I just got back from a 1,230 mile off-road motorcycle trip from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. It was a training run to prepare for the Baja 1000. Here’s part four of the story…

DAY 4

We left Bahia De Los Angeles before 7:00AM, standard operating procedure most days.

There were a lot of riders (~80) staying in the same town, taking part in a Malcom Smith Charity Ride. We tried to get the jump on them, but ended up riding with them most of the day. At one of our first stops, I saw a bike with a 1x number on it. I was naturally curious and as it turned out, it was Malcom Smith himself. Our paths crossed many times over the course of the trip – a real pleasure.

The roads for the first half of the day were pretty rough, but you could travel at a fast clip – I’d guess around 60mph.

The drill was finding a clean line around any particularly large obstacles (rocks) in your path. This was a road where a steering dampner would have been exceedingly useful. It’s fast, but it wears you down and you get a lot of flats. We got 2 of them about 50 miles into the day. The second one was particularly nasty as a portion of the tire had been torn off, exposing the ruptured tube underneath. You don’t carry spare tires, just tubes, so this presented a bit of a challenge. The first step is getting the bike up on a ‘stand’ and removing the rear tire. We made a stand out of rocks, something Baja has plenty of…

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I just got back from a 1,230 mile off-road motorcycle trip from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. It was a training run to prepare for the Baja 1000. Here’s part three of the story…

DAY #3

This was going to be our 2nd longest day, around 250 miles, so we got up particularly early to get a head start. Things started to go wrong immediately. We had two rear flats that needed to be changed before we even got out of the parking lot, delaying us by about an hour.

We finally got off around 7:45 or so, wearing jackets as it was a cold, damp morning. The first section were rocky dirt roads through rolling green hills, shrouded in mist. You could run at decent speeds, but had to be on the lookout for rogue boulders. The bikes didn’t have steering dampners so when you hit something big, the front fork would completely twist and if you were sitting down, you’d get thrown into the front of the bike, possibly going down. This often resulted in a superman, both legs completely off the pegs, outstretched behind you. It’s a little unnerving at first, but you learn to hang on and regain your composure. Gotta keep moving.

We then hit a rocky technical section that criss-crossed craggy mountains. This was my first technical section and it took a while to get used to the punishing terrain. When in doubt, get the bike in first gear, stand on both pegs and find the cleanest path. When you’re riding through what amounts to a field of boulders, that can be tricky, but it does work. I dropped the bike a few times during this section and lost my SPOT Satellite Messenger. The drill in Baja is to conserve your equipment and energy, so dropping the bike a few times early in the day can really wreak havoc towards the end of that day.

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I just got back from a 1,230 mile off-road motorcycle trip from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. It was a training run to prepare for the Baja 1000. Here’s part two of the story…

DAY #2

Each morning started around 5:30. We had a quick breakfast and were on the road by 7:00 AM. We had to drive 30 miles of blacktop to get outside of Ensenada and start our off-road voyage. The first day was by far the easiest terrain and we only covered 170 miles. The first leg was winding dirt roads – we were really blazing, getting comfortable on the bikes. It rained a lot this year so the countryside was uncharacteristically green.

As we approached the coast, the terrain became more rocky and sandy – a constant theme. The roads were a little rough, but the biggest hazard was the amazing scenery. You’d come around a corner, get a panoramic view of the ocean just as you hit a difficult patch. The scenery was like a siren song at times, luring you to make a mistake.

We continued along the coast the whole day, running through little towns. I believe this is a typical section of the Baja 1000 course. At one point, we were on a narrow road lined by barbed wire and had to pass 4 horses that weren’t terribly fond of our engines. It was honestly surreal – dangerous, but somehow under control. You come to know that Baja is lousy with animals – those and vehicles are your biggest concerns as you rip along in remote areas. This was where I got my first flat – again a constant theme in Baja. A guide changed it out as I assisted, an old folding chair serving as a stand. Another lesson: you have to make do with what you have or can find nearby. It’s all you’ve got.

