More Dirt....
Forward to fall of 2003; Andy has out grown her
TTR-125, she gets a new Honda CFR-23o, a full size play bike made for shorter
intermediate riders.... The only chance Andy has to ride on her new bike was
once in Moab and again in the fall then a couple of time the following spring
2004 in Moab.... At first I am riding with Jerry and leaving Andy behind
because she hasn't the "time on bike" to ride with "the guys".... Andy rode it
all except the narrow trail there she and Jerry pushed the bike over the hard
part.
Two days of back to back dirt biking
after riding two days before. Andy has been smitten hard by the dirt bike bug
bad. She can't get enough of dirt biking, mountain biking doesn't cut it for her
any more. A little history, in the spring of 2000 Kenny and I get Kathy and Andy
little Yamaha TTR-125. Small toy like play bikes for learning on. Andy takes to
dirt bike just like mountain biking. A little slow at first but with great
balance and enthusiasm. Forward to fall of 2003; Andy has out grown her TTR-125,
she gets a new Honda CFR-23o, a full size play bike made for shorter
intermediate riders. Unfortunately my back goes bad the same year and I can't
ride. The only chance Andy has to ride on her new bike was once in Moab and
again in the fall then a couple of time the following spring 2004 in Moab. Not
enough time to learn the bike. My back is bothering me too much to go out and
ride with Andy and she wisely won't ride by herself. Forward to December 2004;
In Mexico I am feeling stronger and able to ride my dirt bike once again. At
first I am riding with Jerry and leaving Andy behind because she hasn't the
"time on bike" to ride with "the guys". (too slow) After a bit I am feeling
guilty about leaving Andy
behind.
Andy and my first couple of rides together are around Los Barrilies on graded roads. We then take a trip to Cabo Pulmo (70 miles), Andy is feeling really good on her new bike. When Bruce drops in to visit us from Cabo Pulmo. We ride mountain bike his first day here. Then Jerry offers to guide a dirt bike ride catered to improving Andy's ability. Her first ride with "the guys". The ride starts going west up the San Bart0lo arroyo to the town of San Bartolo. It is nice wide sandy arroyo with multiple trails to choose from. The arroyo is fast, with several stream crossing as you get closer to town. To get out of the arroyo into town there is narrow steep trail up to the hi-way. Andy rode it all except the narrow trail there she and Jerry pushed the bike over the hard part. It is a tough little trail with a sharp switch-back going over a rocky ledge toward the beginning. I had a tough time on it. Jerry and Bruce cleaned it. From San Bartolo we head south along a twisty narrow dirt road back toward Los Barrilies. The road was wash out in several places with deep ruts. Jerry was coaching Andy all along the way helping her confidence. When we got close to Los Barrilies we made a right hand turn down narrow, sandy, twisty arroyo ending at the Pemex station. Andy handled it all with supreme confidence. Made me proud. Jerry said there is not much more he can teach her for now. "Now Andy needs time on bike".
Two days later Andy and I ride to Bahia de los Murertos with John and his son Travis. The road to Bahia de los Murertos is the same coast route as going to La Ventana only you turn right at San Juan de los Planes. Our destination is the Giggling Marlin. The Bahia de los Murertos (the bay of murder) is now called the Bay of Dreams. A major destination resort is planned for the area hence the name change. The Giggling Marlin is spinoff of the famous Giggling Marlin in Cabo San Lucas. It was another sunny day with picture perfect conditions. The four of us made for a good group, not too fast, but fast enough to have fun. I liked the ride because I was able to stop and take a few pictures while waiting for the tail draggers. Not often I am the fast one leading the pack.
The next day I went for a route finding trip with Jerry leaving Andy behind. There were only going to be four riders on the trip. Jerry wanted a small group so we could do some exploring, by the time the ride started there were eight of us. We had to split up at times because the dust was too much to deal with. We did set meeting points to stay in touch. Jerry and I did find the route he was looking for. Way cool being able to plot the route on a computer then download the way-points into the GPS to find a trail by following the GPS. Then be able to print out a map for future use. The maps we have for Baja are somewhat accurate. But roads and trails do change season to season with heavy fall rains. The trail Jerry was looking for was gone, no sign of it. By using way-points of known trails and roads we were able locate a new road connecting two roads Jerry had ridden before but was unable to connect. Interesting point; some of the oldest roads are accurate when plotted by the GPS. Some of the newer roads have been rebuilt and realigned and mapped far off the GPS plot. Sometimes by a few feet sometimes by several hundred feet.
