Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ro lling into one of t he many towns in Baja , Chris Haines leads us on a 150-mile trail ride to Mike's Sky Ranch . Many of the trails we rode were the same ones used in the SCORE Baja 1000 Off-Road Race. Riding the Chris Hain.s Baja Off-Road Tour Baja, beaches and margaritas By Kit Palmer Photos by Dain Ginerelli and Palmer T rail ridin g in Baja Cal ifornia, Mexico, I S an experience of a life time. Baj a offers just about everything -an off-road m otorcycle en th usiast could want: endless miles of trails, a wide variety of terrain, small towns to ride to, and through, a pleasant. climate and some of the most beautiful 26 scenery in the world. Although Baja seem s like an off-reader's idea of paradise, riding in Mexico can also be risky . It's not the p lace you want to go riding alone. When riding south of the border you sho u ld buddy up with someone who is familiar with th e trails and who kn ows all th e ins and o uts of traveling in Mexico. That's wh y Chris Haines, form er fa ctory mech anic for T eam Honda and sixtim e Baj a 1000 finisher , started Baja Off-Road Tours (BO RT). In 1987 Haines scored hi s best Baja 1000 fini sh a t third o vera ll / first Class-3D (30 years of age a nd o lder) with teamma tes Danny LaPorte a nd Scot Harden. After raci ng the Baja 1000 six ti mes , incl udi ng cou ntless hou rs of prerunn in g and trai l ridi ng, Hain es kn ows Baja like the back of his ha nd. He now wa n ts to share hi s Baja experience with o ther off-road mot orcyclists who have not had th e cha nce to rid e th e un ique trails of Baj a. Haines left Honda a t th e end of th e 1987 ' Nati onal MX season and sta rte d th e Baj a Off-R oad To urs bu sin ess in December of th e same year. T he tour was forme d to give people 'a cha nce to ride , in Baj a witho u t ha vin g to worry abo ut th e some ti mes maj or ha ssles th at nor mall y goes along with riding in Baj a. It costs a healthy $1200 to tak e the tour, but you get plenty, including three fu ll days of mostly off-road riding, a chance to ride much of the Baja 1000and 500 race courses, a onenight stay in Ensenada and two nights at the infamous Mike' s Sky Ranch, mea ls, basking in the sun on the beaches of San Felipe, and fullyprepped Honda XR250s a nd 600s to rid e. Also included in th e fee is Mexican insurance a nd an Air-Evac card in case yo u get hurt on the rid e a nd need to be air-lifted back to th e States. Just bring yo ur rid in g gea r a nd th e rest is handled for you. Haines recently invited Cycle N ews and other motorcycling press ed itors to experience one of his threeda y trips. Our trip actually began north of th e Californ ia /Mexi co border in Mission Viejo where Haines and the rest of the group, including a chase tru ck, met before ,heading south to Ens en ad a, which' is a pproxima tely a n hour's drive across the border. We spe nt th e night in Ensenada at the La s Rosas H otel, one of the fin est hot els iri Baja , located right on the Pacifi c Coast. After a 7:30 a.m. breakfast we were on o ur XRs , mounted with Michelin Mousse foam inner tube tires . There was no need to worry. about gelling flats. The bik es also had suspension modifications done by Al Baker's XR Only. They were the same XRs that will be used for future tours. Wh en we left th e hotel, so did Lynn, the chase tr uck driver, who Carried tools, gas , food , water, and just about anything that m ight be need ed on the trai l in a 4X4 pickup. Lynn would meet us at many planned pit stops to refuel , or to make motorcycle adj us tme nt s along th e trail, as we made our ISO-mile trip to Mike's Sky Ranch, following the exac t route used in the Baja 1000. Lynn also carried a videotape camera a nd filmed as much of the rid e as pos sibl e. Each night we would wat ch the day's rid e o n television. H aines pl ans to tape every tour a nd offer each participant a recording of the ride. The trails we rode weren 't necessari ly difficult, especially the first da y, but you had to be ca ut io us every foot of the way. Blind turns and rises could turn up a nyth ing on th e other side : truck s, ru ts, rocks , people, a nima ls, fen ces, etc., but if you 're carefu l you' ll survive. The tra ils we rode were mostly two-trackers or dirt roads, a nd in th e wide ope n sectio ns it was easy to sig h t-see a nd check out th e co untryside. Some of the sigh ts were breathtaking. ' , Du ring th e first da y of our ride we traveled through roll in g grassy hills, up into th e mountains a nd through the pine trees, Our desitination th e first da y was Mik e's Sky Ranch located a bo u t 100 miles northwest of San Felipe. We reached Mike's about 3:30 p.m. and headed stra ig h t for the showers (the trails were du sty) , whil e Haines immediatley prepped a ll th e motorcycles for the next day's ride. We never had to touch the motorcycles, Haines took care of everything. Mike's Sky Ranch isn't a Holiday Inn or anything, but it is there! Ro o m s are basic with beds, a bathroom (including shower) and a gas la ntern . Mike's does have a kitchen, which serves a good, fill ing dinner at 6:30 p.m., a swimming pool and a bar where you can swap " how-f-almost-bailed" stories over true Mexican rnargaritas, But don 't be surprised if Mike turns off the generator around 8 p.rn., and it's lights out. This happened to us. (The gas lanterns aren't for show). Breakfast was ready at 7:30 a.rn., and we were back on the trails by eig ht. Day two's itinerary was to ride ' to San Felipe, hav e lunch and ride back to Mike 's - a 160-mile loop. The ride to San Felipe was tougher than the previous da y's trail , especially one 18-mile long section of whoops. We gladly reached San Felipe about noon, ate lunch, and took a dip in th e Gu lf of California, then stretched out on lawn chairs next to a pool by th e beach. It was rough. . ~ We suited up by two o'clock and headed back to Mike 's, o neof the best rides of the three days. The trail was wid e open, fairly smooth and j ust p lain fun. We came across a huge dry lake bed and were ab le to drag race each other on the big 600cc XRs , topped out in fifth.gear. Finally we reached Mike's and were feeling the effects of ' the two days of riding, and the longest day was yet to come - a 2oo-mile rid e back to En senada along the Pacific Coast line. So wh en the generator came to a halt, no one complained. A good night's sleep was welcomed. Leaving Mike's for the last time at 8:00 a.rn., we negotiated down a Mike's Sky Ranch was t he nucl eus of ou r j ourn ey. We spent two nights there before heading back to Ensenada.

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