Solo trip to Baja by bike...plane ride back...NSFW due to animal carnage!

So I signed up for Barfistan 2014 and was told by Kyle that having some dirt experience would be helpful. I don't have much experience in dirt so I thought I should give it a try first. I heard of a patch of dirt down south called Baja so I set off on my own. I left Milpitas at 0500 am.




Had to piss fifty miles into the trip





First mechanical issue in Covina of all places.....had a breakdown in Covina during the last trip...more on that later




Had to lane split on the freeway for a few miles at high revs so the fairing screws came loose...no biggie





Pit stop at the world famous El Triunfo taqueria in Pomona. Free entertainment with hookers all over the place


Time for some chain maintenance in Palm Springs..note the official klr wheel lift made of wood


As you can see,the lift works fine. Put the cardboard down so as to not to make a mess cuz I'm so considerate.



Got in to Mexicali around 0600pm....checked into the Real Inn n got something to eat...music was full fricken blast in here


This is the road from Mexicali to San Felipe....pretty boring flat road with minimal scenery but all this will quickly change


Typical San Felipe street...unpaved


pit stop in San Felipe for pescado a la diabla. I thought San Felipe would be bigger but it was like Rosarito but without lobster. No need to make this a destination on its own



Stretch break south of Pescaditos





So I'm tooling down the paved highway and it suddenly ends and this is what I see...its about 0330 pm at this time. I have no clue how long this path is or where it specifically goes. All I know is that my GPS is pointing to the right direction


So about a half mile into the path, my rear tire gets stuck in the soft sand. My bags are full of oil,tools,water, heavy stuff. There is no way for me to lift the bike out of the hole. The only solution was to take off all my bags, lay the bike down, then drag the bike to harder ground to stand it up and reinstall all my bags. Keep in mind the angle of the sun...its setting, not rising and I have not seen a single car for an hour




So this happened about ten times, half of which was at night. It soon went lights out right after this photo. It got pretty frustrating here. I finally saw a car passing the other way. It was the first car in a few hours. I actually thought about sleeping in my suit next to the cactus. Luckily, I got the bike back upright and I was strapping my bags down when two cars were going in my direction. The first was driven by an older guy and the second by a lady so I figured it would be safe to follow them. The path took us about forty miles in total across some mountain ranges that were all unpaved and rocky. There were several broken cars with broken axles along the way. The cars were a PT Cruiser and a Nissan Sentra but they made it. As suddenly as it appeared, the dirt path joined Highway 1 and I was back in civilization.




So this was the days ride so far from Mexicali to Nuevo Rosarito which was about 320 miles. I was hoping for about five hundred miles but that unpaved stretch really slowed me down.



Badly needed chain maintenance but doing it in the room was cozy

More please!

badly needed medicine


housekeeping staff woke me up early


ready to hit the road


The guy next to the car is getting his exercise by pumping air into his car tire with a bicycle pump


Food stop in San Ignacio in Baja Sur. Food was great and they have a lot of ATV, dirt bike types coming through. There is a hotel here so I'm gonna try to stay here on way back.

So I rode all day and into the night which resulted in a 17 hour ride with one meal break and about five gas stops. I was so emotionally exhausted at one point, I had to get an ice cream bar which helped. There were lots of cows, donkeys and goats wandering loose beside the two lane road during night which made this leg all the more dangerous.
600 mile day and I checked into the Cabo hotel at 0130 am





Airing out the boots. Sidi Adventure GoreTex...$550 but worth every penny



As expected, nothing for me to see or do in a touristy resort place like Cabo. Can't stand hearing English everywhere and being spoken to in English. I expected I wouldn't like it so no biggie. The journey here was the fun part, not the destination.


So I had to change the oil and realized I need a pan so I made one out of the gallon container of oil I brought with me. I asked the front desk for a box so I don't stain the ground...not a drop was left behind. Don't ask where I threw the used oil away at.


So we all remember that I changed the oil yesterday right? Well I stopped off for gas in La Paz and I checked the oil drain bolt and its leaking. The previous owner replaced the stock bolt with one from an auto store so the pitch is different. The result is the bolt is sensitive to needing a new crush washer which I don't have. I'm not too worried..its only oil splashing on my rear tire !


Stopped off at Ciudad Insurgentes for a meal break of head meat tacos.....deeerishus!



Took a Lil break along the coast to enjoy the view before it got dark. There is a fresh puddle to the right of my bike...just saying......filled up with a bit more oil too.



