Geezer Snookered

Did a ride with a couple of Geezers the other day and they were pretty slick! First off the Boyz could Ride! In the second place they took me to their regular stomping grounds, you know the place, in your back yard on your normal loop that you ride every couple of weeks for the past 10 years or so!

Yup, the Boyz wuz Slick!  Ol’ Senor Kirby (Doug 21J) and Stan Stanton were the assassins that lead me around their riding area while inviting me to go first on several occasions. “We don’t want to hold you up” is what they said, but “let’s see whatcha got sonny” is what I heard. I ain’t so dumb!

Wisely, I didn’t take the bait and declined their “generous” offer. Besides it had rained just a day or so ago so I knew none of us would have to ride in much dust other than the open exposed areas. I was right in two categories. First, because the conditions were fantastic with traction and just a hint of dust in the open areas. Second, because as we got underway the two old buggers just about disappeared on me! I thought wait a minute these two guys are 152 yrs. old between them! That’s right they are both 76 years old! I thought we were going on a sightseeing trail ride.

I had the Best Ride Ever once I got up to speed and started keeping them in sight, they whipped between trees like it was a motocross track. I started to think they had done this before. We had a great time and rode some excellent trails. I am not sure I would have ever found these trails if they hadn’t shown me.  On our first stop/break I realized why they choose this trail, it was perfectly suited to the 200/250 KTM xcw’s, which is what the assassins rode. But I have to admit, it was just as much fun on my 500 xcw and it made me pay attention while darting in and out of trees. I loved it!

We had a couple of hours of fun and then it was time to head back, not that I knew which way was back, but if they ditch me now I have a Plated bike and will get my butt back!

This was my first ride with the point man Stan and as amazing as he was it was even more incredible that he had been involved in a work related accident 31 years ago when he was only 45 years old. His right hand/wrist had been all but destroyed in a logging incident while at work. Luckily, he was able to get a doctor that could put it together and make all his fingers work. The wrist has been locked in place so he is unable to use a normal throttle. Yet here he is hauling the mail through the woods beating up on the kids!

It seems he wanted to ride enough he was willing and able to design and make an index finger trigger throttle that he learned to ride with. When I saw that I smiled and thought “here is a guy that wants to ride as much as I do!” His throttle gives a whole new meaning to “pulling the Trigger” out of the corner!

When we got back I was thinking I would like to go ride that place again and told another rider about what a great time I had and what a great place it was. This rider said he had ridden the area and was not as enthused as I was because it was so “tight”. You know just, tree, turn, tree, turn, tree, turn………….I smiled and said, “exactly!”  I may invite that guy to ride with Stan and Senor Kirby next time I go with them, I would have a great time watching the fireworks!

#33

‘Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines’

Just a Taco Ride

Each Monday I go for a ride with a group to have lunch at a small restaurant/bar. The special each Monday is Tacos for $1. Good enough reason, or excuse actually, to ride 90 miles round trip don’t you think?

The ride is more about socializing and meeting friends than it is about riding since it is always somewhat the same route since we are going to the same place with a few twists and turns thrown in for good measure. In the past few years our group has added and lost people for various reasons and has begun to expand to include the dreaded 4-wheel crowd, lol. Polaris RZR is the couch of choice and as the group ages with each passing year the RZR becomes more attractive to riders looking at the septuagenarian and even octogenarian decade of life.

A few years back I wrote an observation on how I noticed the Rekluse clutch and the Electric starter keeping riders on their bike for a few extra years. Well, a couple of our guys have reached the point that they are limited on their bike on how far they can travel. They still can and want to ride but father time is telling them it is time to stop. So a couple of them have moved over to the dark side and bought RZRs. But we still all go to have tacos together almost every Monday.

Unfortunately, even the RZR with safety belts and roll bars can still be dangerous. Last Monday one of our guys, George, rolled his RZR on a hill and must have gotten his arm outside the vehicle. Of course he ended up with a broken arm and had to be taken to the hospital and is going to have surgery. Hopefully it goes very well and heals quickly.

It was a few hours to regroup and do the shuttle thing to recover George’s RZR. I was on my KTM as was my riding buddy, Big E (Ed). Big E limped the RZR out on a flat tire while I followed. The RZR had a spare but not tools that fit to change it out. Whaaaaaaat!  Apparently I carry more tools in my backpack than some of the chair drivers do in their vehicles.

