May 27, 2023

From Baja California Sur to Yucatan [part 2] – Crossing the Sonora desert

This is part two of Jeanette and my 2023 journey through Mexico on our motorbikes. Click here to read part one where we ride from La Paz in Baja California Sur to Ensenada in Baja California.

In 2023 Jeanette and I make another large journey through Mexico. This time we’re headed from La Paz in Baja California Sur to the Yucatan area. We try to ride as few toll roads as possible and try to avoid western tourism where that makes sense.

I’ve planned a route over the last few months. And on April 24th we left La Paz with all our belongings and started our big adventure. We hope to get a good look at Mexico post-chinese flu.

From Ensenada to Puerto Penasco

In this part of our adventure we head east, through the northern parts of Mexico. It consists of only 3 segments. For the first segment we planned to ride from Ensenada in Baja California to Puerto Penasco in Sonora.
I had prepared a route via Tecate, on the USA border, to Mexicali and then crossing the Rio Colorado river delta into the Sonora desert.

We left Ensenada in the morning under a cloud cover facing stiff winds. The forecast predicted the wind should stop once we crossed the mountains near Mexicali. Looking forward to that we went on our way wearing long pants, jackets and 3 layers of clothing.
After a mostly uneventful ride of casual rain and relentless wind from every direction we finally crossed a mountainous area near Rumorosa and *poof* sunshine and no more winds! Woohoo!

There were some road repairs in the mountains and a semi-truck got stuck in a bend in the road so we took some pics while we waited for traffic to clear.

After a quick break and a hotdog at a truckstop near Mexicali we drove through the Rio Colorado river delta and headed into the Sonora desert. In a small farmers town we were warned by the locals not to loiter around as some guys on a black motorbike were trying to rob other motorists. We were lucky and didn’t encounter any trouble.

Because todays distance was 500+ kilometers this is the bit where I wanted to drive faster to make up some time and reach Puerto Penasco before nightfall. Speeding along highway 3 we quickly left civilization behind and into the desert were I crashed straight into this massive hole in the road.

Jeanette was behind me and could barely avoid it but I boinked through the hole going about 100km/h (~60 mph). Miraculously I came out fine at the other end but my wheel didn’t survive. A big dent on the right side, smaller one on the left and the tire didn’t hold air anymore.

After gathering my wits for a few minutes and cursing Mexican roads, Mexico in general and everything in it we decided to head back to the last town, some 20 kilometers back. This of-course took ages with a bent rim and an almost flat tire. We did find a friendly mechanic who had no tools to actually do anything useful but he tried to bend the rim straight with a massive wrench. Despite his good intentions he didn’t have much luck.

His advise was to head to a bigger town further down the road;
“Which town?”
“The one with a traffic light in it.”
“Right, we saw a traffic light. How much further is that?”
“Oh, just 10 or so kilometers.”

Having little choice we limped there, which took a good 30 minutes. After looking around a bit we found ourselves in a similar situation. A car friendly mechanic with few tools. He did manage to make a weak seal with paper and oil so we could carefully drive to a better repair place… But as soon as we left his workshop the tire deflated again. So that was a wasted effort.

BMW roadside assistance is a joke

While the 2nd mechanic was working on trying to get the tire to hold air we called BMW roadside assistance and spend 2 excruciating hours on the phone with their incompetent callcenter only to realize that no help was coming. It took almost an hour before they understood our problem, who we were and that we definitely had a BMW motorcycle. We provided pointless details and endless explanations and wasted a lot of time before they to promised a tow truck that never came. We got promised a hotel in the wrong city. And they would send a local taxi that doesn’t exist and then the connection was lost, or they hung up on us. When we finally got them on the line again they basically cancelled all service because “They do not provide service for BMW”. Oh, right, of-course… What were we thinking calling the BMW service number?!

So with no hope of help arriving anytime soon we paid the mechanic for his time and drove 27 more kilometers on a flat tire in the dark along a rural highway to the first place that looked like a city. Google Maps said it had a motel so we could get some dinner, rest up and rescue ourselves.

It’s now over a week later (at the time of writing) and we’re still ‘waiting’ on that tow truck, a taxi and for them to call back. You know, because BMW cares for our safety and wellbeing…

Anyway, we made it to a hotel in Guadalupe Victoria at around 10 at night. Exhausted, frustrated and me wishing I could ride this damn bike of of a cliff and go do something fun again. I was convinced our trip would be over, or at least be delayed for several months while we waited for a new wheel and BMW to finally do something useful – Since they control the parts and repairs.

Fixing a bent rim in 3 easy steps

We found some helpful people in the motel who assured us it wasn’t a big deal and we’d be on our way the next day. I wasn’t so optimistic. But whatever… If everything got screwed up further I needed a new rim already anyway. Or so I thought.

Step 1 – get directions

The next day we decided not to bother with BMW roadside any longer and figure things out ourselves. We extended our hotel stay for a few more days and headed into town – Explore a bit, see what’s what and try and find some capable help. We spoke to a few cops that were posted near the hotel and asked where they’d service their bikes. Officially in Mexicali, far away, but they pointed us to a place near the local hospital. On our way there we spotted a Michelin tire service center with in it a well connected guy who pointed us to a rim repair shop and a mechanic. Aha!

Step 2 – Hiring scruffy dudes to make stuff happen

The rim repair shop turned out to be a welding shop and after showing him a picture of the rim his only request was to bring the bare rim and he seemed confident to be able to fix the thing. No biggie he said. Great!
A few minutes later at the mechanic shop we were assured they could help and they claimed to have tools to remove the wheel – Which was only half true, but they managed with ‘only’ minor damages to the rim to get it off the bike and remove the tire from it.

Then, after lunch, back in the welding shop the guy used a blowtorch, a mallet and a grinder to convince the wheel to be round again..

He spent about 45 minutes on it and afterwards we tightened up all the spokes and spun the wheel for a few minutes to eyeball its roundness and some minor adjustments and 300 pesos later I was on my way back to Michelin to ask if they could put the tire back on with their magic tire machine. As I didn’t trust the mechanic guys to handle it without causing more damage.

Step 3 – Putting things back together

Michelin kindly put the tire back on and inflated it. We checked if the air stayed in by dunking it in a bathtub full of water which it did. We then measured it to be 32psi and I could head back to the mechanic to reassemble the wheel onto the motorbike. They somehow managed and 500 more pesos and 20 minutes later I could ride my bike again.

All in a days work, for less than $100US I had multiple people work on my wheel and fix it sufficiently enough to ride again without noticeable difference. I think. Not too bad!

2 days left

Since we extended our hotel stay with a few days we spent those putting the stress behind us, curse BMW roadside a bit more and exploring this dusty town, city, whatever…
We found the people to be amazingly welcoming friendly. Especially when they found out we weren’t Americans and even more so when we tried to speak Spanish. Which was a very weird but welcome experience after all the stress and miserable experiences of the last few days.

We wandered around the small town center, tried some of the local restaurants and stumbled across a 2nd hand street market which was full of curious and friendly people as well. And finally we would attempt our Sonora desert crossing again the next day.

Finishing our ride to Puerto Penasco

We headed out again, riding at a slow pace this time so we could avoid the thousands of potholes. I managed to crash into the first one, but many more followed. Occasionally we followed in the slipstream of trucks swerving all over the lanes avoiding holes for many kilometers.
As soon as we crossed the Sonora state border the road got much better and we could speed things but considerably.
We made a brief stop for drinks and fuel in a small town called Golfo de Santa Clara.

And another stop for some photos at a large salt flat.

And overall we had a nice sunny ride to our destination. The first 100 kilometers or so was very intense for me as I didn’t trust the wheel. Every little bump and vibration was butt-clenching suspicious. But over the past week I rode about 1100 kilometers on it and it seems fine. I’ll probably replace the rim when I arrive in Yucatan.

Sometime in the afternoon we finally arrived in Puerto Penasco, 4 days later than planned, and quickly headed to a hotel and then the beach to enjoy the nice weather and sea view there.

If you recall, I mentioned the desert crossing consisted of 3 segments. I’ll talk about those other two in the next post where we continue our adventure to Hermosillo and Guaymas in Sonora.

May 18, 2023

From Baja California Sur to Yucatan [part 1] – Heading north

In 2023 Jeanette and I make another large journey through Mexico. This time we’re headed from La Paz in Baja California Sur to the Yucatan area. We’re not sure exactly where we want to end up. As usual for us we try to ride as few toll roads as possible. And we try to avoid ‘regular’ tourism as much as possible.

I’ve been planning the route for the last few months. And on April 24th we left La Paz with all our belongings strapped to the bike and started our big adventure. We hope to get a good look at Mexico post-chinese flu. Our trip will be about 8800km (~5500 miles) long.

