Night Moves

(Continued from yesterday)

As we saw a light approach, we said “surely this must be Tanner”.  It wasn’t.  Then a trophy truck came by at 80 mph – scary.  Then two more.  They must have passed Tanner.  When you see a trophy truck in action, you have no choice but to be in awe of what these 850 hp machines do out there, and you respect it.  When you are on a dirt bike and one comes roaring up behind you in the night, and you are on a road where you can’t just pull off anywhere, it’s dangerous and scary.  Last year a bike rider was hit by one.

We wondered what happened.  During pre-running we got caught at nightfall on a section where we rode to higher elevation and the temperature dropped quick – to 45 degrees, and we both had only jerseys on.  We got so cold we had to stop and jump around.  Tanner was shaking from the cold.  Did that happen to him now? Waiting, I had three layers on and was ready to jump on the bike – Tanner had a thin jersey out there. Did he have hypothermia?

Finally…a light approaches – it was him!  Nearly five hours since we saw him last.  Something was wrong. Picture this – he had his jersey on, a hydration pack, neck brace and helmet, but no sleeves on his jersey!  I thought he crashed in the cactus and ripped his sleeve off – but both of them??

202x went by.  (Any bike with three digits starting with 2 is in our class). 40 miles earlier Tanner hit a rock and the front wheel bounced off and hit another rock and broke the front brake caliper off – it dangled from the brake line getting tangled up in the wheel.  He tried to tie it up – but with what?  He tried to get string out of an agave plant, but it was very tough and he didn’t have tools.  What did he do? That’s right, no choice – tear his jersey sleeves off and tie the caliper to the top of the fork out of the way of the wheel.  He nursed it back 30 miles to us with no front brake at 1/3 race speed.

Javier went into action.  He took the front brake assembly off the pre-run bike we had in the van and put it on the race bike (you can’t change bikes in this race). The locals, race fans whom we made friends with were eager to help in any way. More trophy trucks and quads and bikes went by.

In 15 minutes Javier had it fixed. I took off into the black on a section I had never seen before because we did not pre-run it. I was worried about trophy trucks – they were coming through now.

We lost about 2 1/2 hours, and we were in fourth place. In front of us – 266x (6 man team), 285x (6 man team), and 202x (3 man team).  It was 10 pm and we were at mile 470 of an 822 mile race.

Next problem – There are two paved roads on the Baja peninsula going south – Rt. 1 along the Pacific coast, and Rt. 5 along the Sea of Cortez coast.  They don’t touch each other, and the race course goes down the Rt. 1 side and up the Rt. 5 side.  Most teams would switch riders at the bottom, and the first rider would ride in a truck back 7 hours to the finish to meet their teammates. But we were a two man team and we each had to ride on each side of the course as we planned to take 6 turns each.  Each leg was planned exactly – for its terrain and length.

So we had two chase trucks – our second driver/mechanic, Chad, was waiting on Rt. 5 for us all day. Our plan was to get Tanner there via a dirt crossover road on the extra bike we had in truck one. So Tanner had this five hour ordeal on a 122 mile tough section, rolls in with no sleeves, has to jump in truck one, drive up the paved road fifteen minutes, unload the spare bike, and speed 45 minutes to meet truck two before I got there – with no front brake (the most important one).

Truck one would also go on the crossover road, but there are rocks and it would have to go slow, and never make it there before me with Tanner.  A bike could go four times the speed of the truck. But the pre-run bike now had no front brake. Could he get to chase truck two and the rider change spot before I did?

Cont. tomorrow…

"To Finish First, You First Must Finish"

This week I will depart from our normal format, and tell you about what happened at the Baja 1000 race – the longest and most difficult dirt bike race in the world – 822 miles non-stop.  This is the short version of our story.

