Day 4 Baja Ride December 29th 2016
I wake up and look over to Andy, he’s sitting on the end of his bed. He turns and says to me “Holy shit I’ve been to war and not heard anything like your snoring!”, I apologize with a chuckle, I’m loving the Baja Ride Chase adventure. Heading to the same restaurant as last night, I snap a Picture of a wrecked boat on the beach along the way. They are ready for us this time, we have a set breakfast to see us off. It consists of scramble eggs, hash browns, bacon, pancakes and toast. Pit Tip: If you order the set breakfast for your head count everything comes out a lot quicker.
Last checks are done on the bikes and then the riders lineup and head out, except for Chris, his shoulder is starting to give him some major problems. He decides to slab today and rest it up. I ask him if he wants to trailer the bike and jump in the truck. “No way, if I can’t hit the trails today I still want every mile to Cabo on two wheels!”, Right on! Ricky and I perform our usual routine of stow and sweep.
Baja Ride Chase On The Road Again
So Chris leads us out through town to the gas station where we fill dump cans. We head back up the hill on Hwy 1 and I marvel at the views once again. I’m in constant contact with Chris via the race radio, as we chase behind him. Suddenly a car screams by us, I jump on the radio and advise Chris “Watch your six! Car coming behind you fast”, he gives me a ” Roger that” in reply. Ricky and I decide to let the truck stretch its legs and spool that turbo up a bit.
As we join Hwy 1 where Hwy 1 meets Hwy 1, yup it can get a bit confusing on some of these roads, we see the riders crossing the slab. The Baja Chase Truck will be proceeding to Restaurant Mauricio’s outside of Guerrero Negro for the next check in.
Restaurant Mauricios
Arriving we pull into the parking lot, it’s going to be a long wait for the riders. There’s Mauricios Cafe, a mini market and an auto parts store. Chris and I explore the auto parts store which has an amazing array of every damn thing you can think of to get you out of trouble on a Baja Chase adventure. Killing time we tell stories whilst stretched out on the trailer.
It’s near midday so we enter the cafe to grab some lunch. You can buy internet tokens at the register, these last an hour and are limited to 100mb, for a few bucks. Now with food ordered we kick back. Then door opens a guy walks in and orders a drink, I recognize the accent he’s English too! I call over and invite him to join us.
Nigel On His Baja Ride !
So Nigel has decided to embark on a journey from Los Angeles to Guatemala, I think he said. He’s doing this by bicycle! The bicycle in question seems hardly up to the task for a Baja ride, but hey he’s made it this far. He’s been camping in the dirt or asking to stay in peoples yards with an occasional hotel thrown in. Nigel says “The people are so friendly down here” I agree wholeheartedly. He’s taking a year off to complete this trip, “So I can really savor it”, fair play man. We swap stories over lunch and afterwards Chris, Ricky and I walk outside to wish him well on his own Baja chase adventure. After applying El Braaapo stickers to his saddle bags he’s on his way.
Only Two Riders Show
After waiting for what seems like forever, Jim and John show up. Apparently the team has split up again. The two riders hustle on inside and proceed to order up some grub. They tell us there was a misunderstanding on the trail and some of the guys took a wrong turn, no one’s worried as everyone has the GPS tracks. Chris after a while decides to take off and head up the trail to guide the rest of the riders in, he’s been chomping at the bit with all this waiting around instead of being on the Baja ride. Before long the group are back together in the café.
Ricky and I grab our gloves and proceed to fuel up the bikes and give them a quick once over, our Baja chase ritual. The team troops out of the cafe as we line the bikes up.
Onwards With The Baja Ride Chase!
So time to leave on the Baja ride, the next destination is San Ignacio. We are behind time so the riders are going to slab it to try and avoid the darkness, we will chase behind. After an hour or so of driving we pass Nigel on his bicycle, it’s another hour before we see any buildings. Looks like Nigel will be camping off the road tonight!
We pull into a Pemex in Guerrero Negro and fuel up the truck. The bikes are way ahead of us, we jump back on the road and head towards San Ignacio. Now it’s night time and the roads in Baja are really really dark. I’m grateful for the extra lights on the truck but it’s still really dark out here. Pit Tip: Avoid driving at night, if you can’t make sure you have extra lighting.
Holy Cow!
We round a corner, doing about seventy miles an hour, in the middle of the road is a huge cow!!!!! There’s nowhere to go, nothing but drop offs on both sides of the road. SHIT! Ricky manages to squeak by the cow just brushing it, don’t forget we have a trailer and a bunch of gear on the truck so stopping in that short of a distance is not an option. So Ricky and I look at each other and let out a huge sigh of relief, dam that was close. Not to mention the cow hasn’t even moved, never realizing how close it came to being hamburger. Now continuing down the road we flash our headlights and turn on the hazards for approaching cars, I hope they understood our warnings. Hitting animals down here is not uncommon, it can be devastating to a vehicle, not to mention the animal.
San Ignacio
We pull into San Ignacio, locate our hotel and get the truck parked up. Of course the riders have got here ahead of us. Ricky and I have definitely earned a beer after that drive! So beer in hand I grab a room and load in gear. We are going to meet back at the bar in a bit for more beer and dinner.
Injury
Jim has taken a cactus through the foot on the trail today. The “spine” literally went through his boot and pinned his foot to the boot. This is rare as all the guys wear really good boots, but even with the best protective gear accidents happen. John had to take his pliers out on the trail and pull the spine from the boot before they could get Jims foot out, owch! Now back in the room Andy checks out the damage. Fortunately Andy’s an ex Navy SEAL and probably the most qualified of us to look at it. “No infection or breaks” he says. So Jims foot is swollen up pretty good, he hopes it will go down a bit by tomorrow. Flip flops for Jim tonight.
Hotel Rice And Beans
Rice and Beans is a nice little Hotel, each room has two beds and its own bathroom. It has a restaurant which is attached to a cool bar that is covered in race memorabilia. There’s hardly a spot on the wall that doesn’t have a poster, picture, sticker or piece of a vehicle hanging from it. Some other guests recognize Tom, he’s a Baja legend after all, they call over “Hey Turbo!”. Now they join us for a drink and ask what he’s up to, he proceeds to tell them our mission, they’re amazed. Time to order up dinner and down a few more beers. So the days stories are told and balls are busted. It’s what we do! Ricky and I line up the bikes and lock them down for the night.
Later I head outside after dinner to the patio. There is a healthy firepit roaring out here. No matter where I sit the smoke follows me like a magnet! Eventually everyone thins out and hits their rooms for some much needed rest. Day four of our Baja ride is in the books.
Good night from San Ignacio.