41 degrees, rain, and it’s sure good to be home…

The forecast was for rain and cold in Tecate yesterday morning, and the forecast was spot on.  It was wet and cold, and the ride home was a trying one.   We did just fine, though.  Thanks to my good buddy Abe, I knew how to use the break in the fence just before the border control station, we jumped the line, and the guy at immigration processed all of us at the same time.  It was the quickest transit back into the US I’ve ever experienced.

But it was raining, and wow, was it cold.   It was slow rolling on the way home, mostly because I was the guy leading our group and I couldn’t see very well with my visor being covered with raindrops and steaming up on the inside.  I’d open it a crack and the fog on the inside would clear, but then I’d get raindrops on the inside.  Like I said, visibility was poor.   We fought the rain for all of Highway 94 to the 805, and then, once we were on the 15 headed north, the rain ended and we cruised at 65 mph to the CSC plant in Azusa.

We had a great time, but the riding was physically demanding.  The roads in Baja were in the worst shape I’ve ever seen, with 100-mile stretches of large and deep potholes.  We ran what essentially became a 65-mph slalom through these areas, weaving right and left, dodging the potholes as best we could.  Occasionally they stretched across the entire road, and if they weren’t too deep, we just rolled through them.   It was rough riding.  I have a tendency for my left shoulder to act up on longer motorcycle rides, and the pounding we were taking from the potholes and Baja’s famous topes took their toll on me.   My shoulder was on fire for the last three days, and I was popping those 750-mg farmacia acetaminophen pills like they were candy.  The weather was a lot cooler on this run, too, much more so than any of the earlier Baja runs we had in the past.  I was surprised at how much the cold weather was affecting me.  The other guys handled it just fine, but I don’t mind admitting I was feeling it.

After that 177-mile day from Tecate to the CSC plant, it sure was great to be back home. Everyone was in high spirits.  It was another year, and another CSC Baja run.  As I enjoyed a glass of Malbec with Susie and J last night during dinner, I thought about all we had accomplished during the last 8 days.  The riding.  The whales.  Tony’s fish tacos.  Riding the dirt road to the cave paintings.  The paintings and our guides there, with Joaquin eloquently translating for us.  The amazing lunch at Rene’s in San Ignacio.   The run down La Cuesta del Infierno into Santa Rosalia.  Our stay and magnificent dinner at Las Casitas, and my good buddy Javier who has been managing that marvelous little Mulege treasure for the last 44 years.  The mission in Mulege.  The mining museum in Santa Rosalia.  The fuel stops in Catavina, buying gasolina out of bottles because there are no Pemex stations on the 200-mile stretch between Guerrero Negro and El Rosario.   The magnificent Mision Santa Maria hotel.  The wonderful dinner Joaquin’s family prepared for us in their chalet between Ensenada and Tecate.  Street tacos in Tecate.  Making new friends and trading jokes with Dan, Pete, J, Tim, Buffalo, Jim, Dave, and Joaquin at every meal.  It had been a grand adventure.

Good times, folks.