Tag: BMW K1200RS

Baja Sportbike Touring in 2004

My good buddy Bryan sent an email to me earlier today asking if I still had the photos from our 2004 Baja ride posted anywhere.  Wow.  2004.  That trip was 16 years ago this month.  Where does the time go?

Anyway, by way of background, there were three of us on that ride:  Yours truly, my good buddy Marty (who you’ve seen in other spots here on the ExNotes blog), and another good buddy, Bryan.   This was to be an unusual trip, as we did it on sports bikes.  Marty had his K1200RS BMW (which, by the way, he still has), Bryan was on his VFR 750 Honda, and I was on my TL1000S Suzuki (which was probably the fastest motorcycle I’ve ever owned).  I used to have a site called MotoFoto.cc and I had this trip posted there, but that site came down when I started the CSC blog.  This trip was on the old MotoFoto site, and when Bryan asked about it, I thought I’d post it here.   So here you go…the original web post from 2004!

This trip was a quick, 1550-mile, 4-day motorcycle tour from Los Angeles  to Mulege in the Baja peninsula in January 2004.  Mulege is about 700 miles south of the border.   I shot all of the photographs on this page with the Sony Mavica CD400. It was digital photography state of the art, sort of, back in the day.

This was my fifth or sixth trip into the Baja’s interior, and I have to tell you that it just keeps getting better. The roads are fantastic, the scenery is awesome, and, well, read on.

We stuck to Mexico’s Transpeninsular Highway (Highway 1). Here’s a typical restaurant in one of the northern Baja agricultural towns. Bryan and Marty are getting ready to continue south into the Baja. Picking the good restaurants was easy…we just looked for the ones with lots of cars parked out front.
Bryan and Joe, stopped at a deserted Baja structure. Most of the Baja peninsula is very desolate.
The roads in Baja are awesome, with long, flat, high-speed straights, and lots of twisties through the mountains. It gets really desolate and interesting south of El Rosario.
We stopped for gas in Catavina, but the town’s generator was shut down for maintenance (as it is nearly every day). Marty is getting his BMW filled up the old-fashioned way. This was an adventure…real Indiana Jones stuff.

We were on our way to Guerrero Negro to see the whales.  The riding was fabulous, as it always is in Baja.  The TL1000S was an admittedly poor choice for touring, but it was fun.

The roads in Baja are awesome.  There’s a long stretch before the Pemex station about 20 miles north of Guerrero Negro, and the road runs straight as an arrow to the horizon for a good 30 miles.  I ran the Suzuki at 145 miles per hour for nearly the entire stretch as the sun descended.  It was a glorious ride until I ran out of gas, and when I did, it was as if someone had shut the ignition off on the Suzuki.  No sputtering, no surging, just a sudden shutdown.  I was carrying an extra gallon of fuel on the TL, and that got me to the gas station.

Marty and Joe, just before getting on the bus to see the whales.
This is Victor, who talked to us about the whales on our way out to Scammon’s Lagoon. Bryan shot this photo.
Another one of Bryan’s photos, showing the boats we used for watching the whales.
One of the many whales we saw on this tour.  I shot these photos, as mentioned above, with the Sony Mavica camera.  It was not really too good for this kind of photography because of the delay between pressing the shutter button and the camera reacting.

On the way in to Guerrero Negro, I had been telling Bryan and Marty about this fabulous fish taco truck.  They were probably tired of hearing me rave about fish tacos by the time we arrived, but when we did, wow, Tony did not disappoint us.

The real McCoy.  Wow, are they ever good…Antonio’s has been selling fish tacos in Guerrero Negro for 11 years (and that was in 2004). I stop there every time I go by.
Antonio, taco chef extraordinaire…circa 2004.
Bryan is a convert. So is Marty.  In fact, they both wanted to stop on the way back through Guerrero Negro just to get another fish taco.
One of the many roadside shrines erected in memory of someone who died along this route. You see these every few miles along the Transpeninsular Highway.

After Guerrero Negro, the whales, and Tony’s fish tacos, we continued south and then east, crossing the peninsula toward the Sea of Cortez.  San Ignacio lies about halfway along that stretch.  It’s a great place to stop and grab a few photos.

The mission in San Ignacio. This building is over 300 years old. San Ignacio is a small town just off the Transpeninsular Highway. If you are ever driving this route, you have to stop in San Ignacio to see the mission. It is one of the Baja peninsula’s most interesting areas, and every one I have ever taken there has fallen in love with the place.
The entrance to the San Ignacio mission.
A macro shot of the door to the San Ignacio mission.
The Virgin of Guadalupe, at the San Ignacio mission.

