Slow Baja

Hayden Roberts and Scott Toepfer race mid-’60s vintage British Dirt Bikes in events like the NORRA Mexican 1000, NORRA Baja 500, and The Mint 400. Roberts, originally from England, is now a fixture in the So Cal Motorcycle scene, crafting and customizing bikes at his shop Hello Engine, in Santa Paula, California. Toepfer, a top lifestyle-photographer with a specialty in motorcycles, met Roberts while they were on a motocross exposition in Japan. They became fast friends, and have been racing, wrenching, and traveling on their desert-sleds ever since. In this conversation, we learn the meaning of “Only mad dogs and Englishmen.” Hear stories of swapping motors on the beach, sleeping in the dirt, and surviving a dreaded stingray sting. Joy Lewis joined us midway through. She tells us about an epic night of worry on the NORRA Mexican 1000. She was in the chase-truck, supporting Hayden, and his GPS position stopped moving. Her mind raced; did he crash? Was he injured, or worse? They were hours away and had no way to contact him, let alone reach him. As she searched for information and tried to summon help -one grizzled Baja veteran (jokingly) suggested that he was “shacked up with a local senorita and in nine months a little Baja-racer would be born!” In the morning, Joy found him -tired but well-fed, nursing a carton of milk and teaching a group of elementary school children about England. During a sandstorm in Bahia de Los Angeles, they fell in love over a cup of hot tea.  Prompting Joy to make the observation “the stars are brighter, and the tacos are better in Baja.” We couldn't agree more!   Hayden & Hello Engine Website, Instagram  Scott G. Toepfer Website, Instagram  Joy Lewis Instagram  Buck Smith Facebook  Nick Ashley Instagram NORRA Mexican 1000 Website  NORRA Mexican 1000 Instagram 

Andrew Szabo created the zany Budapest-to-Bamako Rally and the 3000-mile-no-support-Baja XL Rally. In this podcast, we discuss adventure travel, Africa, Baja, off-roading, and how not to get shot when you steal a farmer's tractor to pull your car out of a silt bed! The 2019 Baja XL Rally featured some 300 entrants in 140 vehicles hailing from 30 different countries. In 2017, Szabo created The Baja 4000 -for the four thousand kilometers, the event covered from LA to Cabo and back to LA. In 2019, the Slow Baja team competed in the Adventure 4x4 Catagory in the renamed Baja XL Rally. Visit The BajaXL website here Follow on Instagram Follow on Facebook Budapest-Bamako channel on Youtube

Ruben Valenzuela Hernandez is the owner of the BCB Tasting Room in Tijuana. With 42 beers on tap and another 400 in bottles, BCB is a mecca for craft beer drinkers from both sides of the border.  In this podcast, we discuss the booming craft beer scene in Tijuana, the rise of the Valle de Guadalupe, Bichi Wine, tacos, and Ruben's favorite restaurants. Please note we taped this conversation in January 2020 before sheltering-in-place and social distancing due to COVID-19 was in practice. BCB Tasting Room Calle Orizaba 10335 Fracc. Neidhart 22020 Tijuana BC +52.664.656.9405

Recently Slow Baja spent a day exploring Tijuana. We had a great time eating, drinking, and recording. Our first stop was at the charming Casa Cacao for a late breakfast. The artisanal chocolate shop and mole restaurant -located just a few doors off of Ave. Revolution is a tiny slice of Oaxaca. Owners, Rosa, and Jose were eager to share their love and knowledge of cacao and its many healthful properties. We dined on enmoladas, tlayudas, and tamales with house-made salsas, and moles. Locally roasted dark coffee and traditional hot chocolate were an unexpected surprise. The conversation ranged from the healthful properties of cacao and dark chocolate to the state of the economy in Tijuana. Please note we taped this conversation in January 2020 -before social distancing and shelter-in-place orders due to COVID-19 were in place. Casa Cacao Calle 2da #8172 Zona Centro 22020 Tijuana BC (664)215-6565 casacacaotijuana.com

Adalberto Pérez Mellión is an artist and printmaker who operates Taller Pérez Mellión—initially opened as Galleria Pérez Mellión in 1988. In the beginning, he specialized in selling the art and crafts of the Paipai and the Kumeyaay Indian tribes of Northern Baja. He spent years traveling to their remote communities by four-wheel-drive vehicle trading for their handicrafts. After an artist-in-residence scholarship took him to Zacatecas, to study printmaking at the Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguerez, Pérez Mellión returned to Ensenada and turned his gallery into a printing studio. Since that day, he has been teaching the craft of printmaking while selling the art of his students and local contemporary artists. In this conversation, we discuss his progression from folk-art dealer to becoming an artist and a teacher of printmaking. Additionally, we covered a three-day hike with burros to see cave art he took with our mutual friend Ted Donovan led by Francisco Detrell. Last but certainly not least, we discussed the origins of fish tacos in Ensenada and his favorite tacos stands. Please note we taped this conversation in January 2020 before social distancing due to COVID-19 was in practice. Taller Pérez Mellión Lazaro Cardenas 22820 Ensenada, Baja California +52 646 171 6127 www.facebook.com/pages/Taller-Pér…/113662939114683 Centro de las Artes de Baja California Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas y Avenida Club Rotario 22880 Ensenada, Baja California (646) 173 43 07/08 www.icbc.gob.mx www.facebook.com/CEARTEnsenada/ Francisco Detrell Baja Guide Expediciones de Ecoturismo (646) 178 0499 ecoturb@ens.com.mx Tacos Corona Tacos de Pescado and Camaron Avenida y, Espinoza, Benito Juárez, tacoscorona.business.site