Baja trip: day 2 (Get Lost Baja)

Well I just lost the last post that I was working on because I ran to take a picture of the parade that was going by. Today is a Mexican holiday (sorry I don't know which one and don't have access to google), so the town is pretty much shut down today. I'm writing this on Friday morning at breakfast in the center of Santa Rosalia. 

Back to the ride, we rolled out of Mama Espinosa's at 7:30am. We turned left out of the parking lot and immediately started seeing the Baja that I've been dreaming of. There was no traffic, we hit some amazing mountain twisties, then got on some long straights. While in the twisties it was nice and cool, but when we got into the desert straights it heated up VERY fast. 

On the way to our lunch stop, we pulled over on the side of the road and got gas out of a barrel in the back of a guys truck. It was awesome!!!  

We stopped in Guerro Negro for some fish tacos out of a taco truck on the side of the road. Joe said they were the best fish tacos that he'd ever had and I have to concur. Those tacos were incredible!!  The fish was breaded and the seasoning was amazing. I was a bit concerne that I would get sick due to my dietary restrictions, but it ended up being fine, so the tacos were well worth the risk!!

After leaving Guerro Negro, we headed towards the San Ignacio mission. Before you get to the mission there is a small oasis with a volcano set in the background behind it.  Stunning is the only word you can use to describe the view. I wasn't able to get a picture of it, but I will see if I can borrow on of the guys pictures that was able to snap a pic.  The mission was incredible and there was a service going on while we were there, so I didn't go inside to take pics, but I snapped one of the outside.

On our way out of San Ignacio we lost one of our Johns when he took a wrong turn as we were on our way to the gas station. We looked for him for quite a while before half the group headed up to the hotel while a few stayed behind to look for him some more. When we rolled up to the hotel, there was john sitting on the front porch waiting for us!! He had taken a wrong turn and just kept going instead of turning around. We didn't lose John!!

So the main group got to the hotel and we checked in and got settled. When the other guys finally showed up it was already 7pm and we were all starving. We decided to head out to dinner in the main square at 7:30pm. Half of us headed out on our bikes while the other half took taxis so they could enjoy a few beverages. The square was packed due to the holiday, so the policia helped us park so we could eat. We sat down to eat and there was a huge crowd across the street, so a few of us went over to check out what was going on. A local acting company was putting on a live show with a bunch of Disney medleys. All of the children in the entire town must have been there and they were LOVING the show!  It was awesome. 

So we ate dinner, headed back up to the hotel and I tried to sleep, but I was wired and couldn't sleep. When I went to set the alarms on my phone, both phones were reading 12:00 so I panicked thinking that my phones had reset. I frantically tried to work the TV to see if there was a clock, but it was some fancy programming and I had a tough time figuring it out. After about 10 min I got to a local channel and sure enough my phones were right. I set my alarms for 6:30am and then tried to fall asleep. No go. I think I finally fell asleep around 2:30ish. 

My opinion on the bikes after day 2: we had these bikes at top speed for hours on end in 90+ degree weather running through the deserts and we have had no problems with them. These things are champs. I also have my first bike that I can move around without having to get on it and duck walk it. I am feeling so comfortable on this bike and am falling in love. The more time I spend on it, the more I appreciate it. It continues to impress me with the build and quality. I have nothing but praises to sing about this bike right now. 

Oh, and I supported a local artist in San Ignacio and have officially "girlified" my bike now. Flowers on the mirror. 

Baja trip: day 1

Hello friends!!  I'm not sure when I will be able to post this as wifi has been very spotty if at all, but I will go ahead and write this so I can post it as soon as I can

I'm actually writing this on Thursday as I was so exhausted last night that I excused myself from dinner first and proceeded to take some Advil, use Tiger balm on my knee, then pass out. I took some notes last night, though, so let me write up my thoughts from the first day of our Baja trip. 

So we rolled out of Azusa, CA (near LA) at 4:30am. The reason was to beat the LA traffic and hopefully the San Diego traffic as well. We stayed in the right hand lane and kept it easy at 65ish mph as some of our bikes (including mine) were still in the break-in period. We rolled through the LA area without a hitch luckily. Only thing was the majority of us had not dressed warm enough as it was COLD!  On our first stop at a Denny's after about an hour on the road, we bundled up a bit more and then headed to the Burger King in San Diego to pick up the rest of our group. There are a total of 15 riders on this trip. 

