2017 Baja Barf - its on and its happening... now!

[Haaank]

The design nerd in me couldn't get over the abundance of hand painted signage

Rice and Beans

At some point between PSF and Mulegé, I burnt a hole through the glorious basin.

I was bummed but Drew and I came up with a solid solve which added more horsepower too

Another positive note is that my jeans held up really well. That San Francisco selvedge apparently does okay in baja.

Thats all for tonight. Unfortunately I'll be spending time at SFO this week, so hopefully more to come.

 

[Norcalslowpoke]

Lot of passion in those photos, really capture the details. Thank you.

 

[Haaank]

Mulegé was a treasure trove of painted signage

 

[Haaank]

Riding into Mulegé was and up to Hotel Terrazas was amazing. I fell in love right away.

This is for Dr. Baja Jensen: Is my pee color okay here

more bikes

More bikes again

Saltwater

 

[Haaank]

The ride from Mulegé to San Juanico was by far my favorite. I gained my confidence back this day and was hitting 75mph (pretty good for me) on the straights and gobbled up the rocky sections. It was a blast. And i realized just how out of shape I was on those rocky sections. After the second or third I was completely out of breath, felt like I had been running sprints. Next year I'm going to be in better shape so i can do more of this.I also managed to fling a rock up into my shifter and after a down shift into first, I found I couldn't shift back up out of neutral. It took two pit stops but Wayne and Saltwater sorted me out. before we made the last climb up and over a mountain. Just before we hit slab we were on a couple miles of sorta sandy dirt, I think I remember lots of wildflowers...anyway my quads were cramping up hardcore and I almost fell off my bike when I caught up with Cabrito on the slab. He hooked me up with powerade after I finished what was left of mine. That and taking a dump in bushes cured what ailed me and we rode on to San Juanico.

I crashed where Gary and Hillary did. It was a chill spot.

After I got cleaned up from the ride I took a couple laps around town to take pictures and find a mechanic to motivate my shifter back into a more reliable functional state. At the end he mentioned he worked on tips so I gave him 500 hoping that was enough. He was happy.

This was on the back wall where everyone else stayed, 7 Puntas?

This was at the skate park

Dinner

sunrise

the bike/laundry pen

I'm really done for the night this time...

 

[anytwowilldo]

Hank, Great Pics! You were hydrated. You pass!

 

[Cabrito]

Awesome pics and words Hank! You really capture the Baja Feel and took time to look around and see some cool stuff. Thanks man!

 

[SFMCjohn]

Lot of passion in those photos, really capture the details. Thank you.

Awesome pics and words Hank! You really capture the Baja Feel and took time to look around and see some cool stuff. Thanks man!

+1, great pics!

Mulegé was a treasure trove of painted signage

... really enjoy the way you use
your camera ... arty

... I saw lots of things that you guys stopped
and made the time to capture an image of ... hopefully
I can learn something ...

... one of the oldest story forms is the quest,
and cave paintings are some of the earliest ways
humans tried to capture the experience of being
human ... this thread touches that fundamental
desire to communicate a shared experience that
makes me feel connected to my earliest ancestors ...

... like sitting around a campfire and
drawing a map in the sand ...

OK, blah, blah ... boy I miss BARF Baja 2017
and hanging out with you all ...

 

[budman]

Now I have to update the poster..

 

[SFMCjohn]

A few hours North from Tecate we opted to stop at Agua Client County Park.

... looking forward to finding this place! arty

 

[Eric B]

Great pictures Hank!

 

[SFMCjohn]

Now I have to update the poster..

... ha!

... god bless BARF ...
... said to myself, those guys
have some fun, I better show up ... arty

 

[Saltwater]

Hey Hank, the short video is awesome and I love all the artwork you were able to get pictures of. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Haaank]

+1, great pics!



... really enjoy the way you use
your camera ... arty

... I saw lots of things that you guys stopped
and made the time to capture an image of ... hopefully
I can learn something ...

... one of the oldest story forms is the quest,
and cave paintings are some of the earliest ways
humans tried to capture the experience of being
human ... this thread touches that fundamental
desire to communicate a shared experience that
makes me feel connected to my earliest ancestors ...

