No Jobs, No Responsibilities, No Better Time than Now

I am not a mechanic.
And I have no comment on the quality of the work done.
I would only say that given the extent of the damage and the "straightening" that was done, that there will likely be some level of mis-alignment and out of tolerance.
So WATCH OUT for several hundreds of miles.
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to the feel and feedback that your bike will give you.
DON'T ASSUME that all is well mechanically.
As the man said, "Let's be careful out there."
-ceej

I think the comments about taking it easy and over ones head are just based on seeing someone crash one or two times.... That's all they know about their abilities But for me I love reading these ride reports and being a noob myself every crash I read about I ask myself what could I do to avoid it. ..the message I am getting here also is slow down! ...but that's stating the obvious .... Loving the trip report!

I kind of know this guy. Eight months old he stood up in his blue one-piece pajamas with the plastic feet, took off running and hasn't stopped. Just kept going faster and farther.

Now it seems your friends and advisors are advising what your rapidly aging old dad has advised, Big Al Smith. So take it easy, will ya?, You'll get there.

And thanks for the ride.
Pa

Heal fast. Enjoying your ride, hang in there.

I think that it's really cool that your family is on here supporting you. Just keep this in mind, it's one of my favorite lyrics from Rush: "The point of a journey is not to arrive. Anything can happen." As your RR title says, you've no jobs, no responsibilities...enjoy the journey.

Very well said. Two big thumbs up.

Take care dude. I am trying to get Mark to get a log in so you and he can share messages when he and Nick take their trip soon on the bikes. Looks like your in good hands as long as you don't get stung to many more times.... Take care man.

2 biffs and still ginin'

I never told my parents about anything bad trip-wise until AFTER I got done with the trip for a reason. They tend to freak a lot.

Still, ride safe, ride for the ride, and come home!

It might not be a bad idea to get someone to mail you a new front axle.
as good as Tato may be the axle is a presision piece. Also fairly small and not overly expensive.

Other than that, enjoy the ride and keep your spidey senses on.

Not a bad idea,small USPS flat rate envelope will get it there cheap.
Feeling the bike out while cruising the next few days couldnt hurt either.
Lotsa things tweaked at one time,hard to get perfectly straight.

Great RR so far! subscribed!

wow what a trip your having, thanks for the report.

wish i was their!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, So I've been reading the RR's of Canada to Argentina 2010, Corporate Runaways, and Jammin thru the Global South and wondering how far south you plan to go...:huh

I'm not trying to kabosh your adventure here,... but it's getting to be WINTER in the southern hemisphere now.(my Cat's afraid for his life!)...Betitolara's pics from Argentina to Peru turned into a Winter wonderland! (Not really camping weather!) Patagonia is like Alaska...Just to set the stage. Am interested in your long-term time schedule and gear you are packing.

Following along... Wishing I was riding!

If anyone wants to know what really happened while Alex was unconscious, then dazed and unable remember the past five days of his life, and while Tom and Charlie and I figured out how to get him medical help and transport him three hours north to the nearest hospital...I'd read Tom's blog here: www.thetomreport.blogspot.com. It's the story titled "the livestock ambulance." There's another version on my blog, too, but Tom's is much more thorough. Enjoy!

Alex makes it sound like it was so easy! ;-)

Hey All,

This is Tom and I'm sitting here with Charlie and Sarah. We all have been perusing Alex's explanation of his "minor" crash here and we are stumped too. It's so weird, none of us saw any sand on that curve... anywhere! It must have blown in during the three seconds between when Sarah rode through and Alex flew off the road. Those damn Baja sands! So sneaky!

We'd also like to mention for all you other travelers out there that this "minor" crash took the work of an army of Mexicans to clean up with the help of three other travelers who had a lot better shit to be doing than going back to San Quintin for three days.

I don't care if it was sand, oil, or speed (BINGO!) that caused Al to speed off the road; this was a serious accident and it shouldn't be glossed over as some freak incident with nothing to be learned. We all sobered up off the thrill of this sport after seeing the wreckage.

Furthermore, the truck that moved the bike did not work Alex over. "Want to drive a gringo's bike ninety miles north on a moment's notice in your vintage pickup at 5:30pm on a Monday? You couldn't have anything better to do right Senor?" $100 was a steal. It was either that or leave it back in Catanina for Alex to go retrieve on his own.

Al, we love you, we miss you, and we want you to rejoin us as soon as your bike is ready. But as the three eye-witnesses of your brutality, it is very unsettling to read these posts that basically say how hard you got f***ed over and how your amazing riding skills saved you from an even worse ending. Why is it that three other "inferior" riders made it through and thought nothing of that turn?

Please, from all of us: lose the hubris. You drove off the rode and we saved your ass. I know you'd do the same for any of us in a heartbeat and I hope you'd scathe me in the same manner if I showed such little appreciation for an event that was so traumatic to everyone else. To all you other ADVers out there, thanks for all the great advice and keep wishing us warm winds.

Al, we are in Murege today, April 16th, and we will be moving south slowly in the next couple days. I may ride ahead of these two soon and find a windsurfing beach in La Ventana. After the last 500 miles of endless wind, it is getting unbearable. See you soon amigo, hasta luego.

Whoa, it's way too soon for this kind of shit. What's up? Didn't read anything about this guy trying to say that he did anything but crash. Did I miss something?

great story alex.thanks for sharing it with me.AHH youth.to be 24 again.i survived it.hope you do also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got on the road yesterday at about 3pm, and road till 9pm, lights blasting, going below the speed limit. Listening to my bike. Freaking out. BUT...

Everything is ok, and I am good to go!

I am currently in Santa Rosalia, BC, Mexico. It is like 85° here right now, and I camped on the side of the road last night. It was cheap and easy. I literally just pulled off the side of the highway a couple hours after the sun when down, and woke up at 6am and got on the road. I am now about an hour north of where everyone else is, if they didn´t already leave today. They spent last night in Mulege.

Onward!!!

Oh, can anyone tell me why my bike pulls slightly to the right when I hit the front break? It didn´t do that before...

--Alex

P.S.
Tom, if I tell everyone that I could have easily DIED, how are my parents supposed to handle that?

P.S.S
Tom, Charlie, and Sarah did more for me in the past few days than I´ll be able to do for them over the course of many months. Of course their effort is undeniably appreciated, and I am humbled by there actions.

P.S.S.S.
Tom, I love you too.