Exploring Baja Off-Pavement
With the exception of a few dozen cities on the peninsula, nearly all of Baja is off-road terrain,... View more
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Argentina to Alaska via Baja with Itchy Boots
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Argentina to Alaska via Baja with Itchy Boots
Her name is Noraly, (nicknamed “Itchy Boots”) she’s Dutch and she’s ridden over 100,000 kilometers by herself around the world and still going! In 2018, she quit her job, sold all of her belongings and has been traveling the world fulltime by motorcycle ever since.
She is riding on a Honda CRF300L Rally, making her way towards Alaska from where she started her latest journey in Patagonia in the very southern regions of Argentina. After taking a pandemic hiatus in Peru, she picked up the trip again late last year and she is currently making her way up through Baja and her biggest challenge so far here has been finding fuel.
Let’s join her as she gets ready to take the ferry over from Sinaloa to La Paz where she will begin making her way north up through the Baja Peninsula in her quest to reach Alaska. I will be updating this thread with her latest videos as she makes her way north.
This is where her Baja adventure solo on two wheels all begins…
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30 Replies
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Getting parts and some new aggressive off-road tires to ride BAJA
In this episode, she will have source an air filter for her bike and then replace her tires as her rear tire is too worn to get her through another 2000 kilometers until she reaches the U.S. – Mexican border. She managed to finally get her hands on some nice new tires and off she goes, heading north into the Baja desert!
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Crossing over from Loreto to San Ignacio
In this episode she continues riding north through Baja California and she loves the dirt roads of Baja and the remote scenery. She also discovers the unconventional fuel stations that have long been the norm for Baja.
Let’s follow along her ride today.
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If anybody sees Noraly as she’s heading north, take a picture and share it…
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I am really not much into off roading or motorcycles but her videos are actually rather fun to watch. I will be following and wish her well.
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WOW! How did I miss this series???
Great share and I will be following as well. That was a smart tire change she made in La Paz as the desert riding here demands different rubber. She may want to make another change north of El Rosario on the west side or San Felipe if she follows the peninsula along the east side.
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Absolutely smart tire change.
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How cool is that? Go girl!
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I understand that this makes for dramatic video series but unless she has a team accompanying her, following behind her off camera to provide this woman with support and security this is just a tragedy waiting to happen.
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I don’t think she rides completely alone. I have seen some of her videos and sometimes she has drone shots – that’s not easy to manage on 2 wheels on dirt.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by blitzer.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by
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Oh yes! We have been following Noraly and her adventures since her third season! Glad you are posting her updates in order here as her channel has videos all over the place and it’s difficult at times to know which is the latest? I will admit that I have been a nervous this season.
Go Itchy Boots!
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If she is also editing her videos then I am impressed!
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Riding BACKWARDS through a Rally Track!
In this new episode, Noraly braces herself for a very long day of riding. Not long after hitting the trail, she realizes that she is literally riding on a rally track backwards!
Luckily, soon after, the track branches and she manages to lose the rally riders and have the whole place to herself again… and it’s like wow!
This was her BEST ride day yet here in Baja!
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Awesome – love it!
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Almost makes me want to buy a motorcycle. Almost.
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There’s nothing like it and don’t judge if you haven’t at least given it a serious try. In my experience over the years, about 2 out 3 who invest a day on two wheels off road down in Baja end up buying their own bike eventually. It’s an addictive sport which my wife has been trying to wean me off of since we married. I’ve got 3 different dirt bikes in the garage and it’s never enough.
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I have spent some weekends with friends and family off road on two wheels in Baja and believe me I understand exactly how addictive the sport can be. And why my wife refuses to allow me to even look at a dirt bike for sale. 😆
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Rocks, Whoops and Fresh Fish!
In this new episode, “Itchy Boots” deals with the bumpy and rocky nature of Baja’s off-road trails as she heads northwest from San Ignacio towards the gulf where she crosses path with a small group of off-roaders who appear a bit lost before a chance discovery of a remote fishing village with it’s iconic hospitality that so many of us have come to know. And then a respite from the grueling trail as she connects with Mex5 along the Sea of Cortez, before finally rolling into San Felipe at day’s end. Ride along with her…
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That’s her best Baja video yet. Welcome to the Baja trail Itchy Boots.
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This woman is so brave! My daughter and a girl friend want to drive from San to Loreto on the highway and I worry too much something will happen. And Noraly goes on a motorcycle on dirt roads by herself? Her mother must have nightmares.
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We took that San Ignacio-BOLA trail several years ago on a once in a life ride I was invited on from Mag Bay to San Felipe. It was awesome and still one of my all time favorite rides! I am pretty sure it was that same fish camp on the Sea of Cortez where we camped one night. There we met an old guy named Pancho I believe, who was like the mayor, local police and provider of most anything you needed. He told us he’d been there at that camp for something like 25 or 30 years. I remember there was a lady there who cooked for us but not sure she was the same one from this video.
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If you were wondering, yes Itchy Boots did make a video of her falls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTaH5p82wzs-
I had wondered about that. With the combination all that gear she is carrying as well as constantly having to worry about camera angles, her GPS track plus riding along unfamiliar terrain while also trying to look around and observe the landscape and the associated audio comments on the trail, it has to very tough. And I know first hand how difficult riding uphill on loose dirt and gravel is, made 10X more difficult with all that gear!
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I have heard of people doing that San Ignacio to BOLA trail on a mountain bike. That has got to be grueling on a-motorized bike, even in winter.
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We saw a couple of mountain bikes and they were on the side of under a tarp, told us they could only ride early in the morning and late in the afternoon until there was no more It was May.
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Looks like she’ll be crossing over the border and out of Baja in the next video.
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Itchy Boots last day in Baja before crossing north…
Watch as she leaves San Felipe she takes a back road to Tecate…Follow along to see what happens…
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It looks like she had a bad fall and is off the trail for a few days
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I saw that and was surprised it happened in the states. Really expected for her to have had a tougher time in Baja, figured she’d have at least one bad spill riding so hard every day on unfamiliar trails and with no guides to advise her. Looks like her good luck ran out.
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Especially along the trails of central Baja. Not just riding on unfamiliar tracks but that material underneath is different and much less predictable at times. At least that has been my experience.
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She made a smart tire change when she landed in La Paz from the mainland. Looking back now it does seem like somebody with some local knowledge was at least giving her some good advice at minimum.
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