Big E got the RZR to the fire station in town about 7 miles away and we left it there to be picked up on a trailer.  We recovered Big E’s KTM and were about to head home. Or so I thought!  Big E looks at me and says he is hungry now. So I guess we are still going to have tacos, even though it is now about 3 PM. Big E and I had our tacos, which seemed extra good for some reason and headed home. It was quite a day and was very good to get home safely, something I sometimes take for granted. I will try to be more grateful at the end of each ride from now on.

Hopefully George has a speedy and full recovery.

Thanks to everyone that helped, the firefighter/paramedics and Sheriff deputy that all responded. Unfortunately, we will never know their names but will always be grateful for their presence.

Ride Safe!

#33

‘Life is short, Live it to the fullest, it has an expiration date!’

Baja Exploring with #33

A RECON RIDE

After my last Goose Egg gulch ride with my daredevil buddy Mark, I swapped buddies and headed to Baja.  Enter the new buddy “Recon” Don, which was very appropriate considering our trip was to meet up with another group of 4 for a 2-week recon ride to map out a path for a 2019 group ride.

Recon and I decided to go a few days early to ride the northern section of Baja on our way down to meet up in Loreto 5 days later with my 4 buddies that were driving down from the Bay Area. Recon has been to Baja to pre run with me and got to participate in the Baja 250 in 2017, but has never gone any further south. So this was a first for him every day!

We had a great time exploring on our way to meet the group and covered some ground pretty quickly considering Recon is a pretty good rider and there was only two of us. We made Bahia de Los Angeles fairly early even throwing in the Window Rock trail along the way. This is one of the must do trails in Baja and has become very well-known and established. The scenery is fantastic and the trail, when you get to the single track, is challenging and fun. I thought it was great because I never had any dust!  I could have let Recon lead but then I would have to ride in the dust……..uhhhhhh, No!  Recon never complained and I was having a great time not being the chase rider for a change.

We continued our next few days heading south and made stops along the way to meet people and see sights that were all new to Recon. We stopped to visit with Pancho, I know you think I am making this up, but his name is REALLY Pancho! He welcomed us and offered us drinks, coffee and something to eat. This guy has lived in a shack with a camper shell as an addition in a small cove on the gulf for over 30 years! I always bring Pancho a pack of cigarettes and he is thrilled. You could not live a simpler life than Pancho and he always seems happy.

We continued on and stopped at a Rancho that offers sodas, snacks and gasolina for sale. They also have a couple of cabins to rent for the night. I have stayed there once before just to see what it is like and thoroughly enjoyed myself. They have a kitchen and will make you something for dinner and desayunos (breakfast). I think Recon was liking the place but wondering how the hell would you find this place since we had been riding for hours through the desert. We drank our sodas and moved on.

Next stop was Fong’s little hole in the wall motel in San Ignacio. Most riders stay at a bigger place known as “Rice and Beans” when they come to San Ignacio. I liked Fong’s because it was a true Mexican motel experience, not Americanized. It is a small room with stone and mortar construction. Recon noted that there was not a square or even corner in the whole place. PERFECT!  Just like being in Mexico! Although I think Recon was wondering about the plastic PVC pipe sticking out of the wall in the shower. I had to convince him it was from the container on the roof that held the water supply for the showers. I usually just wash up in the sink.

Our ride the next day took us down the Pacific side of the Peninsula through a fishing village where we bought gasoline before heading on to our crossover to Mulege. It goes from Pacific coast to the gulf using a riverbed drainage through the mountains that has a few rocks, lol.  A few hours of that and Recon was wondering when it was going to end. That may have been Recon’s least favorite part of the ride. I always like this part of the ride, but my SBB suspension is Awesome!  We arrived in Mulege and met a trio of Canadians at the motel on their way back north. Those guys had already logged a couple thousand miles. Our next stop would be Loreto to meet up with the Bay area group. We arrived a day early and checked into some deluxe accommodation for $57 a night! It really is a nicer place than where we usually stay and we had time to go out exploring. Are we lucky or what!

We headed out to see a place I had never been to called Comundu. Boy oh boy, not much there, no gasolina, no store available to outsiders and not many people around to ask. Even when we stopped to walk through the old Historic Church that was still obviously still in use we never spoke to anyone. Took some pictures ate snacks out of our packs and moved on. We found a new gas facility near San Ysidro, it looked like about a 5000-gallon tank above ground and was very new looking.  It was our lucky day. A good day of exploring and we made our way back to Loreto and our Deluxe accommodations.  Of course then we had to head out to find an ice cream shop that could make Milk Shakes, since Recon requires a Milk Shake every other day, at least! It was particularly funny when Recon asks for a Milk Shake and is met with a blank stare from the Mexican ice cream girl.  Recon has now expanded his vocabulary in Spanish to include ‘Malteada’ in order to get a Milk Shake in Mexico.  The boy catches on quick when it includes food ordering.