We pulled into the Burger King and all 4 of the riders were there awaiting us. We parked the bikes and met one another and then got a briefing from Joe about the border crossing. He said we may get searched, but normally they just let you roll right through. Well it must have been our lucky day as they made all of us pull over and searched every bag on every bike. A couple of guys wanted to take pictures, but the guards made it VERY CLEAR that pictures were strictly prohibited. So no pictures. Except that I had my GoPro on because it was controlled  by my remote and I didn't want to fool with it and have the guys think I was trying to film. Anyway, I finally got the GoPro off and then they finished searching all of our bikes and they let us continue on with our trip.

We skirt the border for a little while, which was a bit intimidating seeing all of the armed guards not far from you, but this was something I was going to need to get used to as I would experience it many times over the next few days. Anyway, we get out of Tijuana and make our way down towards Ensenada so we can eat breakfast at Valeros. Riding along the pacific coast was absolutely stunning, but holy moly was it windy!!  This also made it cold!  We ended up keeping most of our cold weather gear on until we got to Ensenada. Before we could get into Ensenada, we hit some pretty gnarly traffic mixed with construction. We also discovered that there was a cruise ship at port, which made the city even busier. We had a very hard time finding places to park our bikes, but finally got them parked and ended up walking right in to a table to fit all 15 of us. The breakfast was fantastic!  I had the spinach omelette, which was served with rice and beans. It was a 3 course breakfast so it started with pastries, soup or empanadas, then the main course. I skipped the pastries due to my dietary restrictions, but couldn't resist the appeal of a beef empanadas to accompany my meal. Baja Bound (our Mexican insurance provider) sponsored our breakfast, which was very awesome of them!  

From breakfast we rode down the road to get our Mexico tourist visas. Again, we had a hard time parking, so a guard had to park us and then we all had problems reading and following directions so each of us had to fill out our applications at least twice. The poor ladies were so frustrated with us and rightly so. We all just had to laugh it off and then we made our way down towards El Rosario to our destination for the evening called Mama Espinosa's. It's one of the stops for the Baja 1000 groups and one of Blake's favorite places from his Baja trip. In fact, we named our cat after this place, Espinosa. 

On the way down we had quite the adventure. One of our riders had his tank bag go flying off of his bike into a field. Luckily the farm workers were kind enough to help him find it. Then we rode by some goats that were hanging out right on the shoulder of the road!  We also drive by a lot of farms and at one point in time I got the smell of strawberries in my helmet. It was like someone had just sprayed strawberry air freshener and we rode through it. It was a very neat experience!  We rode through the town of San Quintin (I believe is the name) and again we hit traffic and construction, but by this time I was exhausted and dehydrated, so I got a little cranky in my helmet. I just wanted off of the bike and to take a shower. 

We finally rolled in to Mama Espinosa's and it was time for bike maintenance. I had to lube my chain and change my oil and oil filter since I put the first 500ish miles on my bike that day. I lubed the chain with no issues, except for finding out the the center stand doesn't life the rear tire of the ground because of the weight on the rear end, so I did it the old fashioned way of lubing a section of chain, then rolling the bike a foot or two and ten repeating until I was done. 

Then it was time for the oil change. Let me preface this by saying I had my new friend John walking me through how to change the oil on this bike.  He tells me that I have to vent the case, so I remove the plug using a quarter. I then need to remove the drain plug, which i know is when all of the oil starts draining from the bike and is normally the messy part.  So I go to loosen the drain bolt, which is on there pretty tight, and my wrench breaks loose and I slammed my hand Ito the bike cutting my left wrist in the process. First battle wound of the trip, complete!!  I finally get the bolt loose and I drain the oil with no problem. I then need to change the oil filter, so I loosen the two bolts holding on the cover and immediately proceed to drop the bolts, one by one, into my pan of discarded oil. I know have to go digging around for my bolts in the pan. I get them both out, clean the oil off, and then change the oil filter. Easy peasy. 

So I replace the drain plug and the oil filter bolts and fill the bike with new oil. I go to run the bike so I can check the oil level again and when I do it spits oil all over my bike!!  I didn't put the top venting plug back in so it shot oil out of it as soon as I started the bike. Whoops!!  Chalk that up to a learning experience!!  So John helps me clean the bike up a bit and when I check the oil level it looks ok. 

