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xmas came early, just in time for Baja trip this weekend!
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You're better off driving up north a little further to Anderson or North Anderson. Its a lot more private and you dont have to worry about your stuff.
One thing I don't think I saw mentioned is invest in a good steering stabilizer.
Plan on taking the week off before any SCORE race so you can prerun your section several times and even though you preran it will change shapes several times by race day due to the amount of prerun traffic.
Watch out for cows, booby traps, and drunk locals going the wrong way on the course. Check Instgram for several examples of all of the above.
If you do race and a helicopter buzzes (fans) you get off the course. This is a warning that trucks are coming within seconds. You'll only get that courtesy notice from Trophy Truck teams, Class 1 and lower don't have helo's. Nothing like the sound of 800hp on 3' of suspension with 40" tires bearing down on you.
SF250, hot, endless whoops.
BAJA 500, can be hot depending on which way they run the course, 2 riders died two years ago due to the heat. Bikes start in the dark so good lights are mandatory. Unless you are as fast as the 7X team (look it up) plan on being caught by the Trophy Trucks and Class 1 cars.
Ensenada 300, this is a new race for 2019 on existing routes. Similar to SF250 minus the whoops.
BAJA 1000, Bikes will start and most likely finish in the dark so good lights are mandatory. Plan on being caught buy the first 5-7 classes of four wheel truck/cars.
There's a lot I'm forgetting. If any of the above scares you there are a lot of tour groups that operate in Baja that can take you on sane to insane trail rides, if it doesn't then get out your check book cause you're going to spend some money and let us know how it goes.
Love Baja.
Be safe.
*EDIT, and unless your a Baja regular don't eat any local food prior to race day for obvious reasons. Prerunning, eat up, lotta amazing food down south.
I raced down there on a motorcycle with SCORE from '79-81 and it was some of the best racing I have ever done. Just do it! It is an incredible experience.
Get some experience running 100-150 mile races in your area first.
Best advice I ever got was before my first Baja 500 from Bryan Farnsworth. "Go maybe 80%...it is a marathon."
Signed,
The Old Guy Syndicate
If you stay around camp thats fine. For guys like me we stage, unload, and generally go ride 40-50 miles. That 1-2 hours were gone is more than enough time to get picked clean. Its happened more than it should unfortunately.
The lead rider was Santana Luna, he has raced the 1000, 36 times I believe he said and Shane Esposito (2nd this year in the 1000 I believe) was our sweep. The thing that blew me away was the pace, we had 9 "clients" and all were pretty competent, but WOW we went fast! My tracker showed the track from San Felipe to lunch at 75 miles, averaging 50.93 mph. Now, for a race that probably isn't all that fast, but for a bunch of old farts out chasing around in Baja through the sand and silt we were flying!
The bikes were all 2005-2007 Honda CRF450X's and seemed to be in pretty good shape in spite of the years of abuse they've had by rental dudes.
Go and do, I wish I had, had the bug to do it when I was younger.
Pit Row
District 37 here in SoCal has quite a few desert races throughout the year and would be great practice before going down to Baja. Here's a video from a D37 race earlier this year at Red Mountain.
-Space Blanket (will keep you cool in the sun and heat, will keep you warm if you have to spend the night. Its also highly reflective and makes it easier for search and rescue to find you)
-Dental Floss (Use the floss to make a tent out the space blanket, and tie things up)
-Cash
-Spot Tracker
-Superglue (1st aid to fill deep cuts, and fix little things if you have time to let it dry)
-Bandaids
-Small waterproof pill pocket. I keep ibuprofen, tylenol, and norco in mine.
I also use the fly racing hydro pack, and it has a nice pouch that can hold additional items. I typically carry a protein bar, granola bar, or jerky in there. Ive been stuck in the desert before, and having nothing to eat is a serious problem. Always think about what if you have to spend the night.
Crf450x forever!
For a 10% discount on the tool kits, use the code "VITARD" at checkout
What is the weight difference between the steel (standard) and titanium (deluxe) wrenches?
Also, the Ti wrenches for Japanese bikes are out-of-stock
And that's the only difference between the two packages? Or did I miss something?
Those Ti wrench sets by themselves are now retailing for $125.00
http://www.lizkarczracing.com/51st-baja-1000.html
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