Mission ? ... CABO ATV Tours ....

              By Kendal Morrell Co-Founder/ Owner MAddOG Motorsports

     My boyfriend, Teddy, took me to Cabo San Lucas this winter, and we decided that we were going to take in the Cabo San Lucas ATV Tours, day ride.
    The morning of the ride, we sat in front of the hotel, waiting for our bus, which was half an hour late. It was a beautiful 80 degree day and I was outfitted in green shorts and a white tank top.
    When the bus finally arrived we got onto it, only to be assaulted by the stench of old fabric and sweat. It was a long, barely air conditioned trip even farther into the dessert. We went about 30 minutes out of town before we stopped at a tiny ranch. It had horses pinned in a small shack, and dogs running around, but it was quaint.
We checked in, paid our deposits to ride, and went to get our safety gear… They handed me a horse riding helmet and a bandana! How in the hell was I supposed to feel safe in that? But I took it. At this point I would have taken any kind of gear I could get.

Teddy in his "safety gear" 

    When the gear was on we headed out to the back of the place. What I found wasn’t as pleasing as I imagined.

 It was filled with red, yellow and green Honda’s, all big, and all trashy. The guy in charge pointed all females to the green ones, all males to the red ones and all the family or double riders to the biggest yellow ones. 
    I saw the banged up old Honda ATV and was actually scared that I might not be able to work this behemoth of a thing. It was a dusty forest green, had racks on the front and the back, along with one rusted back rim, all bikes had shifters, and none had a clutch. Front brake and back brakes were on the handle bars. Needless to say I grabbed the brake several times as I adjusted to shifting without a clutch. Which some people found hilarious.
How was I even going to get on this death trap? It was much different from the little racer bike I had back home. My Honda TRX would have kicked this old veterans ass given half the chance.

We had a multitude of riders with us. Some were couples, some were singles, and one group in particular caught my attention. It was a couple with their two young children, and each parent took a child as they found and mounted their bikes. The mother kept stalling her bike, but the father was ready to go. When we took off I got stuck behind the mother who preferred to go about 15 MPH and Teddy was stuck behind me.
I had a need for speed, and was envious, when  Teddy hit the throttle and passed everyone but the guide.
   There I was, annoyed that I was going so slow and trying to be courteous to the lady with the small child on her bike… That faded fast. Soon I was throttle happy and gunned it when there was enough room to safely get past her. Needless to say, then everyone started passing her. Eventually she disappeared with her husband. No one knew where they went (Someone later told me they didn’t want to miss their cruise ship).
I was now at the front of the line with Teddy. We were the only ones keeping up with the leader, besides this guy who had brought his wife and then ditched the poor, slow, woman.

   Our first destination was amazing. It was the top of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. I had dirt in my eyes and all over my, now brown, tank top, but the view was breathtaking. Every stop we made was more beautiful than the last.

We headed to our next stop, moving from the brush to an open beach. As soon as Teddy hit the sand, he hit the throttle as hard as he could and took off. Unfortunately his seat decided to take off  too. I was behind him and couldn’t believe my eyes when it went flying out behind him.

  We ended up on an abandoned beach where Teddy and I promptly started racing the other riders. We took off and pulled into first and second while the other guy’s bike stalled at the starting line. Me and my man stared each other down as we turned around, and raced each other back. Unfortunately I lost, but I still came into a close second.

Me, on abandoned beach #1

We followed the beach for a couple more miles (Where Teddy overturned his bike by going over a razorback sideways) and came to our third destination, another abandoned beach. This one was a play beach. There was a giant razor back, and it wasn’t long until we started trying to jump our bikes. My attempts were a failure. I could only get that Piece-O’-Crap bike about a foot off the ground. Lucky Teddy was able to get his about three feet at the highest. They let us play around and race and do doughnuts. It was so much fun.

We headed up through the brush again. Tired, covered in dirt, sunburned, and smiling. As we rode to our next stop, we darted around bushes, sped through the flats, and yelled under every bridge we went under. This was true happiness. Riding harder than I had ridden in months, I couldn’t help the giant grin behind my bandanna.

The last place we headed was another cliff. This one steeper and more beautiful than any of the other places we had been that day. A sheer rock face dropped down not a foot in front of me. It was mesmerizing. This last place I didn’t want to leave, but I had to. It was time to go back to the ranch.

Something that I won't easily admit is that I had lost my love of riding. I got scared, a while back, and didn’t want to get back on a bike. This trip showed me what riding was all about again. Riding is for fun and exhilaration and speed. It is something that you can put your whole self into and get everything back.
   I have a feeling that you will be hearing from me again soon. So keep loving the ride and don’t forget to wear your gear. A horse riding helmet is not a good ATV helmet!