I got an email on Monday with this title in the subject line. That’s me- AFM racer #968! I logged onto AFM’s nifty website where I could enter in info about the bike and find out all the classes my bike is eligible or “legal” to enter. After a short series of questions, I am officially legal for:

250 Production
250 Superbike
500 Twins
Super Dino
Formula 3
USGPRU 250 GP
USGPRU 125cc GP
Clubman Lightweight
Clubman Middleweight

First race Buttonwillow March 20-21; Entries first accepted as of 8:00 AM on February 22, 2010!

1989 Honda VTR 250

We found this 1989 Honda VTR 250 on Craigslist for $900. It’s blue and gold, so it’s the right color!

It’s set up for the track with a ‘91 front end and wheel (which gets rid of the strange front brake disk set-up on the stock ‘89) and a Fox rear shock. The wheels are 17″ front and rear, and the rear wheel has been widened by Kosman so that radial tires can be mounted.

It started right up with the battery we brought with us, since the previous owner had not run the bike for a year or two, and the stock battery was dead. We rode the bike around the parking lot and loaded it up on my old motorcycle trailer.

There is a track day on February 27-28, 2010, at Thunderhill with Zoom Zoom trackdays.

We dropped the track bike off with Jennifer at Werkstatt for new tires, battery, front break lever and a tune up. I have an old set of leathers, and Cary is looking around for a set of leathers for her …

The next morning dawns grey and wet. But, look! The Weather Channel says the rain has passed and is moving off east. We hang out ’til 11 pm when patches of blue sky and sun appear. It’s off to San Miguel for gas and up 101 for home. 2100 trouble and rain-free miles. Yay. I’m looking forward to our next Baja trip already … Cary’s ready for Europe. We’ll see. Joy.

Here are some really wonderful photos taken by Tegan and Chuck with thier mad photo skills and a good camera:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11392981@N07/sets/72157622998130963/

Fraizer Park

Lost finding Elkhorn Road

Elkhorn Rd, Corrizo Plain

Fast Corrizo Plain fun

More Elkhorn

Elkhorn intersection

Parkfield Cafe

Bear Room

Parkfield, Pop. 18

It was up through Gorman and Fraizer Park to the Carrizo Plain the next morning. Clear but so cold we were afraid there would be ice in the shadows on the way down from Frazer Park. Cold. Ouch.

We were looking down into wat looked like tule fog when we crested the mountains and looked down into the San Joquin Valley. Hmm. Should we risk the dirt in the Carrizo Plain? Might be cold and muddy. Well? Yes, we shall. I got lost but we were redirected by a man out with his young son and wife on XT250s …

The weather cleared up on the Elkhorn Road, which was spectacular. Can’t wait to go back there and explore more. We ran up Bitterwater Road to Parkfield at 4:30 where Cary ran into the Cafe to ask about a room. $90. Sounds like us. And what delux place. Big bed, nice funiture, flat screen TV, Dish Network, a stuffed bear! Wow. We had steak for dinner (no as good as Kyle’s steak) and dessert. It rained in the night. Where are my rain-mits? Curses!

Rancho Ojia to look for charger

After stopping at Rancho Ojai to look for my cell phone charger (no luck) we crossed the boarder using the wonderful “recreation vehicle” lane to pass about 1/2 mile of cars (top of the hill) waiting to cross at 11 am. We presented our passports and were waived through. Then we remembered we meant to put the plate on Cary’s bike … Oops. Lets go! No problemo. We strapped it to the bag while Cary changed our remaining pesos to dollars.

Then it was off to Julian for a good lunch at our favorite coffee shop there. No CHP this time, and no tickets for riding like we were still in Baja. Yay.

Up to I-15 where we split lanes for a few minutes til we got to where we thought we’d pick up old Rt 66 instead of taking the interstate over Cajon pass. Which we did after being lost. Got to the Best Western that we don’t like, where the nasty proprietess took one look at us and pronounced herself full. Dang. Dark and cold.

On up the road we go, to stop at the first place we see. Which was in Palmdale, at the Motel 6, where they gave us the same room we had heading south after we had to ask for a ground floor. 126 … Hey! Did you guys find my charger? They had a drawer full but could not seem to find mine. Drat. After Domino’s delivered a pizza we went to sleep. The next morning I asked the (different) clerk about my charger again and we found it in the drawer … yay!