What started as a quest to finish the longest most grueling race in the world, turned into a 25 hour chase to win it.  We woke up at 4 am to get ready.  I started the race at 6:35 am, the sixth bike out of ten in our class, and ran the first 80 miles without any mistakes. I was happy with a very strong start.  I turned the bike over to Tanner in Santo Tomas, in third place.  He ran the next 120 miles really fast, and emerged in Santa Maria in second place.  He passed five bikes and two quads, but only one bike was in our class. The lead team in our class, #266, had 6 riders on the team, and they had won last year.

I ran my second leg, and in a tight technical wash section got passed by a guy who I had passed earlier.  I took him back in the sand whoops and never saw him again.  I turned the bike over to Tanner in El Rosario at mile 250.  Going strong, it’s hot out now.

Our GPS was not working, and we were relying on sketchy course marker signs and a worn trail, but there are many intersections of worn roads, and trails and the course takes you up rocks faces, loose rocks, goat trails, and through the tumbleweeds, brush and trees.  In places you can only make 20 mph, and other places the bike is tapped out in fifth gear at 98 mph and you are tucked in from the wind.

When Tanner energed we changed out the GPS, I got on, and ran a section I was dreading – long loose rocks.  All to plan – so far.  We changed the rear wheel, air filter, and mounted the two giant round lights in front and I watched Tanner stop at the nearby pit for fuel and disappear down a 100 mph sand road.  He had a tough 122 miles to go, with rocks, silt and cactus. He had just a jersey on – no jacket. It would get dark and cold on his run – I said a prayer.

Big problem – the chase truck was low on fuel.  The last gas station in El Rosario had a line a mile long – all chase vehicles – and we couldn’t stop or we would miss our rider change.  Now we were in the middle of nowhere in trouble. There were no more gas stations south.  Javier, our driver and mechanic got on the radio speaking Spanish talking to some guys with local knowledge. We found a stand “Gasolina” painted on a board.  We stopped – nobody there.  We found a local and Javier talked to him.  At the next trailer a lady was selling gas out of jugs.  Any price – problem solved. On to meet Tanner.  

We waited at mile 470 for him in the night.  We waited, and waited.  The locals camped along the course with about 8 campfires going.  We had our van with the headlights on illuminating the 214X sign he would look for. It was four hours.  We expected him any moment.  No Tanner.  A new competitor came by 285x.  We knew something was wrong.  If 285x was unable to pass either of us for 400 miles, how did he get by Tanner?

We waited in the inky black night, 4 1/2 hours, no Tanner.

To be continued…

Dust to Glory

The bell tolls for us. The Baja 1000.

Today, my son Tanner and I compete in the Baja 1000 – the longest non-stop cross country race in the world.  The course is laid out on the Baja peninsula in Mexico at 840 miles this year.  There are dirt bikes, dune buggies, ATV’s, etc. and 94 trophy trucks this year. We are in the Sportsman class.  You can have as many guys on your team as you want.  There are seven teams in our class, with an average of four or five riders per team.  Tanner and I are a team of two – purposely only us – father and son.  We are at a disadvantage because the other teams can do a 3 1/2 hour “sprint” and they are done as they hand the bike off to the next rider.

There are dirt roads, sand roads, some straight sections and some curvy ones, loose rock sections, up mountain roads with switchbacks, rain ruts and washes (dried riverbeds with soft sand and rocks) and sand whoop (up and down waves 3′ deep) sections including one that is 25 miles long! There are nasty cacti right alongside of the course waiting to punch needles in your arm at 50 mph.  There are boulders and rocks all over the place.  The dust from any vehicle is brutal.  Trying to pass is very difficult because the closer you get, the more dust you are in and you can’t see your line.  There are silt sections – like baby powder a foot deep that sucks you in and spews fine dust that blinds anyone behind you, and you if you stop – don’t stop or you will get stuck, disappear in dust, and maybe get run over.

We hope to average 43 miles per hour including gas stops, pits, and tight sections.  In some areas we may hit close to 100 miles per hour.  We are riding a Honda 450X modified for this race.