Jeanette rides her BMW G310GS and I’m on a BMW F850GSA. Both bikes have been modified a bit with pannier racks, sidecases and GPS phone mounts. Jeanette also has a 4 liter RotoPax fuel tank.

Loreto and San Javier

Our first stop was Loreto. A silly little town full of American tourism. Our main reason for stopping there was to visit the tiny village of San Javier a little ways into the mountains. Loreto is nice for its restaurants and hotels but has otherwise very little to offer to us. We spent 2 days here, 1 day exploring the town center and the next day we went to San Javier.

In San Javier the main attraction is the old mission church and what’s left of the garden/grounds behind it. Most of it is in ruins, but the main church building is fully preserved which was very nice to see.

Mulege

After Loreto we moved on to Mulege, another small town where we spend the night.
Mulege is a bit of an oasis town which has a small river and some trees which was a nice change from living in La Paz where most nature is arid desert most of the year.

Mulege also has a old mission church, which was closed. I was hoping their old Prison would be open, apparently there is a nice museum in there, but it was closed as well. So instead we explored the town and its surroundings for the afternoon and moved on the next day.

San Ignacio

San Ignacio is another oasis town, mostly known for its town square and preserved church, which has a small museum next to it. Some of the clergy quarters and such are preserved. The museum was open, and lucky for us, free of charge. We also found a small museum that had replica cave paintings found in the area. Which was nice to see as well.

Also here, we explored the town and tried the few restaurants and had a nice time here.

Guerrero Negro and the cold front

Unknown to us a cold front had snuck up on Baja California. Which presented itself to us on the way to our next stop – Guerrero Negro. First as clouds, but later a firm northern wind hit us head-on as well. Suddenly we went from sunny 25-35 celsius to 8-15 celsius temperatures and a thick cloud cover. We stayed in Guerrero Negro for 1 night mostly to split up the long ride to Ensenada. But it was the coldest night in weeks…

We both kept adding layers of clothing to keep somewhat warm, but that only works for so long. So we felt a bit miserable in our summery clothes.

In Guerrero Negro we strolled around town a bit looking for a decent restaurant but not much was available. The ‘hotel’ was one of those places where you’d expect a cockroach in every corner, but actually was pretty good. Still, we felt we made a poor choice in hotel somehow. At least the shower was hot…

El Rosario de Ariba and Ensenada

The next day we headed out into the pervasive northern wind which was even colder than yesterday. Our next stop was El Rosario de Ariba, a small farmers village, again to break up the long ride to Ensenada. We found a nice hotel there with an attached restaurant which had great food, yay! This cheered us up from the freezing cold quite a bit. The hot showers also helped a lot.

And the next day we started our 3rd day into the strong winds for the final leg to Ensenada.
The ride to Ensenada was scenic at times, with ever greener mountains and long stretched valleys. But the endless wind sort of ruined our mood. The road was narrow and didn’t allow for much stops, so we kinda had to get a move on and we arrived in Ensenada in the afternoon.
Ensenada, the touristy bit anyway, seems to be a small-ish sleepy town. Until a cruise ship arrives. Then suddenly all shops open up. The actual Ensenada is of-course much bigger and a ton of people live here.

Also the weather cleared up a bit, which was nice. No more clouds, woohoo!

We explored the touristy bit first and the next day the ‘regular’ city center as well and found the excellent Casa de Cultura, a preserved hacienda style building with a large garden that apparently has been used as a casino, hotel, bar, disco and a bunch of other purposes over the years. According to the lore the Margarita drink was invented here.
Currently it’s a bit of a museum and has a small bar kind of setup in the courtyard. A nice place to sit and have a drink.

Onwards!

Soon we’ll head east into Sonora and onto the rest of our journey trough Mexico. Some 7000 kilometers to go. Hopefully in nicer weather than the last few days.

October 20, 2022

The best time to visit Baja California Sur on a motorbike

After we left Cancun in mid-2021 and drove across Mexico over the span of a few months, we ended up in the area of La Paz, Baja California Sur. And the cold weather caught us by surprise. It made us wonder what the best time in the year is to visit Baja California Sur.

Over the past year we have learned that the climate in Baja California Sur can vary from place to place due to the long stretches of desert and mountain ranges between areas. So, the weather in la Paz is not nearly the same as the weather in Los Cabos. And same goes for Loreto.

