It is now time to get down to business and get ready for the
Baja 1000. It is the reason/excuse we
have used for making this trip. Our
friend Brady is working with the KTM Factory team to organize and staff 20 pit
stops for the race. We were assigned pit
#2. Wayne and Bob were going to do the heavy work and I was going to handle the
communications. It didn’t quite work out
that way, more on that later. Our plans were to head to Bob’s house in San
Diego before going to his place in Mexico
and do some riding in advance of the race.
We left the boonies and drove down into the big city of San
Bernardino. We are now officially in
“California, Land of the limited access highways”. Boy, they have a lot of freeways around here.
We wanted to stop at Chaparral Motorsports, located just off Interstate
215. It’s been about 15 years since we
have been in their store. I’m sure it is
not the same location it was then; I can’t remember where it was. The store is HUGE! A building the size of Costco full of M/C
stuff. One half of this large building
is just bikes, which we did not get to see because we spent too much time
in the rest of the building. Picture a
whole room (the size of some shops we’ve been in) just of helmets, and the tire
section is actually part of the warehouse with racks of tires sorted by
brand. Just stroll down the aisle till
you get to the brand you want and pick one out.
The main floor was full of racks and racks of gear and other fun things.
After finding a new dual sport helmet for Wayne and some
essentials (4 new tires) we managed to make our way to the Pechanga Indian
Casino and RV Resort in Temecula. We
liked it so much we stayed there on the way back to KTM after the race,
too. We took advantage of laundry
facilities and WIFI, and then felt ready to head to Bob’s in San Diego.
Wednesday: Arrive at
Bob’s house
We got to Bob’s about noon. He said he had a place we
could park; it turned out to be on the street, in front of a park that was
being rebuilt, in other words it was a construction zone during the day.
We slept there each night, but moved during the day. Sometimes we would
park on the beach on Fiesta Island, sometimes on a street overlooking Lake
Murray. Each night we would park at that park and then go to Bob’s to soak in his hot tub. Bob built pools and spas for a living, and
his place is outstanding!
Bob’s back yard
On the sand at Fiesta Island
You are only allowed to park on the beach side of the road
around the island. People come for the
day, bringing their RV’s as there are no restrooms in that part of the island.
Lake Murray
We thought about going to a RV park, but nothing was very
close to town. We had planned to go to Bob’s place in Mexico to ride,
but we couldn’t get the logistics to work out with our commitment to the
race. And the weather caved in, raining
in San Diego, snowing at his place in Rancho Santa Veronica. So we hung out in SD and played tourist
instead.
We went to see the Sea Lions in La Jolla, and had 99 cent
fish tacos at the beach.They were awesome!
Friday: Motorcycle shop tour
The weather was still rainy and cloudy, so we decided to go drool
over new bikes. We checked out many of
the local shops, and had to stop at a micro-brewery for a taste.
Saturday: Tourists
Today we started at the Harley Shop then headed downtown to
check out the waterfront. We took a
quick detour to hit Bob’s favorite food truck for $1.25 fish tacos. What a
deal! Then we went to the bay and saw
some very cool ships and stuff.
The Star of India (and some movies!)
Submarines!!
Had to stop and check it out!
Sunday: Road ride to
Julian CA
The weather has finally improved enough to tempt us to
ride. Bob planned a ride to the small
town of Julian. Julian is an historic gold mining town located approximately an hour east
of San Diego, surrounded by orchards and vineyards. We would have tried the famous pie, but it
was Veterens Day, so the place was packed.
But it was a beautiful ride, so we were happy.
Monday we report to KTM North
American HQ to pick up our pit box. Let
the fun begin!
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