This is how it works.  At dawn they start letting bikes go every 30 seconds.  (The trophy trucks are let go three hours later.)  I’ll start and go 80 miles.  Where the course crosses a paved road, we meet the first chase truck and I get off and Tanner gets on.  He goes 120 miles to the next road crossing.  The chase truck gets me there before he does, and I go again.  We take 6 turns each in total.  There are gas pits every 50 miles.  

The course is loosely marked with signs, but you can’t rely on them – you have a GPS.  Some signs are knocked down, blown over, or run over.  The locals can mess with the racers and move the signs sometimes.  There are 7 actual checkpoints where you come to a full stop and they take your number and time.  If you miss one, you are disqualified. There are dozens of “virtual checkpoints” – a 100 foot invisible circle (waypoint) that you have to ride through.  They track you by GPS.  If you miss a VCP they dock your time (10 minutes).

The same bike has to start and finish.  If you crash and break the bike and can’t get to your chase truck and mechanic for repairs, you’re out.  If you get hurt, and can’t go on, if you can get your bike to your teammate, they have to finish by themselves.  If you can’t, you’re out and you will spend the night in the desert – no other racer will throw their race away to stop and help you unless you aren’t moving.

Halfway through the race it gets dark – you are riding by headlights at race speed in the rough terrain.  You have to follow your GPS.  850 hp trophy trucks come up on your butt; you have to pull over and let them by so you don’t get run over, (they can go up to 140 mph), wait for the dust to settle and keep going.

What matters in Baja, is what you do when you can’t do anymore.

We are ready.  Let’s go.

Competition makes you better

Q #1 – “Dad, let’s ride 840 miles non-stop in the desert.  What do you say?”

A #1 – “Yeah right…(laughs). You’re crazy!”

Q #2 – “Dad, there’s this race, the longest, toughest in the world, 840 miles in the desert this year non-stop, there’s other teams competing, and only half of them even finish.  Wanna do it?”

A #2 – “Let’s do it!”

The very existence of competition, other people in the game, makes you try things and increase your performance.

What game are you in and who are you competing against? 

Moderation is boring

We’ve all heard “all things in moderation”.  Sure, for most things, this sounds right.  But you should have some area of your life where you throw moderation out the window and go all out.

“To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.” – Robert Heinlein

Prepare to win

What big goal are you chasing?  What would a person who accomplished that goal know?  Learn it now.

What would they do?  Do it now.  

What would their attitude be?  Take that attitude now.  

What equipment/systems would they have and use? Get them and use them now.  

What advisors would they learn from?  Find them and talk to them often starting now.

Are you prepared to accomplish the goal you say you want to accomplish?

Yesterday is over

If an All-Star player strikes out four times today, or doesn’t play, he’s hurting the team.

What you did yesterday doesn’t count today. 

Are you still applying yourself and “in the game”?

Tune into what you want

What do you want?

If we tune ourselves to the same frequency as what we want in the world, we cannot help but attract it.

Tuning….tuning…

Paternalism

This is the idea that if somebody knows better than an individual what is good for them, then they ought to be making decisions for them.  Think about this in your life.  If someone, or a group, says they know what is best for you, then they call the shots in your life.

Can you see where this would be a problem? Who’s to say what is best for you?  Who’s to say “we are smarter than you”?  Who cares more about you than you?  

In our society, the individual must be the supreme unit – not any group deemed (by themselves) as superior over others.  

Do you agree?

"Availability Bias"

This is when people give too much credence to immediately available information.  For example, if you read/heard about something in the news (limited information, and one point of view on it) you go around believing it, thinking you are informed.  

What you didn’t give weight to was what you didn’t find out about it – other points of view, the full story, the time leading up to the event, etc.  How could you, you didn’t have the information.

How often to do make up your mind or take action based on the readily available (limited, packaged) information easily at hand?