From there, it was on to Santa Rosalia and then Mulege on the Sea of Cortez. Mulege is a fun town, and the tiny Las Casitas hotel is just outstanding. The rooms were great, and the margaritas and dinners were off the charts.

We stayed at the Las Casitas hotel in Mulege, which is a hopping spot.

After we checked into the Las Casitas, we followed the road all the way to the Sea of Cortez just to check the place out.  It was a cool place.  It was a dirt road and the TL1000S was a handful, but it was cool.

Bryan and Marty on the Sea of Cortez. We had just driven several miles down a very rough dirt road to get to this spot. It was worth the effort.
Checking our route for the next day with the Sea of Cortez in the background.
The river running through Mulege. The date palms were introduced by the Jesuits hundreds of years ago. Mulege is one of several oases in Baja. It is an incredibly scenic spot.
Joe and Bryan, taking in the Mulege scenery.
The mission in Mulege. This building served as a prison at one point during its life. Life was so good there, though, that the convicts were released during the day to go to work and none ever tried to escape.
Another shot of the Mulege mission.
Joe and Bryan, with the first of many margaritas and Negra Modelos in the Las Casitas restaurant. The first of many. Actually, the first of too many.
Marty and Bryan enjoying their dinner in Las Casitas.
A painting in the Las Casitas bar.

On our way back north, we stopped in Santa Rosalia because I wanted the guys to see it and we hadn’t really spent any time there on the way south. Santa Rosalia is a bustling fishing town on the Sea of Cortez.

Santa Rosalia has a French heritage, and all the buildings are constructed of wood. It is a colorful little town.
Here’s a shot of the stained glass windows in Santa Rosalia’s interesting, Georg Eiffel-designed church. The little Sony did a pretty good job here, with the meter set to the spot-metering mode. Like all of the shots on this page, this is a hand-held photograph.
Another of the stained glass windows in the Santa Rosalia church.

We had a pretty rough drive on our third night in Baja. All of the books I’ve read advise not driving at night in Baja, and for good reason.  We rode 130 miles on a moonless night to get to Catavina.  Riding at night in Baja is not an experience I recommend. The roads are not lit and it’s amazing how dark it gets out there. Then, just to make things more interesting, the white lines marking the road’s edge disappeared about 20 miles before Catavina on those winding mountain and desert roads. Throw in stray cattle and blind corners, and, well, you get the idea.  We made it to Catavina safely and stayed in the La Pinta Hotel.

We stayed in Catavina on our last night in Baja at the La Pinta Hotel.  We were tired and sore from riding edgy sports bikes for three days. The photo above shows us getting ready to depart just as the sun was rising, with 400 miles to go.

It would have been nice to take more photos as we continued on through Tecate, but we were tired and just after crossing the border we were caught in a rainstorm near San Diego. We waited in a McDonald’s, so that’s about it for our Baja photos from this trip.

Want to  know more about Baja?  Hey check out these pages!

Epic Motorcycle Rides
Baja
Berk’s Works

Want to read more about Baja?  Here you go!

Thinking of riding Baja yourself?  You’ll need to get insurance, and BajaBound is the best there is!

The Three Flags Classic: Day 5

Day 5 would have us crossing another international border (this time in Canada, the third country of our 2005 Three Flags Classic rally), and it would be yet another grand day.  If you haven’t read the first four days, you might want to catch up by reading our prior blog posts here:

The 2005 Three Flags Classic Rally:  the Intro!

The Three Flags Classic:  Day 1

The Three Flags Classic:  Day 2

The Three Flags Classic:  Day 3

The Three Flags Classic:  Day 4

On to Day 5!

Day 5 would take us all the way in to Calgary, Canada!

We loaded up early again the next morning and headed north from Whitefish, Montana.   Wow, was it ever cold! It was 34 degrees when we rode across the border into Canada, and even though the sun climbed higher into the sky on that fine bright day, it grew even colder as we continued north. I had my electric vest cranked all the way up and I was still freezing.

We stopped for breakfast in Fernie after we crossed the border to warm up a bit.  Our route took us through a brief bit of British Columbia, and then we entered Alberta.  The route took us into the Kananaskis National Park in Canada on our way to Calgary, our destination that day.

The Canadian Rockies in Kananaskis National Park, on our way to Calgary. That’s my Triumph Daytona 1200 in front, and Marty’s BMW K1200RS behind it. Wowee, it was cold that morning!
Another photograph with the Rocky Mountains in the background. This was in Canada’s Kananaskis National Park, and that’s me next to my Triumph.
A comparable photo of Marty at the same spot with his Beemer.

