5 days, 4 friends, 600 miles, and 1 Faceplant tee shirt.
Tecate Baja Mexico to Las Floras and back, most of the route would be the trails used by the famous Baja 1000 race-course. From sea-level along the beach to nearly 5,000 ft getting to Mike’s Sky Ranch the temperatures would be 75 on the beach, down to the high 20’s with snow on the ground in the pine forests. Because the terrain would be so rough we were riding competition cross country race bikes, not cushy BMW adventure limo’s like you see actors riding across the Himalayans.
My Yamaha YZ450 had room for a small tool kit, a headlamp/flashlight, emergency mylar blanket, a couple band-aids, 2 packs of cigarettes (better than money, when you need help from a local) and my clothes. We planned to sleep in hotels and dine in restaurants, so some finery was required. I managed to pack: 1 pr Levi jeans, 2 pr socks, flip-flops, 2 pr of boxers, 1 wool sweater, 1 nano-puff jacket, 1 pr cold weather gloves, and 1 Faceplant Bamboo/Cotton black tee shirt. My riding gear consisted of 1970s vintage leather riding boots, heavy weight padded nylon riding pants, padded riding shorts, modern soft-armor long sleeve riding shirt, long sleeve nylon riding jersey and leather gloves, add a helmet, goggles, and neck garter and that was our full load out.
We made it to Valley Trinidad on day 1, it was cold (30’s) so I dined in jeans, Faceplant Bamboo tee shirt, and nano puff jacket, our 2nd night was at Mike’s Sky Ranch, was again the Faceplant Bamoo tee shirt made it to the bar and later to dinner. Night 3 was at The Old Mill where Chef Javier made us the most enjoyable Tequila alfredo dinner ever eaten. The Faceplant Bamboo tee was still in it’s prime and smelling fine. Day 4 meant a stop at La Cava de Marcelo for lunch. Being too fine a place for moto gear, we donned our finery and the Faceplant Bamboo tee made another appearance. Night 5 found us back in Valley Trinidad and me back in my Faceplant Bamboo tee, now one might think it would be getting a little foul by now, but as “Baja” Rudy is my witness, it was fresh as dew. This simple shirt was the staple of my dress for 5 days, it didn’t become smelly nor wrinkled and held up well to the abuse. In fact, it was in such good shape, I wore it home on the plane…
- Kevin Farrell
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