The cow signs are everywhere along the route..heed the warnings...its no bullshit....hahahaha
I was entering the town of San Antonio when there was a white cow standing to the right side of the road....I saw him from about a quarter mile away and at 35mph. As I approached, he just stood there motionless until I got real close when he started to cross. I had to brake hard but just like in training, I "steered to the rear of the steer " and avoided a collision. He was courteous enough to trot a little when he heard my brakes wailing



Kitty Kat Cashmere says "I don't like the idea of this trip dad


So my original goal was to get to San Ignacio to stay at the Rice n Beans place. I had enough shenanigans riding in the dark so I pulled over into the Hotel Serenidad in Mulege near the border of North and South Baja. I think this was about a 400 mile day



I had problems with wind the day before and was not looking forward to another. The day before, I was drifting from one edge of the lane to the other and slowed significantly when cross traffic was coming. I didnt want to be splattered


So I was leaving the Hotel Serenidad and was preoccupied by all the wind as it was giving me so many problems the day before. The road out to the highway is about a quarter mile from the Hotel Serenidad. As I was leaving, two dogs suddenly appeared from the field and started to run along my left side. One was a black and white Labrador mix and the other was a brown mutt. At first they scared me enough to speed away but they caught up to me and followed along my side, all the while barking. My fear went away as both dogs could have easily bitten me if they wanted to. They soon got tired of barking and chasing me and let me get back onto the highway. I didn't think anything of this until later on in the day.

Northbound, the wind did not give me too much of a problem but I did notice quite a bit more traffic. The sun was out and the roads were smooth. Throughout the whole trip, it would take me some time to get warmed up to riding so I would take it easy for at least an hour to wake up.

I was leaving the town of Mulege and heading toward Santa Rosalia or Santa Rosalilla as I had seen it spelled. Things were going well and I was able to get up to about 80mph along this straight stretch of road.

The following is going to be interpreted differently by all of you. I believe only three of you are going to understand the way I see it. I will perhaps reveal who the three are in years to come.

Very cool; thanks for sharing.

I was approaching a bridge when I saw a group of about ten goats to the right side of the road. My fear was that they were going to cross the road so I slowed down to about 40mph. I was focused on this group and I noticed they were starting to head away from the road in unison. Then all of a sudden, a large horned goat darted across the road from left to right. This was near the base of the elevated bridge so I didn't see where the goat was coming from. I braked, tried to steer to the rear, but impacted the goat by the hind legs and went down. The impact soaked up most of the impact so I didn't go flying off to the side of the road. I was a few feet away from the bike and got up to check out the bike and noticed my USB connector was on fire. This is a wire connected to my battery. I pulled on it but couldn't pull it off the bike. The following is what happened. Please enjoy!















A few minutes later, this guy in a leftover S.C.O.R.E. Baja1000 racing suit came from nowhere to extinguish the flames







So you can see several cars in the background who stopped by to see what was going on. The people who stopped didn't really stop to help but to get video footage. Everyone except for Don Julio. When he arrived, I could see in his face that he was truly concerned. He didn't have a camera in hand. We then crossed the road to check on the goat that tried to kill me. The goat was exerting her last death grunts. I looked at Don Julio and asked what any real man would ask...."Lo podemos comer?" Can we eat it? And we loaded the goat in Don Julio's truck.





So the supposed local Police Commandante came to the scene from San Bruno and he introduced himself to me as he shook my hand firmly. I asked him what I should do with the carcass of the bike and he just shrugged his shoulders. We settled on just leaving the bike there.



So at this time, the dust had truly settled and the pain of the impact was coming on. Don Julio saw me grimacing and he had exactly what the doctor ordered. I hate tequila but this pint went down fast.



Don Julio drove me about a half mile north and he took me to his house. A simple one bedroom structure with an open garage.
Inside the garage, he had a Toyota 22r engine all apart with chunks of bearings everywhere. It belonged to a 1982 4x4 parked next the house. He picked me up in a Ford Ranger which wasn't going to live much longer. I learned Don Julio manages the water treatment machinery for this area and he built this house on the land. We soon drove to the other side of the property to take care of the goat. This photo was taken ten minutes after we left my bike.



The tree branches showed prior signs of Don Julio's handicraft

WOAH! GLAD YOU ARE OK DANIEL!

I got real lucky on this one !

Don Julio told me this was an impact point for the goat.


Don Julio's wife Doña Beatriz came down to help with the goat. She was a sturdy fair haired light eyed woman who easily could have blended in in any small town in Kansas.



So having been raised in San Francisco, I know nothing about farm life. Doña Beatriz told me the goat was pregnant and she was correct. Doña Beatriz felt the goat was going to give birth in about a month.





no guts no glory




A goat of this size costs 100$ us to buy..lots of meat for the family



It was the end of the road for me and my bike but it was into my stomach for the chiva who tried to kill me

oh nooooooos.

glad you're okay.

