2011 Baja Ride

Summary 2011UTMA BAJA SAN FELIPE MOTOMOCHILA

By Paul K Edmunds

Again, appreciation is extended to those who served as group leaders: Lee Marx, Matt Engstler, Roy Jenkins, Chris Kelly, Terry Packer.  Without their expertness in leading and guiding this ride would not have been possible.

It seems like Sochie never disappoints with great food on the malecon at the Plaza Maristaco in San Felipe (SF).  One must wait a whole year to enjoy a shrimp taco!   The food was delicious but the outside temperature was unseasonably cold.

The Service Project to Colonia Los Arcos came off without a hitch.  Thank you to all who donated clothing items and various and sundry other items as well, including toys for the children.  The schedule worked fine what with bagging things on Saturday afternoon before our Rider’s Meeting.  We did around 275 bags this year.  Thanks to Mike Spurgin for the bags, Chris Johnson for the tarps, and trailer provided by Lee Marx.  And appreciation is extended to Park Sorenson and Brent Ripley for heading up our Shopping Spree.  They collected just under a thousand dollars from each of you for 18 needy folks in Los Arcos. 

The Rider’s Meeting Raffle must have been successful as Pablo was asked in El Rosario when the raffle would be held that evening.  We changed the Rider’s Meeting procedure some and it seemed to work.  It is important that time is allotted for each individual group to meet after the Rider’s Meeting to plan and schedule their activities on the trail. 

Riders receive a souvenir riding jersey and hat as part of their 50 dollar deposit for the ride.  It also helps pay for the hotel guards to pay special attention to vehicles and equipment parked at the hotel while on the trail.  Also, special POLICIA San Felipe hats are made up and given to the local SF Police Department.  They enjoy receiving this tribute each year.

Our DNF prize this year goes to Joey Sloat who managed to take himself out on the Zoo Road within minutes of leaving SF.  This is a record, of sorts.  “Thanks” is extended to Greg and Max Jerome for assisting Joe to get back to SF where he would spend the remainder of the week.  Oh, he was able to repair his bike and do some riding in and about SF.    And he even got a ride down to Alfonsina’s to spend a night there as well.  Not a bad DNF!

The result of foul weather in riding up to Mike’s Sky Ranch, and from Mike’s to Meling Ranch was a first in UTMA Baja history.  Never has a Motomochila encountered that much snow in Baja—never.  And then add the mud in and it makes for an interesting trail ride.  The Packer Group led out at Mike’s arriving at Meling Ranch before dark at 5PM with Edmunds and Kelly Groups right behind while the Engstler Group arrived at El Coyote, 5 miles from Meling Ranch, in good time.  However, Marx and Co. did not arrive at Meling Ranch until 12:30AM!   They had three Ridge Runners, two Hayabusa Sand Rails and one brand new Can Am Commander in the group.  Riding in the Commander was Marcus Gutierrez, 8 years old and the youngest participant in the history of UTMA in Baja. 

Both Meling and El Coyote Ranches put on a great dinner with plenty of firewood for the fireplaces.  It was very cold, unseasonably cold in fact.  A good night’s sleep was enjoyed by all, but some slept colder than others.

Monday the Jenkins Group would travel to Meling Ranch from SF via Valle de Trinidad where they did lunch for two hours.  They would not arrive at Meling until 8PM, after dark.  They did the same Los Encinos Trail as well.  And they were witnesses to the various marks in the terrain left by the Marx Group with their larger machines.

El Progresso worked out Monday evening for the five groups minus Jenkins.  Riders stayed in Mama Espinosa’s Motel La Cabana and Turista Motel.  The only negative comment was the expensive food at Mama Espinosa’s Restaurant.  Lobster tacos are not cheap!

We experienced a slight injury today as one rider tried to do a wheelie in front of the kiddies at Camalu.  Result, one badly scraped right arm to a guy with the last name of Hickman and son-in-law to Pablo.

Bummer for Jason Irvine at Mama’s as he contemplated how to get back to San Felipe with a burned up bike.  Seems he hit a rock and didn’t know it broke a hole in his case releasing all the oil.  Lesson learned: bikes don’t operate sans motor oil.  But he has an interesting story of his journey back to SF.

The next day, Tuesday, most groups followed Bunker’s route including single track into Catavina.  The route was challenging and tiring for some.  Dodging cactus was the name of the game.

