Northern Baja - December 2013
Day 2 - Saturday, December 28
We started the day with a great breakfast at Horsepower Ranch. Not planning for a very long day, we took our time in the morning and I think we left for our ride at about 9:30am. We headed east for a few miles of pavement before taking the same offroad trail we ended with the day before, which takes us north of Hwy 3 towards Ojos Negros. Today, a little old lady wanted some payola for us to cross her property. I think she wanted 40 pesos, but the smallest bill I had was 200 pesos so I gave it to her, and gave (what I assume was) her grandkid some stickers.
We gassed up in Ojos Negros, and then headed south to Tres Hermanos. From there we headed west to meet up with Hwy 3 again. A few pavement miles south, and we took the Baja 1000 course on the east side of Hwy 3 that would pass by the Kurt Caselli Memorial. We spent a few minutes there before heading south to Valle de Trinidad, and some great tacos. From Valle T, we headed straight south towards Mikes Sky Ranch.
At about 3:30pm, we came to the intersection with the Simpson Trail and could have headed east for the easy way to Mike's. But the adventure bug bit us hard and we decided to take the Simpson Trail, which is well known to be a bit difficult - but how bad could it be? Now had we taken the easier way to Mikes, we would have arrived there at about 4:00pm. A short while after heading north on the Simpson Trail, we passed a 4-Runner coming the opposite direction which just confirmed for us that it must not be that bad (yeah, right). Soon after passing the ranch, which must be where the 4-Runner came from, the trail got a bit more difficult. Then it got much more difficult. Then I took a fall on some rock steps on a steep uphill, and then the carnage began. Everyone ended up helping to lift, push, pull, and do whatever else was required to get all of the bikes through the next 10 miles or so. Big Todd was Hero #1 for helping everyone with picking up bikes (strength and size makes a difference). And Isaac was Hero #2 riding his little 250 with trials tires up everything without a problem. Needless to say, we arrived at Mike's Sky Ranch at close to 7:30pm, taking somewhere around 4 hours to go maybe 20 miles - the last two hours in the dark. How bad can it be?
Pics from the day...
Arnie
Todd Lite
Ben
Isaac
Big Todd
Ben
Isaac
Todd Lite
About six weeks prior to our ride, the 2013 SCORE Baja 1000 race took place in Northern Baja. While leading the race, Kurt Caselli tragically lost his life due to a crash. Apparently he hit a large animal, cow or horse, while on the course and passed away before help could arrive. Kurt was widely hailed as the best offroad motorcycle racer in the US, and one of the very best in the world. He was thirty years old and absolutely in his prime. His death deeply affected the offroad motorcycle community, and we decided to ride this part of the Baja 1000 course in order to pay our respects at a memorial that was placed by his teammates and close friends just after the Baja 1000.
The Kurt Caselli Memorial
Big Todd
Arnie
Ben
Isaac
Todd Lite
Very eerily, as Big Todd was pulling up to the memorial, he noticed some movement to his left and picked up his camera for a picture of two horses that had been running along side of him coming towards the memorial.
They stopped on the trail just a short ways from the memorial, and it gave us a bit of a weird feeling to think that Kurt may have lost his life hitting a similar horse at this very spot.
A picture from above
After paying our respects, we rode into Valle de Trinidad to get some lunch at one of the best taco stands in Baja...
After lunch, we rode south from Valle Trinidad towards Mike's Sky Ranch, our destination for the day. At about 3:30pm we came to the intersection with the Simpson Trail and had a decision to make. We could take the easy way into Mike's, which would take us maybe 30-45 minutes; or we could take the Simpson Trail, which we knew would be rough but didn't know how rough. Throwing caution to the wind, we chose the Simpson Trail with all of us laughing about "how bad can it be?"
It started out easy enough, then it got a bit rougher, and then more rougher, and then...
Arnie coming up one of the milder hill climbs
Todd Lite
Ben
Big Todd getting off of his bike the first of many times to help others
Everyone is off their bikes to help
Leading the way, I chose the wrong line on a steep section and fell while negotiating some rock steps
The trail continued to get rougher and rougher from here on in, and we were all having to help each other get through it
Taking a break after one of the rough sections
At a water crossing, my bike mysteriously quit running, which was not a good feeling as it would be extremely difficult to try and extract it from this location. It turned out that I had blown a fuse, and after a short period of diagnosing the problem, we got it running again.
More carnage on the trail
Although the trail was extremely tough, the scenery was beautiful...
Unfortunately, we were not making a very good pace, and it was starting to get dark
Sunset from the Simpson Trail
And soon it was dark on the Simpson Trail
After riding for about 4 hours to travel maybe 20 miles, we finally made it to Mike's Sky Ranch. The last two hours had been riding in the dark.
Ersin, Rob, and Rich had arrived about a 1/2 hour before us after riding in from Los Angeles (and taking the easy route into Mike's, not the Simpson Trail).
They always make a great steak dinner at Mike's
For a while, I think all of us were wondering what we got ourselves into on the Simpson Trail; but we all made it in the end and I think we were all happy that we did.
A few more beers after dinner, and then it was time for bed. More riding tomorrow!