November 12, 2024
Oh boy. I headed out 10 days late and so tomorrow I’ll cross the border during Baja 1000 race week. The excitement is building, people are flocking to Ensenada, and the races start on Friday. But I’ll be at a ranch 60 miles south of Tecate, hiking, riding horses, and tasting tequila, not necessarily in that order. Then in the Valle de Guadalupe for food, wine, art, and architecture. I look forward to hanging out in the quiet spot between the 840 and 800 marker in the race map, below.
As for the motorcycle, this morning I checked it with Jamie, the owner of Clairemont Cycle Supply and the oldest independent motorcycle shop in San Diego.
I’ve got a pesky fuel problem. The carb isn’t leaking (but it is corroded, like a “normal” old KLR). There’s probably a little leak in the petcock seal so gas is getting into the oil reservoir and creating some exhaust smoke. Not terribly serious, and probably I could go all the way to Cabo like that. But I don’t relish the possibility of needing to stop halfway through my Baja trip to find a mechanic. I’m carrying a carb rebuild kit and the petcock replacement parts, and there are plenty of great mechanics in Baja, but still.
So I’m thinking and rethinking, and will let you know how it goes and how far I get into Baja. Already, I’m 10 days behind schedule and my 30-day trip has now shrunk to 20. I’m looking forward to my time at the ranch to relax, hike, ride horses, and taste tequila.
Yesterday…
I moto’d the 25 minutes north from Mission Bay to Leucadia (a beachside northern suburb of San Diego) to visit with my friend Allan Karl, who is just back from a ride in Portugal and Spain. Allan shipped his BMW 650 to Europe some years ago and finds places to store it between rides. He found a such a place in Madrid this time, and looks forward to returning to continue his explorations. A lot of committed travelers do this kind of thing. Sometimes they purchase a bike in the continent and leave it there.
I know a couple who has a motorcycle in the US, Bulgaria, and Australia. It beats the cost (and wait times and risk of damage or delay) of shipping, especially when you have friends around the world where you can store it. Yay for the internet to connect us! The adventure motorcycling world is full of generous souls who store bikes for each other or loan out extra bikes, too, which is half the reason I have two bikes. Though I use the KLR for travel, at home I consider the KLR a “friend bike.” It’s got scrapes and dents and zip ties holding some of the plastic parts together, and its replacement value is only about $2500 so it’s not like anybody would fear dropping it, which mostly happens at low speed in sand or water crossings or in parking lots when you don’t put kickstand all the way down anyway. I’ve loaned it to several girlfriends from across the country and Canada for whom Death Valley and Baja and the Sierra Nevada—backyard destinations for me—are mind-blowingly exotic.
Allan and I forgot to take a selfie together, go figure. But we did take photos of Dar, his beautiful Bengal cat with the big green eyes and quite the snuggle bunny. She liked my Giant Loop bag and tried to get in it.
It’s also helpful to talk out what to take and what to leave behind. I overloaded my toolset, and we walked through it and rejected some items, which I’ll leave here in San Diego.
Yeah, the hammer is a reject and also various pliers with wire cutters, because I surely won’t need all of them. The rejects are on the right. This lightens my load by about 10 pounds.
We also talked apps. A few weeks ago I discovered iOverlander, which not only provides a road map with options (twisties, avoids tolls, highways, etc.), but crowdsourced places to stay, including campgrounds. I love that mechanics and gas stations are also marked. Users can add new places, leave reviews, save favorites, and share places with other travelers, a la Yelp and Google Reviews. The paid version ($59/yr) allows you to download maps for offline use, which will be critical during my trip.
Allan showed me Detecht, an app that’s popular with motorcyclists in Europe, that helps you plan your routes, avoid freeways and toll roads, and choose the curviest roads. It lets you save and share routes, too. I’ve been looking for an app that tracks my riding days for a while, and haven’t found one, so this is awesome!
What are your thoughts about the Baja 1000, about motorcycle fuel systems, travel apps, horseback riding, hiking, tequila tasting, and food and wine? Whatever your interest or area of expertise, I look forward to hearing from you!
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Near the Tibetan Border in Northern China. It’s sooooo coooooold!
Are you a Rever user? Thoughts?!
I didn’t know about it. Allan Karl told me about Detecht, which is widely used in Europe. Do you like Rever?
That sounds super fun. I love Valle de Guadalupe. Truly amazing food and the wine is pretty good. The scene is lovely as well. Re the Baja 1000, here in Agua Caliente we all set up for the day, take our chairs and umbrellas, go out into the arroyo, and watch the parade of bikes chewing up the sand, or getting chewed up. It’s a rare form of entertainment in the campo. P.S. It says Comment as a guest but I don’t want to be a guest. But it shows no where to sign up. Also, says Copyright 2021 fyi. See yas!
The Baja 1000 must be quite an event to witness in person. Watching Dana Brown’s (Bruce’s son who took up the torch), you really get the sense that it might just be the dodgiest off-road race in the world. Cattle, dogs & trophy trucks, oh my! But if I was touring Baja, especially on a moto, I would most definitely want to avoid the race. Glad you’ve lightened your tool load! Maybe you should have traded them for that Bengal kitty? Ten un buen viaje!