No Return Ticket – Just a Ride Report /w Pics

[cavebiker]

Grand Teton National Park:

We couldn’t just blast through the Tetons, they were too beautiful. We need at least a day here. We ride down a side road and to Signal Mountain camp ground. One sweeet spot indeed.

Ya want food shots. Here ya go…Sour dough bread, cheese, fresh jalapenos on mine, a can of beans, freeze-dried fruit and of course cocktails. All this with a view of the Tetons. Life is good.

We have a lake about 200 yards from our tent. It’s about 4 or 5 miles long with hiking along the entire shoreline. The shore was covered with large rocks and made for tough going but the vistas were unreal and well worth it.

Check It Out:

I Like This One….

And This One….

 

[cavebiker]

The next morning was cold but clear and bright. Someone said it was down to 35 Deg. last night. We are struggling to stay warm with our light weight sleeping bag arrangement.

Waking up here we smell pine trees and fresh mountain air. Heidi and I are really into the mode now. We’re eating healthy, exercising every day and celebrating life, especially the life we have together right here and now.

Of course with all of this I was feeling large and boasted that I’m going for a swim. Heidi says “I gotta see this!” and grabs the camera (We’re at about 7,600 feet)

When you jump into a high mountain lake like this don’t try to turn around and say something smart to the people on shore because all that will come out are short high pitch little words “…..this……..is……nice……”

I did get my breathing under control and swam a little. I feel good. I’m getting back to my old cocky self. Being physical all day, reading, spending time with Heidi, this is the life we have dreamed about. On the road I feel like a pioneer traveling west to start a new life using just the tools we can carry. We will prevail. We will find a new way to live, a new way to love.

That morning was cold. We started out riding with full long-johns and down under our leathers.

More Tetons:

We blasted through Jackson Hole WY on our way to Rock Springs which is near Flaming Gorge national park. We stopped for gas and picked up some lunch food. It was hard to find a good spot to stop for lunch. We finally did find an excellent place.

We stopped for a small storm that raced across the sky in front of us. About ten minutes is all it took. We could see the rain was past where we were going. We did hit some wet roadway and got a little muddy.

 

[cavebiker]

Here we look for supplies for camping tonight. The temps were in the high nineties. We stopped at a Wal-Mart. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We blast up into the foot hills of the Rockies and camped at Island Acers state park. Our camp spot was real close to the Colorado River. This was a popular camping spot with a lot of activity. We ended up getting one of the better spots with shade, but that was all.

Colorado River:

Fire Water:
I woke up before Heidi today and went out to make coffee. We have been using plastic 750 ml vodka bottles for our water bottles. They are flat shaped and a perfect fit for our tank panniers. Well I poured some water in my tin coup and started to boil it. Next thing I notice the stove and cup are on fire. I pick up the cup with a camp handle and the water was on fire. I dumped the water on the ground and the ground was on fire. Duh…! I boiled the vodka we had for cocktails. Heidi and I have a good laugh. Thank god this vodka bottle didn’t have a pour spout on it. I would have questioned my sanity….

Today we are doing a short ride up into the mountains. The map shows a large national forest and a lot of camping. Sounds good…

Going up!

Grand Mesa camp grounds:
It was looking at first like there weren’t any camps spots available. We get to the very last two sites. They were open. With both sites you had to walk up a steep hill to get to your tent. We for sure had the best spot in the place, closest to a clear blue lake with fishing and hiking trails.

Sunday:
Today was devoted to hiking. There are trailheads all over this area. The signs claim lakes and photo opportunities. Sounds good. We pack some trail mix and a jug of water. We are off.

The first trail was well groomed and maintained. It circled around several small mountain lakes. After about an hour the trail doubled back to where we started. We remember seeing some more primitive trails on the way to this trailhead. We start hiking. Woods, lakes, swamps, springs, open grass savannas. This place has it all.

Heidi keeps following. This is good.

We merge onto another more defined but difficult terrain trail. We meet several mountains bikers. It had to be a Heck of a ride for them, some had full face helmets.

