magazine clutch

Since there is so little edible
foliage in Baja, the
animals line the highway
like stones line a path.
Reason being, the pavement
crown produces
enough runoff to grow a tiny strip of
greenery on each side. It’s a bad arrangement
for everyone, of course,
except for the country’s enormous
population of vultures. You wouldn’t
believe how many of these unsightly
birds we saw mooching eyeballs for
lunch. Our first night out we lodged
at the small,Estero Beach Resort,
just south of Ensenada on the Bay of
Todos Santos. In January the climate
in Baja is just perfect for riding, with
very little rain and average daytime
temps in the 70s and 80s (compared
to 110-plus in summer). Oddly, the
resort was like a ghost town, leaving
us with the lion’s share of spicy
chorizo for breakfast. Why anyone
would choose crowds and sweltering
heat over this peaceful sense of
isolation (and discount rates) was
beyond us. On our way out of town
we made the obligatory stop at La
Bufadora, an impressive oceanic
geyser and the last tourist snare for
almost aorund 1000 lonely miles.
We knew we were looking at a fuel
deficit in this section. Gas stations
in mid-Baja are few and cannot be
relied upon to be open or stocked.
Local entrepreneurs cash in on the
deficiency by selling gas to the hapless
from plastic milk jugs. (At first
we thought they were selling apple
juice. Duh.) We were carrying a few
extra gallons of premium unleaded
we’d brought from The States
as a backup and filled up the bikes
at every Pemex station we passed
that day. Pemex is also government
owned and therefore it is also all
that is currently shaking in Baja.
26 CLUTCH December 2020