March 7th Beaches Bikes and Birds

Beaches. We have reached the part of the Baja where the beaches get better, the weather gets warmer, the bikers gather and the birds hang out in numbers. The Bahia Concepcion is a huge shallow bay with some of the best Baja beaches, many of which are colonised by RVers from further north every winter. Some arrive with a small car pitch a little tent and others come with the kitchen sink, building this sort of thing. On some beaches waterfront access is now completely blocked off by these structures. At Buenaventura beach I checked out that I can still snorkel. The bay was full of scallops including the giant Lion’s Paw. I could easily have picked up dinner. There was also a healthy fish population which did not seem gun shy so I guess spear fishing is not popular here.

Bikes. Two types have got our attention. The first is pedal powered and carries some hardy types who are cycle camping their way down the Baja. The second are off roaders loaded with luggage who come down to use some of the desert sand rods used in the BAJA 1000. [ Look it up on the internet – this is serious lunacy ] I have never seen so many KTM 660s and even the odd 990 on the road. It was amusing to hear the “ There I was stories “ from the wannabees around the campsites in the evening.

The whole idea of riding a motorcycle the length of the Baja Peninsula against a clock belongs to motorcycle racer-turned-Hollywood stuntman, Bud Ekins. And it was American Honda Motor Company (AHM) who supplied the vehicle to make it work. Actually, it was AHM Sales Manager Jack McCormack and Western States Sales Manager Walt Fulton whom Bud convinced a "Baja Trail Ride" with Honda's brand new CL72 Scrambler would be a great way to kick off sales for Honda's first dirt bike.

In 2006, the last running of the full race 1000 miles plus, on dirt roads was won by a bike with a time of 18 hours 17 minutes beating all the cars even the unlimeteds.

TO MY 42 LANE FRIENDS "Yup bikes rool"



Birds. We have stopped before in our travels at US state parks that claim to be bird sanctuaries and bird hot spots.
However I saw a bigger variety of species including hummers on many of our morning dog walk/trolley push outings down here. One that is common throughout USA and Mexico is the Turkey Vulture. If this guy was rare then people would travel thousands of miles to see him. I have watched and marvelled at how skilled they are at working the tiniest of thermals, ridge soaring in the roughest of conditions and staying up without any apparent effort when everything else is flapping madly. They are striking in the air with their two tone wings and effortless flight.

Charro has a new girl friend. Well she is anyones friend. Mexican dogs have been well behaved and friendly, so far.