A great day of hiking ended with a big camp fire. This place has unlimited fire wood.

Monday:
It’s been raining steady since

 

[cavebiker]

Moab Utah:

We like Moab. It’s a fun tourist town geared toward adventure activities; rafting, hiking, mountain biking, dirt biking, four-wheeling. The hiking was great but the weather was in the high nineties. The pool at the Sleep-Inn felt good. We were surprised at all the foreign tourists around. At the pool there were French, Germans, Italians and us. Good time, everyone is here for a good time.

We planned to hit the road early because of the heat. This is the Friday before Labor Day weekend. Heidi is worried the campsites and motels will be full so we plan to look for a place to hunker down for the entire weekend. At an adventure shop in Moab I looked at a great map of the state with contour gradients and listing for tons of camping spots. I’m glad I studied the map because the Utah state map you get free from the state doesn’t have any of the National Forest campsites listed. There are a ton of them.

Out in the parking lot early in the morning we were talking with three couples, all 2-up on motorcycles. One couple had their own Gold-Wing with a huge custom painted trailer. The other two couples rented bikes in Salt Lake City where they flew to from Iowa. The women asked Heidi how she packs for two years. They all had a good laugh while Heidi expounded about not having any shoes along. I think I overheard her bragging about having eight bikinis along. Hmmm… We could have talked all morning but like a sailor who needs to hit a weather window, we had to cut it short and get going. We were planning on doing the Burr-trail road right through Capital Reef Park but with predicted temperatures around 105 degrees we changed our plans again, head for the hills where the temps will be cooler.

The morning light shining on the hill formations around Moab is spectacular. It felt like we were seeing it again for the first time, beautiful. We didn’t take much time for photos. The urge to just keep riding while in this type of landscape is overwhelming. We just concentrate on enjoying the ride. This is biking country. If you are a biker, road or dirt the Moab area is not to be missed. Heidi and I can’t say enough about the place. A ‘do-again’ for sure.

At the map I looked at in Moab I remembered seeing a lot of camping in the national forests around central Utah. On the map we have we see a couple of big lakes with peaks at around 10, 000 feet. That sounds good, Fish lake National Park, here we come. Heidi was a little nervous, the map we had showed no camping anywhere near where we are heading. I assured her that I remember seeing a lot of camping around this area on the map I looked at in Moab. We just go for it.

The ride was uneventful. All we can say is Utah is one fantastic place to ride…..

We turn north on highway 24 off the main road. There are no markers saying it is highway 24 but I knew it had to be it. The road starts heading up in altitude. We could feel the temperatures start to cool. Utah has a lot of free camping all over. We start seeing campers congregating around some of the ideal areas in the Mountains. We also pass a few National Forest campsites but we wanted to try Fish Lake. If I can’t catch a fish there I have problems, Fish Lake!

We pull into Bowery campground. Tons of birch and pine trees surrounding a crystal clear blue lake. We tooled through the camp and almost all the sites had reservations stickers on them. The campsites are on the side of a mountain and are steep. We ride through a small loop way up at the top. A road sign said “Tent camping only” I’m not making any of this up. We get what we think has to be the best camp spot in the place. It has a high-up lake view, a rushing mountain spring babbling right next to us, privacy and tons of hiking starting right there. I pay for three nights. We are set for the entire Labor Day weekend. YES….

Breakfast…..first time cooking something that isn’t entirely from a can.

My specialty, pork and bean omelet. Yum!

There was a lot of activity around the lake. This is a popular place. A lot of people hauled boats. The lake has a resort on both ends and in the middle. The lodge at the middle resort looked about 200 years old. The dining area is huge and double as a Mormon church on Sundays. It’s all log construction built right on the lake. It felt like we stepped back in time. There are hiking trails circling the lake and leading up into the mountains and forest. The resorts have free hiking trail maps of the area. You could devote a week to hiking all the back country trails here.

