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HadesOmega's BARF Baja 2015 Ride Report

HadesOmega

HadesOmega

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Location
San Jose
Moto(s)
Empulse TT (RIP),
ZR7 (Sold), DR650, KLR650, 750 Turbo, Light Bee MX, KLX140L
Super Cub
Redshift SM
Name
Merlin
The BARF Baja thread is getting crowded so I will start my own and for those that don't know I love to collect tracks and I will be showing them off. Everyone's trip to Baja started and ended slightly different but as we converged it gets similar and the fun begins.
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Day 0 - Ride up to San Rafael to get to the BAT (BigAssTrailer).
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I started off from home with my DR650, 1 of 2 of the Team Suzuki bikes. I had originally planned to either take my van and harbor freight trailer down to BOLA or catch a ride with Sasquatch with the BAT. I wound up doing the later.

Here's the DR fully loaded and ready to take off from San Jose, I brought enough gear for a solo ride.
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I left around 2000hrs because I didn't want to ride through much traffic. Unfortunately that means its going to be colder but no biggie. I'm prepared for the hot, cold, and wet. It was a pretty uneventful ride, its about 1.5 hours to San Rafael from San Jose. I show up and we load the DR650 on the BAT. I got to take my first nap on a boat thanks to ThumperX.

Going through a tunnel in San Francisco and going across the Golden Gate Bridge
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Day 0.1 - Get the BAT down to San Diego
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Wake 0600 and hit the road. I was riding shotgun in Sasquatch's Toyota Tacoma towing the BAT. It was a long day. It pretty much took the whole day to get to San Diego. Sasquatch motor'd on and drove the whole way stopping for gas and food a couple times. Traffic was bad as usual in LA and San Diego. I was trying to navigate around them with google but accidents were all over the place couldn't avoid it. We eventually made it to the rally point Best Western Hotel. My sister lives in San Diego so after we secured the bikes and gear I met up with my sister for some dinner.

Sasquatch's Tacoma and the BAT
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Kind of trippy driving behind this
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San Diego Traffic
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Yummy Thai Tea
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Day 0.2- BARF Baja head to Bahia de Los Angeles
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Another 0600ish wake up and we meet up with everyone in the parking lot. We head we head to the border and have all our vehicles inspected and purchase our tourist cards. Then we south of the border. We are in Mexico!
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Pictures after the border crossing along the coast highway.
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Port of Ensenada, you could definitely smell Ensenada because it smelled like pollution.
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Hard to tell but this is a cacti crop. First one I'd ever seen
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We stopped for lunch in El Rosario and had lunch at Mama Espinoza's. This is the first meal I had in Baja California yummy.
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Had some delicious tacos. The restaurant had a lot of cool Baja racing souvenirs everywhere, even a whole motorcycle. I also bought a tshirt and a Baja Rally sticker.
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Back on the road
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One section has these very large boulders everywhere
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Its fairly common to see these memorials for people that have died driving in Baja. The roads are dangerous in Baja especially for large vehicles. The roads are narrow and there aren't any shoulders and some of the roads are poorly maintained.
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Watch out it looks like its gonna fall on us!
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See this here orange and black striped sign? If you see one of these while driving watch out because it means something muy peligroso is comin your way!
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We make it to Bahia de Los Angeles after dark. There were two section where the road had totally gone to $hit because of a big hurricane went through. Somewhere along the way we lost a tire on the BAT, it just exploded. It was so dark and we were too tired to even notice. It did have 4 tires also. We made it but lost a tire and its a tough tire to replace. A nice hombre came to help us out at the gas station and finds us a wheel to put on the trailer. Problem is the wheel is too big and the tires aren't lookin so hot. But its enough to make it to our camping spot Dagget's.
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Exploded wheel on the BAT
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Day 0.2 continue'd

We make it to Dagget's and drop our stuff and the Bat off and head off for dinner. I hop in the back of a pickup as you can see in this picture.
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I get some Burros at the restaurant. Apparently Burritos are know as Burros (donkeys) in Baja California. I seriously thought they were gonna serve me some donkey haha. The soup was delicious too.
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We had a choice for hotel rooms or camping out in a palapa. I opted for camping. It was a nice night so I didn't bother setting up my tent and just inflated my airbed. So end day 0.2
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In..
 
Excellent write up and pics Merlin! Thanks!
 
In!