The next day we will meet up with the group comprised of Doug, Rocky, Marshal and Senor Hawk (Dean).  Then the trip continues south with our new riding partners. So more players always means more action!  I can hardly wait.

The ride continues, headed first to San Javier, a stop with another very old Mission Church that is open for visitors. Then on to try a road we had heard had been repaired after a hurricane. We passed through several canyons I had never been through so it was now a new ride to me! I always enjoy riding somewhere for the first time. The newly repaired road turned out to be almost impassable but since Marshall, who looks just like Sasquatch on a motorcycle, had bike problems we decided to go back and not risk it. This turned our final part of the ride into a road ride since we did not have an abundance of gas or daylight left with the back tracking.  One of our group, Senor Hawk (Dean) looked at the clock and reminded us it was already 3pm and he didn’t have a headlight. He reminded us a couple of times, I think Senor Hawk is afraid of the dark! I know he is not too good on rocky hill climbs, but that is another story……………. he talks a lot of smack and I always crack up. But now I know just where to take him when he gets a little too big for his britches!

We made our way back to Cuidad Constitution and checked into the motel. We proceeded to walk down the main street to a taco stand I had eaten at before. Recon ordered up a couple of tacos and a beverage. A big grin came over his face after the first taco and I saw him motion to the Mexican chef he wanted 4 more!  If the taco stand had been open for breakfast I think Recon would have had tacos!

Our trip continued south toward La Paz and a lot of miles that crossed open plains, endless dirt roads and finally into some beautiful canyons that reminded me of miniature Grand Canyon.  The canyon finally dumped us out on the east side of the peninsula at the Gulf almost 80 miles north of La Paz. A long coastal dirt road with great scenery and it led us to La Paz. From La Paz we visited Las Barillas, San Jose del Cabo and Todo Santos. It was in Todo Santos that we ran into a snag with rooms. While part of our group was able to check into the ‘Hotel California’ we were a bit too late and it was booked up, which was ok because it was a little out of our price range.  Recon and I are cheap!  So Recon and I went looking for accommodations. We finally discovered one that had a laundry service in front and the Motel in the back. Mostly because Recon’s butt was hurting and he was ready to pull in anywhere!

This turned into Recons worst nightmare and my best night on the whole trip! I have not laughed so hard throughout the whole evening in a long time! But the room was cheap so what would you expect.  The ladies working in the laundry told us we could put our bikes up in the courtyard by the front door of our room. Excellent since we carry a lock they should be fairly secure. As we parked and took our gear into the room we noticed the two guys in the room next to us with the door open. As I observed them I was trying to figure them out. Maybe they are just down on their luck, maybe they are homeless and the nice laundry lady took them in or maybe they are overflow from the local prison sent out because of overcrowding.  We didn’t have much conversation but I attributed that to us speaking English and them speaking Spanish. Good enough for me so I went into the room. Not bad, it had 2 beds, a TV and a bathroom, scored. So Recon wants to jump in the shower and wash off the trail dust. I am thinking, great he will let me know if there is any hot water. So Recon turns on the TV as he preps to shower and it has a picture and sound! The picture is a bit fuzzy but we find an English speaking channel and leave it there. I start to work on my gear for tomorrow and as Recon finishes his shower I hear him holler out, “Hey there is dirt on this floor mat!” I asked him why didn’t you wipe your feet off before you went to shower. He said he did. So naturally I ask him where did the dirt come from. He says it came with the room! I have no idea why but this struck me as hilarious and I started laughing and was hoping there was no extra charge for it! I went in to look and sure enough there was a perfect size 10-foot print on the white mat where he stepped out of the shower. Impressive, I could see every toe imprint.  I should have brought my thongs.  No problem, I will just wipe my feet good when I get out. Besides, it was a distraction from the water stains on the ceiling and walls. But at least the water was hot!

 I shower so we can head out to find something to eat, Recon lays down on his bed for a cat nap. When I come out he is waking up and complaining that he can feel the springs in his mattress poking him in the back. He says he is sure he has spring impressions on his back. So I look and tell him, just barely and they will be gone in a few minutes. So I make a note to myself, sleep with my riding jacket on. Recon says the prison guys next door probably have a mattress Chrono/note from the doctor and have our good mattresses. He may be right.

