sick days in MEXICO
i go to work when im sick so i can use my sick days for stuff like…leaving the country to ride dirtbikes. since the first time Mark rode the baja in Mexico he has been telling me non-stop that i need to experience it for myself. spending four days riding hundreds of miles of the hardest terrain through the most desolate areas of a foreign country doesnt sound like a vacation to most, but i knew mike “party boy” emery would enjoy this trek. with all the news reports of violence, kidnapping and corruption in Mexico my last phone call before crossing the border was too my mother who laid down the law “dont hang out with any bad people”.
all loaded up and making a run for the border
all laced up and ready to cross the border. literally rode through Mexican border on the bikes into a city called Tecate. right through the city streets to the highway and then out into the hills. i couldnt believe it was legal
we ended up riding 30 miles into the country the first afternoon to a small village/ hotel so that first thing friday morning we could really get on our way.
milk jug gas station
mother and her young welcoming committee
like father like son
would you follow this guy into the interior of a foreign country?
this mongrel followed us to our room
Mike has a “real” camera he lugged along. for “real” high quality photos of our journey go here : http://emeryphoto.blogspot.com/
as authentic mexican as you can get
DAY ONE:
miles traveled: 3000 by air/ 30 by moto
near death experiences: zero
number of “bad people” i hung out with: zero
Since there is no possible way to really capture the difficulty and technicality of racing or riding in the baja i did a quick video search and posted the first video i found so you can get an idea of what a 200 mile off road day of baja really is like. its beats the shit out of you
suns up. lets roll
a well known breakfast spot in the village of Ojos Negros
circus is in town
if you ride a “moto” all the locals assume you are a pro racer and all they want are stickers. it doesnt matter that they have no idea what the stickers is. mark makes friends with the natives. 
gringos
miles and miles away from civilization we came across a local woman and infant who was stuck. she nearly drove straight into this hole which was easily 10 feet deep.
stopping for a second to take it all in. the miles we covered and the speeds we were traveling made it hard to take any pics of the actual riding. these were literally cattle trails, farm roads, river beds, mountain trails that are hundreds of miles from any sort of civilization
the gas station attendant at this fuel stop spoke very good english. when Mark commented on it he explained that he had lived in the States for years before being deported after being caught with “a little bit” of weed. when i asked what “a lil bit of weed” was he said 200 lbs.
all fueled up… back to no mans land
this is along the driveway of our destination for night number two. the world famous Mikes Sky Ranch. his driveway is 30 miles long over dirt, rock, streams up and over numerous mountains and valleys.
welcoming committee
pool was empty for painting which sucked
garage kept
this place only has electricity when they start a generator as the sun goes down and they let it run for just and hour or two and that it.
the water crossing on the way in and out is NOT optional. after a rain it is measured by feet not inches
we were pretty beat after the day that we couldnt wait for the sun to go down so we could go to bed
DAY TWO:
miles traveled: 205
near death experiences: 5 (blowing turns at high speed into ravines or hitting random cattle in the trail)
number of bad people encountered: zero