To Tijuana and Beyond

Hi! right now im sat in a crookety cafe with Matt and Ken, and we are in San Vincente, 50 miles south of Ensenada. Weve been through Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada. We havnt managed to camp really yet , but we will be doing that once we get further south and things become quiet.

Terrain has changed wildly now that were are in the sort of place i had imagined mexico to be in my head. The cars sound like lancaster bombers zooming by. The smog in some of the towns has been choking on the road, i wonder what Mexico City might be like.

Grinning Mexicans honk and wave as they pass, i presume they think we are pretty stupid. "you very brave!" one shouted at us, and beautiful kids yell and cheer from the back seats. My bike is like a game of Buckaroo thats going very well, and flexes like a piece of bamboo. The colours here are all new, theres so much of it everywhere- on the walls and in the advertising, in the ground and on the hills. I so wish i could talk to people, thats a shame.

We are in northern Baja, and very soon it will become very sparse and unpopulated. In two days time we will enter a stretch of rocky desert that will take us 3 days to get through without any towns. Water has become very important. Its very hot. Today has really shown us what lies ahead. We wind through rocky canyons, grind up hills and speed downwards through the chocolate dirt. That was poetic wasnt it? Everything has changed.

The towns we've been through seem to take the form of one central strip of tarmaced road, and either side about 10 meters of dirt/dust, and then rows of shops lining that. I wish i could show you some pictures here. Its quite magic. We did a burning 55 miles today, and got cooked.

I think we know the dangers now, and have spoken to as many people as we can about whats ahead.

THis weekend is the 'Baja 1000' rally race, which is a nonstop offroad buggy race the length of Baja, so we've seena lot of things towing offroad vehicles along. One racing guy at the camp ground last night donated $20 to each of us, because he was so amazed! So we are in a motel tonight, complete with cold showers and electricty that works once the suns gone down. So maybe we'll be able to see some racers.

But theres anough to be excited about here.

Im thrilled to be with the guys here, theyre fantastic company and its fun riding in a 5 bike group. They are film makers, sound engineers and photographers. Thyere making a documentary of this whole thing, which im privelidged to be a part of. You can see what theyre doing here: http://www.thebiketrip.nervouscity.com

The food is amazing, and of course everything is super cheap.

Now we're going for some beers and relax, and get back for an early night. A 60 miler tomorrow will take us 40 miles from the desert stretch, where we'll stop for 2 nights and prepare. Its all ok though! Lots of room for food and water.

We are all very sensible, hardy, innocent, gringos.