 

[cavebiker]

Three days was nice here but again we froze our butts off at night. During the day the temperatures were perfect, upper seventies and mostly sunny but as soon as the sun set it started to cool down seriously. We played gin on the picnic table until we couldn’t see our cards. Then we got a campfire going but this site is kind of primitive. There isn’t any good place to get comfortable close to the fire. We ended up retreating to the tent. In the tent we have small LED lights great for reading.

Before starting this trip Heidi and I saw a show on PBS about meditation and how it can activate large sections of a human brain that are normally dormant with most people. Sounds good, I ordered a couple of used books off amazon.com, Insight Meditation. Reading is a big thing on long rides and finding reading material is sometimes difficult. Anyway I’m talking more insightful now trying to be real deep. Heidi thinks I’m full of S. I think I’m well on my way already to becoming a ‘Motorcycle Zen Master’ Haa! Heidi and I always have fun trying to tease each other. ‘When I ride I ride’ I do everything to keep my attention on the road. Meditation trains to focus and control the mind. On marathon rides everyone has moments when their mind wanders. You think of this and that and go over scenarios with people in your mind. Number one: recognize your mind is wandering. Number two: bring it back to riding or back to whatever. This Is a good thing.

To survive the cold nights we got more serious, thicker socks, more layers, more padding underneath. It got better every night but I have never had such a hard time staying comfortable camping. I know this can’t be good for Heidi.

Heidi and I are constantly talking about what is working and what is not working and what we should do different. We thought we would share a short list of ‘What’s working” and ‘What’s not working’

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What’s not working:
> My first sleeping pad was some old one inch thick sponge rubber. That’s all I’ve used in the past. It’s not working now.
> The light weight sleeping bags we bought at the last minute suck. They zip together but the bags have one heavy half and one
thin half. When zipped together one person has the heavy cover on top, the other person has the light cover on top. Not good.
> We’re not following the rule: Provision for food before we get the camp site. In Colorado we needed to drive over 60 miles round trip down a steep canyon road just for some food and drink. Da!
> The right pannier is leaking bad when the bike is parked in the rain. I think it’s because of the angle the bike sits when it’s on the kickstand. The high bag has a smaller lip on the outside. I think that’s where it’s leaking. I’m hopping a strip of tape will cure that.
> I didn’t have my first-aid kit handy enough. It was buried on the bottom of the backpack. I cut both hands on separate occasions and didn’t want to bother digging for the kit, where of course I have everything. The cuts were small and I thought it was no biggie. Well the my right thumb got real sore and I had difficulty with the throttle. Soap and water, antibiotic salve and band aids for a couple of days. Now, every cut, every time.
> Not following Grant and Susan Johnson’s advice: If you need it and you see it, buy it. Don’t think you will find it later at another place.
>

What’s working:
> Pillow case. Heidi says this is the best idea. Thanks Grant and Susan Johnson.
> Thermorest sleeping pads. We have the short one inch version. These pads are working well but in pay campsites we could use a thicker version. I hate gravel tent sites. In the mountains they retains the cold and are uncomfortable. A good quality bed roll is important.
> We are happy with our fresh water carrying capability. Plastic 750 ml vodka bottles fit perfect into the tank panniers. We carry 6 liters no problem. Plus we can strap on a gallon jug to the backpack anytime.
> All the biner’s we have attached to the backpack and the tank panniers are working great. We strap our helmets to them when parked, water jugs, garbage bags, shoes.
> World camp stove. We have a Wisper-lite world camp stove. This thing runs on white gas, unleaded gas, kerosene or jet fuel. Once I learned how to work the thing I love it.
> 3 person tent. The REI TAJ-3 tent has been nothing but good for us. It has lots of room for two people with enough space for a lot of gear. It goes up in a flash and the rain tarp is even easier to deploy. It has 5 pockets altogether including one huge packet on the ceiling.
> The backpacking clothes we picked out have been working great. The main thing is they fold up and pack small and appear to be made with a lot of quality. Columbia is one of the higher grade clothing brands we have.
>

I’ll add to this list or modify it from time to time as a kind of a check list for us. I hope it may be of some use to others also.

