Crossing the Border into Mexico

*It's a 2-fer kinda day since we're taking advantage of finding internet wherever we can, BUT, in our urgency to get over the border and ride a fair distance before dark, we neglected to take ANY photos. Sorry guys!*

Since we were camping somewhat illegally and the park opened at 6, we were up at 4:45am and on the road by 5:15am. We had a delightful coffee stop outside of San Diego and chatted with a bunch of lovely people. We were immediately disappointed that we were hardly going to have a chance to see this city that seemed to be full of happy, friendly and outgoing people. But such is life. We’ve come to accept the fact that you simply cannot “see it all” and it’s good to have reasons to return to places.

We had arranged to meet Mike at a Walmart near the border. Mike, the extremely packed up new-to-overlanding-overlander who had attended our presentation at Adventure Designs, had asked us if he could ride with us for a while and possibly pick up some knowledge from us along the way, as he had just recently begun his RTW ride. We agreed and explained to him that he was welcome to ride with us for a few days and we’d be happy to share whatever experience we could, but that naturally, as much as we’re flexible (because you have to be when traveling this way) we’re also pretty set in our ways in other ways. He was happy to go along, and so we agreed to ride together for a bit.

We did a quick ride through of San Diego and headed to Walmart.

At Walmart, we found out that Mike wouldn’t be able to join us to cross the border as he was having problems with one of his bike modifications, so we went on alone.

We gassed up. Exchanged some dollars for pesos (and yes, the sign that promised “No commission” was a LIE). And headed to the border.

Roel remembered to stop next to the highway and run across 4 lanes of traffic to hand his I94 form back to US immigration (it’s pretty ridiculous in my opinion that there is no formal parking area or signage like “Stop here for US immigration”) and then we came to the border.
The border guards just looked at us and waved us through. No passport checking. No bike paperwork checking. No directions for anything of that nature.

And then we were in Mexico.

We had become so used to hearing everyone talk about their trips to Baja, it had almost become like an extension of California in our minds. The reality looked like anything but.

Immediately upon crossing the border, the level of poverty was striking. The highway was in relatively good condition, but there were people living in cardboard shags along the highway for the first few kilometers. The road ran along the wall that separated Mexico from the USA. The ease with which we crossed the border must be a dream for many thousands on this side of the border. We seldom realize how fortunate we really are. We continued on, intent to get some distance between us and the border, and I was so focused on reading the road signs that I’m pretty sure we missed the customs/immigration office along the highway. Not that it was well-signed, or anything, but still.

We continued on until Ensenada and decided to stop there for the evening. The information center told us that the customs/immigration office in Ensenada would open the following morning, as would Telcel (for my Mexican sim card), and that we could find a campground on the beach for $5 about 20 minutes farther South.

On the way to the campground, we found a Walmart, AutoZone, Office Depot and several other US brand shops. We also found ourselves to have slight headaches, likely due to all of the pollution we were breathing in heavy traffic that was comprised of older cars that would definitely not pass US emissions inspections.

We found one of the two campgrounds mentioned, and were quoted $30 for a rocky spot on the water and cold showers. Haggling only brought us down to $20. And the guy seemed rather unfriendly.
We went to the other campground mentioned, Mona Lisa Beach, and again, were quoted $25. I tried to bargain (in Spanish), but the nice attendant told me that she didn’t own the place and so it wasn’t up to her. Ensenada is a port town and is still quite close to the border, so with the sun setting and needing to tell Mike where to meet us, we decided to eat the cost and at least feel “safe” for the evening.

Monterey to LA with an Unhappy Africa Twin

Love the PCH!!!

From Monterey, we headed South to LA on a Tuesday, with a target of riding over the border on Friday or Saturday. We had several errands to run while in LA and we also had several friends we wanted to catch up with before we left the country. However, with Roel’s visa for the US expiring on Sunday, we had very little time to work with.






And the the Africa Twin decided to make things interesting… By not starting properly. So then all bets were off.

The issue had begun in the Bay Area and initially just seemed to be due to colder evenings and mornings.

But then when it took 4 attempts to start at a gas station in Santa Monica… Then Roel had to roll the AT all over a parking lot and down a hill at a grocery store in Pasadena. And then, the battery died in my girlfriend’s parking garage when Roel was trying to start the Twin, we knew our social “calendar” would have to be scrapped.

I was lucky to get to see my girlfriends as we stayed with them while in the area and they were extremely understanding of how hectic the situation was, but furthermore, we didn’t get to see anyone else. So, for those of you reading this who we were supposed to meet up with or should have reached out to… we’re sorry - we had the best intentions.