Airing down the 606s

The “San Filipe Road”

Cary on the Road to La Trinidad

View from the top

Santa Veronica

Parking far away from heated rooms

Saturday night brought a infestation of surfer dudes talking about the big swell that was to decend on Sunday. Oh oh. Where are my rain-mits? Drats.

We spent time with the surfers and one BMW guy at the big metal fire pit in the plaza in front of our room, generally telling Baja yarns.

We did meet a cool moto guy, Rudy, and his nice wife from Visciano, who co-founded “Ranchers and Racers” a volunteer group that helps promote good feelings with the ranchers by generally helping mend fences and roads in Baja Norte. Check them out at: http://www.racersandranchers.com/

The next morning we were off to find the “San Filipe Road” near San Vicente. We missed it, got gas, got directions, got bitten by a dog (me, boot, no problemo) found the twisting dirt road up over the spine of the mountains that the observatory and Mike’s Sky Ranch sit on, into the Valle la Trinada on Rt 3.

We blasted down the Compadre Trail in two hours this time, and rolled into the unexpectedly elegant compound at Santa Veronica that I’d read about and thought we’d try. The best, best, showers in Baja. $45/night. A long walk from parking to the wood-stove heated rooms. Pool and hot tub if you are there in April. We sat at the bar in the fancy restaurant, decorated matado-style with bull’s heads on the walls. Very nice.

Coco and the gang

The women

Above El Rosario

By the road

Punta Baja

Road from Punta Baja

We spent Christmas morning with Coco at his compound at “Coco’s Corner” after blasting down the sandy rocky road south of the bay. It was a gorgeous day, clear, bright and warm.

We chatted with Coco, had Cokes and beers so we could leave him some money, and Tegan provided him with some wonderful Christmas chocolate. Coco was in good spirits and looked well, getting around with alacrity, considering. We finished the road to Laguna Chalapa, with Chuck right on our tail, drifting the Ford in the turns. We aired up at the little cantina/llaterina and were off on Rt 1 north.

We had lunch at Santa Inez, saying “hi” to Matilda, who had purple hair for Christmas. Matilda made us each a combination plate lunch, with machaca tacos. Yum.

We got to Mama Espinoza’s by 4 pm and had the place to ourselves, since it was Friday night. We got rooms 1 & 2 so Chuck could park the truck in front of the room and we could enjoy the nice little courtyard in front of those rooms, which are heated by wood stoves.

Tegan got out the cards and we played Crazy 8s until it was time to enjoy Queselongosta and Burritos Longosta, which dripped butter when bitten. Yum. A wonderful way to spend Christmas.

We bid Chuck, Tegan, Rosa and Belle a fond farewell after thanking them for their hospitality and generally providing us with civilzation at the palapas They were off to San Quitin for breakfast at a panderia before crossing the border to spend quality time with Chuck’s in-laws in Orange County.

Cary and I spent another beautiful day at Mama Espinosa’s, enjoying more of the fantastic food and our comfortable room after three nights in the tent in Gonzaga Bay. I rode the bike to Punta Baja, about ten miles away, while Cary relaxed and made some Christmas calls and e-mails.

Mr. Scorpio

Sunset

Sunrise

Chuck and Tegan

Tegan and Belle

Avon boating

Home Sweet Palapa

Merry Christmas!

X-mas Campfire

The next day I got up early and found Chuck and Tegan on the beach. We had breakfast after the first batch of eggs were ruined by blowing sand. An omen of things to come of the next 24 hours.

Tegan took the blowing sand in stride, while Chuck and I put up tarps around the palapa and moved the truck and bikes to help block the wind. We set up chairs, strung Christmas lights, gathered wood for a campfire and generally were scoured by huge clouds of sand blowing off the dry lake by the west wind that Chuck estimated was gusting to 35 mph.

We started to make alternate plans. Retreat to San Filipe? I, however, predicted confidently, that the wind would die down at sunset.

Which it did, so I could set up our tent.

It promply started to howl again most of the night, and when it stopped blowing the roaring of our tarps stopped, and woke me up.

