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

Hmmm... wow, sure looks like 'flame-on' time.
The nylon strap and synthetic rope held up when exposed to the heat of the muffler? (I guess anyway!)

The correct answer is - Nothing, since these guys are going so fricken fast the exhaust never gets a chance to get hot!!

Mucho Excellante ride report guys!

Amazing riding and photos, Wans, Bartek, and Scott!

More, more!

MZ

Sure ...
... until they get into town and stop to make a left turn, at which point the fuel soaked strap is ignited by the exposed signal lamp and



:huh

-M

Thanks for solving the mystery of who's who as in (Mat and Kelly) (BigWan and LittleWan) and of course thanks for taking the time to write up your epic r r's

Hi guys!

I can see that I'd better check in...the natives are getting restless.


:ddog <--------- I can feel you all waiting for a new post




<------ I'm working at fast as I can!



I'm waiting for my photos to finish uploading (and a video for later).

OK - No, there were no problems with the Amsteel or the nylon strap holding the pipe.
That pipe stays pretty cool to the touch.
A much better fix was devised within a day or 2 (after repairing a much worse problem )

Aw, Paul.
You really should have gone for that Lippincott cone last spring!

Nope, didn't bring any cones to Baja this time.
I figured if Lippincott and the OBDR cones were left to rot, the Baja ones didn't have a chance!

Hi redog1! glad you found us.
Yeah, I was blown away by that jackass-wannabe.
Someone needs to try for a Darwin award...

Stay tuned! We love that road!
I agree, it's gorgeous. Unfortunately...well...
I don't want to give it away, but I didn't get the wonderful photos I had hoped for.
Some, but not all. I'll leave it at that.

haha, You're welcome!
our group did a great job of cleaning up the trails.
Some of us have magnetic personalities...






hi!
MikeyT, Sparky216, tagentry, zeegman and bike guy!!
Welcome!
Thanks for joining us.


OK you guys.
Here's some elevator music while you wait for me to write the next post...




and if you're really bored, there's always this guy...:eek1

That trip I was riding with Jill when she had her own bike and our biggest adventure was titus canyon and fighting the wind..


I will get a cone one of these days

Wans-Looking at all of those rocks made me think of Matt's admonition when you were in BC to ",,,think light,,". I remember a story in Dirt Bike magazine about 20 years ago about riding rocks where Larry Roessler said that you needed to "ride over them, which is as much a state of mind as anything related to technique". Obviously ya'll have the right state of mind. This is a helluva ride report and I can't wait for the rest. Oh yeah, your videos and photos are way cool.

Great Stuff, Glad you made it thru the rocks!

just gave this thread a solid 5 stars.......as if it made a big differnce....hahaha.

non stop and action packed rr. these guys don't messed around and surely love the best of baja...... tacos, sand and rocks....

yeah kelly thanks for noticing the pyypp stickers..i eventually ran out before we got to coco's. though i assure you, you won't find it at places hard to get to...

lots of nice pics...did ktm pay for this trip?....hmmmmm

Woo Hoo. I finally caught up.

Thanks to Just Paul for linking this from your last RR. That's how I found it.

Yea, what he said, Holy S@#$ I'm still reading trying to catchup.... Daaaamn! You two never cease to amaze me.

Thanks, dickosaurus! So glad you're enjoying this one!
Well, as with anything, practice makes perfect (or at least, "adequate." )
If you're going to be stupid, you might as well be completely stupid.
It's all about commitment.




Hi Joe!
(yeah, thanks Paul! I was surprised to see the Dirty RR again)

Hi Sam!
Looking forward to that Death Valley RR (hint hint)

Thanks, Butcho!

Aww, thanks, Joel. I was so happy to find 2 of your stickers!!
haha, we're still waiting for the check!
actually, Matt was hoping KTM would let us break test ride an 1190R





Hey, so if anyone out there knows someone at KTM...







