Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128141
really should have paid a bit more attention to some of the advice in my packet - but more on that later. The one thing I did take very seriously was the fact that the trails that we would be traveling on were extremely remote, and that having the proper gear in my backpack for the unexpected would be of paramount importance - you know, just in case I careened off a cliff and wasn't found for a few days. (Hey, it could happen.) A couple of the recommended items that stuck in my mind were a spare inner tube in case I got a flat, an assortment of tools for the bike, a Camelbak for water, and an emergency space blanket. Now, what would I need a space blanket for, I thought? Then my brain ran through a series of worst-case scenarios. If I needed the blanket, I figured I might need a basic first-aid kit as well, because the most likely reason for being stranded overnight would be that I stupidly crashed somewhere in the middle of nowhere. One thing that I lucked out on was that I never got a flat on the entire trip (which amazed me, considering the terrain), as I didn't have a means of inflating the tube if I did have to change it. Oh, well - lesson learned. Berroth also made some recommendations for the bike itself, such as a pair of handguards, which is probably the number-one item that I most regretted forgetting. My hands got hammered by every single willow tree, cactus and bush that came my way, and I'm talking about miles and miles of them. I bet I did at least 20 miles through stuff thick enough to make the lack of handguards absolutely ridiculous. Luckily, I was sporting a Cordura enduro jacket with padded elbows and shoulders that saved me from some of the abuse. DAV 1 The first day started early, as it was our heavy-mileage day - our (RIght) Don't mess with FMPs Bill Benotll, as Tom Thrailkill found out on day tllree. I think tIIis Is tile best practical-joke revenge anyone had seen In a while. Tom wandered out to the partdng lot that we were told was "secure", and found tIIat his bike had been monkeyed with. All In good fun. (Left) These anows are the single most important element of the entire trip. Miss one of tIIese and tIIere'. a good chance you'll be spending tile night alone In tile desert. group began departing around 7:30 a.m. The day was to consist of between 100 and 120 miles of the finest desert trails Northern Baja has to offer. The course was designed to entertain almost anyone, offering a bunch of triple-A loops for faster riders or those simply wanting to rack up some extra miles. The triple-A loops also tended to be a little more challenging than the standard routes. The first day's terrain consisted of a ton of tight single-track trails that meandered through some incredibly dense brush, most of it taller than me sitting on the bike. There were also some serious hillclimbs, including one in particular that was about a third of a mile long and covered in baseball- to cantaloupe-sized round rocks the entire way. The climb was a balancing act between sitting down for traction (while getting the crap kicked out of your kidneys) and standing up (and having the back of the bike bouncing and swapping all over the place). Good practice, though. Of course, what goes up must come down, and therefore we also encountered some pretty challenging descents, strewn with rocks and the occasional hub-deep erosion rut thrown in to keep your senses sharp. My brake-control improved dramatically over the couple of days of riding I did in Baja, but it sort of had to. One of the obstacles that everyone was talking about at the end of the first day was a gap between two rocks on one of the triple-A loops. The trail ran right through the gap, and there was a significant drop-off to the right and a rock wall to the left. The problem was that there was only room in the gap for me or the bike, but not both together. I, of course, discovered this by getting stuck and killing the motor on our Cycle News Yamaha WR426F test bike. I've become a lot better at starting the fmicky Yamaha four-strokes after getting a lesson from none other than Doug Dubach, but this wasn't the easiest spot to employ the routine. Once the bike was fired, I sort of fed the power on, put my right leg up on the seat and, with my left elbow on the II: U C •• rock, sort of scooting me along, I got out. It was comical - I know, because I stopped to watch a couple of the other guys in the same dilemma. The trail was well-marked, and I finally made it to the lunch stop, wondering how I was going to find the energy to finish out the day. As it turned out, the second half of the day wasn't as dramatic as the morning had been, but it did have a challenging, semi-dry stream bed to negotiate. This led into some sand and gravel washes, lined with willow trees to further abuse my now-tender hands. The day ended with a lot of gravel farm-roads, at which point I got temporarily lost with an editor from a British dirt-bike magazine. We found our way back fairly quickly and proceeded to the awesome Baja Mar resort on Baja's west coast, just north of Ensenada. Time for cervezas! DAve On the second day, a lot of the group was going to ride to the Cantamar Dunes, where some of the footage in On Any Sunday was filmed, but that wasn't for me. I'm sure the ride was a lot of fun, but after seeing the brochure for the golf course at Baja Mar, I had dragged my clubs along on the trip. I ended up participating in a golf tournament with a bunch of the guys. I was teamed up with, among others, Destry Abbott, and although I'm no pro, it's a good thing that Destry has a factory Kawasaki deal (sorry, Destry). If you like to play golf, I highly recommend the Baja Mar n.""s • FEBRUARY 1 3. 2002 25