... like sitting around a campfire and
drawing a map in the sand ...

OK, blah, blah ... boy I miss BARF Baja 2017
and hanging out with you all ...

John- this is an incredible compliment, probs the best I've ever received. Got the chills when I read this. Hi fives all around. Great trip, great documentation all around.

 

[Haaank]

Couldn't resist, back to posting again tonight


CANDY!! STICKERS!! WHEELIE!!

All the english a kid needs to know in El Datíl

For a bunch rugged dirt bikers we sure are a bunch of softies lol
I think Drew is signing autographs at this point, j/k j/k.

I saw a fishing boat returning to shore and had to get the shot

I didn't get any shots of the salt flats, too busy not dying though I almost took out Wayne. Everyone had stopped ahead so tapped my brakes and, of course, I didn't stop but slid sideways for 30 yards. I didn't slow down one bit and thought for sure I was going to hit Wayne, even yelled out "SORRY!!" before i made contact...but i never did, I'm convinced the hand of god himself spared Wayne and straightened out my bike and I came to a stop about 30 yards ahead of him. It's funny cause when I stopped i did just what that smilie did. I couldn't believe it.

Also of note that day was the fact that I hadn't seen real sand and I did pretty okay in brief section with whoops. I've never skied let alone skied moguls but for some reason it felt like that was what i was doing...

Anyways, onward to San Ignacio

 

[Haaank]

These are all pretty random, I'll let mis of em speak for themselves

I'm not going to tell this story but damn if it didn't ef me up a little.

 

[Haaank]

Last day on the way back to BOLA.

It was super cold that morning between rice and beans and El Marasal. Had some great photo ops too. Next year i need to figure out a good camera leash like Hillary's. The shot i wanted to take was of Scott riding into the dense fog framed up by cacti silhouettes on either side of MX-1. It was dream like. Otherwise I was cold AF and could barely move. I was stoked when we hit the pemex on the out skirts and tossed my snow jacket on. Warmth never felt so right.

We grabbed breakfast near the taco stand from earlier in the week and had a pretty solid meal with a british couple who were ripping to the tip on a pair of Surly Long Haul Truckers. Once upon a time I had a similar fantasy and it was really great seeing them out there. Truly beautiful people.

John tipped us off to a ghost town just past El Arco. So glad we stopped.

all the buildings had locks on them, wasn't exactly clear why. Some had caved in completely but had a brand new lock on the door...hmmm

Little known fact about me is that I built myself a triple arced low dome Neapolitan style pizza oven in my back yard, back in Ohio. When I saw this guy my curiosity flew through the roof. Extremely interesting design, especially with the flue coming straight out the top, this detail basically kills the purpose of a dome. in the first place: domed ovens create natural convection which allows them to hold a pocket of super hot air above the top of the door. I've got some research to do: curiosity only somewhat diminished.

Between Elarco and Rancho Piedra Blanca was another fun stretch and I caught some of my first air on the 650 off the tops of the rises in the trail. brief moments of incredible freedom.

We stopped at Rancho Piedra Blanca spent what felt like a couple hours swapping stories from the week and squeezing out the last bits of the Baja experience. With out fail each new rider suggested we see what the rates were and that we should consider this spot for next year.

At long last it was time to hit the trail once again. The final turn off to BOLA was a little bitter sweet. What a great trip this had been.

 

[Haaank]

San Rafael was another welcome pit stop. Can't get enough of that beach life

most of the crew:

 

[Haaank]

About 25miles outside of BOLA I hadn't seen John or Scott for a bit so I camped out on the road here and waited. We all found each other in the end and this was a cool opportunity to be more alone than I had been in quite a long time and just think. Mostly scheming on a way to move to Mulegé for good, ha ha.

The last valley into Bola was stunning. Unfortunately the picture does no justice.

Tech inspection was super cool. Loved seeing all the trucks and buggies etc.

After Dinner and tech inspection we made much party. another great highlight lol.

PEACE BOLA

THE END

 

[ThumperX]

Really enjoying the pictures :thumb

THANK YOU for posting and bringing me back to Baja.