So my report is in with CJ's and Merlin, the water crash needs to be shown in every ride report :laughing
 
Yep I will even have a the video of the watercrossing when I get there ;)
 
Looks like you guys had a blast! I hope to be on the next one. Stupid wedding got in the way for this one.
 
Day 1 - Bahia de Los Angeles to San Francisquito

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We rolled into Dagget's Campground after dark so I wasn't able to see the beach/bay, but I heard it. We had the choice to get a room or camp, I chose to camp under a palapa. The weather was great and no sign of rain so I didn't even bust out my tent. Slept on my airbed and sleeping bag. Here's the view I woke up to:
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The water on one side and mountains on the other
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Everyone getting ready to ride Baja!
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My new sidestand foot is already paying itself off. I highly suggest one of these if your bike has a stubby kickstand.
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After everyone was ready to roll we set out for San Francisquito. First we rode through town and set out on the dirt.

Here's a nice sailing sculpture in the town
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The terrain from BOLA to San Francisquito could be described as:

graded dirt road
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small rocky road (there are rockier sections than this)
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long desert roads
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Sandy in some areas.
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So I kinda just took it easy and hung in the back. The fast dude's were all in the front hauling maybe 50mph. I was probably chugging along around 35-40mph. Its been a few months since I have done desert riding and I'm not the best desert rider either. The bike got a little squirrely in the sand also, but I would get lots of sand practice in the coming days.

We stopped for a break and I took a cactus picture with my bike, these cacti are HUGE, sometimes there would be a whole forest of them. Its no wonder these are on the Mexican flag, there were plenty of eagles too but didn't see any snakes.
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sfcootz and Sasquatch arriving at break area
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What the first section looked like right outside town
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Eventually we got farther from BOLA and we rode through a plains area
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Then we started heading up into the mountains. The terrain got twistier and rockier. Whenever you crested a hill you'd be greeted with this beautiful landscapes. Had to stop and admire the view and snap a few pix.
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On the hilltop next to the water on the map the group took another break and I took more pictures. We are probably a little more than half way to San Francisquito at this point.
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Last leg of the day, well almost last.
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In this section and throughout some of the road I noticed these markers on trees and sign posts. One of them had an arrow that said "SCORE" on it. You know what that means? This road was once used as a race course for the Baja SCORE! Yes I said to myself greatness has ridden down this road that I am now riding on. Totally makes this journey worth it!
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I eventually get to the next break stop. For a LONG time I was riding by myself. I had passed Cabrito and sfcootz a while back and glanced at the mirror every once in a while to see if they were there. Well the lights disappeared and I got worried for 2 reasons. I was worried something happened to them and I was worried that I may be lost and have taken a wrong turn maybe. I turn around and go back until I see some headlights. What a sigh of relief, but it wasn't Cabrito and sfcootz. It was ThumperX and Wayne. They gave me the lowdown on what happened to them, they were just taking a break. So I continued on. ThumperX and Wayne left me in the dust and I was alone again until I got to the rest stop. Eventually everyone makes it to the rest stop including Dmitri in the FJ cruiser. It was apparently that the sfcootz' vstrom was a handful in the sand. It was just too heavy, not to say it couldn't do it though. Even CJ took it for a spin in the sand. Anyway Dmitri rode the rest of the way on the weestrom wrestling it in the sand.
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Awesome Merlin! Keep it up man, so thankful for the documentation of this epic trip! WOOT!
 
I love the tracks Merlin!
 
One of the steeper sections of the day
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ThumperX
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I feel like I won something!
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CJ taking the dl650 for a spin.
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Cabrito's FJ is here
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Cactus Tower
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Final leg of the day to San Francisquito
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The final leg was only a couple of miles, however it has some of the deepest sand that we've ridden all day. I'm not a big fan of sand unless I'm on a quad. It was a fun ride minus the sand though, nice sweeping corners. I get to a turn that bring me to the airfield. The sand is deep and well I dump bike for the first time in the sand. When I get it upright I barely manage to make it to the airfield without dropping it or colliding with cacti. I ride down the airfield and to home for the night San Francisquito.

Setting off on the final leg
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More loose stuff
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Tag your it
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Cabrito and Saltwater
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There were some pretty rocky sections, yay for skidplates!
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My bike was tired so it decided to take a nap, one of many, thanks Cabrito for helping me pick it up
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Barely made it out of the deep sand, watch out for those cacti!
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Riding across the airfield, hard to tell but Dmitri is riding parallel to us on the other side in the weestrom
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Ahh we have arrived at paradise!
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