nklr: looking for riding amigos for baja and/or copper canyon

[Jud]

Mike, This may or may not help you, but there are one, maybe two groups planning to ride Copper Canyon in Feb. or March. These are entering mexico at Presidio/Ojinaga and will ride to Batopilas via Chihuahua and Creel. They are mostly experienced travelers in the area, and will take some routes that are not exactly undiscovered, but a bit off the beaten path. I do not think they are interested in Baja. If you wish to get in touch with them, you can read about their current palns and make contact at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DSAdventureRiders/?yguid=134437470 I have been to Copper canyon three times with some of this bunch, and it is a good trip. You do not have to be an expert rider, but they do take some challenging routes.

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "mjmc335" wrote: > > Thought I'd try this KLR group first since it's such a great group of (mostly) nice guys. > > Timeframe: > The dates could likely be moved up, or back, by as much as a week if needed, but the time off work has already been > approved for 3 weeks from February 22 though March 13. > > The basic idea: > Leave the SF Bay area on Feb 20 (or thereabouts), enter Baja at Mexicali Sun. the 21st (or so) > and spend the night in San Felipe. Ride south on Monday, tour around Baja for a while, take a ferry ride > from Santa Rosalia or La Paz over to the mainland, ride Copper Canyon, head home from there. > Mostly asphalt with just a couple of sections of dirt. > > For this trip there are just a few of goals, otherwise it's open: > > 1. Do the dirt from Gonzaga Bay to San Felipe (don't care which direction, north or south). > 2. Get all the way to the end of the Baja Peninsula. (only made it to Loreto last year) > 3. See some whales for one day (missed them last year) > 4. Maybe ride Copper Canyon (unlikely if I go solo). > 5. Make it back in one piece (a primary goal of every ride) > > Alternate ideas: > More time could be spent on the mainland if there was interest, or the trip could start there > and finish in Baja, though SWSBO is more amenable to me riding in Baja than the mainland > for all the reasons (real or imagined) we all know about already: drugs, automatic weapons, mayhem, > decapitation, H1N1, rampant crime, corruption. Actually that sounds more like Oakland, > near where I live on the US side of the border. > > About me: > I ride a 2003 low mileage KLR set up for just such a trip, 60 yrs old, self sufficient, with tools > and spares and am prepared to (try to) fix most anything on the roadside (flats, electrical > gremlins, minor mechanical, etc). I did Baja solo for two weeks around the same time last year and > had a great experience. My Spanish is minimal, but passable, and continues to improve. Dirt skills > are also passable but I don't expect to be doing anything much over my head, especially riding solo > (if necessary). Having a partner might allow some stretching out in that regard. > > If someone thinks a ride south sounds plausible and would like to join me, or has alternative ideas > around the same time frame (or a portion of that time) and would like another riding partner, give me a shout and we can > talk about it. > > Thanks, > Mike >