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The temperature predictions for Saint George are 105 degrees for tomorrow. Ouch! We plan to take off early and make it to just north of Saint George and stay at around 7,000 feet, where it should be a lot cooler. The next morning we’ll make a run to Las Vegas, our last big splurge. I have a niece and nephew that live there. It will be nice to see them and hang out at the Hard Rock Casino pool for a couple days.

Before leaving the national forests we stop at a small pull over. Nice stream and a few flowers.

This is some more great cruising grounds. Heidi is having fun taking photos as we cruise.

 

[cavebiker]

Vegas Baby:
We stopped about 15 miles from Cedar City at a nice campground on a river in the woods. Campgrounds are usually a good place to pull over and chill even if you have no intention of camping. They are normally located in a nice setting with a picnic table to hang out at. I pulled into an empty group site, Heidi seemed uneasy. I assure her that places like these are use to wary travelers and are accommodating to them. She thinks I’m ‘a little goofy but soon starts to relax and express what’s on her mind.

It feels cold here even with our leathers on. It’s looking like rain ahead.

We make a run for it. Heidi is sick and tired of being cold and my attempt to suggest camping at 7,000 feet just before Cedar City was futile. I say it’s going to be in the hundreds down there on the way to Vegas. I wanted to shoot for it early tomorrow morning when it will be cooler. Heidi said “Bring on the heat. I want it Now!”

It was serious hot. We pull over at River Canyon Park in Arizona to wait until the sun goes down. We hydrate, rest and wait in the shade.

About a half hour after the sun sinks behind the tall rock cliffs we take off. It was I think hotter then before. We blast down to Vegas. 75 MPH is the speed limit but I tried to keep it around 65. The tires have to be running super hot. I didn’t want tire problems with Heidi on board.

Vegas Baby!
We like Las Vegas. The Hard Rock casino is a tropical resort to us with nothing but great rock and roll music played everywhere and one of the world’s best pools. Palm trees, tall drinks, beautiful people, good food, no kids. What is not to like about this?

These guys were from Germany, they must have rented the bikes in New York or something.

I say to Heidi that we should go have one at the Harley Davidson Café before we check into the hotel. She thinks I’m nuts but I tell her it’s been my tradition. I get a smile and an OK.

I got this Vegas thing down. I-15 South, exit on Tropicana Blvd, cruise down the strip for a few blocks and pull right into the Harley Davidson Café. There is enough space if you park right at the curb and. I never had a problem with this. Heidi thought our parking spot was a little over the edge. Ya know, parking right on the strip in the heart of Las Vegas, for free. I tell her “Just act like we own the place” I get a look.

Heidi goes inside to freshen up while I go to try and grab a table outside on the strip. The waiter tells me that the outside seating is for people eating dinner only. At first I accepted it but then I went back to the guy. I tell him “Hey, your killing a tradition here” I told him that we drove all the way from Wisconsin and this has been a tradition to stop first and have a drink here, at the Harley Davidson Café, outside. That worked.

We were not going to spend a hundred and some bucks just to sleep, so we head straight to the Motel-6, on Tropicana Blvd, just a few blocks off Las Vegas Blvd. Under fifty bucks.

We are out of the Motel-6 at eleven, It was like a hundred degrees outside. We shoot straight to the Hard Rock casino, just up the street.

Obligatory shot: Heidi was claiming ‘Helmet hair’

The same bell guy that’s helped us the last few years is here again. He pretends like he remembers us. How nice.

We unload our tent, sleeping bags, tarp, leather jackets and a backpack with clothes. Our buddy will store it and have someone bring it to our room later, when we come back and can get into our room.

We have a few hours to kill. We know of a great place on the strip for breakfast and cocktails, just up the road.

We park at the Harley Davidson Café again.

A half a block away. We are hungry.

