| Page Views: 979 Last Visit to Baja: October, 2000 | One Of The Greatest Trips Ever. by ChrisRJ - last update: Apr 1, 2005 |
Pushing To The Limit | Riding The Baja 500 Course |
I'm sure that with all of the destinations around the world the Baja Pennisula of Mexico will not likely be one of the more popular places on this website. However, if there are any members out there who have an interest in off-road motorcycling, seeing some remote locations and pushing themselves mentaly and physically I can recommend no better trip than a high speed run down the Baja 500 course.
There are a number of different outfits located in Southern California that organize group rides and basically you get what you pay for.
Our trip was a 4 day run that averaged anywhere from 150 to 220 miles of off-road terrain. We were supplied with brand new, modified Honda XR400's, the gear we needed and all our food and accommodation. All we had to do was ride............... |
|  | Respect The Sand Sand is soft and fluffy and nice to sit on when you're on the beach. Sand is not so nice and forgiving when you're trying to rid across it at close to 80 mph. It's almost like driving in a speed boat. At really low speeds it's grabbing your tires, sending your steering all over the place and basically trying to knock you off.
What you need to do is give the bike more throttle so that you actually plain out of the sand so that you're now skimming along it's surface, not bogging through it's depth. What this does, however, is make for a far more spectacular crash when it does finally grab you and throw you off. |
Feel The Pain! I think that without a doubt this was the most fun I have ever had on a vacation that involved returning home not refreshed and tanned, but exhausted, hurting in places that you never knew you even had and with an appointment with the Doctor and local hospital to check for internal damage.
I think that in total I wrecked times. The first time really was more amusing than anything else, as I was launched over the handlebars, landing in some nice warm, fluffy sand. The second time was a little less friendly as I missed judged my speed through a corner and ended up in a gravel ditch. Again, not too bad. You pick yourself up, brush yourself off and get going again. After all, you're in the middle of nowhere, so it's not like you can just quit.
Coming off a bike typically comes in two broad forms. #1 is that you are conscious that you're losing it, you try to recover, but it's no good and you see the wreck about to smack you. For these you have a split second to prepare. #2 is you have no idea what happened between you riding and you now staring at the sky. This was my third wreck, up on a mountain road, that sent me over the handle bars, landing on a bunch of rocks and making me wait a couple of minutes before I could get up. That was a big one. Fortunately we only had another 2 or so hours of riding before we were back, so that wasn't too bad.
All in all, however, I wouldn't have changed a thing. One great, invigorating experience. | | |
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 ChrisRJ's Baja Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | The Baja 500 | October, 2000 |  6 |
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 Comments for ChrisRJ about Baja | | | | |
Geisha_Girl Thu Mar 23, 2006 05:58 UTC
You lived it. You ate it. You slept it. A new found enlightenment in this mystique called Baja. SILT SUCKS! How long did it take to extract that stuff (from places you never knew you even had!) ;-) I'm off to 'Cambodia' next for more chest hair growth.... | ludogatto Thu Nov 17, 2005 23:29 UTC
In Bologna there is Ducati motorbike factory and museum.... |
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