Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

touring the G_adalupe Loop / s PAC. l.J=-f e. OCEAN undoubtedly the c 1 e a n est and most charmIng city In the state of Baja California. It ts easUy reached over highways that compare with those In the U.S.A. so whatever else you do this year, don' t fa1l to go on the Cycle News' sponsored tour to Ensenada this year. The date w1ll be announced soon so keep watching for It In this paper. The quaint, "Old World" atmosphere and the gracious hospitality of the Mex1can peoplewlll completely captivate you and you w1ll learn to love the country as we do. The prices of the many Items in the " F r ee Por t" stores will please your pocketbook and you'll also wlsb that you had more r oom In your saddlebags. Miss your birthday, Thanksgiving L'ay and Christmas If you must, but whatever you do, don' t miss the Cycle News Ensenada Tour. Reluctan tly, we left Ensenada and pointed our caravan north to the junction of Mexico highway 3 at El Sauzal, a dis tance of about 6 mil es . We tur ned off on 3 towards tile nor theast. Highway 3 Is an exce llent highway which has been paved for about 7 years. It winds gen tly through lusb vine yards and olive gr oves and we notic e that the air Is becoming tncreasIngly dr y and warmer and li ttle whirl winds are seen spinning dus t devils along the edge of the highway. Some 17 miles fr om the Junction there Is a dirt road going west which, although unmarked, appear ed well traveled so we Inquir ed at the tiny gas station and found that It Indeed was the road to the village of Guadalupe (pronounced; gwah-da-loo-pay). ThIs little farming com munity Is situated along the Guadalupe River, which Is generally dry. Besides the verdant winegrape vineyards and dusty green olive Around the turn of the twentieth century, a grouP of Russian farmers founded a colony here In search of religious freedom. The colonists buIlt their homes and out buildings In the old Russian style, wore long beards and tathed in old country type sauna baths. Upuntllafewyears ago the old colonists were in evidence but they are dyIng off and their offsprings have inter mIngled with the Mex1cans or moved to Ensenada or the U.S, As we were leaving town bowever, the roar ot our seven cycles attracted much attention and we were rewarded by the sight of a couple of little tow-headed children running out to the1r gate to view the passIng parade. Taking the lead pos ition out of town, just after we had hit an extra big pot hole, dead center; our' fdllowers set uP a clamor of horn blowing so we stopped. We found that our styrofoam drink cooler which was strapped on our luggage rack had literally exploded , scattering Ice and cans of cold drinks all over the road. Our friends thought that our motor had blown and the shiny cans wer e engine parts fiy1ng out. At this point my wife stated that It wouldn' t be very d1f!icult to sell her a big Harley, atter seeing the smooth way those 74's negotiated the horrible Guadalupe main street. With the temperature still soaring and our cold drink supply all but ruined, one of the young saIlors was heard to remark, " I su re wish there was someplace where I could take otf my thermal underwear". He was just hack from Guam and had been having d1f!lculty keepIng warm but be adm itted that at lastlt was hot enough, After another 48 mUes of beautiful mountains and lush valleys we swung around a curv e and there In the valley .... ENSEHADA ~41f Story and Pbotos by Bill Harmer In a previous " Baja Tour" we mentioned the little village of Guadalupe which was coloni zed around the turn of the century by a band of Russians who came to Baja California In search of religious freedom. We had been told that there wer e far m houses still standing, that wer e built In old Russian architectural styles, and tow-headed children were s t1ll ln evidence In this little farmIng community. As we had committed ourselves to give you a fir st hand r epor t on this out of the way town, we decided to vis it It on the 4th of J uly holiday. At the monthly meeting of the San Diego County Road Riders' Association, we announced our plans and Invited anyone who wished to Join us . At the pre-arranged r endezvous, we met B1ll and Linda ' Jacks on who wer e riding a 350Cc Ka=sald, Har ry Teachout and Helen Ray on a Harley L'avidson 74' and Lawrence Johnson who had just taken deli very, from Andres' San Diego Harley L'avidson, of a new 74' • As a token of our Independence L'ay celebration, we pr esented each with an American flag decal which was Immediately aff1xed to our windshields. Ten minutes after the appointed bour we beaded our BMW s outh toward the Mexican border. Uponarrival at the Mex1can Insurance OtfIce, just before the actual International gate, we found three other bikes , whose owners were purchasing Insurance. Natually, we struck up a conversation and found they had read our previous tour articles and they asked If they could join us . Of course we were delighted to have them come along. They were; Al Baumann of the North Island Naval Air station, on a 305cc Honda, Rick K1aIn also of the Naval Air Station and his buddy, Burnie Smith on a 500cc Suzuki and a young civilian, John Sweet of San Diego riding a 250Cc Yamaha . Thus with seven bikes In our entourage (they got flags too), we headed down the Baja coast toward Ensenada . Our !Irst stop was the famous Hal! Way house which Is about 30 mUes below the border. Here we pos ed for a group picture and had some refr eshmen ts before continuing on toward Ensenada. ThIs was our fir st experience as leader of a group of cyclists and It made me appr eciate the job a good road captain does. Do you real1ze that If you ma1 ... a; .Q ~ Q. J.l ~ t.:I ~ t.:I .,J ~ U

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