Sep. 15-17

Steve	Jess

This weekend our plan was to complete the whole western half of the last 500 course on Saturday, starting from Ensenada and heading down past Erendira, by way of Ojos Negros, Tres hermanos, Lagrimas, Uruapan, Sto. Tomas, etc. We also thought that we would complete the Mike's Sky Ranch loop on Sunday. Craig and Steve headed down to King's RV camping in Ensenada Friday night and I drove down Saturday morning. Tim had to take a test on Saturday, so he had to skip the Saturday ride and drive down in the evening. Steve, Craig and I managed to make it all the way to the Pacific Coast (right where we turn south to head for Erendira) and then Steve got a hole in his back right tire. We tried to plug it with a bunch of tire plugs and ended up wasting a bunch of CO2 bottles on it too, but to no avail. So, like a team, we stuck together and crippled back to camp by way of highway 1. I felt like I rode miserably bad that day and while I knew I was generally slow compared to the guys I was riding with, something wasn't right with my bike and it felt like it was making my riding even worse. It wasn't until we were back at camp, when Tim started asking me questions about the bike and the ride, that I realized that I had not adjusted the air in my back tires before the ride. I discovered one tire was at 11.5 lbs and the other was at 9.0 lbs. DUH! I like to ride my tires at 8lbs each, and I think the tire pressure really contributed to my wobbly feeling while I was riding that day. The next day we got up and did our usual team arguing about where to ride and how to logistically complete the ride with the right amount of gas, etc. This time we did not have anyone chasing us, and it was even more crucial that we were able to have gas stops at strategic times to allow for Craig and Steve to gas up every 60 miles. We knew we wanted to do the Mike's Sky Ranch loop but there was worry that we were leaving too late in the morning to head all the way down highway 3 to the Mike's Sky Ranch entrance and then do the loop and then head all the way back to camp. To save us from at least a little bit of the agony later on, this time we made sure everything was packed up at camp before we left. Before leaving Ensenada, the guys attempted to stop for breakfast at a small restaurant. But, for some reason they refused to serve them. After the guys waited a little while, Craig went to fetch me (I was staying with the quads) to use my Spanish with the waitress, thinking that maybe it was because their requests were not understood. However, when I got the waitresses' attention and asked if our order could be taken, I got the rudest brush off and was told they were busy. We noticed they had taken the order of at least 2 other families who had come in after the guys, but who were also locals. So in true style, all members of the all-American team pushed out their stools, stood up, and marched out. As we were leaving, I heard one waitress ask what was going on and the other explaining that we were leaving because she couldn't serve us. While this managed to make a point with the restaurant and their awful rudeness, we were still left with grumbling tummies and we were starting to get grouchy!

We continued to argue about which ride we should do that day while we continued to drive south down highway 3 (this was starting to be a problem with the team, we gotta get our acts together and just do what we originally plan). Eventually we came across Restaurant Trailero, which Craig had fondly remembered from a previous trip. We stopped to have machaca and beers for breakfast while the lady who served us danced with her fly swatter in the kitchen. She told me that the town of Heroes de La Independencia had a lot of flies because of all the horses, cows and pigs in that town. We then continued on to Valle de Trinidad, where we would gas up, leave the suburban, and start riding for the day.

We geared up and mounted our bikes as fast as we could because the day was getting on by now. But it still seemed to take us forever to get ready. It was getting hot and we were getting anxious again, but as soon as we took off we all settled in to a good pace and began to remember again why we loved doing this. I was really looking forward to doing the Mike's loop because this was where I have had such difficulty in all of my rides through there before, especially in the 500 race. I knew that by riding with three other guys better than me, I would be able to conquer this trail this time and I hoped to learn something to improve my technique at the same time.

We had the plan of riding to Mike's Sky Ranch, asking for gas there, then riding on to Rancho Coyote, fueling up there for sure, then completing the loop by dropping down into Valle de Trinidad from the mountains. We rode up to Mike's Sky Ranch and discovered that this time Craig had a small hole in his tire. While we stopped to patch it up, another 4 wheel drive truck rolled up with 4 older guys in it. As they stepped out of their truck a couple of beer cans fell out. They asked if the famous Mike's bar was open and I said "no, but I bet if you go into the kitchen and tell them they have 8 beer drinkers outside, they might open it up for you." Next thing we know, they walk out with 8 Pacificos and we all immediately hit it off and start talking. Three rounds later (each taking turns buying them) we were still sitting there at Mike's drinking and talking. Yes, the spell of Mike's Sky Ranch got us... even us dedicated ATV racers! But you know what, it was Mexican Independence Day weekend and we were just joining the locals in celebrating this very important day (at least that excuse seems to work in Mexico)!

Soon, we see Craig clearing his gear off of his bike to let one of our new friends go for a ride. "This otta be interesting," we all thought. But he slowly pulled away, drove about 100 feet, and then turned back around, saying, "I don't need to be doing this!" "Smart guy," I realized. He even admitted that he forgot where he placed his beer before he got on!

We finally pulled out of Mike's and ventured on to El Coyote. Steve and I began to tell race day stories because we both had extreme difficuly in this section in the 500. It was interesting to see the actual locations of the stories we had told before. Steve somehow made it through this entire section by having to pull on a throttle cable with his right hand off the handlebar after having been hit and demolished by one particular trophy truck in the race. This was the section I loved most because I got to see Tim witness the most hellacious part of the course and hear his confirmation that these hills were indeed worse than the Lagrimas hill I used to be so afraid of. I also was happy that I was climbing through this section with much more success than ever before and I was riding 100% better than the day before (I guess tire pressure really DOES make a difference!).

When we made it to El Coyote, we ordered gas and beers at the same time. O.K., I know a bad pattern was developing here, but there was something about this beautiful Sunday that made us want to stop for beer breaks. La duena there was so nice and carried on a nice conversation with us. The ranch was so peaceful too. We laid down onto the grass underneath the windmill and got lulled into an extra long break from our ride. Eventually we forced ourselves to get up and pile back on our bikes. Now we knew we stayed so long that we would be riding back in the dark. But this was good for us anyway because Steve and Craig did not have a lot of experience riding at night.

We made it back to the truck with only one mishap, Tim struggled to stay on top of the Bombardier all day in the technical terrain because he did not have a steering dampner (it was taken off to put on my bike). He crashed down the side of the trail and by the end of the ride, he not only stated that it was extremely difficult to ride with out a dampner, but that the Bomb was not the best bike for this kind of riding....all I could think was "YES, FINALLY HE AGREES WITH ME!" but instead I hugged him, hoping to take some of his frustration away.

It was pitch dark and we were afraid to look at the time. I stood around helplessly while the guys lifted each quad onto the trailer again. Since we had started a great trend that day and since I had nothing better to do, I served up another round of beers from the cooler. Now, it was time for the LOOOOOOONG ride home. While there weren't any serious problems going home this time, we still didn't get home until 3:00 a.m. again.

And yes, like the pro racers we are....we all made it in to work as we were meant to on Monday in spite of our late arrival home.