Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - (Page 54) Dirt biking Baja: 4 days, 812 miles, 17 By Robert Plotkin I wanted to race the Paris-Dakar, a 6,500-mile off-road race across harshest Africa. But I had never ridden a dirt bike and thought it wise to try one before committing my life to its glory. In order to test the prospect, I looked for dirt bike trips on the internet and found Chris Hains, who guides motorcyclists along Baja trails. The Baja 1000 is the second most famous off-road race, but it smells more like a beer bong than a North African souk. Though I always wanted a dirt bike, my father, a personal injury lawyer, laughed at my folly and regaled me with stories of impaled eyeballs and colostomy bags. I used to ride my 10-speed inland from the beach, to the dirt bike shops, where parking lots were filled with boys who combed heavy metal hair. These were children of the working class, who smashed their bodies upon tree and rock, while my friends lazed at the beach, falling into the foamy Pacific. On the Hains tour we would ride from Esenada to Loreto, an 812- mile trip, in four days. We followed the route of the Baja 1000, our luggage carried by a support truck, which met us at a hotel each evening. Before the trip I spent most of my time figuring out how to protect myself from paralysis. I obtained an Arai VX-Pro3 helmet. It had a 54 coastaltraveler fall
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 Contents Coastal Connoisseur Coastal Picks Coastal Flyer Coastal Driver Coastal Eco Coastal Sociologist Coastal Biker Coastal Snaps Coastal Valet San Diego La Jolla Laguna Beach Malibu Santa Barbara San Luis Obispo Big Sur Carmel Monterey Santa Cruz San Francisco Sausalito Mill Valley Stinson Beach Bolinas Sebastopol Olema Point Reyes Station Fairfax Inverness Marshall, Tomales Petaluma Sonoma Coast Redwood Coast Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 (Page Cover1) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 (Page Cover2) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 (Page 3) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Contents (Page 6) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Contents (Page 8) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Contents (Page 9) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Connoisseur (Page 10) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Connoisseur (Page 11) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 12) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 13) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 14) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 15) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 16) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 17) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 18) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 19) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 20) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 21) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 22) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 23) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 24) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 25) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 26) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 27) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 28) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 29) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 30) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 31) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 32) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 33) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 34) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 35) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Driver (Page 36) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Driver (Page 37) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 38) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 39) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 40) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 41) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 42) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 43) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 44) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 45) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 46) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 47) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 48) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 49) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 50) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 51) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 52) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Sociologist (Page 53) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 54) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 55) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 56) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 57) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 58) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 59) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 60) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Biker (Page 61) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 62) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 63) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 64) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 65) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 66) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 67) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Valet (Page 68) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Valet (Page 69) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Valet (Page 70) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Valet (Page 71) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Valet (Page 72) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Coastal Valet (Page 73) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - San Diego (Page 74) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - La Jolla (Page 75) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Laguna Beach (Page 76) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Malibu (Page 77) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Santa Barbara (Page 78) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Santa Barbara (Page 79) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - San Luis Obispo (Page 80) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Big Sur (Page 81) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Carmel (Page 82) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Monterey (Page 83) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Santa Cruz (Page 84) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - San Francisco (Page 85) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Sausalito (Page 86) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Mill Valley (Page 87) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Mill Valley (Page 88) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Stinson Beach (Page 89) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Bolinas (Page 90) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Olema (Page 91) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Point Reyes Station (Page 92) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Point Reyes Station (Page 93) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Fairfax (Page 94) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Fairfax (Page 95) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Inverness (Page 96) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Inverness (Page 97) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Marshall, Tomales (Page 98) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Sebastopol (Page 99) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Petaluma (Page 100) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Sonoma Coast (Page 101) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Redwood Coast (Page 102) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Redwood Coast (Page Cover3) Coastal Traveler - Fall 2008 - Redwood Coast (Page Cover4)
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