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

BigWan: Knock knock
LittleWan: Who's there?
BigWan: Tijuana
LittleWan: Tijuana who?
BigWan: Tijuana go to Baja?
LittleWan: Nope.



Last year, BigWan started bugging me about doing the Mexican 1000, 2up.
Really?
He was sure we could do it, but first we needed to pre-run.
Right.


December:
BW: Do you want to go to Baja?
LW: Um, no. Are you still on that?

January:
BW: Do you want to go to Baja?
LW: Seriously? No, I don't want to go to Baja.

February:
BW: Do you want to go to Baja?
LW: Good God. OK - let's go. But it has to be next week.
And it has to be quick. I don't want to just hang out.



The plan:
Head South and see how well we would do on the race courses for the Baja 1000 and the Mexican 1000.
Using the maps found here, BigWan drew up a route that would incorporate
the 2012 Baja 1000, the 2012 Mexican 1000 and the 2007 Baja 1000.
You can download the maps (and GPS tracks) at that link.

There were also a few fun places we wanted to see, so we'd be veering from the course here and there for some side trips.







The original plan to ride in Baja was hatched at the KTM rally in Bend.
BigWan was riding with some Baja nuts, and all that B1k talk had planted the seed.
Another trip to Baja was inevitable, he just needed to talk me into it.



The Riders:
Scott (Goggles Pizano) from Reno.
Scott was a 2006 Baja 1000 Ironman finisher, so we knew he'd be a blast to ride with.
He was ready to tear it up on his KTM 950SE.





El Bartek (Bartek990). Bartek is a fairly new dirt rider (18 months - is that right??), but he oozes natural talent.
He's always up for anything and never complains. Perfect!
Here he is with his unique 2011 KTM ADV R (with dakar plastics)





and, us Wans - Matt and Kelly (BigWan and LittleWan).
Dumb as ever. ¿cómo se dice " d'oh" en español ?

2up on a 2007 KTM 990 ADV S


photo by Barteknologie™





We had all been hoping that Radek (rburkat) would be able to complete our little group, but this trip was very last minute.
By the time we got our shit together, he was already committed to spending February in Poland.
Bummer!
He really wanted to go and was sad to miss the ride.
Us, too, Radek. Us, too.




The Route:
You guys know I suck at maps, but I love my crayons.
Here's a close approximation of our route.





It's hard to tell from the crappy map, but most of this route is offroad.
How much pavement did we do? Not sure, but our guessimate is 400 miles.
It was as little as possible while still completing the route in 11 days.
Make sand your favorite!


It was a pretty ambitious plan and we'd have to do 200-300 mile days to keep on schedule.
And in February, the days are short.
The guys were all excited to use their lights, so night riding was going to happen.
Isn't that one of the big no-nos in Mexico?




Some stats:

2500 miles
11 days
114 tacos (and that's not counting the ones on Bartek's front rim )
6 flats
1 broken subframe...

and 1 broken rider.




Here are some teaser pics to whet your appetite.






Are you ready, Baja?

('cause we aren't)

This can't be happening. I'm in at the start of a Wans adventure..

Happy to tag along on this one. Y'all just do some casual rides. :eek1

Bring it on!

good work bigwan, they eventually will say yes...

Baja threads are in full swing now, and this will surely be one of the greats.....

Did a recent, 2 up loaded down 950 run to the tip. Had a few " couple's skill building" moments in the sand.

Looking forward to the entertainment, comedy and some 2up extreme riding.

I'm game.................show me the way........

Oh yea, I've been there let's do it again.

Your RRs are great..............

Bring it! Did BigWan take one of his purses down there?

Well, we were supposed to be packing super light.
But I found this crammed into one of the side bags...








( hi VFR, dvwalker, Bgunn, and stickman1432! It's great to have you here. )

IN !

sweet made it on the first page...

You know I'm in!!!

I've forgotten already----------can you 'splain about those mameshiba things again???

Baja Wan Thousand. I see what you did there Kelly!

Hi guys!

Cool.

:jose

Big ktms and baja!!!!

Woooo!

Hi guys! The gang's all here!
JustPaul, scottmac, HWD, Bob, larryboy, LeDakaR!
Great to see everyone.

Haha, that was Matt's idea - he came up with it somewhere around Day 5.
I thought it was brilliant.

My only contribution was noting that it can be abbreviated as "WanK"...
making us WanKers?









OK, let's get this story on the road...





Departure: 2/16/13
Usually, Matt is adamant about riding to a destination (“it’s an ADVenture bike”),
but he made an exception for this ride.
Without time to ride the coast or something fun (like the PCQ),
we were dreading the hideous slab down I-5.

Also, at $200 a tire, we didn’t want to waste a new D908.
With 2500 miles ahead of us, we were already cutting it close.


Scott came down to the bay area and spent the night at Bartek’s.
The next morning, we met up and loaded the bikes.
















It was a tight fit, but they got the SE and the R in the trailer.
Almost lost Bartek in there!





The S would be riding in the bed.





We were on the road before 8am.
It was a quick, easy drive down to the border.
This was a Saturday in the midst of a 3-day weekend.
No traffic in the bay area, no traffic in LA.
We made great time. I think it took about 10 hrs.


The energy in the truck was palpable.
Everyone was stoked and ready for adventure.
There was so much conversation and Baja excitement,
Matt never even turned on the stereo.


We gassed up in Tecate, CA and got some food.






For Kurt and Martha.





We quickly learned that El Bartek needs to feed every few hours.
Eating with both hands insures that all the food groups are ingested with maximum efficiency.
Salad in one hand, Hawaiana pizza in the other...





Yep, that covers it.





Just as we were pulling out of the parking lot,
Scott remembered that he hadn'’t put the gas cap back on his safari tank.
Oh crap, that would have been a nightmare -
one tope and everything in the trailer would have been soaked in gasoline.
Whew, disaster averted!


Tecate was pretty dead when we crossed.
It was weird - I don’t remember seeing another vehicle.
So of course we got a red light at customs.
After years of getting all green lights, we’'ve had red lights for the last few crossings.
It was no big deal, though.
They didn'’t really want to search us, either.
Just took a quick glance in the trailer and waved us on.






The guy in migración was friendly enough, but I could tell he was annoyed at having these pendejos screwing up his saturday night tv.
There wasn’'t great trailer parking, so we were visiting the office in shifts.
I think every one of us messed up the visa form and he had to keep explaining things over and over. Stupid gringos.
I’'ve filled these things out before (last time was 2011), but they keep changing them.



The bank was already closed by the time we got there,
so he told us to make sure we pay when we find a bank on monday.
Okey dokey.





We almost forgot to stop and get pesos, but even with doubling back to find a bank,
it was a quick drive to Rancho Ojai.





Matt arranged for truck and trailer storage ($5 a day) and we rented a cabin ($71).



Rancho Ojai





Pronounced “Oh hai!”
(this friendly kitty was hanging around outside the office)





We spent some time unpacking and enjoying cervezas,
then it was time for bed.
I think it was hard for everyone to sleep - the next day was Christmas!

Introduced the wanKers, and theres no fluff, no slabbing it and putting off the meat of the story - straight to getting dirty offroad in baja, and 2up no less.

Bring on the tacos :dg

WanKers to theTip!



That didn't come out right.

Who cares!

I'm In for the read!

IN IN IN and when the # are handed out for the race( you will keep us posted) and we can purchase our T shirts for your support, may Sandy and I be on that list??? YAHOOOOOOOO GO Wans GO

This looks great! Can't wait for more.

Oh yeah, nice purse!

Oh this oughta be good! Bring on the linkies!

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