Off Road Fun

Baja 1000 pictures

I’ve posted the pictures from the Baja1000 trip. There are over 600 pictures for your enjoyment. To view all the photos go to the Baja1000 trip photo gallery.

Below is a small sample of the images.

         
  
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Day 2…The conclusion

The clearing overlooking the cove was an awsome spot to stop and take a break. We took a bunch of photos of the crew & really cool shots of the landscape. All around us was hills & cliffs, towards the ocean was the cove. It was about 2pm and you could see the dark clouds rolling in. We knew it was going to rain just weren’t sure how long we had.  After about an hour of hanging out at the cove we decided to move on. We were on a mission, we wanted to find the trail we planned on riding. That’s when it started to get more interesting…

I was in the red buggy and we endud up taking the lead up the steep trail. Behind us were the 2 bikes and the black buggy held up the rear. We got to the top and drove about 50 yards until we reached a fork in the road so we decided to wait for the rest of the vehicles. After a  minute, Frankie passed us to take the lead so we decided to wait at the fork so the other 2 vehicles wouldn’t get lost. After a couple of minutes we started to wonder if  something was wrong since we still hadn’t seen the other bike & buggy. I guess by that time Frankie realized something was wrong because he came rolling back at that time as well. Just when he was going to head back and check, the other 2 caught up to us. We could tell something was wrong with Bronson. When he pulled up he stopped his bike and just sat there for a minute. We asked if he was ok and he said he was fine but we knew better. He was struggling trying to get his bike started up again. That’s when team Takahara told us that Bronson almost flew off the cliff and injured his leg in the process. The way they described it was that as he was going up the hill he hit a rock which launched him to the edge of the road. Luckily, he managed to regain control enough to keep him on the road instead of flying off the cliff. Basically he was bounced back and forth like a pinball. During all this manuevering he planted his foot hard which caused him to hurt to his hip. Immediately after hearing the story we offered to ride his bike back so he can sit in the buggy and we could head back home for him to assess the damage and/or recover. He jumped in the buggy but said he was fine to continue the ride so we continued on our mission. The next 15-20 minutes of the ride was down a well graded road so it was rather uneventful until we stopped for a quick break. Where we stopped there happened to be a side trail with a hill climb. The hill looked rather steep so it started off with a challange to the buggy drivers. Most were hesitant but frankie insisted it could be done so team Takahara took the challenge. After a couple minutes of deliberating we decided how it should be executed…balls out with a hard right at the top. Daniel hit the gas and went for it. He wanted to use the downhill momentum to build up enough speed to make it up the hill. There were some bad bumps along the way which affected the run but he still made pretty high up the hill. He came back and immediately gave it another try. This time was worse.  He made it to the lip of the hill but got stuck in loose dirt. When rolled back down the hill he ended up backing into a small bush and got stuck in the bush. The more he tried to drive forward the more of a hole he dug with the spinning tires. We ran over to help but he was snagged on the dried up bush. The buggy has a winch but we had nothing to attach it to so we decided to use the other buggy as an anchor. This didn’t work. The buggy was so stuck that all the winch would do is pull the anchor buggy. If we couldn’t get it out we were going to have to go get one of our trucks to pull it out so we tried brute force. We commenced to rocking the buggy by driving back & forth and we were physically rocking it from side to side. I was surprised but this actually worked so we were back at attacking this hill. By this time Todd finally decided to give it a try. His buggy seems to have a bit more horsepower so we figured he would have a better chance of making it. He tried a couple of times but couldn’t make it either. We had almost given up but then it happened…team Takahara made it. they found the right line. After a bit of encouagement from us (aka name calling), Todd was so determined that he made it up the hill in one shot from a cold start half way up the hill. This hill was conquered! They both went up it a couple more times just to be sure. We spent a few minutes at the top of the hill celebrating when it finally started to sprinkle. None of us wanted to get stuck in a down pour so we decided to head back home. Although we never really found the trail Frankie wanted and Bronson got hurt, we all still had a blast.