Once I got done with the maintenance, it was already time for dinner. We had dinner at Mama Espinosa's, courtesy of Steve and CSC. They recommended the lobster burritos, but they were out so I had the crab burritos instead. 

As we were sitting at the table, joe shouted to a lady walking by and it ended up being Carla King (sorry corrected her name - autocorrect strikes again). She's a fried of Joes and is a pretty amazing rider.  Come to find out she recently purchased a house down in Baja and was heading back home to San Diego the next day, but El Rosario was her midpoint. She was a truly inspiring lady, as well as being super sweet, so I am looking forward to checking out her blog and reading some of her books. 

Unfortunately, I had to excuse myself from dinner early as my knee was bothering me so much that I had to take some Advil and put some tiger balm on it to get some relief. Plus I was exhausted from the long day, not sleeping well for a few days due to excitement, plus being sore, so I needed my nap time. :-)

I called Blake to tell him that I was seriously reconsidering the trip back home as after putting that many miles on the bike, I was really doubting if I could do it. Luckily, he did what he always does and talked me off the ledge by telling me to wait it out and see how the next day goes. I thank him for being so supportive and proceed to pass out. I ended up getting the best sleep I have had for over 3 days. 

My thoughts on the bike after Day 1. We put a lot of miles on the bikes and we all ende up with some monkey butt, even with the seat pads. The seat is not very forgiving, but you have to remember that this bike isn't necessarily meant for these log distances all in one shot. I think overall the bike did great and while the seat leaves room for improvement as far as long distance riding goes, I think it was as good as some Sportbike seats that I've been on, so it's really not a deal breaker for me!  It's not fair for me to pass judgement after a day like that, though, as I was tired and cranky, so I was not in the right state of mind to really reflect on day with an unbiased view.

Btw more pics are on my Facebook page. More to come!!

First Impressions

Alright, so I got to scoot around on my RX3 for a little while today and my first impression is that this bike is going to be a freaking riot!!  It seems easier for me to swing my leg over and cruise down the road than my Sportbike for some reason. I'm sure the riding stance helps as you sit pretty upright on this bike and I am having no problem touching the ground while on the bike (not all of us were born to be 5'7" models).  Speaking of, I'm 5'4" and am very comfortable on this bike. It is easy for me to maneuver around, both on and off the bike. I am all smiles with my experience today!!

Tomorrow we will be cranking out some mileage, so if I have internet connection when we stop tomorrow I will post up more details on longer rides, but I think this is going to be a great bike!!  At first I didn't think it had enough "umph", but after I almost accidentally popped a wheelie I changed my mind. ;-)

Another thing I am loving about this bike is its stock sound. This bike sounds great!! It's got a deep, throaty tone to it and is not too quiet for my taste. 

The stock luggage is very good, although I am used to a larger top case so I may look into the aftermarket luggage that CSC is offering. 

Sorry for the short update, but our 4:30am departure time tomorrow morning will come quickly and I've been up for a long time now. I am SO excited to get more time on this bike tomorrow!! 

TOMORROW!!

I can't believe that I will be on a plane to LA tomorrow to start this amazing adventure!!  I checked in for my flight already this morning, will be printing out all of my confirmations for car rental and hotels tonight and will have those available if needed, and then I will wake up WAY early tomorrow morning to catch my 7:30am flight.  Poor Blake will also have to wake up super early so he can drive the car back from the airport, but I think it's fair given the amount of times I've had to wake up very early or stayed up super late to wait for him on some of his adventures.  :-)

I finished all of my packing yesterday.  Everything I need for my 2 week adventure is packed into 2 duffel bags.  Not too bad if I do say so myself!

I pack like a girl ;-)

I got an email from Joe letting me know that they've assembled my bike and that he put 35 miles on it to make sure everything was tightened down and running good.  Man, I am so excited to finally meet him and to thank him and the rest of the folks at CSC for how wonderful they've been during this entire process!  This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship with some amazing folks!

