Right after Christmas every year I make my yearly pilgrimage to the beaches, mountains and deserts of Baja to enjoy riding simply for the sake of riding. The usual cast of suspects includes Bill Kasson (www.kassonmotorcycles.com) – an old school motocrosser and Baja rider with more experience in dirt biking than anyone I know; Sean Ahmadi, a fellow trainer and friend from my cycling and climbing past, and two other trail riding buddies named Mike Brecher and Stephen Beal. Each trip dissolves into a streaming flow of experiences that only adds to what I consider the fortunate texture of my life. A smile effortlessly spans my face whenever I reminisce about the riding, the camaraderie and the happenstance that always occurs in the sand, wind and dust that is Baja. Baja 2007 was no different.

We started this year’s journey in San Felipe, a quaint beach town on the Sea of Cortez. On day one we scouted the trails around this town for future route planning. Awesome trails, awesome riding. Nothing but space and time. It was the perfect start to say hello to our friend Baja again. The next day we planned on leaving San Felipe and making it up to a very unique tavern/hostel in the mountains called Mike’s Sky Ranch. We always exit San Felipe with a warm up of a four mile stretch of sand whoops followed by a high speed blast across a dry lake bed. I and Sean took the sweeper role through the dry lake bed and we inadvertently ripped right past the rest of the group whom had all stopped at a shack that serves as a watering hole in the middle of the dry lake bed (Who expects a store operating out of a tiny shack in the middle of a dry lake bed? Only in Baja.) Stephen had to pin it wide open on Mike’s 450 to finally catch us and the tranny on Mike’s bike promptly locked up.n40 miles from nowhere (well except the store in the dry lake bed). We eventually towed him out the end of the dry lake bed to a dirt road where two of us took the highway back to San Felipe to retrieve a truck to get the bike back. A very long day, one bike down, one rider out and we still had not made it out of San Felipe. But, we were in Baja and life was good.

On day three we headed back out of San Felipe for another shot at tipping a beer back at Mike’s Sky Ranch. I and Sean were roommates and we had discussed at length a personal rule I have in Baja. I call it my 60% rule: I don’t ride past 60% of my ability or my engine’s ability. I leave hanging it out and twisting the throttle back to tracks that are in a one county radius of my home and the nearest hospital. Sean seemed to agree in retrospect of the yearly big crashes he has had in Baja in which he has luckily escaped uninjured. No scars and big stories to tell but he knew the laws of probability could soon get mean on him. After much head nodding and uh huhing he quipped when we get to the whoops %$#@& you and your 60% rule! Well, Sean stuck to his word and toyed with probability in a sand whoop section leading up to the same dry lake bed that had claimed Mike’s transmission the day before. This whoop section probably had a thousand whoops and Sean made it to the last three. Those last three threw him into an embankment where Sean’s Baja 2007 came to an abrupt and violent end. After an extended session of uncontrollable moaning and the customary limb/blood/bike check Sean had to bear what must have been an impossibly painful ride to the aforementioned store in the middle of the dry lake bed where Mike was meeting us with his truck since his bike had been claimed by Baja the day before. That was a VERY fortunate series of unfortunate circumstances considering we were at least 40 miles from anywhere. Mike hauled Sean’s carcass to the hospital in San Felipe where the score was read: broken collarbone, two broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Day three of Baja 07 and we had a broken tranny and a broken Iranian (Sean) and we were STILL in San Felipe. Outside forces were telling us that Mike’s Sky Ranch was not to be but we were still in Baja and life was good.

We took the cosmic hint and everyone except Sean spent day four of Baja 07 sticking to the trails around San Felipe again. Mike got to ride since Sean’s bike was OK so that was cool. We had an awesome day exploring new trails; you can literally ride for a week just around San Felipe and not ever hit the same trail twice. We actually rode a lot that day and it was the most memorable ride day of the trip for me. Until you experience it yourself you have not felt what has to be one of the best feelings you can have on a motorcycle: to be pulling into your last stop of a Baja trip, bike still purring underneath you and your body all in one piece. Sean had a relaxing day back at the El Cortez hotel where we base in San Felipe, no doubt reviewing the 60% rule. Ah, we were in Baja and life was VERY good!

Baja isn’t just a place to ride. It’s an opportunity to live in the moment, the exact moment that is happening. The consequences of not paying attention are extreme so you ride only in that moment. There is not enough mental capacity left over to worry about work, money, task lists. An entire day of riding becomes nothing other than reactions and corrections on the bike. No thoughts, no planning, no worrying. Just being and riding. Maybe that is why you ride motocross. Baja also gives you an opportunity to be a better person, a better friend. Really. Mike’s transmission seized up while Stephen was riding it. Mike could have been mad but he wasn’t; he understood that it was Baja. We all could have been mad at Sean when his date with the dirt caused a group to change plans but we understood it was Baja. You have to trust the person riding right next to you in the whoops. You have to trust the others to get you out should you get hurt or you have a mechanical failure. You have to forgive things and allow for differences in beliefs since you are constantly together and relying on each other. You will help each other no matter what. Our group has a very diverse background: ethnically, religiously, economically and in different stages of life. But, for that one glorious week every year in the magical place that is Baja, none of that matters and we are just friends, just riding, just being in Baja.