While Roel was in the garage tinkering, I was upstairs contemplating our options online: would we have to trailer the Africa Twin over the border? At this point, we knew we weren’t going to make the Friday deadline and the Saturday deadline was looking pretty far out of reach.

Fortunately, after pulling apart the Africa Twin, Roel found some corrosion on the starter relay and found a spark plug that did not look the way it should. He scraped away the corrosion and replaced all of the spark plugs and the result was a much happier Africa Twin. Not a perfectly happy Africa Twin, mind you, but happy enough that we could trust him not to refuse to start after we chat with immigration officials.



We made the call to cross the border on Sunday morning and took the opportunity to change my front tire as my shoddy steering head bearing had left a really unpleasant pattern in my old front tire.


A new Kenda K761 for the Transalp!

On Saturday night we rode south and camped at a closed state park next to the I5. Just when you thought you couldn’t hate the I5 anymore that you already did, you go and camp right next to it and within a couple of hours realize that the traffic on the 5 never sleeps. So nor will you.


Adrenaline shot of the day: Emergency stop on the side of the i5 to drop off this unwelcome hitchhiker!

The Ride "South" Begins

The deluge didn’t stop. We might have been tempted to wait it out, but we had a date with the Oakland Motorcycle Club to keep (not to mention an impending one with US Immigration).

The OMC was incredibly warm and welcoming to us last year, so we promised to come back armed with a photo presentation the next time we were in town. It was an intimate evening of story-telling and sharing laughs with club members, several of whom have become friends via social media over the past year.


Enjoying some family time with my cousin who recently moved to Monterey






It's VERRRRRY nice to have friends with memberships at the Monterey Aquarium



We spent a couple of days with my favorite cousin who recently moved to Monterey with her family.


The Africa Twin and Transalp were in good company with the Ural and it's two cross-country riders - guess some things "run in the family"

And then rode back up North for a presentation at Adventure Designs in Hayward. We had stopped in there last year for a tire and they were extremely kind and generous. They even did an interview with us during that visit, since we wouldn’t be able to hang around and give their customers an in-person presentation. Luckily for us, Kyle from Adventure Designs is a pro at editing audio/video footage and made us sound and look great :)


These guys have EVERYTHING for any kind of moto adventure! You'd think Roel and I have everything we need, already, but we drool while wandering around Adventure Designs. I needed some more reflectors for my new Hepco & Becker Gobi Cases... check!

Since we had a bit of time now, we wanted to repay their kindness and have a chat with a few of their customers during their open house.

Well, a few turned out to be more like 80-100ppl and it was a blast. It shouldn’t be surprising that a family owned business that is as awesome as Adventure Designs has a really cool and diverse customer base, but I wasn’t prepared to have so much fun with them. Everyone had great questions, they were all encouraging and every person in the audience was passionate about motorcycling. We were meant to be there to inspire others, but I walked away inspired and uplifted by the stories others told us after our presentation.

For example, Cliff decided to take up motorcycling at 53, as part of fulfilling his dream trip to Patagonia. As if that alone wasn’t enough to inspire one, he had a crash at an intersection before his trip, breaking his leg in two places, but he didn’t let this get him down and he didn’t even waver in his pursuit of his dream. He just got back from Argentina last week. Check out his blog for some fascinating reading and have a look at the rest of his website for some really helpful links and information.

And Duffy, a friend we made last year at the Oakland Motorcycle Club, came again this year, even helped line up our presentation at OMC AND joined us at Adventure Designs. I think he enjoys chatting in Dutch with Roel :) Duffy is a man after my own heart and is willing to take risks to ensure that he is not wasting time being unhappy with the way his life is going. I love that!


Sorry for the blurry shot - we stole it from someone elses cellphone...

At the conclusion of our presentation at Adventure Designs, Chad, who owns the business with his brother Karsten, presented us with a set of Heidenau K60s to ride “South” on. They are such generous guys and apparently they attract extremely generous customers because just as we were about to leave, Chad came over and said a customer of his, wishing to remain anonymous, had given us an early Christmas gift: the Sena 20s and the backpacks to pair with the GoPros so that our voices will be heard with the Go Pro footage. Incredible.

If this Mr. Anonymous is reading this... THANK YOU - we are super excited to put this equipment to use as we head South!

So, perhaps there will be a bit less hand-written blogging and perhaps a bit more riding-video-blogging. What do you think?

