I have no work, no woman and no apartment. I do have a credit card and a toothbrush, hmmmm.Today Vik and I left for California for a two week ride.
I have no work, no woman and no apartment. I do have a credit card and a toothbrush, hmmmm.
Nov 06, 2007 -
As many of you are no doubt aware I am currently on a motorcycle trip.
In the summer I finished a contract and did not line up a new one so essentially I had a break from work.
As I had to move in mid Oct I had the opportunity to redefine where I live...I decided on the place in Robert's Creek which does not require any sustaining costs. I bought and installed a large shipping container for storage so my things are dry and secure and can stay that way for an indefinate amount of time. But yes, as Dick mentioned, I am effectively homeless.
Nov 07, 2007 - Dos Border
Soo it turns out that the Baja 1000 is starting on Tuesday about 100 miles from where I am right now!
Nov 9, 2007 Ensenada
The past 2 days have been pretty uneventful but interesting.
The traveling part consisted of driving from Escondidos where I got the bike serviced to San Ysidro (on the American side of the border) where I had to stay over after getting bike insurance. This morning I came from there to Encenada where the Baja race starts.
Nov 11, 2007
I´ve had a super busy couple of days which is why this is late and was done in haste.....
Its funny how much of a non event Remembrance Day was where I am, but I did not forget. Also, Happy B-day RossCo.
A few people sent me messages saying something to the effect of ´You are going to volunteer to stand on a track with a flag? I would have thought you would be in the motorbike pits or something..´ .
Nov 14, 2007
Well I am now in a chase vehicle that has a laptop and uplink from Cabo San Lucas so I thought I would send a much requested update.
I have just spent the last 36 hours in the cockpit of one of two huge 4x4 trucks dragging a ton of gear and another offroad truck on a trailer (used to rescue the race truck need be) through 1300 miles of Baja peninsula race madness.
November 18, 2007
Wow so much to write...alot happened within the week that I found out about the Baja, got a seat on the team and placed fourth in the toughest offroad race in the world.
Ok, so some updates on events. After our end of the race on Wed afternoon. (other races come in for the next 2 days) we basically went to our hotel suites, chatted for a few minutes and everyone passed out. No yacht party for us.
Nov 19 - Ensenada to San Quintan - Airtime over Topas
Still recovering from the race I got some much more needed sleep. The cold I have is really sapping my energies. I did get some errands done and headed out in the early afternoon for the next phase of my journey.
Nov 20 - San Quintan to Santa Rosalia - Momentus
So I gets up nice and early the next morning and decide to have myself and energizing and untypical breakfast before heading out on what I hoped would be a big mile day.
Coffee and food all consumed I head to the room to grab my gear and while loading the bike I see, just outside the motel, people lining the streets. Then I see the cool old and classic cars, including the Starsky and Hutch machine and numerous lowriders. A classic car cruise, cool, but on a Tuesday morning?
Nov 21 - Santa Rosalia to Gauymas
Ok so the ferry leaves at 9 am, all set.
I get there plenty early and its $200 bucks, much much more than I expected. THEN I am in the lineup to load and buddy asks me for the special mainland motorcycle permit. I asked him if it looks just like this $20 bill but he said no and said I would not be allowed to board. Refund on my $200?, yeah right.
Nov 22 Thurs - Gauymas to Mazatlan
Ok... so this day was another big mile day, the goal - Mazatlan, about 800kms.
This section was all mainland freeeways, 4 lanes almost the entire way. Other than a few wrong turns (god I need a GPS) the trip was pretty uneventful, thankfully. The pace was fast but smooth (except a few wicked potholes) and basically I just cruised the whole way.
I did run out of daylight and pressed on in the dark which was fun. It was full mooon so the landscape was sorta lit up and it was abit surreal driving.
Nov 24 Sat - Mazatlan Chantique
So it turns out the hotel I was in was new and still under construction. Basically it was gorgeous, marble everywhere and a really nice pool and yes I do belive I was the only person there, lol. Very nice.
Friday was spent running some errands, laundry etc and I created this blog. It was sunny and nice but I was tired and didn't mind getting this set up as per alot of people's recommendations. It should allow the insertion of pictures and smaller e-mails for y'all.
Nov 27 - Mazatlan - The Striking Viking
The past few days have been pretty low key here in Mazatlan.
I have basically been relaxing, doing some errands and stuff and actually getting a tan. Riding with gear on does not get one much of a tan, except your nose. Most of the time spent in the Baja was either in trucks or with tshirts on so I am trying to brown up abit before the surfing area.
The whole name of this trip is A Wing and Prayer, well it turns out I was wingin' it abit too much and not praying enough. One of the few times I am riding with someone else, a fellow winger no less, and my bike acts up for the first time in over 7000km's, wtf.Nov 28 Pushing a Train
Nov 29
So the next morning I have my swim and press on to Sayulita. A lovely drive along the coast. Either coastal views or rolling foothills of montains, all lovely, all good.
Nov 30
I spent hte 30th just walking around the town and met a few locals a the coffee shop.
I also met some nice people vacationing form Colorado who invited me to dinner, very nice.
As I planned to be here for while I found some longer term accom and settled into my cabana about 150 ft from the beach with a small view, deck and parking for about 35 a night. NIce.
Dec 1
Nicely settled into my new pad I now had some time to get to work on the bike. I had to find out what was really wrong with it.
Since I had narrowed it down to the starter I basically jsut read my manual about that and had a serious look it. I decided the best thign to do was to tear it all apart and see if I could define the problem.
Dec 3
The past few days have simply seen me hanging out , working on my tan, reading alot and exploring the little town I am in. There are a lot of Vancouver and Colorado people so its been nice visiting in English.
I have surfing lessons booked for tomorrow which will be awesome to get started at that. I should get pretty good before I leave on the 20th or 21st.
Dec 12
Ok, Im know its been awhile but hey what can I say, not alot of biking but surf, cervesas and sunsets.
My current place...
Mi Amiga Karen
Ola
Sorry its been awhile, a lot has happened and not happened. The not happened part basically I was just surfing and hanging out with Vik and Karen for the last week or so. The a lot happened part the bike is stored, I said my see you soons and I have flown back to Ontario for Christmas.
Im not sure if Vik will be posting a more detailed account of his travels but included within is abit about the last week in Mexico. Here is a link to some of the pictures he took - Vik's Pics