I'm glad you're OK, but I laughed when I saw you hit the goat in the ass.

Kinda gross, but the unborn goats will be tender as hell. It's great you met some nice folks who took care of you a bit.

Holy shit. Uh, would a fuse have saved your bike from the conflagration?

What a story. Are we going to get more pictures? I am glad you are ok!

You may have been told already, but anything connected to the battery needs to be fused to avoid this problem. Without a fuse a wire can turn into a glowing red heating element if shorted out.

So after eating the goat who tried to kill me, the family suggested I rest on their bed which I did. This one bed that is shared with their son Ernesto. I woke up about an hour later and realized my bell was rung. I also realized that someone came into the room to cover me with a blanket. The warm draping blanket was metaphoric for the generous treatment I was receiving from complete strangers.

The photo above and below represent my first images after I woke up. The speaker isn't hooked up to any entertainment center but a cb radio crackling with gossip from around the area. Their sundry products stored on a 2x4 nailed to a piece of particle board.






That's no PS4 or IPad...a crude broken toy made of spray painted plastic bottles



no running water in the outhouse



Don Julio has a 1982 Toyota truck and he is working on the motor here. I checked it out and there were pieces of piston rings and bearings all over. This motor is dead but he needs a reliable vehicle to get to La Paz eight hours away for medical help. I found out we are both the same age and we both have Diabetes and Arthritis. My doctor is five minutes away.


Don Julio made some calls and found out the next bus was leaving in about five hours. I rested and we got to know each other. Out of humble respect, the family did not pry into my life. When it was time to go, Don Julio asked his 14 year old son Ernesto to fetch the truck. I noticed Ernesto obeyed by running to get the truck, not dragging his feet. He ran merely because his father asked him to get the truck and he respected his father.

We all then packed into the Ford Ranger with Ernesto in the bed. We were all squeezed into the cab and I handed Beatriz a hundred bucks for all the trouble. It was no surprise to me that neither of them extended their hand to receive it. I shoved the offering into her hand and she thanked me as she made the sign of the cross. She would do this time and time again as we passed numerous monuments to roadside carnage.

A short while later, we reached Santa Rosalia so I could get some money. We didn't get far fast because the whole town wanted to say hi to Don Julio and I felt the eyes of each person upon me. I was different from the rest. At the ATM, I overheard several people asking Don Julio who I was.

So I said goodbye to my new friends and bought my ticket home via chicken bus. I asked the kid who took my bag how long the trip would be. I asked, "how far to Mexicali? About eleven hours?" He answered, "oh no, way less". 15 hours later, I got to Mexicali.

This story is totally insane. I like it.

As a vegetarian - great! Waste not, want not. I'm serious. That family will be so grateful for the meat. Poor goat to get hit, poor you to lose your bike and get shaken up badly, but you made the best of a bad situation. Amazing story.

Wow. Quite an interesting adventure, sir. Sorry about your bike, but it's great that you made it out relatively unscathed.

Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us.

I walked across the US border to the greyhound station..



Calexico Greyhound Station. The girl against far wall looked no older than 17 years old. Wearing far too much makeup and tight clothes. She was so busy texting that she didnt notice her baby walked away


Zombie apocolypse near San Diego Greyhound station


There is almost always some good among the bad. Like a nice sunset in the middle of a zombie apocalypse

I soon caught a plane to San Jose...got some sleep for six hours then came to work. I was asked by several people about my bike and belongings. I got the impression they thought I had a very bad vacation. Little do they realize that it was a great trip. I was reminded of what I already know. The world is full of jerks but not everyone is like that. It may take a while to sift through a bunch of people just wanting to take videos, but if you are patient enough, a man named Julio might come your way to help. A genuinely kind man helped to restore my faith with other humans


This is the last photo that I have of my trusty steed before I left the Hotel Serenidad. Speaking of the Hotel Serenidad, remember the two dogs that followed me out? I can't help but to think that they were warning me of what was coming up ahead. I should have listened.


DEP (Descansa en Paz)
"La Verdita"
2006-2014
"su alma volaré conmigo para siempre"



This is a tshirt I bought in Mexicali....It sums up the trip for me. Have your Mexican friends translate it.


This thread will remain unfinished until I return to Baja. I would appreciate anyone who knows of a Toyota 22R engine get a hold of me.




"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place".

Author Unknown....Thanks L.L.

Yikes. Where's El Chupacabra when you need one?

algs26 said:

Yikes. Where's El Chupacabra when you need one?

Click to expand...

he was out there...I saw him, el cucuy, and la llorona all hanging out shooting the shit next to cactus #18,657

I think daniel ended up being the chupacabra!