Departure

It was a surreal morning as I loaded up the bike and rode away from my home. I felt detached from reality. It was almost like an out of body experience, watching myself load up and ride away. However, it still feels like a little two week Baja trip as I sit here at Mike’s Sky Rancho. I’m in a familiar place with familiar sights, and sounds, but I’m still close to home. I’m still in my  backyard. It has not yet sunk in my head what I actually intend to do. Holy crap.

Here is the obligatory shot of the ODO before departure.

I stopped at Tecate, and got the tourist visa, which I never get when I ride Baja, but this trip is going a bit further. The Migracion officer asked where I was going. I told him I was going to Tierra del Fuego. With raised eyebrows he looked at me and said, “Tierra del Fuego, as in South America, Argentina? On that moto?” “Si” I replied. He mumbled something like, “good luck with that” and went back to filling out the visa. Maybe he knows something I dont.

Headed down the Compadre Trail toward Ojos Negros…………

Then onto Mike’s Sky Rancho.

Its been a while since I have ridden the 990 loaded up. Although the bike performs well with a load, it really is a different machine in “burro” mode. It took a little getting used to all the weight as it almost got away from me when I was going through some small whoops bottoming the rear suspension. In the coming weeks I’m going to try and figure out what I can get rid of to lighten the load. I’m thinking that I should have gone with hard bags and ditched the duffle on the tail. All my stuff would have fit in the 2 Gobis hard bags i have, but  I hate those bags. Well, I’m committed with soft bags for now so we will have to see how they hold up.

Mike’s Sky Rancho is a Baja off road institution.  Every weekend many folks on dirt bikes come though and fill the place up as its a nice day ride in the dirt from the border.  I pulled up in the late afternoon to find the place deserted except for the staff.  I’ve been to Mike’s at least a dozen times yet it feels strange to be here with no one else around but the folks that run the place. No wonder, it was over 100 degrees in the valley as I climbed up into the mountains. Its also weird to see my 990 parked here as I usually come through here on my 450. As a matter of fact, I think this is the first time I’ve brought the 990 to Mikes.

I did about 215 miles of dirt this day over 8 hours with stops for the visa and a lunch break at Valle de Trinidad.  I intend to be up early to avoid the heat as much as possible and make my way toward Gonzaga Bay where I will eventually meet up with Mike from Tucson.