Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

, Larry'Huff DIan, AI Martinez, Brad and Harry Oxley set out for a casual ride be10"" the border. Suddenly, they ""ere ••• ~ ~ • By Rex Reese ike any weekend adventure , this was supposed to be ' fun . Speedway Racing Association president Harry Oxley , his L teenage son Br ad . announcer Larry H uffman. and body and paint shop owner al Martinez. J r . had made reservations for what was to have been a weekend of play riding at Mike's Sky R a n c h in Baja. Their intended " a d ve n tu re " became, instead , a desperate struggle for survival when they became lost in the desert, far from their destination, and , according to the odds . far from any chance of survival. 10 Early Saturday morning, February 5. the Oxleys , Huffman and Martinez left their homes in San Clemente and began a journey that was supposed to end that evening at Mike 's Sky Ranch. Harry and Brad travelled in their Ford van , which is painted with murals of speedway riders on the sides . Huffman and Martinez followed the Oxleys down in Huffman 's ye llo w Ford Courier. Everybody was prepared for the ride below the border, with boots , leathers, jerseys, sweatshirts, riding ja ckets . helmets and glnvl's, Trail goodies and ca nt eens were packed along to que-nch appetites and thirst on the planned ride from EI Condor to the ranch, Loaded along with the gear , the van and pickup also each ca rr ied a pair of brand new Yamaha TT500s - fun bikes prepared for the fun riding planned. At 6 a.m .. rhey stopped in F.I Cajon for breakfast. Because heavy loodtends to make its pn'senCl' known during the exertion of a long trail ride everybody ordered lig ht meals , 'Besides, dinner would be waiting for r hern that evening at the ranch . Th e journey resumed a ft e r breakfast . According to plan , the caravan crossed over the border into Tijuana . From there they drove 40 miles east, passing through Tecate a nd stopping in EI Condor at 9 :30 , At EI Condor they unloaded the bikes and prepared to spend the rest of the d ay riding about 100 m iles to Valle de Trinidad and Mikt,'s Sky Ranch. Granola bars were stu ffed into th e pockets of Hondaline jackets. a lo ng with cha nges of socks and underwear . A Malcolm Smith bag was st ra ppe d to the rear fender of each 'IT 500, filled with tools , rope , a nd other necessiti es. The Oxleys and Ma rt inez had their Yamahas equ ipped with headlights , just in cast' it sho u ld get dark , Everything that co u ld be done right was done . What co u ld possibly go wrung? Five minutes into the trip , on th e rough dirt road to Valle de Trinidad , the Smith bag, a canteen and can of chain lube that Huffman had st ra ppe d to his bike's rear fender was discovered missing , An irritat ing incident perhaps, but nothing to worry about , - they had an adequate supp ly of wat er in their canteens , and one less wouldn 't make 'm uch of a difference. Besides, if they needed more , they cou Id gt't refil ls at I.aguna Ha nsen or at the gas stop at the Saw Mill or at even Santa Catarina : but there was alwa ys more water a long the way . Ten 'm ilt" la ter , Larry's bike came to a sudden, skidding ha lt. If the Yamaha's transmission had se ized, perhaps the trip would have ended there . Instead , the Malcolm Smith bag that " va n ished" with t he canteen and chain lu be actua lly had become st uck between the rear wheel and swingarm . The removal of the bag fixed the situation , and once again they were on their way , Harry, Brad, Larry and AI went on 30 more miles through thc mountain co unt ry of Laguna Hansen and the Saw Mill. Saw Mill was the halfway mark on the way to Valle de Trinidad a nd Mike's Sky Ranch . Theft', they topped nff their gas tanks at a gas stat ion and told Fred , the station o wner , that they'd be returning late Sunda y afternoon . At 3:00 p .m. the group had put the mountains behind them and reached the sm a ll town of Santa Catarina , Her e thc road forked : if they went straight ahead , they would meet up with the paved, road that led to Valle de Trinidad . The dirt road that forked to the left paralleled the highway and co nverged with it near Valle de Trinidad. To those who went to Mike's Sky Ranch , this dirt road was often n'g-arded as " t h e back way" to the ranch . lIarry and Brad , Larry and A I had come down to Baja to ride and play in the din : the paved road 10 Va lle de Trinidad wou ldn 't be as fun as ta king the din road in , It was the din that co u nted . At the fork , a boy was sitt ing on a burro tending to some cattle . The riders stopped to ask directions, and yes, said the boy , the road to the left wou ld take them to payement. OK. The road, as they eventually discovered, had been used as part of , the S.C.O.R.E, 1000 course and was marked accordingly with ribb o ns. The ride had been marked with the usua l fooling around and p lay racing that m ake u p almost any trail ride. T his was ce rtainly no exception as they continued to dice it o ut I down t he road . Fo llowing the ribbo ns would be easy enough: just follow th em in to Valle de Trin idad and have fun on t he way. But when they reached Ra ncho Nuevo, nobody gave a second thought as to where the ribbons we re lead ing to , Everybody was gassing it, Time flies when you're having fun . Ra ncho Nuevo was situated whe re the road crossed a sandwash. If they had followed the Toad , Harry, Brad , , Larry and A} would have rea ched the southbound highway to Valle de Trinidad: from there it would have been a short trip over some small ' mountains into Trinidad and Mike's Sky Ranch . Instead , they kept on following the ribbons leading up the sandwash that travelled eastbound. up and into the Sierra Juarez mountains. It was very late in the afternoon when the four riders descended the far side of the mountain and into the trouble that was waiting for them. Never did it occur to anyone that they would be running into trou ble, Harry Oxley had been to Mike's Sky Ranch two or three t imes before and was expecting to cross over a m ounta in before hitt ing the ra nch . Anyti me now, they thought, Valle de Trinidad wou ld be just around the corner. Going up the mountain, Ox ley's glasses broke when a screw fell out of the frame, As they stopped to attempt repairs, AI decided to p ut up a "Who's AI Martinez?" sticker on a rock by the trail. As he did , he also discovered a

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