Baja Fools

It all started on my end when my Chicagoland buddy Mike Chill (MikeChill on ADV) asked me to bump a Baja trip planning thread. I was happy to do so and quickly typed. Then I slept on it…. Hmm, business is slow. Why not? When I run it by my wife (Region Riley on ADV) I basically make tons of excuses why not to go. She quickly said, “I think you should go. That is why we moved out here, so we can be closer to adventures like this.” I am so lucky to have her! I then shoot an e-mail that night to my Colorado buddy Chuck (nada de lujo on ADV). By the next morning he is in. Woo Hoo, here we go.


We were lucky to have our new found friend Neduro mark up our map for recommended routes.





Chuck and I prep at our new shop in COS, load up the bikes and off to meet Mike in Calexico.


the 2 x-challenges with the new shoes, and after the shake down run. Lets put them on the trailer.


Here is Chuck ready to roll.


My focus was on crossing the border. I did not fully get my head around the 1200 miles to get to the border. Chuck is here studying the map with a gorgeous NM sunset.

I am not going to get to far ahead so the other 2 FF can chime in.

oh, this is gonna be a good one...

*click*

subscribed

I'm in, I love these Baja Threads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's about 10 degrees out and covered in snow...

Nothing like a Baja RR to weather the storm.

Well here are my bikes loaded and ready to go in the middle of an ice storm; I don’t think the ice melted till I got to Missouri. I just had to bring the strom it looked awfully lonely setting their in the cold figured their might be some warm twistys in California or Arizona I could use it on, and you must have the right tool for the job!!

Lets go!

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Mike/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/03/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style>[FONT=&quot]First stop for me is my brothers in southern California for X-mas, get the bike ready for Baja, a little practice riding up at Red Mountain with Tommy Z. and a lesson in how to start a fire.




[/FONT]<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Mike/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/05/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style>[FONT=&quot]Racing fuel wrong tool.[/FONT]


<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Mike/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/06/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style>[FONT=&quot]Texas weed burner right tool. [/FONT]

Snow, snow and ice! Subscribed! Keep warm in Baja.

Oops, forgot to clarify, we crossed the border to Baja Jan2. Chuck and I are back in CO. Mike is in AZ having fun and contributing to the report. So this is not a live update, just a work in progress report.

We all met up in Calexico got a Hotel and preceded to unload the bikes and get ready to go over the boarder in the morning.


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We flipped for the beds and Mike lost.
He pulled his little mattress out of the Polish RV and it fit perfect between the beds. Not perfect for his height. "right tool for the job" that night!



Plan was to find a storage place and cross the border the next day. We found a great place and a decent price.

Nice Rover

N

Looks like it's my turn to get in on this RR...

Let's see, around mid December '08, my buddy and new neighbor, cvestal, sends me an email saying he's Baja bound and do I want to come. It's a trip I've wanted to do for a long time, so I spend the next four hours diligently "researching" -- surfing advrider, looking at ride reports and photos, and generally working myself into a froth.
Later that evening, I casually mention the trip to my wife and daughter -- and then immediately start making lots of excuses about how now is not the right time, I've got too much work to do, the bike's not ready, I'm not in shape for a trip like that, it's too close to Xmas and we can't afford it.

My wife has a great nose for and just gives me a sly smile and says, "well, of course you HAVE to go!"
She knows right where to put her foot when I need it most.

So, I'm in!
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8618480&postcount=12

The next couple of weeks are a blur with Christmas, planning for Baja, and generally hemorrhaging cash for tires, tubes, luggage, Mexican vehicle insurance and getting the bike ready. Looking back, I'm really glad we didn't have more time to "plan." (read: more time to pack more stuff I didn't need!)

Finally cvestal and I hit the road at about 4:00 PM MST on New Year's Eve. We celebrated the New Year humming along in the Range Rover, catching glimpses of small-town fireworks in the distance along I-40, probably close to Grants, NM.

New Year's Day dawned bright. Here we are on the road in Arizona somewhere:

cvestal and I drove on through Arizona and into California, and finally met up with mikechill at the appointed spot in Calexico. Dinner, a few beers, and a good night's sleep made the world right.

Next morning, we dropped the trucks at the mini storage, loaded the bikes...


...and crossed into Mexico. First order of business was to get our Tourist Visas. We entered Mexicali, and promply got lost, circled the block, saw a burning couch on the sidewalk, finally got sorted, and then parked along the main road just inside the border crossing. There was a lot of traffic and many folks milling around, so we decided to take turns hanging out with the motos and going to the Immigration Office -- and the Bank -- to fill out the paperwork and pay for our visas.


mikechill was pretty sure we didn't absolutely "need" the tourist visas, but cvestal and I had heard about other riders getting turned back when they tried to pass through military checkpoints from Baja California into Baja Sur. Since our original plan was to ultimately end up in San Jose del Cabo, we did NOT want to have to backtrack 500 miles on slab just to get visas, so we stopped and paid our $25.

Turns out mikechill was right -- we were never asked for the visas after all. He was very gracious, and he kept his "I told you so" comments to himself.

Onward through Mexicali towards San Felipe:

more at the visa stop.