Christmas Came Early... Courtesy of Moto Machines

Confession: For nearly a year and a half I have ogled Roel’s Hepco & Becker Gobi cases.

They are what saved his legs when he skidded off of the road into a meter deep ditch in Nepal. They are what gave me great confidence that I wouldn’t get hurt if Roel dropped the Africa Twin while we were two-up.


TBT #1: riding 2-up through Australia was when I first fell in love with the Hepco & Becker Gobi cases.

Like the time we were about to cross a river where the occasional croc had been spotted in Australia and Roel misjudged the muddy river bank and down we went - instead of being pinned under the bike, the Gobi cases cushioned our fall and protected my legs. AND the Gobi cases still looked great, were very multi-purpose AND were water-tight after 5 years on the road.


TBT #2: Because it is so easy to remove the Gobi Cases from the Hepco & Becker rack, they make for great chairs in a pinch... like on my birthday in the Outback of Australia.

The Zega cases that came on my Transalp on the other hand did not and were not. Don’t get me wrong, Touratech makes some good stuff. Just someone wasn’t paying attention when they made the Zega Cases. Or they were paying attention, and consciously made them only for the rider who never drops his/her bike. Especially not in the sand. Definitely not on slick rock. And surely not in parking lots. Not that I ever did that ;)

When ogling Roel’s Gobi’s became coveting Roel’s Gobi Cases, I decided to reach out to Moto Machines, the US importer of Hepco & Becker, to see if they would be willing to help me out. I sent an e-mail pleading for Gobi side cases. I was REALLY sick of winding up with the equivalent of an inch of water in my Zegas every time it rained.

I also hinted that I wouldn’t mind a top case (my current one, “Walter” - a DeWalt toolbox cum top box - as much as I love it, wouldn’t fit properly with the hinged Gobi side cases). And a tank bag, since it would be really nice to have something more secure than what I have now and to have enough space to stash my camera for quick access.

You know, shoot for the Moon, land amongst the stars. Or so I was hoping.

I was on pins and needles waiting to hear back as soon as the e-mail to Moto Machines left my sent folder. And fortunately, they’re really nice guys and hardly made me wait for a reply. Not only did I land on the Moon, they insisted that I ride with a Hepco & Becker engine guard in addition to everything else.



And the surprises just kept adding up: they actually had the engine guard, side case rack and Gobi cases in stock for the Transalp… a 25 year old bike! The claim on their website that they have stock to outfit rare motorcycles held true! I would have to wait for the top case, but that just meant that Christmas would be extra exciting.

So again I waited on pins and needles for the UPS man to arrive. And when he did I actually felt like a child running down the stairs and beholding an impressively promising box under the Christmas tree.


Merry Christmas to MEEEEEE No more fighting to cram things into my little tank bag and hello easy access to my DSLR!

I was thrilled. The tank bags are sturdy and will fit our cameras. The black Gobi cases are beautiful. Sturdy, attractive and best of all, WATERPROOF. As were the awesome assortment of Hepco & Becker Ortlieb & Amphibious dry bags they sent.


Love the Hepco & Becker Travel Zip bag... fits all of our camping gear AND is easy to carry around!

You might wonder how I know this already… well, the package arrived during California’s first real fall storm. A deluge, if you will. And my wonderful boyfriend, installed the new rack, engine guard and cases in the pouring rain, before we rode in the pouring rain.




Roel installing my new engine guard in California's first fall storm. Can't wait for sunshine when we have a date with the border. :/ And yes, I know what a lucky girl I am

He had to shave off bits of Walter’s left-side so I can open that case enough to get stuff in and out, but it’ll work for now.. Time was of the essence and we had to get everything on the bike so I could begin packing up the cases and begin the ride South.

Obsessed with my new luggage setup!! It looks so good! Thank you Moto Machines!!!

Belly Care for Bikes and Riders Alike.

With free days and the open road beckoning us, we were finally able to get serious about preparing the bikes for South America. Only two minor issues… we needed to move out of our harvest rental mansion (silly owners, they wanted it back for the holidays!). And we had a few jobs on our list for the bikes that we had neither the tools nor 100% of the know-how to do.

One of our colleagues at Flowers was an avid motorcycle rider until a medical condition constricted her to traveling by car only. At heart, she is still a motorcyclist and a member of the motorcycling family. After hearing our list of motorcycle repairs and projects and estimating how long it would take to execute all of these tasks, she took action and swiftly became our Fairy Godmother:


Homemade popovers... nom nom nom!

