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Published: January 19th 2009
Yeehoo, January 7th was our first full day on the bikes - and a best day ever! Cool this morning, leaving Monterey, sort of like a good summer day in Yukon. Got our first view of ocean waves, with a kid walking barefoot in the surf, then saw the sign that all motorcyclists love, the twisty black line on an orange sign with “next 75 miles” after it.
Really twisty, we went along the Big Sur coast, past Esalen, surf crashing against rocks, 20mph curves after curves after curves. We were driving in an ocean fog, enough visibility for driving but not for vistas beyond a half a kilometer.
About a third of the way in, just after Alicia, the curves smoothed out a bit, allowing more smooth transition and steady speed one to the other, and the fog started to clear, letting the sun out - fun.
Then, around San Simeon we came upon a “Elephant Seal Resting Area” At least a couple hundred elephant seals were strewn along the shore. Many females had recently given birth and there were over 50 babies. Lots of males in the mix as well - seems about 2 or 3
days after the pups are weaned the females mate again before they all leave for … wherever they go. Fun to watch, snorting, huffing, even snuggling!
Then, all of a sudden, as we left the shoreline it got… warm, just as we were driving into Harmony. Harmony, California, that is. Warm. That is, not cold.
.
It was a stellar Day.
The next day from San Luis Obispo, we drove along the coast then half way through Los Angeles before we gave up worn out from the traffic. The day started with having to ride through a killer fog, cold, with visors and glasses fogging up. Rode through farmland - huge vegetable fields, many looking newly planted It is interesting to see where all the food we eat comes from. Stopped at one point right next to some huge eucalyptus trees - the buttons and leaves smelled wonderful.
We started off the next morning at 5 a.m. to try to avoid early morning traffic. By 9 a.m. we still weren’t to the end of the city. Driving through Los Angeles on CA-1, each two or three miles it was a new community. First Santa Monica then Venice Beach, both funky areas, kind of like Commercial Drive in Vancouver. Then another, by the wharf that was sailing focused, sailing schools, clubs, etc. Then Manhattan Beach, more affluent. It really seems like it is not one big city, but rather many smaller ones, all interconnected.
The next four days were in Santee - an eastern suburb of San Diego, doing errands and waiting for our motorcycles to be looked after.
We spent the time amending our gear at the at the Adventure 16 gear store, that is 3 trips to the store on three different days, doing errands, changing money and organizing and reorganizing our gear. We ended up mailing 2 big boxes home, in an effort to lighten the loads. We also went to a big boat show at the San Diego Marina and found our sailboat. We know the exact boat we will buy if we win the lottery…. And a few others that we possibly could someday afford if we don’t.
I got a big disappointment when we picked up our bikes from the repair shop. Somehow, a communication breakdown occurred between me and the motorcycle mechanic and he only replaced my chain 
the boat we could afford
without winning the lottery
The road from Santee, east of San Diego to the border crossing at Tecate was beautiful. The road twisted through hilly ranching country, past farms and hills, pine trees and palm trees and cacti. All of a sudden we were at the border crossing. We drove up, and the Mexican border guards just waved us through without even talking to us. We had gone from rural farmland to a bustling Mexican town, full of traffic, with not a parking spot in sight in a matter of about 50 feet. As we did still need to get our tourist cards, we drove till we found a spot not too far from the border crossing - we thought, and I just walked back. Ok, it was more than that, I walked 7 blocks - 3 a steep up hill, got my paperwork filled out, walked back to the bikes, got Dainius‘ passport, walked back, got his paperwork filled out, walked 3 blocks downhill to the bank, waited in line for 20 minutes, paid the fee for the permits, walked back uphill, got the papers stamped then back the full 7 blocks to Dainius. Normally it would feel like a nuisance to be dealing with all that, but the whole time walking back and forth, past ‘tiendas‘ (stores) blaring out Mexican music and nodding ‘Buenos dias‘ to people I passed, all I could think of was “I am in Mexico, and I am loving it!”
We drove out of town into the countryside feeling really good, stopping at a roadside restaurant for lunch. Dainius ordered ‘huevos rancheros, por favor‘ (I think that is one of his few Spanish phrases) and me rice and beans with a burrito. We ended up driving on and camping at a campsite run by a school for the deaf - El Rancho Sordo Mudo, where I picked oranges off the trees for my breakfast in the morning. Good day!
Our first dirt road in Mexico! We decided to get off the beaten track to camp for the night and rode in to Laguna Hanson in La Parque de la Constitution. It was 32 km of hardpan interspersed with stretches, some long some short, of sand. This can be a challenge on two wheels. The sand tugs at your front wheel unpredictably and the only way deal with it is to increase your speed (counter-intuitive to me) so that your front wheel planes across the sand instead of ploughing through it. The goal is to surf, or if you are from a colder climate like us, ski the bike through the sand. Rigid control and over-steering in this stuff will find you eating it. I almost lost it at least 5 times. For you skiers, imagine 5 tight linked turns, of increasing speed, through moguls before finally pulling out onto some flat stable snow.
The park is absolutely stunning - a boulderer’s paradise.
One might think that hypothermia in Mexico would be impossible. Don’t believe it. Our night in the park was so cold, that with our new 40°F bags AND every layer of clothing we had with us AND our 1 ½ inch Thermarests we still were so cold that shivering had got to that uncontrollable state and we had to get up twice. Once to go for a walk to get some aerobic heat happening, drink hot tea, eat and heat up bottle of water to stuff in the sleeping bag, and the second time to reheat the water and have another snack.
And we were there at an unseasonably hot time of year, so we are told. True torture for Yukoners trying to escape the cold.
On the road out of the park, we took the alternative route on the guidebook’s recommendation that it was a better road, though about 15 km longer. Dainius says I am now qualified for the Dakkar. Those extra kilometres really were a good road. It was straight, about 3 lanes wide, bordered by farmers fields with occasional ranches. This is great if you have 4 wheels. Unfortunately, the 100-200 meter stretches of sand that I had managed to successfully negotiate yesterday were demonically outclassed by the entire 15 km being relentless, interrupted sand.
The two day round trip tested my riding and my resolve, and, unlike the boys who ride the “long way…” everywhere and whine about the experience, I just sucked it up and kept on grinning.
Once we got back on the highway, however, pavement never felt so good. We raced across the two ridges of mountains and the Valle de Trinidad between them. Amazing road - except through the mountain where it was filled with curves, the route was arrow straight with almost perfect pavement.
We drove in to San Felipe, chasing sunset, not wanting to be still on our bikes after dark. We passed Pete’s Camp about 7 km out of town and immediately thought of Harry and the stories of his winters here.
We found the hotel the senora at the Oasis, the junction of Mexico 3 and Mexico 5 recommended just as the light disappeared. King size bed, and a courtyard parking lot so that the bikes would feel safe. Exhausted, we went out just long enough to have a beer and something to eat, before hitting the sheets. With so little sleep the previous night, tonight we were exhausted.
Ridiculously cold in the middle of the night, flip flops and shorts in the evening in San Felipe, improving in other words.
Our first full day in paradise, San Felipe, specifically began with pastry and coffee from a local bakery, then a late breakfast at a Café Baja - apparently quite the ex-pat hangout.
Took a long walk south from town along the beach, as far as we could go, then wandered back as the tide was coming in, stopping at a small store/bar in the middle of a beach development to have a beer. Once there, we realized that this is what all the gringos do in San Felipe. Sometime between 2 and 4 p.m. they wander down to the watering hole to have a couple of beer, and socialize and tell stories. We met Elaine and Brian from Vancouver Island and Blaine from Nevada and got some interesting info on real estate and living here as well as needed information on the road south - there is an 80km stretch we will be doing as we leave here that is purported to be, while beautiful, so bad it will take us at least 4 hours to do.
Another best day ever with not a cloud in the sky
It was really too nice to leave right away so we decided to stay another day. Today we walked as far as we could in the other direction from town - not as far, and did a few errands in preparation for leaving early tomorrow. Lunch was huge grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon with a coco loco (drink served in a whole fresh coconut) for me and a beer for Dainius. Wonderful. Errands primarily means tequila, water and pesos for the next couple of days. We will likely be camping out tomorrow night at Gonzaga Bay - purported to be another… paradise.
I guess you could say things are going…. GREAT! Hasta la vista.
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Rick Scramstad
non-member comment
Well done!
Really interesting to read. Sounds like a lot of fun, I am very envious. An exciting way to travel and have to deal with the elements what ever they may be.