At one point during our ride, Jerry wanted to check out a couple of different roads. We split up into three groups, each going a different way. Some how Jerry separated from his group and went ahead to the next meeting point. By the time the rest of us caught up to him, he had gotten off his bike and settle down for a snack. The little church pictured is in a town called El Rosario. El Rosario in the early days of Baja was major silver mining town. I don't know much about the town other than it is well cared for and would qualify as a National Historic District in the states. It would also qualify for ghost town status. El Rosario is well off of the main road, the road into El Rosario is dirt and graded on the main route into town from Mexico One. The trail we rode in and the one we rode out of town was wash out and rutted. It always surprises me when we ride into a small village far off the main hi-way finding them well taken care of. Schoolyards, churches and town squares all painted and kept in good repair. Every time the town kids would run out to wave at us when they hear us coming. Everyone, adults and kids would waves at us. Mexican love dirt bikes. When we stop to talk the kid just stare, the adults would take time to talk to us and give directions if we ask.
Andy and my first couple of rides together are around Los Barrilies on graded roads. We then take a trip to Cabo Pulmo (70 miles), Andy is feeling really good on her new bike. When Bruce drops in to visit us from Cabo Pulmo. We ride mountain bike his first day here. Then Jerry offers to guide a dirt bike ride catered to improving Andy's ability. Her first ride with "the guys". The ride starts going west up the San Bart0lo arroyo to the town of San Bartolo. It is nice wide sandy arroyo with multiple trails to choose from. The arroyo is fast, with several stream crossing as you get closer to town. To get out of the arroyo into town there is narrow steep trail up to the hi-way. Andy rode it all except the narrow trail there she and Jerry pushed the bike over the hard part. It is a tough little trail with a sharp switch-back going over a rocky ledge toward the beginning. I had a tough time on it. Jerry and Bruce cleaned it. From San Bartolo we head south along a twisty narrow dirt road back toward Los Barrilies. The road was wash out in several places with deep ruts. Jerry was coaching Andy all along the way helping her confidence. When we got close to Los Barrilies we made a right hand turn down narrow, sandy, twisty arroyo ending at the Pemex station. Andy handled it all with supreme confidence. Made me proud. Jerry said there is not much more he can teach her for now. "Now Andy needs time on bike".
Two days later Andy and I ride to Bahia de los Murertos with John and his son Travis. The road to Bahia de los Murertos is the same coast route as going to La Ventana only you turn right at San Juan de los Planes. Our destination is the Giggling Marlin. The Bahia de los Murertos (the bay of murder) is now called the Bay of Dreams. A major destination resort is planned for the area hence the name change. The Giggling Marlin is spinoff of the famous Giggling Marlin in Cabo San Lucas. It was another sunny day with picture perfect conditions. The four of us made for a good group, not too fast, but fast enough to have fun. I liked the ride because I was able to stop and take a few pictures while waiting for the tail draggers. Not often I am the fast one leading the pack.
The next day I went for a route finding trip with Jerry leaving Andy behind. There were only going to be four riders on the trip. Jerry wanted a small group so we could do some exploring, by the time the ride started there were eight of us. We had to split up at times because the dust was too much to deal with. We did set meeting points to stay in touch. Jerry and I did find the route he was looking for. Way cool being able to plot the route on a computer then download the way-points into the GPS to find a trail by following the GPS. Then be able to print out a map for future use. The maps we have for Baja are somewhat accurate. But roads and trails do change season to season with heavy fall rains. The trail Jerry was looking for was gone, no sign of it. By using way-points of known trails and roads we were able locate a new road connecting two roads Jerry had ridden before but was unable to connect. Interesting point; some of the oldest roads are accurate when plotted by the GPS. Some of the newer roads have been rebuilt and realigned and mapped far off the GPS plot. Sometimes by a few feet sometimes by several hundred feet.
At one point during our ride, Jerry wanted to check out a couple of different roads. We split up into three groups, each going a different way. Some how Jerry separated from his group and went ahead to the next meeting point. By the time the rest of us caught up to him, he had gotten off his bike and settle down for a snack. The little church pictured is in a town called El Rosario. El Rosario in the early days of Baja was major silver mining town. I don't know much about the town other than it is well cared for and would qualify as a National Historic District in the states. It would also qualify for ghost town status. El Rosario is well off of the main road, the road into El Rosario is dirt and graded on the main route into town from Mexico One. The trail we rode in and the one we rode out of town was wash out and rutted. It always surprises me when we ride into a small village far off the main hi-way finding them well taken care of. Schoolyards, churches and town squares all painted and kept in good repair. Every time the town kids would run out to wave at us when they hear us coming. Everyone, adults and kids would waves at us. Mexican love dirt bikes. When we stop to talk the kid just stare, the adults would take time to talk to us and give directions if we ask.
Posted: Mon - February 7, 2005 at 11:21 AM
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Published On: Apr 16, 2005 05:32 PM
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Published On: Apr 16, 2005 05:32 PM