We saw signs warning of mountain sheep crossing the road. I thought it would be great to see one, but I didn’t expect that I would. Then we started spotting the things all over.

Look closely. Way up the road. Just past the sign on the right. Do you see the mountain sheep standing there?

The first one was that lone sheep you see in the photo above.  We stopped to grab a photo, but I realized I had my Sigma 17-35 wide angle on the camera. I grabbed a quick shot from the motorcycle, but I knew the distance and the wide angle lens would make the animal just a tiny bit in the photo.  I didn’t want to get off the bike because I thought I might scare it away. I fumbled to get my longer range 24-120 zoom lens on the camera (it was in my tank bag).   The entire time I thought the goat would run away before I could get the lens on my Nikon N70.

Then the sheep looked directly at me and starting slowly walking in my direction.

“Uh oh,” I thought.

I didn’t know if mountain sheep bite or if they are aggressive.  Maybe it would come over and try to butt me.  I could see, even at a distance, that the thing had horns.  I had visions of it knocking me and the Triumph over.  My Triumph had never been on its side.  The scratches on that beautiful Daytona fairing would be tough to explain.  I remember wondering if I would be able to keep the bike upright if the thing butted me.

Little did I know….

Marty’s photo of my close encounter.

The sheep literally walked right up to me. I took this shot while sitting on my Triumph, at a distance of maybe 4 or 5 feet.

My new best friend. We were both feeling kind of sheepish.  I guess it was as curious as I was.

I shot up a whole roll of film and the thing was still hanging around.  I noticed that as it advanced, it would stop every few feet and lick the road.  I’m guessing that it was enjoying the remnants of the road salt the Canadians put down when it snows and the roads ice over.  Someone later said they are probably used to being fed.  I prefer to think it just wanted a better look at the Daytona. After all, it was the only Triumph in the 2005 Three Flags Classic.

It warmed up after that and it was a glorious day.  Our next to last checkpoint was in the Kananaskis National Park at a place called Fortress Junction.   Marty and I chatted with the other riders and then we rode the final leg of the Rally into Calgary.

A guy named Dave and his friend at the final checkpoint in Fortress Junction, Canada. It was a glorious day.

Later that day, we rode along a highway and then into Calgary, the endpoint for the 2005 Three Flags Classic.  I would be the turnaround point for Marty and me.   We still had a lot of fun in front of us…a couple of days in Calgary, and then the grand ride home.   On the ride home, we were on our own (it was not part of the Three Flags Classic, which ended in Calgary. That portion of our ride is coming up in future blogs, so stay tuned!

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Three Flags Classic: Day 1

A full day, Day 1 of the TFC05 was. 700 miles, two countries, and three US states. Good times and a great start!

Tijuana is where the 2005 Three Flags Classic started, and in order to start from there, we had to get there.  Marty and I both live near Los Angeles in southern California, and we had both ridden in Baja before, so getting to Mexico was not that intimidating.  But it was still a 140 mile ride for us and it still involved crossing an international border.  We rode down the afternoon before our departure, allowing sufficient time to find and check into the Tijuana Grand Hotel.

I was a bit nervous that day.  Yeah, I had done a number of big rides already, but for this one, I knew that I would be on the road for two weeks and that we would cover about 5,000 miles.  I also knew part of it would be hot, part of it would be cold, part of it would be sunny, and parts of it would most likely be wet.  I would be right on all counts.  I just didn’t know (yet) just how right I would be on all counts.

We arrived in mid-afternoon and walked around Tijuana a bit.  In those days, crossing the border into Mexico was probably the easiest border crossing you might imagine.  There were no stops, no visa required, no questions to answer…no anything.   All there was to it was riding under a sign that said Bienvenidos A Mexico, and trying not to drop your bike riding across a line of monstrous Bots dots (you know, those polished metal hemispheres the size of a large grapefruit…they were designed to slow vehicular traffic, and they worked).  Just like that, and we were in Old Mexico.

We found Tijuana’s Grand Hotel, we checked in, and we walked around downtown TJ a bit.  It was fun.  Goofy photos, and more.

Tijuana, the starting point of the Three Flags Classic. This was the view from our room in the Tijuana Grand Hotel.
Yep, Tijuana. Just making sure.
A sculpture in Tijuana.