As I begin to dress for dinner Recon goes back in to use the toilet. A few minutes later I hear a scream, kinda like a girl panicking and Recon is yelling there is a cockroach in there. He comes rushing out telling me that as he picked up the toilet paper the roach came out of the roll and started to run up his arm!  Startled, he jumped up and was flailing his arm to get it off. He said it was over in the corner behind the toilet. I looked and saw what I would refer to as a Water Bug, but then I am not an entomologist, so it could have been a roach.  I told Recon to go smash it and he refused saying he thought if it got hold of his leg it would put a UFC twist on his leg until it broke or he yelled UNCLE!  Since he did not know how to say Uncle in Spanish he was not taking any chances and I would have to do it. I got my camera and went in to document the incident cause only one of us was coming out of that bathroom alive!

By the time we were dressed and ready to go meet the rest of the crew for dinner I had been laughing so hard and for so long since we checked in my sides were hurting! Riding in Baja is almost always an adventure!

Our group decided on different kinds of food so we split off with Senor Hawk, Sp Ed, Recon and I and walked to a small place Senor Hawk liked. Good meal with good friends then it was time for bed. Recon and I were about to head home as the rest of the crew was staying a few days to rest and do a few more days of poking around places on their way home.

Since Recon and I had ridden down 5 days ahead of them we hit the road and made our way back toward the border.  Recon and I did one exceptionally long day, around 230 miles with some awesome scenery along the way. Since we knew where the new fueling stop was in La Purisima we stretched it out a bit that day.  We rode river beds, miles of soft sand and 17 miles down the beach where we came across a baby whale washed up on the shore. We stopped to take pictures thinking it was dead, but Recon looked closely and said it was just barely alive. It was sad but there was not a thing we could do for it. I got a picture of Recon with it and I am pretty sure he was saying a prayer, although he will never admit it!  We made one last stop at a fishing village for a rest break and a soda. Recon asks if we should get fuel. I thought we only had about 50 0r 60 miles to go so I looked at our tanks which were still about half full and said we should be alright. Recon reminded me of something I had told him earlier, never pass up gas in Baja. I thought, good thinking and got the kid to split 4 liters between our bikes. Good call Recon. As we were riding into San Ignacio Recon had to stop and lay his bike on its side to get fuel on the petcock side since it had quit a few miles back. My KTM low fuel light had been on for about 12 miles and I stopped to do the same in order to get fuel on the fuel pump side. Turns out the 60 miles I thought we had was more like 80 miles. That’s funny, I didn’t remember it being that far. Doh!  Thanks Recon for saving me from pushing for who knows how many miles at the end of a long day!!

We made our way back to the border and only had to wait in line for an hour and ten minutes. This was turning into a good day! I am ALWAYS glad to cross back into the USA at the end of every trip. It is always fun to ride and explore new places but I am so lucky to live in the USA!

Can’t wait for our next trip!

#33

‘Life is like a piano, what you get out of it depends on how you play it’

For lots more pictures of this crazy ride visit our photo section!

Wham!!!

Don’t Ya Just Hate It When…

You are just riding along minding your own business and………. Wham!   You (I) hit the ground!!!

I had a buddy just sell his bikes and gear after getting injured a couple of times. I often wondered why guys sell bikes when they get hurt while riding. I know that it is just the cost of doing business for doing something you really enjoy.  I can understand this guy’s reasoning as he is 71 yrs. old.  Ok I get it, he rode as a hobby and for recreation, social interaction and exercise.  It seems a little more painful and longer to recover as we get older, as I am finding out!  But since my riding is more than a hobby or recreation, I would almost have to classify it as a “Passion” or as Cheryl says, it is a way of life.

I have had some serious injuries in my 50 yrs. of riding motorcycles.  But I can never, ever, remember thinking I was going to quit riding or sell my bikes. I do however remember thinking right after a crash, Damn! Now I won’t be able to make a certain race or go out riding for a few days to several weeks!  Almost 5 yrs. ago I had a serious hand injury that more than one person didn’t think I would ever ride again.  What I remember is that when I had a conversation with the hand surgeon that was going to do the surgery to repair my hand I told him to make sure he fixed it to the best of his ability and not do a patch job; Because when I told him I was going to ride again he just looked at me and shook his head but said he understood and would do his very best.  He did and here I am out riding minding my own business and…………Wham!  I hit the ground!!!  Thanks Doc…...NO REALLY, Thanks!!