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I just got back from a 1,230 mile off-road motorcycle trip from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. It was a training run to prepare for the Baja 1000. I’ll have to write about specific days as there is simply too much for one post.

DAY #1

I met up with my Chris Haines group in San Diego. We loaded our gear in the van and were driven down to the Mexico border, and then 100 miles down the coast to Ensenada. You know you have gotten to Ensenada when you see a Mexican flag flying that’s as large as a football field. This picture hardly does justice. The flagpole is probably 25 feet in diameter.

I have heard bad things about Ensenada, namely that it’s little more than a commercial fishing town, but I really enjoyed myself there. One highlight was a fish market that is directly across from a row of seafood joints where we you can grab a quick ceviche, whatever floats your boat. This stuff is fresh, right off the boat.

The main drag in Ensenada is the starting line for the Baja 1000. The race follows pavement for a few blocks then drops down into a drainage ditch where the racers speed out of town.

It’s hard to imagine 850hp trucks blowing through these tight, densely populated areas, but that’s the thrill of the Baja 1000. As Sal Fish says, “it’s not for wusses”.

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While I was Baja, traversing the entire Peninsula, my path crossed with a Malcolm Smith charity ride a few times. For those of you who don’t know, Malcom Smith is a racing legend – he’s a 6 time Baja 1000 winner and a veteran of the Paris Dakar, Mint 400, Roof of Africa Rallye. He’s also well known for his role in On Any Sunday, a classic movie from the early 70′s that featured him along such stars as Steve McQueen.

Each year, Malcom does a big charity ride down in Baja to raise money for children’s charities. I just happened to be down at the same time, riding many of the same roads. Our paths crossed a number of times, but I got this great picture in Porta San Francisquito. It was a real pleasure meeting a living legend and I found his charity work inspirational. A lot of people don’t take the time or initiative to give back – Malcom does.

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I just flew back from Baja last night. I’m staying by the beach in Santa Monica, recuperating, and thinking about the 1,230 off-road motorcycle trip I just took from Ensenada to Cab San Lucas. We did 1,230 miles in 6 days, averaging 37 MPH. We drove down the entire Baja Peninsula, cris-crossing from coast to coast and back in a single day. It was amazing how varied the landscape would be in a given day – as you reduced or gained altitude, as you approached or went away from the Ocean, neared big mineral deposits. Alien and beautiful country. Major stops included Enseneda, San Quintin, Bahia De Los Angeles, San Ignacio, San Juanico, Loreto, La Paz, Todos Santos and finally, Cabo San Lucas. Along the way I managed to slip by cows, horses, donkeys, snakes, fly swarms, rabbits and coyotes. Made it to Cabo in one piece, but I’m pretty beat up – swollen hands with large blisters, bruised shoulder, knees and shins. Sore all over. I have new respect for the sport and particularly the Baja Peninsula. I’ll write a bunch of posts this coming week that talk about the memorable moments – way too much for one post. But yes, it is done. Done and done.

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For those of you who are new to Formula 1 racing and the world of motorsports, Michael Schumacher was the king of the sport. He won the F1 championship 7 times including five consecutive titles and earned over $50 million a year, not a bad career and for a normal person the end to a career racing.

Well Schumacher had recently decided he wanted to compete at motorcycle racing and is course racing this year on a Ducati MotoGP, seen here.

So what happens when Michael Schumacher shows up at Pannonia-Ring in Hungary for a race that mixed professional and amateur riders. On his debut race he ends up taking the pole position from the amateur group only after a couple of practice laps. Not too bad.

The professionals started in the back of the grid as this was sort of a Pro-Am and Schumacher decides to start in the back with them (last row) on a 1000cc Honda Superbike. While he does not win the race, he does come in 3rd place, not too bad for his first year riding professionally.

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I leave for Baja in the morning – going to ride from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. Although this is going to be a lot longer than Training Run #1, I can’t imagine it will be more difficult. Excited to log miles and see that part of the world though – going to be fantastic. I flew out to LA early and spent the weekend in La Quinta, CA watching a DOFB alum play polo, and caught the Men’s Semi-final Games at the Pacific Life Open. Here are some pics. Will post the ones from Baja when I get back in a week.