I’m having this feeling of euphoria set in. Heidi says she’s feeling something also. We are set. All is going according to plan. The Hard Rock awaits. We are on schedule to be South of the border by the 15 th, just when our world health insurance kicks in and our USA health insurance ends. Now lets just enjoy Las Vegas!

 

[cavebiker]

Hey! If you’re lucky enough to have a riding partner that’s into everything you’re into, great. But every ride I’ve been on with others involved compromise and constant tweaking. Riding with Heidi is no different. She has been a total champ in my book enduring all the camping and roughing it stuff that I like but now it’s time for some payback. ””Las Vegas””, Heidi is on the phone with her sister’s exclaiming that she wants to live at the Hard Rock. A room on the eleventh floor with big patio doors overlooking the pool and the strip.

South end:

This is not a bad thing for me either so I to try to endure it. The patio doors are wide open, air conditioner cranked, bloodymarys in hand. We are getting ready to go to work (Hanging out at the pool or beach is what we call work. It’s not easy ya know)

Walk to work:

This could be my new avatar!

Pool entrance:

Lagoon connecting pools:

From pool bar:

We go to work:

Two nights at the Hard Rock was great. We saw the singer of the rock band Incubus down at the pool with other band members. WEF (World Extreme Fighting) had a match here our second night. A lot of the fighters were hanging around. This is an A1 place for people watching, that is if you don’t mind beautiful women in small swimsuits drinking tall cocktails. At one point a couple of hot guys were hitting on a group of babes in bikinis. The guys had rented a cabana, one of a couple dozen cabanas that surround the pool. They have big king beds, a huge flat screen TV and constant service from the staff. The cabanas cost about $150 per day. If you are a group of guys with a cabana your goal is to attract in some bikinis. Well these guys were doing pretty good for a while with some girls, ordering then $18 Tiki head cocktails. In a flash a big dude with Rocky Mountain shoulders and a WEF t-shirt came over and said a few words to the girls. In no time the girls were on their way to the WEF guys cabana. The 3 hunky looking guys were once again along together in their cabana, trying not to look too disappointed.

We’re having fun with the scene here. The prices for a day at the Hard Rock are over a hundred dollars mid-week but starting Thursday the price goes up to over $250, Friday and Saturday over $350. Thursday (Yesterday) we move to the Super-8, $54 a night and again just up the street. Today we will try to hook up with my niece and nephew and maybe take a long walk along the strip later.

Keep tuned! Things should start getting more adventurous from here on. This US tour has been great fun and has worked well as a shake-out for Heidi and I as riding partners.

I almost forgot this:

Riding toward Vegas on I-15 there are long stretches of nothing. Well we were on a big long stretch and it was dark. My butt was falling off and I had to stop. We took the first exit and pulled off the shoulder at the end of the ramp. I just had to dismount for a while. We took off our helmets when another older car pulled over just where we did. It just stood there with it’s headlights pointing at us. About twenty yards from us I could see figures in the headlights. At first I was kind of pissed about the headlights pointing at us, than I got a feeling that this could be a bad thing. I told Heidi to get on the bike ASAP and let’s get out of here. Before we were gone another car pulled up next to the other car. We get the heck out of there.

This may have been nothing but either way we put ourselves in a bad situation just 30 miles outside of Vegas, where a lot of desperate people are. If your gut says there is something Not Right, take action. It’s better to be safe then sorry.

 

[cavebiker]

Today we head toward Yuma, AZ where we will stage for the border crossing. The Sporty will get new rubber, a new battery, oil and filter. I think that’s all. Maybe a new set of plugs to carry.

It’s going to be hot in Yuma. Does anyone know of a camping spot between Vegas and Yuma?

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Continued: Friday:
The Super-8 hotel is connected to the Ellis Island casino. I’ve always heard stories of great and inexpensive places to eat and drink in Vegas but I’ve never been to any of them. Well the Ellis Island casino has to be the standard, 1 dollar big micro-brewery beers, $4.95 full steak dinner or hungry man breakfast. I saw on TV the Wisconsin Badgers were playing the UNLV Rebels. Red Badger shirts were everywhere. Cheap beer, lots of food, you know Wisconsinites are going to find this place.