We were having a good time, but what was really on our minds was the 3:00 a.m. departure the next day.  We were both a bit nervous about that.   To leave at 3:00 a.m., we’d have to get up at 2:00 a.m.  I briefly thought about staying up all night (after all, getting up at 2:00 a.m. would practically be the same thing), but I decided to turn in early and do the best I could to get some shuteye.   I might not have bothered…I was too nervous to really sleep well.  I knew we would be covering about 700 miles the next day, I was afraid I would oversleep the next morning, and I usually don’t sleep well the night before a big a trip.  I was in bed for maybe 5 hours that night, but I probably only slept for 45 minutes.

Whooping it up the night before our departure in the Grand Hotel in Tijuana. We would all be on the road at 3:00 a.m. the next morning. Can you picture almost 500 motorcycles at the border crossing at that hour!
We had an excellent buffet in the Grand Hotel the night before we left. We were on the road for 12 days and we never had a bad meal.

The next morning, well before sunup, we were off.  Normally, even back in those days, the border crossing re-entering the US in Tijuana is difficult.  Picture this…nearly 500 motorcycles idling north into a crowded but huge border station.  There were maybe 15 lanes heading north, but only two were open at that early hour.   All of our bikes were in those two lanes, with maybe 20 cars in front of us.   But the US border officers were efficient.  They opened several more lanes and motioned for the bikes to move into the newly-opened portals.   We were across the border in minutes.  It could have taken hours, so this was a big deal.

Once we entered the US, it was north on I-5, and then east on I-8, which we would follow well into Arizona.  It was still dark out, and we rode directly into what would soon be the rising sun.  It was cool, but not cold.   Life was good.  My Triumph was purring (or growling, depending on throttle position…nothing sounds as good as a Triumph motorcycle).  There were literally hundreds of motorcycles, and all were fellow Three Flags riders.   We were alive, out in the world, riding motorcycles in one of the world’s greatest motorcycle adventures.  We already had knocked down two of the Three Flags, and the sun was still hiding below a distant horizon.   This was good stuff.

The first checkpoint, in Holbrook, Arizona.

Our first checkpoint on the Three Flags Classic would be in Holbrook, Arizona.  Marty had done this before, and he knew the drill. I followed his lead.  I was lucky to be riding with a much more experienced motorcyclist.  It took away any anxiety.  It was a good feeling.

More Three Flags riders in Arizona. There were quite a few Harleys in this event. This is on the road to Payson.
Marty and I in Arizona on the first day of the event.

Shortly after we stepped up to get our event passports stamped, we experienced a severe rainstorm. We were delayed at the checkpoint for about an hour.   I didn’t care.  Covering the remaining miles that first day would take what it would take, as would the miles on the rest of the ride.  Yeah, we had to make the checkpoints.  But we were doing well.  My Triumph was running well.  Marty’s BMW was the Rolex of motorcycles, and it always did well.

After hitting the first checkpoint and after the rain stopped, we continued our ride and crossed the state line into New Mexico.  Wowee…what a day:  Mexico.  California.  Arizona.  New Mexico.  Two countries.  Three states.  All in a single day.  We stopped to take a few photos, and I was loving it.  My Nikon N70 35mm film camera was doing its thing, and I was working it.  I was seeing grand sights and and I wanted to capture it all.  I had two lenses with me…the old first generation 24-120 Nikon lens, and a 17-35 Sigma wide angle (which was actually a pretty decent lens).   Our bikes were magnificent…both 1200cc road-burning four-cylinder monsters, both with visually-arresting yellow paint themes, and both capable of stratospheric speeds and arm-stretching acceleration.  Both bikes could easily top 160 mph.  We could (and at times during the Three Flags we would) cruise for long stretches at speeds well over 120 mph, knowing adventures like this were what the engineers in Bavaria and England had in mind when they designed these motorcycles.  Great bikes, great company, great roads, and great scenery.  It was an awesome show, and we were the stars.

We covered 700 miles that first day, which would be our highest mileage day for the entire Three Flags Classic.  The guys who organized the 3FC05 had it wired.   The first day was the big mileage day, and every day after that the miles would decrease a bit.  It was a well organized event.  Hit the checkpoints, see what you want to see along the way, stay wherever you want, but hit the checkpoints.  It’s a great formula, and it made for a great ride.

That first night, we stayed in Gallup, New Mexico.  I’d never been there before.  Gallup, New Mexico.  On a motorcycle.  Wow.  The next day, the adventure would continue.  I couldn’t wait.

Hey, read the prequel to this great story here!  And would you like to know more about that dynamite Daytona 1200 I rode in the Three Flags Classic?  That story is here!