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Although you can only wear one helmet at a time, most motorcycle owners end up with a collection of helmets over the years. I’ve somehow ended up with 5. Two are for highway riding, one is for motocross, and the other two offer little protection, but are just flat out cool – the move for short trips. A friend just sent me a link to check out Ruby Motorcycle helmets which are made in Paris, France. All I can say is WOW. These helmets are an aphrodisiac for the opposite sex – helpful in running game and closing deals.

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The trip to Jesse’s Secret Utah Desert Training Lab yielded much in the way of skill development, supporting bruises and hilarity. The following are a few things learned which might be of use to someone. No doubt remedial to most who are riding the Baja 1000. But we never said we’re experts; just hell bent on doing it.

The Front Brake Must Be Used With Caution: For those of who have spent a lifetime on street bikes, this one’s pretty tough. On a street bike at least 80% of your braking power comes out of the front end & I know some folks who’ve probably never even used the rear set. Dirt bikes, however, are different. First and foremost, there’s little in the way of a traction coefficient on sand or dirt. If you hit the brakes they lock and you’re sliding. While the front disc remains the more powerful of the two brakes, as it has greater capacity to slow rather than lock, the nature of the terrain adds far more variables to the equation. Long story short, until you master some of the more formulaic braking techniques, front braking has a tendency to make the bike duck/tuck the front end which leads to immediate instability. As a result, speed in loose pack, especially downhill, is best controlled with a combination of engine breaking/clutch feathering and rear breaking.

Riding MX is All About Legs and Core: The key to good riding, (and by that I mean keeping the tires down and the plastics up), is rapid weight redistribution. Everyone has different styles but I find that the best way to do this is to spend the majority of time standing on the pegs. Standing allows you to more rapidly react to the forces that are acting on the bike as a result of uneven terrain; especially at speed. Keeping your weight deep in your heels further helps keep your center of gravity low and your chassis glued to the machine rather than rocketing through the air with every bounce. Standing on the pegs for long periods, and essentially acting as a human shock absorber, requires serious leg and core strength.

Acceleration is the Solution to Most Problems: Acceleration on loose terrain (sand, soft-pack, talus) = traction. In almost any situation, whether coming into a sand turn, climbing a hill of fractured shale or negotiating single-track, a firm grasp on the surface is what you’re lookin’ for. It’s sort of like driving at speed on slipper snow. Counter intuitive as it may feel, giving it the juice seems to be the best way to get out of situations that are heading south.

Weight forward on turns: Turning in sand,  gravel or on a steep dirt incline is sketchy business. Your natural inclination is to sit back and try to force the handlebars around the turn. What you really want to do is try to put as much weight as possible on the front tire to ensure it tracks tightly around the corner. In sand, gravel etc. the easiest way to do this is by sliding way up front on the bike so your humping the tank and then use your inside leg as an outrigger as necessary. On the steeps it’s easiest to stand and then force your weight forward onto the bars.

Air time Is Good Time: Can’t be afraid to air it out. On the whoops – just gas it till your bounding across the tops. In the pits/dunes…well, try to keep your weight as centered and let’er rip.

For more riding tips, check out Dirt Rider. Man this shit is fun!

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The Dukes of Flatbush planned to use a SPOT Satellite Messenger in their bid for the 2008 Baja 1000, but just learned that another device with the same capabilities has been mandated by SCORE. It’s called IriTrack and was already mandatory equipment in the Paris Dakar rally.

Here’s a description of the unit from that site:

“IriTrack satellite monitoring is a new system which enables you to benefit from enhanced safety and is a real communication tool. It enables real-time monitoring of positions and tracking of competitors, thereby making it easier to follow the race.

The system responds to most situations which require vehicles or participants to be monitored in all parts of the world, including those not covered by telephone networks as in the desert. Clearing any doubt by voice phone questioning, alert following a violent shock, automatic transmission of alarms to the PC, satellite telephone, etc… a host of options making the system an indispensable tool.

