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Baja 500 2018

Joined
Sep 2, 2016
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Location
San Juans
I just got back from the Baja 500 last night.

I had the privilege to be invited and be part of the ProComp team, headed by Ted Moncure, driving Trophy Spec class. Yeah, I know, it's not moto, so mods can delete this thread if they so choose!

This first set of pics are of the truck. This was a brand new truck, in its first race.
 

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We pre-ran on Friday in a four door RZR, breaking down three times. We first broke a rear sway bracket, which rubbed/chaffed through the wiring harness, which completely shut down the unit. We spliced together wires, babied it back to Rancho Meling, and I welded the bracket back on.

Ted's 6000sf house outside of Ensenada the team stayed in.

Later, while navigating a silty hairpin through a gate, the driver clipped a concrete post, snapping the steering arm. We literally fixed it with duct tape and bailing wire. Okay, actually we found a piece of rebar, bent it to shape, and taped and wired and double vice gripped it and ratchet strapped it together. But it did get us out of the desert.
 

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Race day! Last minute planning in the kitchen.

View off the back patio of our house. The temps were great. It was chilly in the morning with fog, and the sun would break around 10 or so.

Coyote Cal's Hostel between Ensenada and Colonet. Notice the rooftop patio, perfect for viewing the race up the beach.

Shanty taco shack.
 

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Not sure if I got my "Ensenada Omelet" from this first place, or the two ounces of tap water I topped off my coffee with, but luckily it only lasted about 24 hours. Let's move on....

Next three pics are of the race, and a pit in progress.

Last picture is what DNFed us. There was a GNARLY hill that that was giving everyone trouble, and causing a huge bottleneck. Half way up, while trying to get around a stuck car, the truck slid off the road, and several hundred feet down a ravine. Chase support arrived at around 2am, and we had the rig winched out around 330am. It's a bid pic: there was silt in the air, cars are trying to climb the hill, moon is rising, our truck is the one with the headlights in the sky.

I had an amazing weekend, despite our DNF status. I wanted to get more moto pics, but was too busy with our own team. They even had three bikes at the house, but again, I was too busy with other things to ride.

Post script- I was invited about a week before the race, and didn't have time to get a current passport in order. Everyone said to expect to be detained at the border, and I would miss my flight home. Weighing this against the upcoming weekend, I went ahead. I brought my DL, birth cert, and expired passport, which got me back into the US no problem.
 

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Was the baja bug part of your race team? Always liked the cost, simplicity and off road ability of those. Especially once you install cutting (tractor) brakes. Living in So Cal for 25 years I've ridden in my share.

Does Coyote Cal's still serve up good Thai food?

_
 
No, the Bug was not ours, I just really like V-dubs, used to own a couple. A buddy mentioned wanting to enter Baja in a Bug with me, and since I don't currently have $250,000-600,000 to build a trophy truck, a Bug seems a little more reasonable.

We didn't actually eat at Coyote Cal's, just stopped there while on support/chase. Owner (forget his name) told us about a free spaghetti dinner, but I was hunting fish tacos.

Attached is picture of the dining room, with menu. Can't read much, but it does say something about Asian Classic....
 

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:haha:
attachment.jpg


GOTTA LOVE THE SAFETY WIRE ON THIS :mrgreen:

COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND. THANKS FOR POSTING THIS STUFF !!!
 
A ride in that truck would sure be FUN!
 
Absolutely worth the expired passport risk.
None of my favorite memories involved following rules.
Cool photo set.
Ain't no adventure without misadventure.
I love the steering column fix.
That's how it's done.
Ride on, man!
 
Hey Taco,
I just got back from out there last night, I was chase support for 365x pro moto 30 team. This was my second trip out there and to say this race is a challenge at every turn is an understatement. We were doing great until a mag 7 fuel stop where the rider missed the fact that the bikes fuel cap had been replaced with a non vented cap which resulted in a 2-3 hour setback for us, finally resolved by knocking a hole in the cap and packing it with paper towels and duct tape to hold it on. We ended up finishing 8th out of 10 in class and were happy for it after a dnf in San Felipe.
What was yalls race number?
 
Hey Taco,
I just got back from out there last night, I was chase support for 365x pro moto 30 team. This was my second trip out there and to say this race is a challenge at every turn is an understatement. We were doing great until a mag 7 fuel stop where the rider missed the fact that the bikes fuel cap had been replaced with a non vented cap which resulted in a 2-3 hour setback for us, finally resolved by knocking a hole in the cap and packing it with paper towels and duct tape to hold it on. We ended up finishing 8th out of 10 in class and were happy for it after a dnf in San Felipe.
What was yalls race number?

Dude you've been holding out on me. I've been in/out of Baja about a dozen times the past year.
 
Baja only requires a birth certificate and license to return to US. No visa for first 72 hours. Not that anyone follows the rules. I came back last week with me and my daughter's driver's licenses only and no other questions. it's just like a southern, southern, california. Prices and all.
 
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