And just when riders thought that nothing else could go wrong, they were “treated” to a cancellation of reservations at Desert Inn, now called Mision Catavina.  A dude in Ensenada, Alfredo, cancelled reservations for 28 rooms.  And so the afternoon and evening were spent scrambling to find accommodations at Mision Catavina, Santa Ines, and Mini Hotel Cabanas.  But there was a silver lining to all this—riders staying at Linda’s Cabanas were able to meet Malcolm Smith who was staying there as well.  Malcolm was traveling with Jimmy Sones, Walt Koch, and John, driver of the large van.  The evening was spent visiting with a most gracious Malcolm who has relatives in Mapleton, Utah—Richard Beesley, owner of Beesley Monument across from the Provo Cemetery.

Another bike was finished off at the Bay of LA Junction.  Park Sorensen’s bike threw a rod ruining the whole of the engine.  At the gas dispensary at the Junction he found a van traveling to SF.  He hooked a ride for him and his bike for 300 bucks.  He didn’t get in until the wee hours of the morning.

We learned of yet another bike failure when Rolf Wolpole’s bike began pumping oil from crank case into tranny between Catavina and Punta Final on Gonzaga Bay where the Engstler Group would be staying in a private home.  Every few miles Rolf would stop and transfer oil from the tranny to the crank case.  Every bike out of commission thus far was a Honda. 

Jenkins Group made their way from Meling Ranch to El Rosario, then on to Catavina where they had reservations that were honored, and on to Gonzaga Bay and a stay at Alfonsina’s before returning back to SF on Friday.  Among the other riders, there were five couples riding the trails of Baja on SxS’s in this group. 

Bay of Los Angeles was reached the next day after riding out to the Pacific Ocean and back through the beautiful and scenic Rock Garden.  Riders stayed at Costa del Sol Hotel, Villa Vitta Hotel, and Guillermo’s Place.  This would be a two-day stop-over from some Groups.  And to our surprise, Malcolm Smith & Co. would be staying at Costa del Sol that evening. 

When Malcolm arrived at Bay of LA those accompanying him stated he needed a doctor.  Seems he embedded a cactus spine in the knuckle joint of his pinky, RH.  Before long Dennis Hamp, a physician and Peter Smith, a periodontist, had the job done including stitches after the somewhat difficult extraction of a large cactus spine.  Oh, there were three more dentists and an EMT “on-call” and standing by.  Yep, next day Malcolm was back on his bike a 250 two-stroke KTM!  And the story of those who tried to follow his group has already been told.

Thursday 10 riders went fishing in two boats.  They were successful in catching large numbers of yellow tail and sea bass.  That evening riders were treated to a fish dinner including ceviche and a variety of cooked fish.

On Friday all groups made their way back to SF.  Traveling through Calamajue or Horse Piss Canyon as it is known to the riding public.  Many riders stopped at Coco’s only to find that Coco was in Guerrero Negro recuperating from surgery on his stub leg to fix a problem.  He had been gone five weeks and the fellow from south of Chapala Junction watching over the place was fit to be tied—tired of being there so long.

After some motorcycles had gassed up at the Pemex at Gonzaga Bay, members of the Marx Group began filtering in for fuel.  They spent yesterday whale watching and didn’t make it far out of town before they had mechanical problems and spent the night in Jesus Maria.  They were supposed to stay in Bay of LA.

By the time we reached SF, Lee Marx had managed to split his head open on a partial roll with his Hayabusa Sand Rail.  His daughter reminded him that he would have made out all right if he would have been wearing his seat belt.

We also learned that a KTM died on the beach ride before reaching SF—blown head gasket.  And to make matters worse, the van that came to rescue the KTM got stuck in the sand.  So, the driver of the van unloaded his bike, rode back into SF for help.  A 4x4 was pressed into service.

Scott Weisheim was said to have broken his pinky finger in an accident at the beginning of the ride.  His Ortho-doc says he needs surgery.  But for a group of 70 riders, injuries were at a minimum; nothing was serious.

The group dinner that night at Sochie’s was the best.  Stories of experiences on the trail were told and re-told with gusto. 

Riders are now planning for the Annual UTMA Baja San Felipe Motomochila in 2012.  Expectations are high that it will not snow!

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