andrade, Arizona to be exact.

I thought, what the heck? I'll cross, get my tourist visa taken care of and then just have one more thing out of the way...SO, I parked and walked across the border...



I then promptly walked BACK across the border, because it was Saturday and the Algodones, Mexico office was closed on Saturday!!! :ddog

I did, however, get a picture of my new dentist's office...







So after losing an hour in line, being visa-less, lunch-less, and having found out that my insurance doesn't cover Mexican gold-teeth, I hopped back on the bike and headed west on "the 8"...I've never quite understood the Californian's use of the "the" before the route designation, but when in Rome...

I started down "the 8" and the wind really started to pop off. Heavily laden F650s carrying fat Texans do not present a very aerodynamic package...

All of a sudden a huge sea of sand was around me...the IMPERIAL DUNES of Southern California; amazing!

<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid39.photobucket.com/albums/e160/woodrg0/2009-12-01162207.flv" height="361" width="600">After the video, I hopped back on and things really started getting tricky....hell, even the signs were taunting me!





Those Mountains in the distance behind the sign were holding secrets plans for those sharing the road...

El Centro, California is at 52 feet BELOW sea level. I knew that I had some climbing and descending to do before San Diego. Apparently I-8 has a 4000 foot climb over the course of 11 miles...pretty steep for an interstate.

So I start climbing and it starts raining! Yikes! Rain in Southern California is for the BIRDS!!! My gloves got DRENCHED and my hands were starting to get cold! REALLY COLD! I started slowing down....WAY DOWN! Traffic was moving at 40-50mph rather than the 85+ on most of I-8. Then, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to pull over. I exited and ended up at the Golden Acorn Casino...what is that on the ground????





SNOW! In SoCal? What is going on here? Apparently, a Pacific Clipper had come in and was dumping on every place that I was headed. I did my best to get my deerskin gloves back to a usable condition...





I got my gloves "done" and acquired some plastic bags from the cashier in the local convenience store. I placed the bags over my gloves and took off for Pine Valley...My hands were doing fine...then it REALLY started snowing on me;





The guy in the pickup pulled over and asked me if I was ok. I said that I was fine, but I needed to know where to warm up. He led me here;





Full of gas and warmed up, I knew it was time to make the final push to San Diego BMW for a set of Gerbings waterproof and heated gloves...

Just before I left, a guy came up to me. His name was Santiago and he and his family were up in Pine Valley for a birthday party. Apparently, he was a big rider with his brand being Victory. He was just gushing about how tough the riding was that day and how I was his hero for being out in it. Although I shrugged off most of the compliments, it felt VERY good to talk to a rider who knew what I was going through at that very moment. He was a very cool guy and created a healthy confidence where despair had begun to set in.

I made the final push and ended up at BMW of San Diego at around 4:30. Joe in the parts department was super cool and hooked me up with some Gerbings heated gloves that were immediately put to good use. I gobbled a couple leftover donuts, chugged a huge coffee and made an effort to get over to the Hyatt Mission Bay that I had bagged for $60 on Priceline! Hooray!

I was tired and ready to shower and chill out for a while. When I pulled up to the hotel, I was met by a slew of valets. One bellman named Steve had just finished Long Way Round and knew the look and feel of adventure. We chatted for a while and I would bet that he had something to do with the upgraded suite that they gave me...it was probably half as big as my house! AWESOME!

This guy met me there;







FINALLY, A GOOD OMEN!

After a much needed shower and a couple pics of the palace that I was staying in, I jumped back on the bike and headed towards La Jolla on "The Five" for a little Sushi and a Show.

THAT BIRD WAS A BAD OMEN!

By the time I got to dinner, the skies over San Diego had dumped enough rain on me to soak straight through my clothes...to the bone. No shelters were to be found...just had to take it in stride. I walked into dinner drenched, but happy to see my good friend from Dallas, Stark Sands.

Stark is a Tony Award winning actor who is playing Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde the Musical at the La Jolla Playhouse, which has been a springboard for many musicals on their journey to Broadway.

You may have seen Stark in a couple things...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1197466/

The Poster:





The Show:





The after-show cocktail hour:





After my SINGLE cocktail, it was back to the Hyatt for bed time...quite a day.

