On the coast of Chile in Taltal

Rode off the mountain on a few hundred km of dirt.  Got tired of mountains so Noe we're riding the coast, sort of.  

Cheers,
Nick
from my phone.

Tinogasta, Argentina

The border was closed on the Chile side above Vinchina and a major landslide prevented us from  cutting over to Chilicito so we drove four hours around a major mountain ridge and then up towards a different border crossing.  We ended up driving the last hour on a dirt road in the dark but we coveted a lot (too much) ground today. 

Cheers,
Nick
from my phone.

Riding north of Mendoza Argentina

Leaving Las Flores for the frontier of Chile - we'll be riding gavel and dirt  all day crossing the Andes at about13000 feet; it's getting cold!
Will post more photos later if we have wifi.

Fire trails in the Sierra Mountains near Hwy 20

Nevada City, California

Matt and I went riding fire trails up at elevation 3,000-5,000 feet. It had recently rained so low spots had become mud bogs. There was still patches of snow at upper elevations. I had just ordered new tires but Matt's were totally bald so he put them on - I ended up taking a spill. I just pitched the bike, no harm, but picking it up was a bitch.

Early Start - heading for the US border.

Sunrise!

Rode until dusk last night.  Didn't quite make it as far as I had hoped and got stuck in the middle of the desert.  I was tired and didn't want to press my luck driving through the coastal range mountains at night.   Turns out that there was only one hotel stuck in the middle of nowhere (Catavina - to be avoided) and I paid more for lodging there than the resorts in Las Cabos - Asi la vida.

I was up early and heading for the border.

It turns out that the tea-baggers might have won.  Just north of El Rosario they relocated part of the Imperial Valley and all the workers that used to live there.  There are fields of cabbage, and greens for miles and the greenhouses can be seen from space - HUGE GREENHOUSES - just add water.  It's no coincidence that this place is just about 6 hours form the border with lots of trailers with California plates running around.

I did a cut and paste of the trip. The GPS collage shows the summary: 2890 miles down and back to Santa Barbara in  51.5 hours at 56 miles per hour. 

Los Barriles to Loreto, Baja California Sur

Central Plaza Church, Loreto, Baja California Sur

Rode north from Los Barilles to Loreto today.  The floods following the hurricane have receded and the vados (swales in the road that are part of the flood planes) are now shallow enough to drive through.  

The scenery following the rain is amazing and beautiful; the desert is in bloom.  If more people knew about the quality of the roads and fun riding them, there would be groups of motos and sports cars racing around down here.

 They backfilled missing bridge abutments with rock and dirt to get traffic moving.  I counted three bridges and several vados washed out.
I made Loreto in mid-afternoon and did a slow cruise around town.  I found a nice hotel in old town and was given a nice room ($29) overlooking the church.
The town is still cleaning up from flash floods but you can tell its a delightful little city.  I'm going exploring.
Chau for now.
via phone.

The coast, a couple days after the hurricane blew through.

If you're driving down and want to camp...