Sunday, April 9, 2017

Day 2 - Mikes Sky Rancho to San Quintin 100ish miles

Day 2
Mikes Sky Rancho to San Quintin
100ish miles




The Tecates flowed like the rio the night before as we shared stories with some other riders from Bend, Oregon. A bit of frost on the roof that morning had us like WTF! this feels like Montucky. We knew the cooler temps would be short lived. We exchanged some map info with the Oregonians and we shoved off south, with the idea of hitting their recommended trail out of Rancho Coyote. The trail out of Mikes was a work out for the ole KLR, with the other boys making short work of it. The baby heads were enough to keep my fully loaded bike on it toes.


Some awesome looking blooms as we headed out.


 We passed a entourage of Mexican 4 wheelers heading the same way. That must have been some slow going.


We stopped in at Rancho Meling for a few cold ones, the cervezas were mucho refreshing and we enjoyed the rancho porch.

We back tracked to Rancho Coyote and took the trail that takes off to the west just as you come into the ranch from Mikes (before the cattleguard). I was feeling some trepidation about the trail, as the riders who suggested it were obviously better and had 690's with a lot less gear. I agreed to give'r a try. We encountered some sand for the first bit and then got into a few rocky dry creekbed sections. While the KLR did handle it, it was at the upper limits of my skills and teetering on possible bike damage if I tipped er over. After 5 or so miles, we hit a junction and hung more to the south.


This overgrown and little used road was more manageable, just lots of rock. It spit us out at goat ranch, where we eventually encountered a locked gate. We reluctantly tipped the bikes over and dragged them under the gate, just thankful that the folks working in the nearby fields didn't seem to be concerned with us. We also took a few minutes to refurb my buddies drybag set up on 450. It was bouncing all over place and had already worked through one of his NRS straps.


We soon dumped onto the pavement and flowed through some nice looking ag land. There were a chitload of bees on that section, several times riding through what felt like someone tossing a handful of gravel in the air. Only one rider picked up a sting to the face.

We crossed Hwy 1 and headed out for the coast. This riding along here was some of my favorite, beautiful views and smooth. It was crazy to see how many folks were working along this section, bagging up rocks for what I assume was destined for landscaping purposes. And you thought your job sucked!


 We pulled into Molino Viejo right at dusk, ready for some good food and drinks. The boys ordered a couple of bubbling cauldrons of goodness






There were several moto groups hanging out at the hotel's bar area. A few cool guys from Colorado on 990's (advriders?) and a big possee of SoCal riders on smaller bikes. The hotel was great and the food even better. One guy commented on it being like the Claim Jumper of Mexico.....jajajaa



This dude was tearing it up in the bar. Good, but one of the more aggressive serenaders I've seen in Mexico. Are you having a conversation? Don't worry mi amigo.....I'll get a little closer and a little louder :-).

Here's a 60 second highlight of the day

No comments: