Mountain Bikes, Dirt Bikes, Cabo Pulmo........
One minute peddling along a sweet little
single track going up hill slowly, then wham I going down headed in a pile of
cactus and gritty dirt with one foot lock in and my right leg getting raked by
my chain ring.
The wind has been down for the last
couple of days, Saturday and Sunday. Could have sailed on Saturday with the 6.7,
boring. So Andy I and I took off for Cabo Pulmo on our dirt bikes. Andy has been
am-ping to get out on her bike for a long ride since we have been here, Saturday
was the perfect day. Hot (78) and light winds to help blow the dust away from
the tail dog (Andy). The dirt route to Cabo Pulmo is mostly straight with wide
sweeping turns. The sand is not overly deep and the traffic is very light,
prefect for someone getting use to a new adult size bike . Her bike is a Honda
CRF 230, low to the ground, air-cooled, easy roll on power with full size tires.
Andy rode well from the beginning. At first she was a little stiff and nervous
with speed on lose sand, returning from Cabo Pulmo she was much faster and more
confident with her stills.
Cabo Pulmo is a very small
village on the east cape. Claim to frame is the only living reef on the Baja. It
is Mexican National Marine Park fully protected by the Federalies. Its was at
one time the hot spot for windsurfing on the east cape. Several windsurfers
built homes in the area when the Sun Valley crowd lead by a famous ski film
maker now hiding in Cuba started to develop the area. Windsurfing sucks in Cabo
Pulmo, there are very few windy days to be found, but when it does blow (rarely)
it is great. What make it great is a real live breaking wave found off shore. I
haven't heard of anyone ridding it in a long time including my friend Bruce who
built a home there and spends most to winter there with his wife and children.
We stopped in to visit
Bruce and Marianne on our journey to Cabo Pulmo. They have a wonderful Mexican
style home. Two Stories with a large garage/shop occupying the ground floor. On
the second floor we stop to talk and drink a cold beer and ice water. Bruce
confirmed what we already knew, not a lot a sailing in Cabo Pulmo was to be had
this year. We are going back to Cabo Pulmo with our Mountain bikes later this
season to ride a great little trail that Bruce and couple of other locals built.
We rode it last last and were duly impressed with the quality of the trail. The
trail shows a lot of planning and work was put into it. It is well worth the 30
mile drive to Cabo Pulmo to ride it and hang with Marianne and Bruce. The Marine
Park is a bonus side trip with good tacos at the beach. One of these days I
would liked to do some snorkeling off the reef which is located right off
shore.
Yesterday we rode up
Scotty's on our mountain bikes. I got beat up by a little flat rock on a level
section of the ride. Beat up so bad we had to abort our planned ride and head
home. Funny when you let your attention wander you get knocked back into reality
quick. I can't even tell you what happened to me. One minute I am peddling along
a sweet little single track going up hill slowly picking the right line, then
wham, I falling down to my left headed in a pile of cactus and gritty dirt with
my left foot lock in and my right leg getting raked by my chain ring. When I hit
the ground my bikes upright slammed into my left calf pining me to the ground
inches from the cactus pile. I can't even get up because I am lock in and there
is nowhere to put my hands without touching cactus. Andy did grab the bike and
lifted it off me so I could crawl back away from the cactus. I am not sure what
hurt the most, the chain ring scrapes, the swelling in my left calf or my ego
(my ego). No sooner than when I sit down on a rock to clean out the holes in my
right calf, my left calf starts to swell like an alien is ready to explode out
of it. So we haft walk/ride out of Scotty's and ride back to Kathy's. I spent
the rest of the day with my leg wrapped in ice and elevated. My leg is sore
today but most of the swelling is gone. Amazing how away how a nob can well up
like a orange under your skin from a blow to your body.
Today there is no wind,
just as good it give me a chance to
heal.
Andy just came back
from her run. She went down and now has a nasty case of road rash on her right
leg. She was running when she tripped on a rock, slipped on lose gritty dirt
trying to catch herself and went down. The trails around here are not forgiving,
if you screw up, you pay.
Posted: Mon - January 10, 2005 at 11:21 AM