BajaNomad

San Javier since Baja 1000?

Paula - 11-29-2006 at 08:21 AM

That is a much travelled road, and if there were damage from the race it is probably fixed by now for the festival up there starting on Dec 1. A few days before the race it was no problem in my CRV, with little water left to cross from the rain.

Paula - 11-29-2006 at 09:43 AM

Oh dear! I hope I'm not leading anyone into a bad driving situation!!:wow:

KurtG - 11-29-2006 at 04:41 PM

I motorcycled that road last week, a little rough and lots of water in the crossings. Greener than I have ever seen it in the arroyo. On the way back out I met two graders coming in, this weekend is the big festival there so I'm sure the road will be OK since they get a couple thousand people up there for the celebration. I'll have some more local back road reports in the next two weeks.

TMW - 11-29-2006 at 07:33 PM

KurtG, I would be interested in a report on the new section that SCORE ran from near hwy 1 where the road to La Purisima is, down to where it joins the San Javier road. I wanted to prerun it but wasn't able to. Also if it is a private section not open to the public.

Paula - 11-29-2006 at 10:13 PM

I'm surprised to hear of deep water. I drove the road several days before the race, and some vados were wide, but not deep. There has been no rain since then, so I would expect to find less water now. I have no idea how the race impacted the road, and so did not comment on post race conditions. Not surprised to hear of graders, because they always clear the road for the heavy traffic for the festival, and so I think a passenger car could make the trip, although I don't have current first hand info.

KurtG, did you ride the road from Rancho Viejo to Comundu? Don and I took that road 2 years ago, and it was so beautiful-- pristine high desert country-- truly a road less travelled. A long stretch soon after San Jose de Comundu had a high center that made for some tedious driving. Another very short section was was steep, narrow, rocky and single lane on the edge of a high cliff, and it was scary getting our SUV through that part. I've wanted to drive that route again, but the one rocky part makes me hesitate, as it seems dangerous. There is a brand new blue and white sign at Rancho Viejo pointing the way to Comundu, and I can't imagine that they would sign that road without having repaired the dangerous stretch. I'd appreciate any info on current conditions up there.

Paula - 11-30-2006 at 10:13 AM

"I love the subjectivity of travel reports. :>"

Larry, I think the deepest vados had no more than 10 inches of water if that much. But 10 inches would look very different from the motorcycle perspective.

Hmmmm... in that case KurtG's perspective on that cliffhanging stretch of road I asked him about may be very different from my Honda perspective!:spingrin:

KurtG - 11-30-2006 at 06:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Paula
I'm surprised to hear of deep water. I drove the road several days before the race, and some vados were wide, but not deep. There has been no rain since then, so I would expect to find less water now. I have no idea how the race impacted the road, and so did not comment on post race conditions. Not surprised to hear of graders, because they always clear the road for the heavy traffic for the festival, and so I think a passenger car could make the trip, although I don't have current first hand info.

KurtG, did you ride the road from Rancho Viejo to Comundu? Don and I took that road 2 years ago, and it was so beautiful-- pristine high desert country-- truly a road less travelled. A long stretch soon after San Jose de Comundu had a high center that made for some tedious driving. Another very short section was was steep, narrow, rocky and single lane on the edge of a high cliff, and it was scary getting our SUV through that part. I've wanted to drive that route again, but the one rocky part makes me hesitate, as it seems dangerous. There is a brand new blue and white sign at Rancho Viejo pointing the way to Comundu, and I can't imagine that they would sign that road without having repaired the dangerous stretch. I'd appreciate any info on current conditions up there.


Water was not especialy deep, only got my boots wet in the very last one before San Javier. I have done the road to Comondu and then on to San Isidro many times but not for over a year. I plan to try it next week, I went in a short ways from Rancho Viejo and there was a washed out arroyo with a wide water crossing. Since there had been no work done there (despite the nice new sign) and since that road gets worse as it goes north I decided to wait a bit. There are a couple of bad grades going north on that road. One uphill that is always a bit rough at the top but which rewards you with an incredible view back to the south and then a downhill that can be very rough after storms. Saturday another rider and I are going to cross the penninsula from Mulege to San Juanico by way of Arroyo Raymundo and then continue south to La Purisima/San Isidro and then east to Hwy 1. Those roads are said to be rough but passable.

Paula - 11-30-2006 at 07:55 PM

KurtG, I thought that nice new sign might be too good to be true. Thank you for the update on that road, as it is a favorite of mine. Well, if they do fix it it could lose some of it's splendor, as more traffic would serve to change that pristine atmosphere.

Have a beautiful and safe and safe ride on Saturday.

KurtG - 12-3-2006 at 11:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by TW
KurtG, I would be interested in a report on the new section that SCORE ran from near hwy 1 where the road to La Purisima is, down to where it joins the San Javier road. I wanted to prerun it but wasn't able to. Also if it is a private section not open to the public.


I only know what was on the SCORE map, the route joined Hwy 1 at K51 and then stayed on the highway until the turn inland at Loreto and then on to San Javier.

KurtG - 12-3-2006 at 12:08 PM

Quote:
Saturday another rider and I are going to cross the penninsula from Mulege to San Juanico by way of Arroyo Raymundo and then continue south to La Purisima/San Isidro and then east to Hwy 1. Those roads are said to be rough but passable.


Completed a fairly difficult ride, quite rough in the mountains between Mulege and the Pacific. Found a new road that comes out at Cadaje rather than the old one that goes to La Ballena, more difficult but more interesting scenery. A quick lunch at the Scorpion Bay Cantina and then on to La Purisima/San Isidro and the hardest part of the trip. Between the hurricane and the race the road east to Hwy 1 is very rough starting with the steep ascent just east of San Isidro which is really torn up. I usually do that 60 km stretch in about an hour and this time it took more than twice as long, lots of 1st and 2nd gear rock hopping which put a little strain on my 62 year old self. Total loop was about 200 miles with about half that being quite rough. No mishaps, falls or flats and thanks to Iboprofen no serious aches or pains. I did, however, sleep 10 hours last night!