One thing we’ve learned about the weather in Baja, however, is that it is never the same. Don’t like it? Wait a minuite, it’ll change. Which it did, continually getting nicer until on Christmas eve we could launch Chuck’s Avon inflatable boat and tour the bay. Yay. Tegan made us her famous Chille Rellenos, and great coffee, and generally kept us happy and well fed through Christmas.

The bay was incredibly beautiful, with stars, sunrises and sunsets, birds and fish … and a scorpion that made an appearance as we were getting ready to start heading north …

I’d been in touch with Suz of the Oakland Motorcycle Club, who was going to be down in Baha the same time as we were, and we left her notes at Alfonsina’s and in Coco’s book at Coco’s corner, but we missed her. She has a bit of a blog entry at ADVrider.com: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=526282
Check her out!

See License Plate!

Happy plate

El Compadre

Compadre Trail

Water crossing

Getting Dark

The next morning we headed off after forgetting my cell phone charger at Rancho Ojai … or was it in Palmdale? Oh well … we made a right of Libre 2 at the sign for Ojo Negros, aired our Dunlop 606s down to 20 lbs, and headed south on the Compadre Trail or Milk Run, a nice, remote grated dirt road that bypassed Ensenada bringing us out on Hwy 3 at around 1 pm.

It had taken us about four hours to do the 90 or so miles of fast dirt due to Cary’s KLR’s instant munching of her stock-location license plate. Right at the first Military Check point. Took us about an hour to find the silly plate up by her swingarm, and to go through the military checkpoint twice (they had seen me at the same time Cary noticed the plate issue). Had to show them the contents of the same well-strapped Givi Bag twice.

I told Cary not to worry about the plate becuase she had the registration and a copy of the title. “But they are not in my name, the bike is still in the name of the guy Kalle got the bike from since we didn’t go to DMV yet!” Oops. Fortunately the plate turned up mashed up under the fender as soon as we stopped looking for it in the road after an hour. Yay.

We got to San Filipe at 2:30 pm and were on the road south at 3 pm after a lunch at the big Pemex north of town. Leaving us two hours to get to Alfonsina’s to meet Chuck and Tegan. I had my doubts but Cary was determined, so off we went.

I figgured we could stop and camp if it got dark, since I was schleping 40 pounds of food, water and camping gear. Ha. Fish tacos were calling one of us. But, Baja in dark = bad, BAD.

We were shocked how far the paved road had pushed south since March when we’d last been this way. Which was good in a way because we were running late, but bad in that the beautiful unpaved road was irretrivably lost to progress.

It got dark, but Cary was in front, and I could not catch her so we could stop. We got to Alfonsina’s after running 40 mph in the dark for an hour. But all was forgiven when I got my plate of fish tacos. Yay.

Breakfast on Rt 25

Campo Ojai

Snow in LA

OK, so. Well fed, thanks Kyle, and rested, we headed off to breakfast (Heuvos Rancheros) at the little store at the turn-off for Mercy Hot Springs and Hwy 25. From there we took 198 to Coalinga to Hwy 33 to Taft, up the Grapevine and east to Palmdale, where we rode into the dark for an hour or so to the Motel 6, where I managed to leave my cell phone charger when we left the next day.

The Weather Channel still predicted a rain-free week. Cary told me not to worry about my lack of rain-mits (although she’d been wearing her’s all day for warmth) because I “probably won’t need them.” Ha.

In order to meet Chuck and Tegan needed to head south, quick. So the next morning, after a big breakfast and forgetting my cell phone charger it was into the mountains and cold towards I-15 and Cajon Pass. Brrr. We roared down I-15 at a gearing and tire-saving 65 mph, trying not to get run over. At Hwy 76 we headed east past Mt. Palomar in order to bypass San Diego and come at Tecate from the east after crossing I-8.

We crossed the boarder at around 4 p.m. after getting money changed. No tourist visa for us this time since we didn’t plan on getting further south than Baja Sur. That saved time and $30 or so … I’d read about Rancho Ojai just east of Tecate as being a place to stay. They had cabins with heat. “Robert” at the officina eyeballed us doubtfully, and quoted $67 for a night in a cabin without a bath or linnen. Or $22 to camp. I left it up to Cary and she said we’d camp, whereupon Robert gave us a cabin for $22 because “it’s cold tonight.” Thanks Robert! We cooked Tasty Bite and coffee on my new $100 Jet-Boil. Bliss.