Day 2…part 1

It’s day 2 in Ensenada. First on the list of to-do’s is to go for a ride but before we could go out we had to eat something. Since we had nothing else, we had some ranchera steak for breakfast.

Frankie had been here before so he wanted to take us on a trail that followed the mountain tops along the coastline and ends at a stretch of beach. We took the road to La Bufadora but somehow missed the turn.

We stopped for a few minutes to give Frankie a chance to scope out the terrain in an effort to find the trail. That’s when we had our movie moment. You know, the scene in the movies when the Americans are approaced by the local children.  While sitting there in the buggy we were approached by a local kid wielding a gun (a plastic bb gun with laser sight). He was playing around telling us to put our hands up and thimgs like that. I was too distracted to pay attention to him so after a few minutes he stepped away but not before he asked for money. He then went to the other buggy and did the same thing. Once he figured out team Takahara didn’t speak any spanish he went to Bronson who had got out of the buggy to do some filming with the camcorder. Bronson chased him away. After a few minutes Frankie & Bronson had a plan so it was time to hit the road. I didn’t see it when it happened but Bronson was shot on the way out. Yup, the punk kid shot him with a BB as we pulled away. I don’t think it caused any damage but he did feel it.

We drove back on the same road we came in on and found a road next to some houses and decided to give it a try.

It was a 15-20 min ride over a hill to a small cove where the fisherman keep their boats. It was a great place to stop and enjoy the view.

We Hit the Road

Today we hit the road to start our Baja1000 adventure. We met up at 6:45 am and were enroute by 7:10 am (only about 10-15 minutes behind schedule). We were only missing one more person which we picked up on the way. After picking up our last passenger we kept going until we reached the freeway rest stop about an hour north of San Diego. Due to the long lines at the restrooms we ended up spending about 20-30 minutes there. We continued south until we were a couple of miles from the border crossing so we could fill the trucks with gas. We also spent about 20-30 minutes at this stop due to a small traffic collision in the parking lot. The drivers of the two cars involved decided to leave their cars right where it happenned (right in front of the driveway we needed to exit from).  Needless to say, we made our way out. We headed to the border crossing and got through within 5 minutes. It was cool, there was no line at all. This was my first time in Tijuana so I had to make sure I didn’t lose my caravan. Hauling a trailer around the unmaintained roads of Mexico next to the crazy driving locals meant I had to keep alert. All went fine and we made it to our next stop without any problems. We made a quick stop in Rosarito to pick up some “rattlesnake”. That took us about 30-45 minutes but was a nice break that let us stretch our legs since we had to walk a couple of blocks. Next stop was a bathroom break at a small bar in the middle of nowhere about half way between Rosarito & Ensenada. This is also where Todd & Daniel took one of the buggies off the trailer to drive it to Ensenada. Where else but Mexico can you drive an off road buggy on the freeway. The buggy handled the freeway well. In no time we were in Ensenada. As we drove through town all eyes were on the buggy. We ended up making one more bathroom break at the Gigante grocery store before we headed to the rental house. By this time were were all tired of being in the trucks for so long so the last 30 minutes of the drive seem to be the longest. It was all worth it in the end. The rental house was nice. It sits on a peninsula so it has a clear view to the front of the house and an awesome view of the beach to the back of the house. We unloaded the trucks & trailers as fast as we could and ran in and claimed our sleeping quarters as fast as we could so we could proceed to making lunch (carne asada with rice & beans and fresh flour tortillas). This was the appropriate beggining of an adventure filled weekend……

Pack Early & Don’t Forget Anything

Pack early and don’t forget anything….well, that was the plan. Tomorrow is the day and I’m still trying to get everything ready. My wife has been a big help but there’s only so much she can do for me. I have to hurry up and finish packing before I go to work because once I get home after work I’m going straight to sleep. I have a long drive in the morning. Hopefully I don’t forget anything.

Tires are re-torqued

it’s been 10 days since I got the upgrade so I had to take the truck in to get the tires checked. One of the tires required rebalancing but all is well now. Now that the tires are done, the brakes were replaced recently, the oil has been changed, and the brakes were recently replaced, the truck is ready for the long drive to Mexico.