By the way, it's so great to have so many familiar friendly faces out there!
Matt and I are so spoiled now. You guys are the best.
Thanks for always being so excited and supportive!!




(also - sorry this RR is light on the linkies, I feel bad about that. )
(I just don't have the time or energy right now)



Welcome (and thanks) to the new readers, too





And, without further ado...







Day 3: 2/19/13 San Francisquito to San Juanico/Scorpion Bay
259 miles






What a great night’s sleep.
The cabana was perfect.
Considering that we were right on the beach,
and that the “door” was just a blanket hanging in the door way,
it wasn’t too cold at all.






We had enjoyed listening to the waves lapping against the shore.






Matt got up early so he could work on the bike.












Yesterday, it didn’t seem like the fans were coming on.
The bike was getting hot during the rock climbing expedition and
Matt wanted to make sure they were working properly before we continued on.






It turns out that the coolant levels were low.
We were 2 pints short.
It seemed like the bike had puked coolant while climbing Mine Rd,
and Matt hoped that this wasn’t going to be a continual problem.





















The morning inspection continued...
Matt offered Bartek the use of our spare shifter (at least until we needed it, haha).
Bartek said, “Thank you, but no. I do not want to bend your shifter also.”
Matt said, “Oh, don’t worry - there’s not going to be any more rocks...”




Hearing this, Scott burst out in laughter.
“OH my GOD! Did you just say there aren’t going to be any more rocks?!?!”




Shhhhh! Scott!
Don’t tell Bartek (or his front rim)







Bartek’'s IRC is looking good, considering that it had 2000 miles on it before we left.
So, it's got at least 2500 miles at this point.







Might as well do some more tire pics...

Bartek’'s Tractionator - 517 miles







Our 908 - 517 miles







Scott’'s Mefo - no idea. 517+ 240 (reno to bay area) + ??







I didn'’t take a photo of Scott'’s front tire here,
but it was Matt’'s enemy #1.
The MT21 front.


(scott’s tire at laguna hanson)



Matt HATES the MT21 front. He had one on his XR650R.
It cost him a separated shoulder and he’ll never use that tire again.








San Francisquito is wonderful. So peaceful and quiet.
We pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was awesome.
(there were a couple campers on the other side of the beach, but no other cabana guests)






From the first moment we got together we knew this was going to be a great group.
Any time we ran into snags, Scott had the best attitude -
He would say, “Don'’t worry - Plan B always turns out better!”
When we were stressed about not finding a place at Alfonsina’'s
he said, “Don'’t worry - Plan B always turns out better!” and he was right.

Last night when it looked like we weren'’t going to make it to San Ignacio
he said, “Don’t worry - Plan B always turns out better!” and he was right again.




Look at this gorgeous beach. Spectacular.
The best stuff in Baja is far from the pavement.


(photo by Barteknologie™)





Scott had been hoping for some hanging out time this morning,
so when he saw that Matt had risen early just to work on the bike
(and had quickly figured out the problem),
he was a little disappointed.
“Aw, I was hoping the bike work would take a couple of hours!”





He seemed so sad, we had to stay at least a little while.
(Matt and I like it here, too)







Look how happy they are.
Sipping coffee, gazing at the Sea of Cortez...



















Heh. This guy looks pretty happy, too.








Bartek totally made my day when he brought over his new friend...







OMG! Puppy!!!







This little guy was so frickin'’ cute. That face!




I really enjoyed my puppy time. It has been too long!





Then, it was breakfast time.
Huevos a la Mexicana - basically eggs scrambled with onion, tomato and jalapeno.
Served with beans and tortillas.
They were tasty.







Goggles Pizano approved.








We were all members of the clean plate club that morning!








After breakfast, while the guys were paying the bill ($191 for 2 cabanas, 4 dinners and 4 breakfasts)
I snuck in some more puppy time.











Hee!




Eventually, I tore myself away from the pup and we got ready to leave.
It was kind of a gloomy morning.
We had some sprinkles that morning and a few times during the day.






Great dirt riding weather, though.
We had gotten hot yesterday, so we were looking forward to being cool today.







Time to hit the road!







Oh, here’'s the map for this section:







Went past the air strip.







Goggles in his natural state...







We waited for the guys here...







Signs







We were heading to El Arco.







Here they come!






There they go!




















As I mentioned, it was a little cloudy today.
My pics aren’'t super clear, but this was kinda sandy...














The guys were waiting here, near this rancho.






(we saw lots of these signs, indicating areas that have protected plants and animals)








So, Bartek was running low on gas.
Hmmm. I wonder why?
I think he was having wrist problems.






Scott told us to go on ahead.
He would ride behind Bartek and could offer gas from his Safari tank if needed.
I really don’t like splitting up, but Scott sounded like he knew where to go in El Arco.
He even told Matt which left turn to take...


OK.
but it really didn't feel right to split up.







El Arco.
I like the color of this old truck.






We made the Left turn and waited on the other side of town.
and waited.



At one point, we could make out the distinctive sound of 2 LC8s...
Here they come!
....and there they go.




What the hell?
Why didn'’t they stop?
We figured they must have been looking for gas so we went back to look for them.
Nothing.




And that’s why you shouldn'’t break up the group.



It was so stressful to hear them ride past and not know what happened.
We knew Scott was familiar with Baja so when we couldn'’t find them in El Arco,
Matt assumed that they were taking another road for some reason.
Probably Highway 18.
We hoped we’'d find them in Vizcaino.






Matt had taken the road behind the church before.
He said it was boring.
The Baja 1000 tracks were showing another road - cool!
He was looking forward to taking something different.



At the turnoff, there was a small sign that said “Sta. Gertrudis”
but I missed the shot.
It turns out the Sta. Gertrudis is a mission - info here.
(road info at the bottom of that link - if you want to try it)







It was a really nice road - super fun.
Sandy and fast.
I only have a few pics.


















When we got near the turn off for the Mission, the road got really wide.
Still fast.






And then it spit us out on the highway.
Wheee! That was fun.






Vizcaino was just down the highway.
The first Pemex didn'’t have roja (Premium) so we rolled down to the next one.
Ah.
Ellos tienen roja. (they have red)






On our way to Pemex #2,
We noticed that Vizcaino has a bank (Bancomer),
I went to go pay for our visas while Matt waited outside and kept an eye out for the guys.
It was a big bank day for some reason, so I had a long line.
The teller was very nice and took his stamping very seriously.






Just when we were starting to really worry, Bartek and Goggles rolled into town...






Whew.
That was scary.



OK, let’s agree that our little group won’t split up again!
Promise?

One of the coolest places we stayed on our trip...

My bad, i totally messed up on that turn at El Arco. If that is the biggest mistake i make i will be OK with that, LOL :eek1 Thanks for waiting.

Aww, it's okay Goggles.
We still love you.

I'm just sorry that you and Bartek missed a really good road!

Neat! looking forward to reading about that!

yippe, a new Wan ride report

Wan reports are always the funnerest!

meanwhile:



Scott’s
Mefo Explorer (super explorer? - not sure. Scott?)
It was already a little beat before he left.




if you look real close, you'll see it says "Super" on the sidewall of that tire

Hey Little Wan!

Thanks for posting this trip and for generally being so darned entertaining.

I'm up to my butt in snow here in the Rockies ............. so these ride reports are AYUDA MUCHO!

Gracias, Roberto

LW/BW, up to your usual 'awesomeness' (sp?) again!! Thank you !
I vote for renaming that 'short cut' 'Paseo del WanKers'
Get them signs posted out there!! Great job done by all!!

Little Wan- thanks for the great report, when are you gonna teach that big guy how to write. If that happened he might not bring you along anymore, better keep him illiterate.