While out play/test riding at a leisurely pace I hit a rock turning in a sand wash and fell. No big deal, not a high speed crash, just a tip over. Problem was that the rock that knocked me down was the one that made contact with my ribs between the front and back plates of my chest protector.   Doh!  Instant pain in the ribcage.  We have all probably broken ribs at some point and remember how painful and uncomfortable it is.  When I got up and got going again it was fairly painful hitting bumps but it didn’t feel as if anything was broken. Or so I kept telling myself.

I guess I will know in a few days, either I will begin to recover from a painful bruising or find out that maybe I did break one (or two) if it keeps me sidelined for a few weeks. Hoping that it is just bruised because there is an Old Timer race next weekend I was planning to race. First one of the year and what passionate rider wants to miss that!  Then there is a 12 day Baja tour with Don Tocher and Jay the week after that.  Then another Old Timer race as soon as we get back. Jeez, I need to get better!

But for now I am headed back to the couch for a little therapy, I think Mayberry RFD is about to start and Barney cracks me up. Maybe I didn’t think this one through, my ribs are sore.

#33

‘The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain’

Goose Egg Gulch!

I have a friend, Dave, that makes fun of me whenever he says, “I was riding along and then I Wasn’t!”.  On our regular Monday Taco ride we usually get two or three other riders that are not quite as fast, strong or as skilled as my buddy Mark Kaestner.  Well today was my lucky day, or so I thought as Mark was the only one that showed up to do the ride. Whoo Hoo and away we go on all the difficult trails and at a slightly higher rate of speed than normal. We made the ride to lunch in record time and beat the group we usually meet there in their side by sides, Polaris RZR’s.

We had our Tacos, beverages and some entertainment when the rest of the group showed up about 30 minutes later.  After lunch we gassed the bikes and departed for home, about a 45-mile ride that usually takes about 2 hours. This time since there seemed to be no time or fuel constraints we decided to explore a different route back while looking for new challenges. Careful what you wish for!  We do some cross country exploring and find tracks that showed us there had been a few other people with the same idea. We found an area that led down into a wash and then other riders had climbed out a very steep bank. I told Mark we should continue down the wash with steep walls and rocky drops to see if we could make it through. The others had not and that should have been a clue!

We come to the first rocky drop and it was your normal 2 or 3 ft. drop, I got down ok and Mark hung his foot up and tipped over pinning his foot against the wall. He laughed, righted himself restarted the bike and continued on to where I was. Stopped! Starring at about an 8 ft. drop into a hole that had been hogged out by running water. I looked it over and couldn’t find a way past it because the walls were near vertical and very loose rocks. Mark gets there as I am about to turn around and climb back up the ledge we had just descended, but Nooooooo!  Mark parks his bike and starts looking for a way down. He has this great idea if we move about half a ton of rocks on the left side it will leave enough of a shelf for us to ATTEMPT to ride down the slippery slope so we could have the OPPORTUNITY to drop off a 4 ft. ledge that he would pile a bunch of rocks in so MAYBE we wouldn’t crash!

I watched as Mark started moving a ton of rocks hoping he would get impatient and give up. Wasn’t happening! He just kept on throwing rocks, big rocks, little rocks and even some sand.  I mostly watched waiting for him to stop so we could go back, then I tossed and kicked a couple of rocks over the edge just to seem as though I was helping. Well he finally did it, he made a shelf on what I considered to be crumbly rocks with enough room for our handlebars and foot pegs to clear. Gotta give him credit, he built the ramp and was willing to try it out first so I got my ass outta his way and got the camera ready. I wasn’t sure how this would turn out and I wanted to document whatever happened.

Mark hopped on his bike and headed toward the shelf and the drop, which was now about 3 ft. with all the rocks Mark had piled at the bottom. He made it look so easy I was now thinking, crap, now I can’t go back. My turn. I hopped on the mighty KTM and proceeded to emulate my hero trail builder. I was surprised how easy Mark had made the drop, even though it was scary looking from the top. I survived it and almost rolled to a stop 20 feet down the trail but stuck my front wheel in some sand and tipped over! Fortunately, my left forearm broke my fall! Unfortunately, it was on a rock outcropping! I picked my bike up and checked my forearm because it was rather painful, but no blood so time to go.

We finished our ride quite uneventfully and said our good byes. When I got home my arm was still bothering me so I took another look. It actually had a goose egg about half the size of a golf ball on it now!  I guess I will call that decent, “Goose Egg Gulch”.

I can’t wait for Mark to take me out and flog me some more.  I will let you know how that goes.

#33

‘Been there done that, then been there several more times, because apparently I never learn’