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A Ride Thru' Baja to Cabo

David13

New member
Living in Los Angeles it's easy to get to Mexico. And I've gone many times, but seldom on the motorcycle beyond Ensenada.

So a month or two ago I decided to ride the Baja Peninsula to Cabo San Lucas and back.

I left on March 31st, a Saturday and got to Ensenada for the first night. It was cold, cloudy and a bit windy. And not much fun.

Sunday morning April 1st was a little better, but as I headed south toward the next stop for Sunday night, Catavina, I started to get some very severe wind.
I'm not much of a photographer, but I have to take a few simple photos to give me a memory later.

There is only one road from Tijuana, my entry point to Cabo, which is all paved, except for construction detours which were numerous. That is Mexico 1.
Ensenada is quite a big town, but Catavina amounts to a very few shacks, and one very beautiful mission style hotel/motel. It's now called the Mission Catavina but was formerly the Desert Inn, part of the Mexican hotel chain.
There is no longer a gas station in Catavina. There were two, but they closed.

There is a man who sits in his pick up about 15 hours a day, with some large barrels of gas. Which he sells for $5 per gallon.
With a two hundred mile stretch of a lot of nothing, it's good to get some, and I got one on the way down, and 3 on the way back.

Some photos.
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First, a different Coco's at the beach where they have the horses. Just north of Ensenada. Cold, windy, not much of a day for the beach. And only a very few people were on the beach.
Then a night in Mulege, no photos there.
Then on to La Paz, where it was finally warm. And the horrendous wind finally died down.
My neighbors bikes, Kurt and Donna from Salinas on a GS and a Harley. This is in the compound where we stayed, in La Paz. Kurt and Donna rode down in February, then flew home for a while, and were now back to leave for Salinas. They were to take 7 days to get back from La Paz, to Salinas.
And my most important friend in La Paz, in the window. Both nights there he came in to visit me.
dc
 
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Kurt and Donna leave for Salinas.
And on Wednesday, after a brief stop in Todos Santos, I arrive in Cabo San Lucas and check into my room.
A view from my room.
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I had been warned about some sailors that were coming in to stay at the same hotel. I have dealt with drunken sailors before so I thought it would be no big deal. It wasn't, they were reasonably well behaved. Considering.
But they came in with the Balboa Yacht Club race from the Los Angeles area to Cabo San Lucas. And even tho' they sailed a somewhat famous racing boat, a several time winner in the Tahiti, Hawaii and Cabo races, they finished with the motor, having broke the boom. They were out of Long Beach (CA).
dc
 
Their story was that Tahiti, Cabo, Hawaii, they had never seen wind like they had coming down to Baja. The same horrendous wind I had. And that was a day or two after the storm caused tornados in Dallas. Some thought it to be the same storm, others thought not, due to the distance. But storms move, so.

By Thursday the weather was nothing but beautiful and I took my own boat ride out to see the rocks. Due to Semana Santa there was some order to allow no one onto the beaches toward the arch. That was the beach I wanted to go to for some photos, so I just settled for a look from the boat.

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On Saturday I did get to walk out to a beach where there are no tourists. Nice to have a real Mexican beach in Mexico, with Mexicans.

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On Easter Sunday, after 4 beautiful days in Cabo San Lucas, I set out early to start my return and rode to La Paz, back to the same room, with the same cat as on the way down.

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Some of the nicest part of the ride was the area along the coast of the Sea of Cortez, from south of Loreto to Santa Rosalia. First, the approach to the Sea of Cortez from the south west, on Highway 1, and two mountains. And then, the Sea of Cortez.

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This turn off, this photo op area, which are rare in Mexico, is named for ABBA fans.

dc
 
I had not been into Loreto in a long time, but I had been reminded of the beauty of the city by an Advrider in Cabo.
So I stopped in and took some photos.

First the walkway along the Sea of Cortez.
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Then the street scene with an RT. Plenty of trinkets, baubles and other items for sale to the tourists. I got a coffee at the Fandango Cafe.

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The road along the Sea.

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The day back and night in Mulege was uneventful, except for a bump to a different lodging, due to a noisy party that was making it impossible to sleep in the town. A small town, maybe 10 or 15 blocks, maybe 3000 people.
Then it was back to Guerrero Negro, and Mario's for lunch. A beautiful and big restaurant with the palapa roof, which needed repair. Mario did say he was going to put a new roof on.

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And back to the mission style hotel at Catavina. Big rooms, colonade walkways all around. Fountain, pool, courtyard, etc. Nice. An oasis in the middle of nowhere.

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dc
 
This was a solo ride. Just me an my moto. 2363 miles. 13 days and 12 nights.
The RT performed flawlessly. Not even the slightest of problems. Other than severe severe wind, which was only on the way down, and only based, I think, on this big storm that went thru'.

I got back to Ensenada and spent a night, then up Highway 3 to Tecate and perhaps two cars in line ahead of me to cross into the USA.
Highway 3 is thru' wine country, passed the Wine Museum. It's just opening, and that, and the wine country there, with many wineries, would be a good stopping place for anyone interested in wine, wino or not, even if you don't drink but just want to study the agriculture of it.

A last shot of the giant bandera in Ensenada. There was another giant like that in Guerrero Negro, in the middle of the road, but in a military base, and they insisted I could not come in to photograph the flag.

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Then back to Los Angeles, where everything has gone to heck in a handbag and a half. It looks like I'll soon be leaving this town, without a dime to show for it. Does anyone have a job opening and a place to live? Preferably small town and friendly.

It would be a nice change from this place.

dc
 
Cabo

Great pix, was in Cabo about 8 years ago and enjoyed it immensely.
Just returned from Ensenada last week as we did the bike ride from Rosarito to Ensenada. We were treated better in Mexico as tourists than you would be in the US.
If you ever get to Lake Havasu, send me an email before hand.
 
I have been to Cabo before, by boat (private), by plane, and by 4 wheel vehicle, but this was my first road motorcycle ride all the way.
Really quite a good ride. A lot of fun, but best to get out of the tourist areas, into the true Mexico. That is the best of Mexico, the real Mexico.
I would like to go to Ensenada in two weeks for the Baja 500 but it's all sold out.
Maybe I will go next weekend to see the pre running of the 500.
I also plan to make the ride again to Cabo in November, and see some of the Baja 1000 along the way.
Then take the boat from La Paz to Mazatlan or Topolobampo and back thru' Arizona.
dc
 
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