Of course the temperatures for where we are heading next are expected to be around 108 degrees, Yuma AZ. We were waiting for a piece of mail to arrive at the Super-8, it’s a day late. We wanted to be on the road early but instead are stuck in the hotel lobby awaiting the mail person. We’re not even sure it’s going to be in the mail today or exactly when the mail will arrive.

The mail shows up at about one PM. It’s getting hot. Highway 95 south from Vegas is rough rocky desert. Anything under a hundred degrees feels good to us now but this 105 degree stuff is tough to handle. We do just under 200 miles and find ourselves on old route 66 and a handful of inexpensive motels. We crawl into our room and crank the AC.

The plan is to hit the road early and be in Yuma before noon, it’s only about 200 miles. We pass through Lake Havasu at about 8 AM and the temperature was already 97. Ouch ouch. I gas up just before an 81 mile stretch of nothing. It Is Hot… We buy a gallon of cold water and fill up all our jugs. We’re thinking survival here.

OK again I’m not making any of this up. We’re about 20 miles down this hot road with nothing before we hit Yuma. The bike just dies. I tried the starter while we were costing and it seemed to turn over weak. We have plenty of gas. I’m wondering if the battery shorted out internally, or maybe that stupid power adapter I installed shorted. A few days ago we lost our right blinker, it’s not the bulb. I wonder if that’s related.

Heidi and I start to prepare for a long haul in the hot desert sun (we are in the middle of nowhere!). About 5 minutes later I try the starter. The bike fires right up. We hop on and start to head back to the town 20 miles away. After about a mile we change our mind and decide to risk it and turn around and point it to Yuma with fingers crossed.
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Made it to Yuma, we thank our lucky stars. We’re checked into a cheap motel with a pool and life is good. Yesterday I got two new tires and a new battery. The blinker wires inside the wheel well were all fried and shorting out. I’m confident the shorted wires had something to do with the bike dying the other day. I’m glad to have a new battery anyway. I removed the electrical outlet also just for peace of mind. I’m sending the AC inverter home.

We are on schedule to be across the border on the 15 th, just as planned. So stayed tuned! Much more fun to come. VIVA MEXICO!

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We are taking care of business in Yuma. I bought all new padlocks. One of the Brinks locks refused to open one day and another started getting sticky. Luckily the frozen lock was not on a pannier. I had to get it cut off. We have Master Locks now. Picked up 3 more water proof stuff sacks from Wal-mart for $10 and some toiletry stuff. Today I’m picking up motorcycle liability insurance for Mexico at a local Sanborn office. I’m getting out the Baja Map. I threw away all our USA maps, except a small section that includes the route between Yuma to Mexicali. I’m thinking of all the stuff I want to do before crossing the border, I can feel a buzz inside my body. Should we head for San Felipe the first night or go straight to the west coast near Ensenada? Ahhh!

Before leaving Yuma we went through all our gear. We sent home a package weighing 9 pounds, all stuff we decided we can do without. It felt good to lighten our heavy load.

What is left of our survival kit (the beer is not part of the kit

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[cavebiker]

Mexico:

Ok, we planned it just right and entered Mexico early on a Sunday morning, just like I’ve read one should do to avoid the long lines and hassle associated with crossing on a busier day. We first went to register the motorcycle with customs. We find the building right away and a guy tells us that we can’t do it here today and that we will either have to wait until tomorrow or do it somewhere else. We look at each other with a big F formed on our faces. How could this be, we crossed here on a Sunday 2 years ago with our jeep and had no problems. It doesn’t matter. We can’t get it done here today. We discussed going back to the US and crossing again tomorrow. The US is less then 100 yards away but that means we will have to pass through the US customs and that could be a real hassle. They could require us to unpack all our stuff for a search and probably would. Double Flip. We went to the Immigration office to get our tourist card while we were still thinking what to do. The people there were very polite and told us we could clear customs for the motorcycle in La Paz where we are planning on taking a ferry to mainland Mexico. GREAT! We hop on the bike and proceed into Mexico relieved.