[be right back]



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Day 2 was rediculous...1/2 as far distance-wise as Day 1, but at least twice as hard! I can't believe I saw snow in San Diego County!

Seeing Stark was great. He has always been at his best when he is singing and dancing. Bonnie and Clyde has a real shot at becoming a big-time Broadway Musical; I wish him the best.

Day 3 began here:


NOT TOO SHABBY AT ALL!

I got dressed and contemplated breakfast, but skipped it. I was WAY TOO EXCITED TO EAT! I knew that I would be going through Tijuana within a couple of hours and I wanted to get my head straight for where and what I would be doing there. Little did I know what awaited.

The Bike Got Packed Up:



And I knew my route:



This evening I would be fishing and camping on Gonzaga Bay at Alfonsina's!

So I set out from the hotel. It was definitely a late departure at a around 9:45am, but I though I would be able to make up some time en-route. I needed to make one more stop at the Walmart in Chula Vista for two 1-gallon gas cans, a bit of plastic tubing for gas-siphoning purposes, a couple assorted bungees, and a some snack items.

I gassed up at the Costco pump in Chula Vista and I knew the next stop was MEXICO!

I crossed the border on "the 5" and took a right, following the directions to the Tijuana Playas.

The road was crazy. On the left side was Mexico, in all of its Tijuana/any border town glory. On the right side, a border fence and San Diego off in the distance. This photo is looking east, so the sides are reversed:



I made it to the "Playas" area, because I thought I would be able to find a bank. There was a sad incident along the road, but I will get to that in short order...

My hunch was right!

It's Universal: Beaches=Money=Banks



I got some money out of the ATM and I went to head out...

Click
No Click
Dead

Something had gone to crap on my battery. I unloaded the gas cans, rear seat bag, and got out the tools. undid the Dakar "gas tank" to look at the battery and surmised the problem...the terminal screw had gotten loose...tightened up and closed...no problemos!



A kid and his mother (barely visible in the photo above) were washing the cars coming and going with dirty rags that were doing more harm than good. I know people will have divergent views about what I was about to do...I gave the kid a couple bucks and some stickers that I brought with me to give to children. I did this out of sight of his mother, because I wanted him to feel like he had helped me out with the bike and by the looks of him, he really needed it way more than I did at the moment.

We said ADIOS to each other and I took off down the Toll Road in the direction of Ensenada.

American Development after American Development hugged the coast. It was amazing how different the TJ-Rosarito-Ensenada Corridor seemed in comparison to the other parts of Mexico I have visited.




I made it through Rosarito and found a nice turn off to get off the bike and take in the view. I know, it's right next to the highway, a bit loud, and there is a fence, but the pictures really don't give the scene the justice it deserves.


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So, you heard me right...

Guy
Street
Dead

Basically, I was riding the Border Fence road in the right lane about 3 car lengths behind a car. In the left lane, slightly ahead of the car in front of me was a large van. The van passed a pedestrian who was in the median of the highway. All of a sudden, the guy darted out in an effort to cross to the other side of the road. The car in front of me slowed slightly, but hit and ran over the pedestrian. I had to swerve drastically in order to move around the downed man. The car in front of me hauled-ass and I was left with a choice...

Do I try to track this guy's license plate down and get involved with the police, or do I try to help the man lying in the street? Ultimately, I was so shaken up that I really couldn't ride for a couple minutes. I stopped and headed back towards the scene.

The man was a panhandler who was just trying to make it across the street to work that side. When I walked up on the scene, he was surrounded by other panhandlers who were crying and generally freaking out. I felt very sad about the whole situation, but there was literally NOTHING that I could do at that point, so I loaded back up and made it to the Bank near the Playa that I mentioned earlier.

I was too shaken up to record anything at the bank, but I had calmed down enough by the time I took a break...

I finished my recording, took one more look at the coast:



AND LEFT for Points South.

I arrived in Ensenada hungry and ready to see a bit of the local culture, but then I looked at my watch; how did it get to being 1:45pm so soon?????

There was some very interesting art near the center of town...very interesting...



Just past the art, I found a guy selling fish tacos. I doctored mine up with cabbage, a touch of crema, and valentino sauce...NOW I WAS IN MEXICO!!! Delicious.

