Oct. 6
The Full Moon at Gonzaga Bay

It was a our goal this trip to be very serious about our riding and to get to know as much of the northern section of the Baja 1000 course as possible (assuming that it would follow the same route from Ensenada to Bahia de Los Angeles as the 2004 course). We all promised each other we would not screw around this time, and we would not take any beer breaks. We were going to ride as far as we could this time. We started out in Ensenada and went to Ojos Negros. We noticed that route keeps changing every time we take it because of the new construction there. As we weaved ourselves through new homes and piles of dirt here and there, we found our way. I think it will be interesting to see how this year's course will go through that section.

Tim took the motorcycle this time because he finally gave up on our other 2 quads and the rest of us were on our usual training quads (I am still loving my new Honda, even though it is all scratched up from the 500 race and doesn't look so pretty anymore). Captain Dan chased us again and agreed to meet us at the gas station at Ojos Negros. At Ojos Negros we gassed up and then headed down the trail towards Tres Hermanos and then turned left to head back out to the highway again to meet up with Captain Dan at Kilometer 78. Just before we left, I managed to turn my GPS on to track the distance and my average speed. In this next section I was really going to work on my speed since the last time we went through this part I felt really slow.

We found Captain Dan at K178, and stopped to make sandwiches and gas up again. From there we went down the highway to Heroes de La Independencia and turned off at Santa Caterina to take the part of the 500 course that parallels highway 3 from the north side all the way to the goat trail that drops into Valle de Trinidad. Captain Dan was waiting for us there with the trailer and we decided at that point that because we didn't really know where the course would go from there over to the end of highway 3, and because we were anxious to get to know the section of the course south of Puertecitos, we would load up the quads on the trailers and get escorted to the point where the road started to get rough again somewhere north of Puertecitos and then drop the bikes off and continue riding from there. But before we did, I checked my GPS, which lost its face plate by now, but was still working. When I read my average speed, I couldn't believe it. I knew I was riding hard and faster than usual but because there was some technical stuff I was going over, I didn't think I could be going faster than 30 mph average speed. I found that I clocked a 34 mph average speed over the last 88 miles and that would now have to be my best recorded ride ever because of the type of terrain we were going over. But before I told the guys about this, I asked each one what speed they thought I was going. I knew that because I came in last, they would think I was going much slower. They guessed anywhere from 27-29 mph average speed. I guess my improvement surprised all of us.

We jumped into the suburban and even though we had driven this part before many times, we were all surprised how long it took us to drive to Puertecitos, just because we were thinking about it in terms of riding on the quads. After a 2 hour ride of joking around with each other and "drifting" on the highway through Captain Dan's special way of driving the Mexican highways, we finally arrived. We dropped the bikes and took off again, saying we were trying to go as far as we could towards Bahia de los Angeles.

It wasn't long before we realized we were basically on a flat open road as far as the quads were concerned. But for our chaser, it was a washboard road that would take forever to go anywhere on. We knew we weren't going to make it that far because Captain Dan was not going to be able to go too far on this road. The last thing I heard was that Craig was going to go back to Captain Dan and check on him and the rest of us were to ride about 50 miles south and wait for them. Since I knew we had some time now to play a little, I asked to switch bikes with Tim. I wanted to play with the motorcycle since this trail wasn't really doing anything for me for training on the quad. But when Tim and I switched bikes we were both off the radio because our radio systems are not compatible. Tim and I knew this, but no one else did.

At first I was wobbly and a little unsure of myself. Steve pulled ahead of me to get out of the way, and Tim stayed right behind me to watch me. As I started to get better on the bike, I was thoroughly enjoying myself and I was getting faster and faster. I honestly didn't know how fast I was going because it didn't feel like I was going that fast. The motorcycle didn't take in every little bump in the road like it seems the quads do. My only real worry was to stay out of the spots on the road with deep sand. I was pushing myself to explore what the bike could do, switching in and out of gears and going over different types of terrain. I decided that I wanted to see how fast I could go and still feel comfortable. The scenery started to wizz by me and it all quickly became a blur.

Meanwhile, Steve pulled off onto the beach to admire the moon that was now rising out of the gulf water. He radio'd to us to follow him, but of course I didn't hear anything. Tim saw him and went over to him. I was so into my ride, I didn't see either one of them pull off to the beach; I was having the best time of my life. I felt so free and I loved the scenery and I LOVED the MOTORCYCLE!!!!

Forty more miles down the road, I ended up in Gonzaga Bay with no one with me. I was going too fast for the guys to catch me and they didn't see whether I continued down the road or not. While I waited at a minimarket in Gonzaga Bay they were looking for me on the side of the cliffs thinking I crashed somewhere. I waited for a while thinking that somebody should be pulling up behind me at some point, but nobody came. I asked everyone there if they saw a guy on a white quad go by but everyone said not a single bike or quad had gone by in the last couple of hours. I was so used to being last, that I could not even imagine that I was so far ahead of the pack. I started to load up to head back north when the store owner came running out to stop me, saying that he thought they were trying to find me on their radio. It turns out that everyone was in Puertecitos and they had to relay messages on the radios through two towns over asking about "a girl on a motorcycle." I did not believe they were actually looking for me (I kept thinking it had to be someone else....even though when I drove up to the mini market pictures were taken of me because a girl riding alone on a motorcycle was such a strange sighting) until I insisted they tell me my name. I waited for 15 minutes until they relayed the message back up the coast and then back down again and then my name came through on the radio! SHIT! I knew I was in trouble now! I got the message that my husband was coming to get me and that I was to stay where I was. I figured that he would be there in a 1/2 hour. But it was actually atleast an hour and a half. While I waited, I bought a Corona, and admired the moon, and wondered what Tim would say when he arrived.

Eventually, I saw both Tim and Steve arrive with fire in their eyes and a few carefully selected set of words to express just how pissed off and concerned they were. Oops, I guess I really messed up this time! Leave it up to the girl to do something like this and screw everybody up!

We all eventually calmed down, bought some gas for our return ride and then bought some more beers (four of the really big size Pacificos) and sat and talked and joked around while I was told I had "manure for brains." When the anger and anxiety was completely worn off, and the beer buzz had me tangling my words up (repeating back "brains for manure" at some point provoked a laugh), we decided it was time to get back on our bikes and head north to meet up with Craig and his dad who we now assumed were not coming south. They both complained about how far we were from Puertecitos and I kept saying "bullshit, we aren't that far away!" But sure enough, it took us about 2.5 hours to get back. I was told to get back on the quad, and deal with the flat tire Tim got on it on the way down; I guess that was part of my punishment. Meanwhile, Tim had no lights, and both Steve and Tim's radio batteries were dead. But the moon was absolutely gorgeous. And even though Steve and Tim were bothered by the predicament I put us all in, I was loving every minute of it. I didn't care that I had to ride back on a flat tire while sitting on the gas tank of my quad.

In my defense, it just seems like when we are in Mexico and we are riding in the middle of nowhere in Baja you can never expect what's going to happen next. Strange stuff just happens all the time and too frequently so way out of the ordinary. Stuff happens so often that you stop questioning it...you start to realize it's just there, for what it is....whatever the hell it is! I don't know exactly why I kept going but that road with the beautiful moon rising out of the water was beckoning me to continue on with warm open arms, even though somewhere, way deep down inside me, I must have known I was leaving everybody in the dust.

When we arrived back at the truck, I asked Craig and Captain Dan to go ahead and get what they had to say to me out of the way. But Craig's only words were "Remember my last story to you? Remember what we learned? Never go off the radio!" Captain Dan's words were "Man that smoked chicken was good!"