El Diablo Run 2013 was the first year we sponsored and participated in the run. We took off from the office packed down and ready to go Thursday early morning and caught up with the group in Calexico before crossing. The ride to Calexico was hot and seemed like riding straight into a hair dryer. As we approached San Felipe the weather cooled off and the breeze were in our knees and tacos on our minds. We pulled up to camp and found ourselves a cool spread with our buddy Phil and unwound with a beer in one hand and tacos de pescado in the other.
The next day we headed out to town on the bikes for some supplies and site seeing to kill time before the events started. The barrel race and slow race was super cool and exciting but everyone was really waiting around to see who would try there luck at the “circulio de muerta” (the circle of death race). As expected bikes went down, people went flying and the crowd went wild! Next up was the “Cocktagon” on the beach front. Even more excitement was in the air for this one as everyone crowded around the lines of the arena and cheered on for their favorite.
After the event everyone headed to town for dinner. We found a cool steak house everyone was talking about and sat ourselves. If you have ever been to baja you already know the service is slow like island time. It took almost 2 hours for our steaks to arrive but was worth wait. This would have definitely been the Ruth’s Chris or Morton’s of San Felipe, if there was one. After dinner it was all about having a good time and getting ready for the ride the next day to Ensenada. We were up early and had to sort a leaking front brake master. We sorted the brake just in time to fuel up and ride out with the crew and were on our way.
A few stops along the way and we were in Ensenada in no time. The ride along the way was some of the best so far. This was the riding you would expect from Mexico with farm trucks, dead road varmints and potholes to avoid. At one of the last stops along the way I opted to trailer my bike and shoot photos in the back of the chase truck our group had following. Almost as soon as I jumped in the back we hit another federal inspection spot. The federali’s were cool with us as we didn’t have any bombas or drugas!
Arriving in Ensenda it’s hard not to notice the huge flag waving in the wind setting the backdrop of the town. We pullled up at the Desert Inn and quickly found a spot to park the bikes and check into our rooms. The nightlife in Ensenda is certainly more prevalent than that of San Felipe. We were beat from the events and riding but decided to go our for a few hours and call it a night at a decent hour. We were looking forward to a bed after sleeping on the hard floor in the palapas for two nights.
The next morning we went site seeing and food tasting down by the docks. After being out in the sun for a few hours we chilled out in the shade by the pool at the hotel and waited for the awards to begin. After the awards a good third of attendees made a break for the border and inspired us enough to pack up and ride out a night early. Memorial day at home with the family seemed like the right thing to do so we rode out into in the sunset and made it to the border by nightfall.
