San diego to San Felipe, Mexico

[mikefletcher24]

Hi everyone,

I am new here, so i thought i would share my ride two weeks ago to San Felipe on the shores of the Sea of Cortez. Left San diego on the 94 east, it rained and my new bike(07 R1200 GS) was a little loose in the twisties. Made it to El Centro, bought insurance(44.00) for 2 days and crossed into Mexicali. As soon as you get in you know you are in a different world. Music seems to blast from every doorway and riding becomes a survival test. after leaving the city we encountered extremely high winds on the 100 mile ride down. It was 2:00 in the afternoon and I could not see 10 yards ahead of me. The landscape is very stark, kind of creepy, almost like a lunar surface(or Bonneville Salt flats). So combining this with 40-50 mph gusts made for a very surreal sight. Sort of like a nuclear winter scene.The blowing sand was kind of wet and covered us with a sticky layer. We had to ride our bikes leaning in to the wind at about the 1-2 o'clock position. My friend (riding a HD) got blown over into the berm and went down right in front of me,(across the road) luckily he went into sand and was ok. This ride was pretty scary at times as all of the sudden out of the gloom a Mexican truck or bus would appear going the other way and would be pretty much driving down the nearly invisible centerline. We finally made it to San Felipe around 5:00, but not after that always fun encounter with the Mexican Army check point near the Ensenada turnoff. Spent the night with a friend and headed back Sunday. We decided to cut right across To Ensenada on the Pacific side rather than risk those winds again. This ride was very easy, although it got pretty chilly 31 degrees near the mid point. We saw 2 Pemex stations on the way which was good because the HD only holds 2.3 gallons. From Ensenada it was an easy trip back to TJ and over to San Diego. We stopped in Puerto Neuvo for a lobster dinner. Overall I would recomend this "loop" ride, but check the winds out by Mexicali to San Felipe 1st or go though Ensenada both ways.