Overpacking was probably a huge part of why I crashed and why the bag tore. Also I had previously bent my rack on a spill before leaving and I think it wasn’t supporting the weight of the bag so well all mangled like that. Oh well, live and learn, it’s amazing how you can get everything you need in whatever space you have available.
I recently purchased a little GoPro camera and mounted it on my bike to record the awesome road from Himalaya (since I was too busy riding to catch it the first time) and pressed record.
Off I go through the sand and gravel washes…
I glance down and realize the camera is missing! 
I wait for my buddy to catch up and ask if he saw it.
I turn around and go back and find the camera in one of the washes. I’ll edit the video later when I get a chance because right now it’s like: Dirt riding, dirt riding, gravel wash, car tire, blackness, me staring at it for several minutes looking concerned. I’m just glad I found it and it still worked. Losing/breaking it on the first outing would be super lame.
There’s not much out by Himalaya, just farmers. Here’s some shots Aleksandra got of the landscape.
I was faster on the dirt, but they caught up with me on the slab and we all said our goodbyes at the gas station on the main road.
They were headed back home and I was going South to San Carlos where I was hoping to meet my friend Alan, but last I talked he wasn’t certain he’d make it or not.
Headed down the main highway alone on such a small bike was a bit unnerving. With my mirror broken off I had no warning and a large truck would suddenly whoosh by making my bike wobble from the wind. Going to San Carlos in the off season is a bit odd. The main road into town is a massive multi-lane boulevard with palms up the center. It seemed to go on forever and I kept wondering if I was there yet.
Someone told me this place was fairly affordable, so went there first and booked a room so I could shower. All that beach diving makes you feel pretty gritty.
The room was $30 a night and they let me use their internet so I was fairly pleased…up until they double rented my room out and some guy came wandering in while I was watching TV in my underwear.
I decided to head down to the marina and meet some locals.
San Carlos is a pretty scary place. 
This picture pretty much sums up the general population/attitude.
The ex-pats were friendly and I got some free food, drink and company while I waited for Alan (lstzephyr) to join me. I decided to pass the time reading.
My friend loaned me Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and I hoped to get through it on this trip, but it’s not an easy read. The author keeps talking about the two kinds of people, the Romantic and the Classic and I know I’m the former (and the author is a bit condescending to people who think that way). I prefer to believe motorcycles run on hopes, dreams and fairy dust, what of it?
So I’m bumming around San Carlos waiting for something to happen and lo and behold it does! I get an email from CouchSurfing and it turns out a girl I met three years ago in Vienna is staying on a boat in Guaymas with her boyfriend and wants to know if I’d like to stay there with them. Heck yes I do!
I explain I’m waiting for Alan and they decide to come to San Carlos to wait with me.
This is Roger and Christine
They are cruising in this very adorable VW Buggy…
…and when Alan joins us we ride over to Guaymas looking like we got lost on our way to the Baja 500.
Their boat was damaged in the hurricane, so it’s dry docked, making a perfect garage for motorbikes.
This would be our home for three days…