5 Minutes Later I was back on the bike and before 2pm, I was out of the south side of Ensenada. Nice town, but I wasn't in Mexico to tour...I was here to ride...

I filled up on the outskirts of San Quintin and made tracks south.

The sky was filling with clouds...it looked like rain!



Hey! It is raining...a rainbow in Baja!



The same storm that had dumped snow on me 24 hours prior was now
producing rainbows in Mexico...

I got back on the bike with my most robust waterproof gear on and headed out.

Well, I needed the gear...

It began raining.
The wind started blowing.
The skies opened up and it began hailing once I passed Jose Maria Morelos.

I did not expect any of these things to happen and I blew right through town without getting more gas...

The road out of JMM climbs and drops, and climbs and drops...great fun on the F650 most of the time, but this was different. Once I saw the "kilometers to the next gas sign" read a metric-adjusted 150+ miles...I knew I was not going to make it to the next Pemex Station...however, I knew that a guy in Catavina regularly sold gas out of a barrel. That would have to do, but the KMs kept rolling and conditions were changing due to the very tall mountains on the Pacific side. The western sky was day-bright, but the cloud-cover related to the rain and hail storms had me slipping into darkness...

I knew that I would never make it to Alfonsina's...I was going to get stuck somewhere...

I rolled into Catavina at 5:45, but it felt like midnight. Temperatures were in the high 40s. I was quite discombobulated from the ride...I found the Desert Inn and paid their extortionate rate for the night...I was pissed off, but safe in another hotel room...thinking about my tent!

Art in My Room:




I was prepared for "any" situation:



I headed to the Cantina and ordered a huge meal of Carne Asada tacos and Ceviche de Pescado...honestly, some of the best Ceviche I have ever had...

The ceiling of the Cantina was made of brick...this took some major talent to build; (sorry for the crappy quality of the photos)



The cold beers were so cold, it made the hail-storm worthwhile:



I returned to the front desk, sent a single "Everything is OK message to Kay" and promptly returned to my bedroom. It was 7:45pm and I was going to sleep at the earliest time that I can remember since I was 5. I was not going to be caught by nighttime sneaking up on me again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


[be right back]

More!

Too bad you had to see the accident. Thanks for the report and pics, man. We're living through you so have fun!

It was really a crazy incident. I know that this sort of thing happens all the time in every country around the world, but to be in the exact place at the exact time when a person meets their maker is pretty shocking to observe.

Pictures flash before your eyes of your family, friends, co-workers, trip-preparation, and what you were doing just moments before...it is hard to reconcile at the moment, but deeper thought gives you a better appreciation for how delicately sudden and absolute the division between life and death is and how one must live in the moment in order to anticipate, react, and control what little we truly understand in our surroundings.

What happened?

You were slugging down mexican food and cervesas on the 7th, on the 10th, your bike is in storage in Cabo and you put it up for sale. My apology if I'm opening a wound, but WTF happened!!!!????

How absolutely lame that the driver of the car that ran the guy over just decided to flee even though there may have been nothing he could have done to avoid said panhandler frogger. Must have been really hard for you to decide what to do spur of the moment. Horrible!! I wonder if the police would have done anything even if you had a plate number?

Stay out of trouble G!!! Ride on with eyes wide open!!

Thanks for posting! Love these Mexico trips..keep it comin'!!!

I appreciate the concern from everyone, for sure...I'm still riding, planning to ride, and loving adventure rider...I was just trying out the flea market to see if there was any interest for the F650, because I have a couple different opportunities for rides to points further south...

I will be posting days 4 and 5 later on today...

The incident with the panhandler definitely had an effect on me...after further contemplation, I still haven't resolved why the car driver didn't have the decency to pull over, but I believe that someone who was willing to drive off after killing someone, is probably someone who;

1) wouldn't let me know their identity readily
2) would probably hide their identity (dispose of the car) from the police if push came to shove
3) push may come to shove with me if they felt threatened...

So, I have resolved that I could not have really done anything...I was JUST A WITNESS. Not very emotionally or psychologically satisfying, but my subjective truth, nonetheless.

Anyway, more fun stuff coming up in Days 4 and 5.