I'm finalizing my playlists right now and then it will be early to bed.  My Baja playlist is nothing short of amazing.  Listening to it at work today gave me the biggest grin.  I found a bunch of local Baja musicians and compiled about 3 hours worth of their music.  I think it will complement and will definitely give me some great memories!  I'm also finishing up my Chick Power playlist.  I have In This Moment, Halestorm, and Lindsey Stirling on that list and it's over 5 hours long.  That will be my music to accompany my cross country trip.

This is going to be amazing folks!  I am SO excited and cannot WAIT to start giving you updates from the road!  

~tiff

Cash craziness and more girl talk

So today was a bit trying for me. I went to a Bank of America atm to withdraw some cash in preparation for my trip, as Joe has suggested that we plan to pay for everything in Mexico with cash. So I went to withdraw some cash and the atm said that the transaction failed. When I tried again at the same atm, it didn't give me the option to withdraw, so I figured there was something wrong with that atm. I drove down the road to the next BOA atm that I could find as the banks were going to be closing soon, since it is a Saturday, but when I tried to withdraw some cash it told me that the transaction failed and they locked my debit card!!  The printout said that I had to call some 800 number to have them unlock my card!!

Well, I was now faced with a dilemma. I was wearing capris and was on my way to get my legs waxed so I wouldn't have to worry about shaving for the majority of the trip... So there I am standing at the 2nd atm, still with no cash, the banks are about to close, my debit card is locked, and I have hairy legs.   I start to panic as I don't want to stand in line at the bank because there were already about 6 people in line and I'm feeling a bit fuzzy, but I also needed to get cash and was worried that I wouldn't get this resolved before my 7:30am flight Tuesday morning. I decided to suck it up and just stand in line to talk to a teller... Fuzzy legs and all.

While waiting, this cute little lady shuffles up gripping onto a shopping cart. You could tell she was using it for balance and when she was done filling out her deposit slip, the guy at the front of the line tells her to have his spot so she can be next and he walks to the back of the line.  I was so proud to have witnessed that, but then the other patrons told him to come back up to the front of the line and to get behind the lady that he just let in. My heart melted. It was such an unconditional act of kindness. Then I remembered that I had hairy legs and realized I'd have to wait a bit longer to get the heck out of there, but after witnessing what I had just seen, it made it a little easier. :-)

So after waiting for a bit, I finally get up to the teller. I explain to her my predicament and she goes to ask her supervisor what she can do. When she gets up, I see that she is very pregnant. She returns and tells me that she can give me some cash, but that I will still need to call BOA to get my card unlocked. I ask her when she's due, and she tells me July. I said, "well luckily that's not too far away" and she quipped back with "oh it is nowhere near soon enough!"  I just had to laugh because every single one of my pregnant girlfriends has said that exact same statement to me at some time during their pregnancy. Lol

As I'm filling out all of the required documentation so that she can give me some cash, she starts some conversation and asks why I'm withdrawing an unusual amount, given my past withdrawal history. I tell her about the RX3 and my upcoming trip and she just replies with "that is so amazing!"  So she asks me a few more questions and I give her more details while she's counting out my cash. When she's done counting, she hands me my cash and wishes me luck and safety on my trip. 

I quickly run out of the bank to the safety of my car (where no one can look at my hairy legs. Lol) and I just have to smile at how supportive she was. It's so wonderful to talk to other ladies and hear that they are more supportive than they are "concerned about being a female alone."  The overwhelming response that I hear is "that is amazing and I wish that I could do something like that."  And every time I reply with "well, why don't you?"  Immediately I can see brains churning to try to come up with a good response, but I normally just get big smiles, to which I just wink and smile back. 

So I finally made it to the salon to get my legs waxed, and holy moly did I forget what an experience that was!  Thanks, but I think I'll just go au naturale on my next trip because that sucked.  The technician was super nice, but It felt like she was ripping my shins off. Yeah... No thanks. Then I had leftover wax all over, so I stuck to the paper on the table and ended up walking out with some paper stuck to my big toe as well as having red, inflamed legs. It was a nice thought, but I'm gonna pass on this trip prep next time. Lol

Anyway, I made it home with my cash and sore legs, but overall it was an ok day. This has got me wondering, though. Those chicks that ride around the world on their bikes solo... Do they worry about shaving?  I know, that's only something a girl would think of, but it's a legitimate question. But seriously, how much should we care about that?  As far as I'm concerned (at least now), I really could care less, but at least I can say I tried. :-)

I'm Legal and Baja Agenda!

