BajaNomad

San Felipe to Gonzaga

fly-boy - 11-2-2006 at 04:53 PM

My first post on this site ever! Here goes-

My wife grew up constantly vacationing in Baja and I have caught the bug. :tumble:

We are getting ready to return to San Felipe for nine days over Thanksgiving and a couple of buddies and myself are contemplating riding our bikes from our campsite south of San Felipe to Gonzaga for the day and back. I would like to visit Alfonsina's and maybe go as far as Coco's if we have time??? :?:

I have ridden to Puerticitos before but have never ridden or driven the road south of there.

How long can we expect it to take us to ride from Puertecitos to Gonzaga? (We are fairly experienced riders)

Can we get fuel in Gonzaga for the return trip?

I appreciate any suggestions or ideas. This is my first extended outing in Baja on the bike and since I am bringing some friends (atleast six of us would make the ride) I would like to have as much info as possible.

Cheers!

bufeo - 11-2-2006 at 05:14 PM

Your time will depend on how hard you want to ride. My son-in-law, a pro, has made that distance (approx. 90 miles) in under 80 min on a KTM 600 Rally and another time on an XR650, but I don't think that's what you're asking.

We drive that road regularly, including a recent trip. We're going back down (to Pta. Bufeo) next week.

The SCORE Baja 1000 takes place Nov 16-18, so that has its good parts and bad. The good is that the corrugations on the long stretch near us will probably be leveled out. The bad is that there will be mogels on the turns through the mountains areas between Puertecitos and Huerfanito.

The recent rains caused some rocks to dislodge through the mtns, so be alert on the turns through there.

I usually make the drive in two and a half hours w/o pushing it. There's a stop to air-down built into that time, and that takes about 10 minutes.

Gas is available at the Pemex station at the turn-off for Alfonsina's, but it may, or may not be open. [On edit: It has irregular hours.] If it's not attended, Rancho Grande across the road will usually sell you gas or you can ride out to Alfonsina's and ask about the "open times" for the Pemex.

I believe if you do a "search" on this site, or check out the reports of pre-runners posting on http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/ you'll have plenty of information.

Have a good time.

[Edited on 11-3-2006 by bufeo]

ArvadaGeorge - 11-2-2006 at 05:24 PM

My wife and I road it in just under 3 hrs last Jan.

We were double on a drz400 and not in a big hurry

Now the road is paved 1/2 way

Fuel in Gonzaga

fly-boy - 11-3-2006 at 07:31 AM

Thanks guys- We will run down on the beach until reaching Puerticitos and then take the road so I am figuring 2-3 hours which is great.

If anyone knows anything additional on the fuel situation in Gonzaga please chime in- I will watch for anything the prerunners have to say Bufeo.

Chris

jimgrms - 11-3-2006 at 08:14 AM

Fly-boywelcome to the site , be carefull thiere are gonna be lots of folks down there at that time and lots of drinking

fly-boy - 11-3-2006 at 08:41 AM

Thanks jimgrms-

We were in San Felipe last year at Thanksgiving and with the Baja ending and the holiday it should be busy- In an effort to avoid standing around all week and simply drinking beer and eating fish tacos- I thought I would try and schedule a few longer day rides:lol:

We will surely be careful and only ride as fast as the slowest person can comfortably travel- afterall, it is all about the fun, comraderie, scenery... well the speed is a little fun too:spingrin:

Thanks,

Chris

Ken Cooke - 12-2-2006 at 08:46 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by fly-boy
If anyone knows anything additional on the fuel situation in Gonzaga please chime in- I will watch for anything the prerunners have to say Bufeo.

Chris



Our group of 10 Jeeps all had to haul our own fuel from Bay of LA as we traveled north to San Felipe. As we inched into Gonzaga Bay, we found out that the Pemex station was closed (temporarily we were told), but that you could buy gasoline at Papa Fernandez right across the street.

Be careful, because the road from San Felipe to Gonzaga looks like this: Broken down dirt road to Gonzaga

Have fun!!!

David K - 12-2-2006 at 10:36 AM

The place 'across the street' from the Alfonsina's Pemex is RANCHO GRANDE... Papa Fernandez' camp is on the north side of Gonzaga Bay, 3 miles north.

On Nov. 18, the Pemex was open... Better to have enough gas to get from San Felipe to the L.A. Bay Jcn. or Cataviņa (170 miles) in case the Pemex and Rancho Grande are both out.

Ken Cooke - 12-2-2006 at 07:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
The place 'across the street' from the Alfonsina's Pemex is RANCHO GRANDE...


That's the one - Rancho Grande. Gasoline was being sold on the south side of the complex, I believe from the two white barrels which serve as gasoline tanks.

Rancho Grande does run out of fuel, but extra gasoline is brought in as needed. This means, motorcyclists like the ones we ran into would have to spend time waiting for shipments, but what's wrong being stuck in paradise? :yes:

[Edited on 12-3-2006 by Ken Cooke]