She made up the guest bedroom in her home, asked us to be her guest for Thanksgiving, taught me several new recipes and baking trick, and she introduced us to friends of hers who happen to be quite the power couple: she is a brilliant chemist and he is a motorcycling mechanical engineer. They have a shop, three times the size of their house, that made even me drool a bit.

Working on the bikes with them was an experience in itself. They’re incredibly intelligent and had several truly ingenious ideas of how to get around issues that became road blocks in the maintenance of the bikes that we planned to do. He actually machined and welded a few custom tools for us and even made me custom risers for my handlebars (letting me have a pass at the lathe a few times, too) so that my ride will be more ergonomically comfortable.




Hand-made handlebar risers

The first job we tackled was trying to address the oil consumption issue of the Transalp.


Naked Transalp


Feeding rope into the engine cylinder so that the pistons don't fall into the cylinder.

If you’re interested in how that job went, I’ve posted a detailed account of it here for other Transalp owners: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=25533705&postcount=17282


We finally got a chance to use the valve clearance adjustment tool that was specially made for us back in Ontario by our friend Chris at Procter Precision

We also changed my steering head bearing, my fork gaiters and my fork oil.



And then we moved on to the Africa Twin. Roel’s clutch has been “acting up” lately, in the form of not going into neutral if the engine is running and pulling forward when the bike is stopped. An examination of the clutch basket showed that the clutch plates had worn ridges into the metal of the basket.


Those ridges in the basket shouldn't be there :(

A new basket is somewhere in the range of 400 Euros (read: we’d have to get it from Europe, anyway, even if it was affordable). So, the next best option was filing down the ridges, which Roel did very gently. The clutch plates all looked fine.


The welded sprocket bit in the middle is the tool that the Engineer built for Roel. Pretty cool! And it worked perfectly!

And so Roel reassembled the clutch three times. Yes. Three times. Something was wrong twice and it took two different motorcycle manuals (a Honda and a Haines) and the three of us to figure out the issue. The Engineer and I were impressed that by the third time, Roel hadn’t begun throwing wrenches.

Thanks to assistance (and patience) of the Chemist and the Engineer, the bikes are now largely ready to cross the border.

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving with these three folks. It was filled with warmth, great stories, laughter, and all of the traditional Thanksgiving favorites. Every dish on the table, down to the jellied cranberry sauce, was made from scratch. It was incredible.





For us, this was another example of how the people we have met during the course of our travels have become family. 

Harvest in Sonoma Winds Down...

Nothing like a little camping along the Extreme Sonoma Coast

With our evenings back to ourselves and weekends free to play, we began to take advantage of our location near the Pacific Coast Highway. Having missed our usual NEMO home, Roel and I took the opportunity to get out and do some camping and hiking along the coast.

We began to fully enjoy our rental house and sharing family dinner nights, comprised of food and drinks from the countries represented by our harvest team.

USA: Chili with cornbread, root beer floats, gourmet BLTs and pumpkin pie and LOTS of Flowers wines.


A real treat: 1995 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir... still beautiful nearly 20 years later!


Chile: Empanadas, Sopapillas and Pisco Sours


Learning how to make empanadas with our Chilean co-intern.

Germany:  Onion Cake, Cabbage, Roladen, Spaetzel, Apple Strudel and LOTS of German wines, mostly from Martin’s family winery.

Australia: Kangaroo, Sausage Rolls, Burgers with all the Aussie Fixings, Coopers Beer (real Australian beer ;) ) and LOTS of Australian wines.

And best of all, our parents, wanting to take advantage of relative proximity, came to visit from Holland, Vermont and Florida.


Bring your parents to work day: Roel tasting his parents through some of Flowers best barrels.

I got to hike Mt. Shasta with my Dad and one of his best friends on my birthday.

The days at work were now filled with putting together blends from different barrels and analyzing the resulting samples.


Chardonnay samples ready to be sent off for analysis.

With actual time to spare during the day and after work, our winemaker, Dave, tasted through the wines with us and we had a few fun “blind” tasting sessions which were quite educational.



We got to spend some time with Flowers's viticulturist who walked us through some of the biodynamic practices Flowers has employed.



And we got to take an awesome "field trip" to Napa where we were able to taste some stunning wines and chat with some world-renowned winemakers.


Field trips as an adult are sooooo much better. 2005 Opus One. YUM.

Between having all of this fun and learning, on the edge of our minds the knowledge that we would be crossing the border into Mexico sooner than we realized crept in. And the to-do list compilation began.