My trip to Baja

Troy taking a turn

I chose Baja Bound Adventure for my tour of Baja. Baja Bound provides a guided tour with motorcycles, food and motels for all the riders. Originally I wanted an advanced 3 day tour, but the advanced tour I wanted was booked up, so I took the next 4 day intermediate level tour. My tour ran from March 15-19, 2000. I arrived at San Diego Airport at about 11 am, but was not scheduled to be picked up by Baja Bound till 1:30 PM. This did present a problem as my luggage was quite heavy and bulky as it contained all my riding gear, helmet, boots, and chest protector, plus some street clothes. I had to carry this around the airport as I searched for lunch and a mail box and to kill some time.

When it became closer to my pickup time, I moved to our pickup point. At the pickup point I meet a few of my fellow riders. They were easy to spot with their expensive motorcycle gear bags. I opted for less expensive soft side luggage.

Group Shot

Getting Picked up at the airport

While waiting to be picked up I wonder how I would spot the people coming to pick us up. Well that turned out to be the least of my worries as the Baja Bound folks showed up in a van and a 4 wheel drive pickup each towing a half dozen motorcycles. So spotting them at the airport was very easy. Because of a 250 mile SCORE race was going on at the same time as our tour we had to start our tour farther south than normal.

We arrived at our motel, The Old Mill, after dark. Recent rain made the dirt road to the motel a series of small ponds that we had to ford. Because I was on Eastern time, I was very tired and went to bed early. After Breakfast you get to meet your motorcycle. I signed up for the XR 400 but so did everyone else, so I changed to the XR 600.

Old Mill Breakfast

Roadside Repair on the XR 600

This was a good choice. The XR 600 was a much better bike than I thought it would be. Once you learn the system it is easy to start and easy to ride. It is also very forgiving. More than once I thought I was a goner. When my bike got out of shape crossing some bad rain ruts at high speed, but the XR 600 would straighten right up and recover quickly, then my heart would start beating again. Maybe I was lucky, but I never dropped the bike once.

On our trip to Alphosina's we stopped at Coco's Corner. Coco's Corner is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. If you ever find yourself there please stop and sign Coco's guest book and have a cold one.

Coco's Corner

Standing next to a large Cardon Cactus

The first day we saw lots of large cactus and large rocks. We had to put about 200 miles behind us the first day to get to our motel. We got to our motel "Alfonsina's" after dark.

Riding after dark doesn't work very well. Once the leader pulled over and with the dark and the dust one of the other riders rode past him without seeing him. He didn't know anything was wrong till he noticed that he was no longer riding in a cloud of dust. He rode about a mile before turning around.

Alphonsina's

Sunrise on the bay

That night we had the best meal of our trip at "Alphonsina's", large butterflyed shrimp and fresh fish served family style. The next morning we were greeted with a beautiful sunrise on the bay.

After a great breakfast and a tire change, one of about 5, we were off to Mike's Sky Ranch. We had 3 fewer riders in the morning. Two riders were not fast enough for intermediate level ride and had to take the truck. The other rider Lloyd Miller had sore knees as he was a bit older than the rest of us. He came on the trip with both his son and grandson, and boy those Miller's are fast-Lloyd included.

Tire Change

Lunch

The second day of riding was fast paced. We did lose one bike to an engine problem, but Tim pushed it from his bike with his foot at high speed. How he does it I don't know, and I was watching. The broken bike was quickly replaced at our lunch stop with the spare bike from the truck, and we picked up Lloyd for the afternoon ride.

Even with the faster pace of riding we arrived at Mike's Sky Ranch as the sun was setting. At Mike's I found the best Margarita of the trip, or is it the getting there that makes them taste so fine. From Mike's we set out for a long ride that ended in Santo Tomas.

Mit and Charles

Thomas crossing a creek

Most of the ride in Baja consisted of fast paced, double track roads made of loose sand, packed sand and maybe a little dirt and lots of rocks with an occasional rain rut to keep you on your toes.

Much of the time you will come up on some great views of oceans, mountains or deserts. The best times to enjoy these is on the many stops to regroup. Most of the stops are brief. With a few longer stops at scenic spots. Tim's motto is "the more you ride-the more you ride".

Stop at a beach

Santo Tomas

That night we stopped at the motel in Santo Tomas. There we found a lost Rolls Royce in the parking lot, It was abandoned there a couple of year ago. Santo Tomas had the largest Margaritas of the trip.

Margaritas at Santo Tomas

Worn Tire

Our day and our adventure ended at Santa Veronica. After 4 days of hard riding both our bodys and our tires showed some wear. There we dismounted for the last time, we had the use of a couple of motel rooms to shower and dress before going back to San Diego and home.

Note: In my opinion a Baja Bound Adventure is for people who love to ride motorcycles. Tim Morton knows Baja and it's people. Tim respects the land and people that farm it. More than once we would stop so Tim could talk to a farmer, sometimes giving them gloves or wire cutters.

Tim Morton our Guide

Commander Tim

Once Tim fixed a broken gate that we had just used. Sometimes we would stop and Tim or Mit would give bead necklaces or small toys to the children we would meet. I came to believe Tim wants to leave Baja better than he found it.