After one of the worst nights of sleep of my life I drove today from San Luis Gonzaga all the way down to Santa Rosalia. I was super happy after being able to change the chain tensioners out last night but was bummed to find that towards the end of the ride today I needed to tighten the chain tension yet again. While I was doing so I saw just how worn down the sprocket and chain were. This spells impending disaster! This made me suuuuuper nervous and I drove slow the rest of the day dreading feeling the chain tug again.
It’s always the accidental shot that I end up liking the most
I am now 550 km from La Paz, where I hope to keep the motorcycle for a couple weeks while I go back to work. I am dreading the next 550 km. It will take 2 days and I know I will be fighting the chain the entire way. I know it could snap at any moment. I tried to find someone here that could change out the sprocket but found no one. I know the risk I am taking by going and I reeeeeeally hope I make it there. If I do I can maybe find a sprocket in the US or order one and have someone put it on when I head back to Mexico. I should have ordered one before but I thought they would be plentiful here. There isn’t close to the convenience here as Vietnam had when driving around. I thought with all of the bikers in Baja that there would be lots of mechanics and parts around.
Military traffic stop
The mechanic I did talk to said the next part of the trip is hilly as well. I think my plan will be to go to sleep very early and get up very early so that I at least have the road to myself. I was spoiled today with long easy straight roads.
It really was a gorgeous ride today and I ended up finding a rather nice hotel for 1200 MXN that has a wonderful view of the ocean. I am utterly exhausted after the terrible sleep last night and the long day of riding today.
But I’m grateful having met a few nice travelers today. There was a guy named Doug who drove all the way down from Alaska with his wife and a couple from Oregon that were enjoying some tacos next to me.
I woke up a little later than I would have liked but still got started around 930. It was a long hard day of riding but with absolutely spectacular sights along the way. At the suggestion of Daniel from the night before I took highway 3 instead of highway 1. This took me over to the east coast of Baja instead of west. This was an awesome decision as I could not have imagined highway 1 being better.
I passed a few military checkpoints but they never even glanced at me. The riding in the mountains was a bit windy and slow but once I was near the water it was gorgeous and just a straight shot down.
Mandatory taco stop
I’m finding gas stations to be pretty sparse. So in the future ill be stopping a lot more for gas just in case. I’ve got about a 200 mile range on the tank, maaaaaaybe 250.
Where I pooped
I finally got to San Luis Gonzago, the spot Daniel said I should stay at. The place I wanted to stay at was full which was really surprising. It wasn’t too far from sunset and I knew I wouldn’t have time to find something ahead. I walked in a store and there was a little reception there. They were renting out beach campgrounds so I went ahead and booked one. It was 250 MXN. I wasn’t expecting anything more than a little sandy square but was happy to see they had built these little bungalow things on each one which would block the wind some. The beach was gorgeous and the sun started to set right as I finished making camp.
I realized I would have way too much free time and noticed the bungalow would be the perfect support for the idea I had in mind. I ratcheted the rear of the bike up using the bungalow overhead and was able to pull the rear axle out and change out the chain tensioner that have needed to be replaced FOREVER. I’ve been so nervous driving knowing the right side would snap off at any moment and send me tumbling. I was able to quickly and smoothly change out both sides and I’m super happy that it’s done. I know I’ll feel less nervous on the bike tomorrow as everything is in great shape. The rear sprocket is getting worn down a little but I think I should be able to find a shop that can replace it. That also means I probably could use a new chain soon as it’s showing to be more and more slack.
Once it got dark I just sat in front of the beach and thought about life. The stars shone more brightly than I’ve seen probably since I was a kid. It’s a perfectly moonless night. It’s totally overwhelming. It gives me time to think about what’s important and what’s not. I pretty surreal moment alone.
I am planning on making tomorrow the longest day of riding. There’s not much ahead for me. Some more mountain riding. Because I’m camping I’m sure I’ll be up really early and once I take down camp I will get going
I started the day on brisk morning in LA. It was a pretty uneventful ride down but I felt the chain was a little loose. I really didn’t want to pull over so I just let it slip a couple times when I was pushing the bike hard. I’ll give it a quick tighten tomorrow but I’m nervous the aluminum piece will break and it will require a little bit of surgery to fix.
All in all it was a nice day of riding. No rain, in and out of clouds and sunshine, but just a little chilly in the afternoon as I went through some mountains on the way. Google sent me a little out of the way. I wish I had followed the coastal roads instead of the mountains.
At the border of mexico I stopped to get my FMM. This was a MUUUUUUCH easier process than I had anticipated. I had brought a bunch of printed paperwork because I thought it would be a rough process.
Pull over HERE for your FMM and Banjercito vehicle permit
The very important trick is to pull over where it says, “something to declare.” You will pull over to the right in front of the blue building below. From there you can easily walk into the office and get your FMM or permit if needed. The military guys there were nice and helpful too. They even had a nice doggo that tried to bite my boots.
All I needed for the FMM was my passport. They took that and charged me 638 MXN pesos. The lady was actually sweet and helped me out. She then pointed me to the Banjercito because I told her I had the motorcycle permit. I walked over there with my 50 documents shaking in my hand ready to be rejected. They looked at the permit and told me I already had it so what was I doing there. I sprinted out to my bike before they could change their minds and ripped into Mehico!
This is what your FMM will look like
These are the documents I had ready though because they are required
The permit for the vehicle which lasts 180 days(The FMM does as well)
Mexican motorcycle insurance. Mine cost $155.44 for 180 days with ABA CHUBB(great name for insurance company)
Registration
Title(not really required but I might sell it and would help with legalities in the future MAYBE)
It was then my immediate goal to get the hell out of Tijuana. The second to worst part about Tijuana is that at every light you need to watch someone try to juggle and drop their balls all over the place. The worst part is that you might get shot for absolutely no reason at all. So I hit the gas really hard and aimed for Ensenada, the first (kind of) safe haven after Tijuana.
My only Tijuana photo
What a breath of fresh air Ensenada was! I immediately got some carne asada tacos and then I checked into Hotel VillaFontana Inn($63) and took a quick hard napski. After the napski I walked around searching for more food. I found this pizza place called La Stella Pizza Centro and had an amazing slice of pesto pizza. Then I saw a well rated boba place on the map called Boba Bee so I bee-lined it there and got some delicious Thai Tea with extra boba. The lady was super nice and made a mean tea. Right next door was Wendlandt Brew Pub. I’m not usually one to eat at bars but it had good reviews. I was immediately turned off by the foreigners outside trying to entice mexican women to sleep with them but went in anyways. I sat at the bar, slammed down my thai tea on the bar and asked for some fish tacos.
My first Mexican tacos!
I can never pass up pizza
There was a dude sitting next to me so I struck up a conversation. This led to an awesome 2 hour conversation between me, him, and the nice bartender girl. He is a truck driver and had a lot of advice on things in Mexico. He pretty much planned the rest of my route out which was super helpful and even said he had family in La Paz where I could leave the motorcycle for 2 weeks while I go back to work later in the month(this is definitely going to be the hardest part of the trip)
The bartender girl(Karina) was really into anime and Japanese and Korean culture. Which was pretty cool to see. I retired pretty early and now it is bedtime here at the hotel.
