alfalfa

Day 4 continued: (sorry for the delay, but the sand section from this day was pretty entertaining, afterwards, and i've been trying to collect pics from the others who attempted it. in the meantime .....) So, while the saner riders of the group were busy finding that nights accommodations, the true AGALOS guys were taking a "shortcut" to the highway into Bahia de Los Angeles, located on the east coast of Baja. Small fishing village, as well as a ferry terminus. Being a shortcut, they showed up in stages, with the last to arrive only an hour or two later than the pavement peeps. some iPhone videos: First to arrive were the Louisiana boys on the small bikes. I'm guessing they only have swamps in Louisiana, and not much sand! Second up were Fernando and Chris. They had made it a few miles deeper into the shortcut before bailing back to the main road. Fernando was sporting a bandaid under his eye, and had decorated his jacket with red stuff that appeared to look just like blood. All due to getting up close and personal to a cactus! I guess you could call this truly a face plant? He was escorted out of the mess by Chris. The last 4 to show looked a little wiped out, but were still laughing. They had busted all the way thru the sand, but it wasnt easy. Especially for Gary: (Facebook banned this pic for being too graphic! ? They must have thought that was Gary's brain between his gloves. It was a cow pattie, much smarter than Gary) Our favorite prick .........and his cactus: Sand shit show!! Gary's little helper

Temps werent too bad, but it was really cool at night and first thing in the a.m.

You took ANOTHER knee, Bean?

Lockdown keeping you from getting your meds? They cant mail them to you? ?

ditto

You know what sailors use for birth control? Their personalities

Day 4 With Fernando now on board, the BNB group headed south to Gonzaga Bay to meet up with the Alfonsina's boys. Turns out they had a little fun with Gary's bike. Little on the road valve job, in the most cleanest of clean room conditions.... Some pics from the ride down - me and Chris At Alfonsilas, with the bikes packed, it was now time to pick the day's route (of course, that could have been done earlier so we would have more riding time. But....) The loose plan was to head south along the coast and find a little village to camp for the first time of the trip. Things changed. We HAD to go past Coco's Corner, a mainstay for the Baja 1000. Coco's Corner is one of the most infamous crossroads in Northern Baja (stolen from the interwebby). Coco lives in a little hut and sells beer and cokes to passersby. The hut is papered with panties from fans who have stopped in. (chicks are cool!) When we went by in 2016, the road past Coco's was the only way south and back to pavement. Since that time, the government has finished the paved highway, but has unfortunately cut Coco off from all the travel. There is a sign on the hwy calling it out, but fewer people seem to go by now. Fortunately, friends and volunteers are building him a new place closer to the pavement, keeping the tradition going. (someone in the group has a great group shot of us all with Coco that i will track down and add. In his 90s now, he has been in a wheelchair for years having had his legs removed below the knees due to diabetes) There was talk of dirt from Cocos to Bahia de Los Angeles, but Coco scared us off with talk of 13 miles of sand! Instead, we headed south out of Cocos, rather than return immediately to the pavement. There was a point further south on Hwy 1, where the dirt route came close to pavement. Our thought was to possibly head off there, cutting the corner down to Bahia. The area: Google Maps hasnt updated theirs in some time, so this shows the hwy still running by Coco's Bing Maps is a little more updated: (I've circled Coco's Corner. As you can see, they have left the poor guy way off the new highway. A blow up of his abode: We made it back to pavement on Hwy 5, then on to Hwy 1. Heading south, we reached the point where the original dirt track was close to pavement and half the group decided to chance it. Others figured a nice pavement ride down to the coast would be smarter and easier. Guess which choice was the best? Some pics from the pavement pussies, i mean smart guys

liners will do that to you ?

The two following it are pretty damned good!

Proof of life from Baja, Sea of Cortez side. I wasnt on Flames, so i hope @Bruce isnt too sad.

The one and only. A very experienced rider, but new to dirt. So, we did our best to vet him. If he comes back after being left in the dirt, then we know he is a keeper. Truth be told, Allen had been doing phenomenal all day, including 30 miles of El Compadre Trail, and all but 6 miles of the road into Mike's. He finally succumbed to sphincteritis sandus maximus. That is the tendency to soil oneself and let off the throttle at the sight of the smallish dirt particles known as sand.

you must hang around @Bruce a lot.....

Allen's in the house!!! But, did you die?

patience, mule. had to ride all weekend. That, and the pics are all on my work computer and i was going nowhere near that until today! ?

Fernando, the fellow on the right and owner of the DR is ride story by himself. He had a Multistrada at the beginning of this trip, but didnt make it to the border before the italian stallion started misbehaving. He left us, rode to San Diego (this is Friday) and tried to get it fixed. We wake up on Day 4 to a text that he was in Mexicali and wanted to know where to meet us. The text was old, as he was outside the gate of this complex by the time we went looking for him. He had ridden thru the night, crossing the border at 3am, and was raring to go! The Fernando/cactus story is coming shortly. Followed at the end by the Fernando "I know a short cut in TJ, at the border" debacle.

Day 3 - cont: Originally, the list of riders for this trips was somewhere around 8 or so. It exploded to 15, by the time we left. Because of that, all the hotel reservations i made had to be revised, or alternates found. In this particular case, Day 3 we were to spend at Alfonsina's, in Gonzaga Bay. Why? Because you wake up to this: or, this but, you have to stay here: Tough life, eh? Well, we had room for 8, so now to find room for the 7 tag alongs. That involved finding an AIRBNB in nearby (90 mins away) San Felipe. You know, the town mentioned above with the teenagers on their fones during lunch, and the dancing harley riders. Turns out, a BNB in San Felipe is an awesome choice, too!! We got this place: for $120/night. Sleeps 12! The views arent quite the same, but they aint half bad, either. We did have to suffer thru our own cooking tho. Alfonsina's serves meals like shrimp, stake, tacos, etc. Our BNB served PopTarts. (but, it cost us $30/nite each, versus $95!) End day 3. Next, we get to start getting really dirty. And, we get to meet the most famous Baja 1000 hero.....

in the works. wanted to finish the Baja story before they get here. Like herding freaking squirrels when we are all together!

Welcome! Dont let Bruce scare you off. Ever since he quit riding, he's lost his bite. (if he ever had one)

still stings, dont it

??

Isnt there always? ? (i usually take mine wherever i go)

The mill has been decommissioned and the owners hired an artist to come do that work.

we are known for our fight for freedoms ? Baja has in place measures to help with the virus - temp checks going into restaurants, etc. We were in the hinterlands, so spacing wasnt an issue. The wide open spaces in the west help us, plus we dont really listen to politicians. Here's hoping we are all soon able to roam again

We do that here! Place known as the Beta Factory, outside Las Vegas, just across the state line into California: And, the reason its called the "Beta Factory"? Named by the friend of a guy who thinks Betas are the only bike! Oh, and because the men's room is "adorned"

ahh, lady riders - swoon!!