All of a sudden this adventurer biking malarkey its getting a bit hard

We had a great time in San Diego, well nearby to it anyway. The bike was in the shop so myself and Sandra took a ride into the old town on public transport (a trolley), very cultural and educational. That evening we met up with Jim and had a great evening chatting about the travelling we had done and what the future held. The next day we picked up the shed with two shiny new cylinder head gaskets.
A quick test ride showed that my right boot was now completely free of oil and the bike was running great. Dave, the guy who did the work, also adjusted the rear shock (remember we replaced that at Fairbanks) and the ride was so much better.

We said our goodbyes to Jim (knowing full well we would meet up another day) and went on our way to the Mexican border. This, dear reader, was the start of many troubles. I picked up my motorcycle insurance en route, no problems there, and headed straight for the border where I completely went into sheep mode and followed everyone through the checkpoints .....bah. We were waved through by a Mexican official, no USA officials in site ......... bahhhh. I was like a zombie feeling relieved that this was so easy. It was only when we where 5 miles into Mexico I woke up and realised that no one from the US could know that we had left, and no one in Mexico had any idea we had arrived so it's back to the border queuing for God knows how long, the shed getting hotter then hell as we tried to get back to the USA to tell them we had left. To cut a long story short we did it, and with all the right paperwork and stamps we felt better setting off this time. We made it to Ensander and a nice hotel with a talking parrot



This helped us relax. We even joked about how little cash we had left but felt an ATM would be at every town. The next day we set off south to a little place called St Rosaria. This town was in it's past, the first check point for the Baja 1000 off road race, but today it's little more than a collection of motels and a shop, and absolutely no bank or ATM. That evening we had a choice to make, ride on to Gierro Negro and hope for an ATM, or back 50 miles to San Quentin where we knew there would be one. It should be noted at this point that my bank had seen a cash withdrawal in Mexico and promptly shut all my accounts down even though I had sent them a detailed itinerary of places we were to visit. Anyway, we decided to back track 50 miles and get as much cash as we could. This was done early the next morning. However, as we climbed our trusty steed after the cash withdrawal lo and behold my left boot was covered, and I mean covered, in thick oil. A slow journey back to St Rosaria had us booked into the only other hotel in town and me ripping the shed apart looking for the leak. A call to Dave the chap who had done the work instantly identified the problem. The left hand chain tensioner had worked loose and was pumping oil out. Easily fixed if you have a 17mm ring spanner with a cut down handle to get into the awkward space which I did not. However the chap who owned the motel give me his tool kit and Sandra found a 17mm ring spanner with the handle cut off....... job done.


We knew at this point the rest of the adventure is going to be very different. No more the luxury of English speaking people and the good climate. We had to get by on what little Spanish that parrot in Ensenada had taught us and the riding conditions would be much much tougher.

Undaunted by this new revelation we set off the next morning and went through some very hot and windy conditions to reach Gierro Negro and found a hotel that was clean and nice wth a a great fish restaurant so Sandra and I ate well that evening. Today we had an early start. Very cold and cloudy to begin with, but it gets hot very hot very quickly. Really strong winds again blowing us from pillar to post. We rode to El Rosilaria then onto Mulege.

The scenery is really changeable odd rock formations and fields of cactus just like you see in the cartoons.

Some landscape is like you are on the moon and other times in vast mountain ranges. The only sad thing is the amount of litter that follows the highway.


The heat and the winds and being exhausted causing me to lose my temper (with myself) so we knew it was time to stop. We are hot, bothered , exhausted and overheated and needing a little break before we can move on. This all happening on Sandra birthday, one she will remember I have no doubt, but not for the right reasons. Anyway we have found an oasis in this sea of heat and wind. It has a pool and a bar and a bar in the pool ,so this will do as we rest up for a day or two.