We’re tooling through Mexicali looking for highway 2 heading west. This is a big city of about a million people. Downtown there were people lying on the street all over the place. It looked like most of them were sleeping on the street. It’s so weird thinking the USA is just over there a stones throw away. We wondered if these people came here from all over Mexico hoping to cross the border illegally and failed and are now down and out living on the street. Yesterday was Mexico’s Independence Day, a big day of celebration, maybe these people had been out partying hard the night before and are just sleeping it off. Possibly a few but there were just too many of them.

We expected to just run into highway 2 but the road we were on suddenly had a roadblock with police directing traffic. I pulled the bike up to the roadblock and asked a police officer, in Spanish, how to get to the road to Tecate. He replied in English “Do you speak Spanish?” I said “Un poco” (A little) He replied back with a big smile “Good, I don’t speak English” We all laugh. He calls over to another officer who came walking over saying “Parle vouz Francais” Now we are all laughing. This guy spoke English well and was very helpful to us. It was still a challenge to find the highway but Heidi and I are used to this. Don’t panic and just try the roads that feel right.

The predicted highs for Mexicali were 105 degrees. I was dripping sweat on the counter while filling out my tourist form. Soon after Mexicali we started going up in elevation and the temperatures started to cool. This was a great ride, double lane freeway through rocky mountain scenery. At Tecate we turned south on highway 3 toward Ensenada.

Ensenada was a lot bigger than we expected. It was great seeing the Pacific Ocean and all the seaside scenery but getting through town took forever. There were still a lot of celebrations going on for Independence Day. This seemed to add to the slow traffic.

After Ensenada the traffic almost vanished. We were thinking of maybe camping that night along the Pacific coast on a beach somewhere but we came across all the camping spots too early in the day. We wanted to get deeper into Mexico before stopping. We stopped for gas at San Vicente. I asked the gas attendant if she knows of a good restaurant in town “Puede dicerme donde es un restaurante bien” She points to a place right next door, a quaint little Mexican restaurant. The waitress there hands us the menu, opens it up and points to the selection ands says “Only Mexican food” Like she was thinking we wanted American food or something. We thought this was weird but blow it off thinking we are not that far into Mexico and there are probably a lot of Americans coming through here during the Baja races wanting American food. Well the food was fantastic, the hot sauce was hot and I shouldn’t have tried to finish the whole thing. It was just too good.

It was late afternoon and I was getting fried. We have been on the road since 7:30 AM. We cruised through several medium size towns. I pulled over and stopped in most of them to talk with Heidi and discuss an option of spending the night here. Heidi was adamant about pressing on and hopefully finding a camping spot on a beach. We get to Colonia Vicente Guerrero where there is a tourist sign with a palm tree pointing toward the coast. We head down that road. The road was dirt, rock and bumps. It soon became apparent that the beach was a lot further then we wanted. We turn around and get back to the main road. I tell Heidi that I’m toast and need to stop now, she agrees. We pull into a nice little place, motel Sanchez. Twenty bucks for the night and we are set. Ice cold beer is right across the street and we have a beautiful little courtyard with a huge tree in the middle to enjoy it under.

I had to take off the back of the toilet and manually flush it but what do you expect for twenty bucks? At least it flushed.

Right across the street from the motel was OK Disco karaoke bar. I slept like rock and Heidi listened to bad karaoke all night. I did wake once about three AM to purge my fabulous Mexican meal but then fell right back to sleep. I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach. At least I didn’t have food poisoning….

 

[cavebiker]

Mexico: HELP! What is wrong with our bike?

I wake up hungry and had to go find food. Colonia Vicente Guerrero is a nice small village with several restaurants. I walk up and down the main street and pick a place where a lot of the locals were eating. Huevos rancheros and coffee. I feel like a new man. Further up the street I get some fresh squeezed OJ to go for Heidi. We enjoy a lazy slow morning at the motel knowing we are in Mexico and all is good.