In general all these areas have cold winter nights and very little rain throughout the year as a common climate.

Temperatures between daytime and nighttime may vary around 20 degrees celcius. And some days, especially in early spring the wind can be cold. But with little to no rain during the biggest part of the year, Baja California Sur has an excellent climate for motorbike riders.

Spring in Baja California Sur starts in March

Spring definitely is the best time of year, although it is a relatively busy time when it comes to tourism. You will see motorbike riders and campervans everywhere. But with the long stretches of road between villages and cities traffic is usually very light and some miles you feel like you are the only one on the road. Temperature-wise, the period between March and the end of May is the most comfortable we think.

Temperatures easily go up to 100°F (38°C) when Spring progresses. There is no rain, And during Spring Break and Easter, this is the busiest time of the year on the peninsula. During Semana Santa, Mexicans and Americans will camp out on the beach for the entire weekend and you’ll find the urban areas mostly empty.

Whale season is at its peak. If you’re lucky you can see the whales play out in the Sea of Cortez while following the panoramic coastal roads, and it is pretty spectacular.

Summer in Baja California Sur starts in June and ends at the end of August

Summer is hot. You soon learn to start your days early to catch the early morning coolness. But that soon vanishes as summer reaches it’s peak in August. Temperatures are around 95ºF (35ºC) and you can imagine that that does to the tarmac. The chilly wind is gone, seawater is warming up to a point where you do not cool down when you take a dip.

Even at the night, it will not cool down, although the temperature still drops to around 20-25 degrees celcius. Because the days are hotter, so are the nights. July and August are the perfect months to honor a siesta during midday and start your days a little earlier when it is still cool.

At the end of summer sporadic rains may start, but don’t get all excited about the idea of all the desert dust settling down, it will be very brief and very localized, mostly in the higher mountains.

Fall is from September until the end of October and it will come with lots of storm warnings

Temperatures range from 98°F (36°C) and 82°F (28°C), which will feel very nice given the humidity and the breeze. Rainy periods will add up to a total of 4 days a month, and those downpours can be severe.

Almost immediately you’ll see the water crossings in the roads flooded by the rivers that suddenly fill up and you can’t continue your journey due to the raging river that suddenly appears. In the smaller towns and many neighborhoods streets will be muddy, with debree and rocks everywhere, a lot of it spilling out all over the towns and cities down hill. Especially in the mountains it will rain a lot. With that in mind you have to come prepared and drive with caution.

Tourism is fairly slow during these months because nobody wants rain during their holiday. But still, there is plenty of sunshine and the flash floods will disappear as fast as they appear in the dry grounds leaving only a few puddles as a reminder of the rain.

It is spectacular when the sky bursts open and the ground for the first time in months gets soaked. Within days mountains and the much of the desert turn a luscious green.

But then December through February winter arrives!

Many tourists from the USA love these months and consider them the best months to visit Los Cabos and La Paz. At night temperatures will drop to 50ºF (10ºC) while during daytime int he afternoons the thermometer will stop around 80ºF (27ºC) at most when the winter is at its peak.

But in october you already notice the turning of the wind, cooling down the air when you ride. While riding through the mountains large shadowy areas appear and you’ll feel chilly and later on even riding the pacific coastline will make you shiver.

The happy news is that the rain has stopped, on average it rains in winter no more than 1 day divided over the whole period. Of course this can vary from the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Coast, and from the plains to the mountain areas, the mountains always seem to get a little more rain. Overall though, there will be plenty of sunshine to brighten up your cool winter day.

Winter, and spring make the perfect climate to ride in Baja California Sur, all the way down to Los Cabos.
Plenty of places to camp or stay overnight, and the choice of coastal or winding mountains roads is yours.

You can join the campervans and mobile homes from the winter-birds coming down from the north looking for sunshine, visiting the many bays and beaches where you can camp and get that “Robinson Crusoe feel” of living on a lonely beach and endless sea.

Just be sure to bring a sweater or a jacket.

What will be your favorite time of year in Baja California Sur? And how did you experience the temperatures during your stay?

Looking for routes to ride on the Baja California Peninsula?

We have tested and safe tracks and routes for you to check out. Routes also includes Points of Interest with noteworthy locations such as hotels, restaurants, checkpoints and fuel stations we’ve used or or encountered.

All prepared in easy to use GPX files that you can import in many route planning apps.

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