Sorry for the delay in updates, I actually started this blog yesterday, but things are moving very fast now that we are less than a week out for this first adventure!

Wednesday was a big day!  I got the tag for my RX3, got my US insurance squared away, and also got insured for the time I'm in Mexico!  I was a bit concerned about getting the tag since I had so many problems with my US insurance, but Sara from CSC sent a packet of information and it was everything that the Georgia Tax Commissioner needed to tag the bike.  Yay!

I've been slacking on the packing, need the clothes that I am lacking, get the links for stalker tracking, too much work- my brain is wracking, gonna go do some kayaking, see some ducks and I'll be quacking, better leave or I'll be yakking, eat some hot wings- crack-a-lacking... now I'm finally finished rapping.  #hashbrownthuglife  (that was written with the help of a coworker late in the day after a LONG day of work... you're welcome.  And Ian, thanks for the #hashbrownhashtag)  :-)

I'm almost completely staged downstairs in the basement and I have to say that I'm very impressed with myself!  I've definitely limited the amount of "stuff" that I'm bringing with me on the trip, but will 100% need to have access to some laundry facilities once I get back in the US after Baja as I've cut WAY BACK on the amount of clothes that I'm taking in an effort to pack as lightly as possible while in Baja.  I'm going to look super awesome in the airport, though, wearing my high viz jacket, carrying my high viz helmet, and wearing riding boots.  LOL  That seems to be the easiest way to limit the bulk that I need to pack to take on the plane.  I will try to post some pics of the staging and will document what I'm packing for the 9-12 day trip (I still haven't decided what to do about the trip back across the country).

Oh, and I just booked my car rental for my arrival in California.  One way rentals cost A FORTUNE!!  Pick up in LA, drop off in Asuza... 5 hour rental equals $100 charge.  UGH  Oh well... relatively small price to pay for the start of an AWESOME adventure.  Plus, I booked with Enterprise so I don't have to worry about ubering back to the hotel or anything.

Joe posted up a blog yesterday with the routes for our Baja trip, so I will attach those pics below.  I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS ADVENTURE TO START!!!  :-)

Springs and Songs

I just got off the phone with Ryan at CSC to ask about my center stand and the spring issue that they blogged about yesterday (http://californiascooterco.com/blog/?p=16201).  Basically, the springs that came with the center stands keep breaking, thus causing the center stands to drag while someone is operating the motorcycle.  I already ordered my center stand and asked to have it installed on my bike prior to the Baja trip, so I called CSC to see what the plan was with that.  Would they uninstall the center stand if it was already installed?  Would I need to ship it back to Georgia or carry it on the bike?  Well, after speaking with Ryan he said they are getting new springs today, so there should be no problem with the center stand on our trip.  Yay for that!  Just in case, though, I will be bringing a few extra bungee cords.  :-)  I also ordered my seatpad for the bike. I have one on the YZF and I LOVE it, so I made sure I got one for the RX3 as well.

The other exciting update is that I'm building my playlists!  I like to ride with just my earplugs in when I need to clear my head and be in the moment, but when I'm cruising on the never ending straight interstates across the midwest, I will definitely want to have some music in my helmet.  I listened to the Long Way Down and Into the Wild soundtracks while I was riding through Alaska and now every time I hear those songs I remember back to that most amazing trip.  So I've decided that this big trip should be no different, but I want to ensure the music I choose suits the trip.

I think I'm going to do 2 playlists to start.  I've done a bunch of research on local Baja artists and have decided to build a playlist solely dedicated to the local Baja musicians.  I think that'll enhance the Baja portion of the trip just that much more.  I've also decided to do a power chick playlist for the ride back to Georgia.  On that playlist will be some of my favorite chick empowering artists, like: Halestorm, In This Moment, and Lindsey Stirling.  I'm still working on this one as it will need to be quite a long playlist, so any thoughts/suggestions you might have are welcomed!

Oh and the bike is finally insured thanks to the persistence and patience of Jamie at Hansard Insurance and I will be getting the tag tomorrow so I won't be riding dirty through Mexico and across the country. Lol. Staging prior to packing is still in progress (I'm such a procrastinator) and Blake is still working on pulling together the tools that I will need for oil changes and chain adjustments while I'm on the road. 

I can't believe I fly out to California a week from tomorrow!