We’re on the road by about 10:00 AM. The sky is clear and the temperatures are perfect for riding. I almost need gloves but opt to go without knowing it will be getting warmer throughout the day. Cruising south we soon see the Pacific on our right with beautiful sand beaches and dunes. This is where we were hoping to make it to yesterday but were glad to have stayed the night in Colonia Vicente Guerrero.

Just before the road turns inland we stop for gas. A couple miles later we see a road sign saying 328 km to the next gas station, about 200 miles. If we aren’t experiencing a head wind or aren’t traveling too fast that’s about our range before hitting reserve. I’m glad I bought that 4.2 gallon tank from Ebay last year, without it we would be hosed.

The winds were strong, hitting us at an angle of about 100 degrees. The road is twisty, we were averaging about 50 MPH. I knew we were getting better then 50 MPG and should have no problem making it 200 miles.

We’re cutting almost straight across the Baja from west to east, from the Pacific coast to the Sea of Cortez. The road is super curvy and mountainous with constantly changing vegetation. At times it was just rocks, than 50 foot tall cacti and huge boulders.

Up and down, twists and turns. The highway here is super narrow with zero shoulder and steep drop offs on both sides. There is no time to be thinking about anything else except driving. About 30 miles from the last gas stop we’re sailing along and BAM! The bike just dies. No precursor, no indication anything was wrong, the bike just quits. This is the same thing that happened about 60 miles before Yuma. Luckily we coast to a tiny pull off on the side of the road. Before coming to a stop I tried popping the clutch a few times, nothing. We dismount. Heidi and I are looking at each other with indescribable emotions in our eyes. What the _ is going on here. We wait a few minutes and try the starter. The bike fires right up. We waste no time getting back on the bike and continue on. There is no way I can describe what is going through our minds. This is only our second day in Mexico and we are having big problems with the bike. The road didn’t get any wider or straighter and I had little time to think about what this means. We just continue on. There is nothing on this road for the next 170 miles and we need to continue. The thought of turning back to the last town didn’t even enter our minds. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe we just couldn’t accept the severity of our situation. We dreamed and planned too long for something like this to stop us now.

170 miles, the bike is running perfect. We make it to the gas stop and the road to Bahia de Los Angeles. After stopping and dismounting Heidi wanders off to some shade. It’s hot here. After filling up, Heidi walks back to the bike. I see a look in her eyes I’ve never seen before. She was freaked to say the least. It started hitting me to. What the heck is going on here. I think about the fried blinker wires we repaired in Yuma. I was just kidding myself in thinking that had anything to do with the bike dying the first time. There is nothing hot on those wires unless we are blinking and even then the battery is isolated from those wires through the blinker module. The worst thing that could have done was to fry the module and that has nothing to do with the ignition.

Fuel stop:

42 miles down a dead end road to Bahia de Los Angeles. Heidi has read about this place, it sounds just like the kind of place we like. Small village on the Sea of Cortez with fishing and sailboats. We plan on spending a few days here and sorting out our situation.

More desert, mountains and cacti:

There is no traffic and the road is straight at times. I have a little time to think about what the heck is going on with our bike. I have a theory now about why the bike is starting back up after quitting but it doesn’t explain why the bike quits.

Again I’m not making any of this up. We are tooling along less than 20 miles from the Sea of Cortez and the bike just quits again. We coast to a stop, dismount, take off our helmets and look at each other. This can not be happening!
I stay calm, confident my theory about why the bike starts back up is correct. A few minutes later I hit the starter and the bike is running as if nothing is wrong. We hop back on and continue on. Bahia de Los Angeles here we come….

We made it. In my mind I bend down and kiss the Sea. This is what we dream about, places like this.

We cruise around the village and find a place right on the water. A little expensive but we are right on the beach. I pay for three nights.

I practically run and get beer and tequila. Heidi says we need to engage in some high level discussions. Tequila, Fresca and beer. Let the talks begin.

View from our room: