Towards San Felipe and the Baja 250

 After getting back to the hard pack from our excursion to the national park, the riding is pleasantly smooth and the scenery is outstanding.  Towards San Felipe, Dan notices that the rough road has claimed his  dual flag mast.  It's too bad, because it really seemed to help at military check points.

Once we get to San Felipe and settle into a room at Kiki's, Dan heads to the junk yard and I work on the blog.  We stay two nights in the hotel, but move to a palapa on the third night.

I'm not too sure if Dan likes palapas.

First all the bikes roll through for the tech inspections.

Couple of the guys waiting for their turn.

I manage to get up close before the police show up and block everything off to the spectators.

Thumbs up for Baja 250.

The quads look mega fun.

Sick!

Trophy trucks are awesome.

The race starts at 6am the next morning and Dan and I wake up a bit late.  The process of packing always takes awhile, but we still manage to get to the starting lines to see the last of the bikes roll and the quads cycle though. 

The start line. 

Security is always good.

After a few pics we jump back on our bikes and head up to Zoo road to try and catch some of the action.

These guys really kick up some dust and I have to hide my camera in between shots to try and keep the dust off.

It's hot out there in the desert and Dan decides a few pineapple drinks are in order.

Shortly after the last of the quads blow by; we head out.  I'd really love to see the Trophy trucks start, but it's hours away, scorching hot, and we need to get on the road.  After a wrong turn, Dan and I find the right track and head south from San Felipe.

Looks like this fence is pretty much buried.

The sand is so white!

The scenery on this ride makes the Baja so worthwhile.

We get to a part in the road under construction and the crew stops me and tells me it's impassable, but Dan keeps going and I hope he will come back.  After waiting some time I'm uncertain what to do so I decide to go back and try the detour.  Things are going good and I'm thinking I'll probably meet Dan up the road or he'll come back around, when I hear a strange noise.  Not a very good noise.

My pannier bracket had snapped and it was dragging on the swing arm.  No bueno.

The first thing I do is grab a cookie out of my luggage and have a little snack and some water.  It's hot here in the desert and there is no one around for miles.  I'm really starting to wonder why I didn't bring those cargo straps and I start to look for my parachute cord, when I see a bike approaching in the distance.

Clean break.

Apparently Dan kept going until he ran into problems and finally had to turn around and come back this way.  Thank god!  I could have fixed it with para-cord, but it would have taken longer and wouldn't have been nearly as good.   I guess we both learned a lesson...no more separating in the desert!

Once the luggage is out, it's easier to move the pannier back up into the correct position.

The road from San Felipe to Coco's corner is ridiculous.  It probably wouldn't be too bad, but the bikes are fully loaded and sooo heavy.  Both of us almost eat dirt several times, but we manage to keep them on the rubber today.

Looking down from the hill at the bikes. 

Yes.  Roads like this do exist.

Looks like a cactus skeleton.

The oh-so-famous Coco's Corner.  Never thought I'd be here.

Some good seating in front of the TV at Coco's Corner.

We finally get back on the hard pack after a much needed break at Coco's.  We head south and finally find a hotel just before the sun goes down.  After a good sleep, I decide it's time to use the secret item.

It's a 5 foot rubber snake.  I throw the snake in Dan's jacket sleeve and he is very surprised, but doesn't scream.  It's still pretty funny.

Dan and his new buddy.

We stop for lunch in Santa Rosalia.  On the highway through the town looks very industrial, but we're hungry and stop on the shoulder.  Before we even decide where we're going to look, a Mexican guy riding a bike stops and asks if he can help us find anything.  Then he leads us down the street on his bicycle to one of his favourite restaurants.  If any one ever told you Mexicans aren't friendly people, they were wrong!  Once you get off the highway, Santa Rosalia is a very nice town with a great atmosphere.

You've heard all the stories and this is what one actually looks like.

You can tell the guard is curious why we're stopped and taking pictures.  Time to roll.

Another great spot where you can park your RV right on the beach.

A spot like this makes me think of getting an RV.

It's a long ride today, but we get into Loreto with some time to spare and find a hotel for the night.