IRITRACK and your safety

IriTrack enables you to transmit qualified information to the race PC in real time. If you come up against a problem, you can be pinpointed by the organization whom you can speak with remotely.

Fields of application are as follows:

* Triggering or requesting emergency help in case of a serious incident (you or another competitor).
* Signal a distress situation which might prevent you from continuing / or compromise your health.

With two possible modes:

* Transmission of an alarm and/or telephone contact with the race PC
* Automatic: if a brutal shock or a prolonged halt of the vehicle is detected, the system transmits an alarm message to the race PC indicating the competitor’s GPS position. With the telephone function, the race PC may contact him without any action on his part (automatic receiver pick-up and inbuilt microphone) to establish dialogue.”

This device will also allow SCORE to monitor a team’s speed on paved sections of the Baja 1000 course which is limited to 60mph.If you exceed that speed, your team receives a time penalty which could affect your standing or worse, your ability to complete the race in the alloted time.

These units are available for rental and for sale – I guess we’ll figure out what option makes the most sense. One big question: where the hell does this thing go on a bike?

Good discussions about this issue on baja.net forums – read the thread.

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A friend of the Dukes and fellow Baja 1000 nut, Jay Sherman, just started a new social network using ning. It’s called RacerSpace and is “for everyone who enjoys powersports, racing, and being a fan! Motocross, Racing, TT, bikes, quads, racers, fans, whatever!”

If you haven’t seen it, check it out. Also, visit the DOFB Racing section.

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One thing I learned on our recent training run in Utah is that not all chest protection is created equal. I was wearing a pretty typical Roost Deflector along with elbow guards.

We were headed due West into a blinding, setting sun. I couldn’t see and slipped out of the rut I was driving in. When things go wrong, they go wrong quickly. In a split second, the bike was down and I was lying on my right side. I was only going around 20 MPH, but the impact was intense. I took the force of it on my right shoulder and head. My head was fine, but my shoulder was seriously bruised. It’s been a week and I feel like I was in a car accident. My shoulder is incredibly weak and sore. The long and the short of it: typical chest protection does very little to protect your sides or shoulders.

That was all I needed to explore other options. I’ve settled on a more comprehensive solution by Thor called an Impact SE Rig. It has chest protection and an articulated spine, along with shoulder caps, elbow guards and forearm guards. It even has a built in kidney belt which is a must when riding whoops.

There are a number of these systems out there by great manufacturers like Fox, Axo, EVS and Six Six One.

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One of the pieces of gear we’ll bring to Mexico for the 2008 Baja 1000 is a SPOT Satellite Messenger. This device can alert your team and send GPS coordinates if you run into problems, but a really cool feature is something called ‘spotcasting’. SPOT can acquire and send your GPS coordinates to your account every 10 minutes. This information can be ported to Google Maps so everyone with access to the Internet can keep up with your progress.

I tried this functionality out for the first time on our Utah training run. My biggest mistake was putting the unit in a padded pocket deep inside of my Camelbak. Without a clear line of sight, this unit only works intermittently. I expected to see hundreds of waypoints, but only clocked 37 over the course of three days. Stupid is as stupid does. On our next training run, I’ll affix the unit to the outside of the backpack. I expect this will solve the problem and I’ll be able to see an accurate reflection of the course I travelled. It was cool to check out the waypoints we did capture in Google Earth. Take a gander…

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I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ll have to chalk it up to dark forces. I got a crown last Monday, unfortunately the type you get from a dentist, not the pointy gold variety that sits atop your noodle. I relaunched heavy.com on Wednesday. Woke up on Thursday with a high fever and massive stomach cramps, then boarded a plane for Vegas to spend the weekend in Utah and Arizona training for the 2008 Baja 1000 with the Dukes racing team. What a week…

I’m happy to report that we all survived the first training run. Most of us have a ton of road experience, but much less time riding off-road so this was literally a ‘crash course’. We rode around 150 miles over three days, spending time on a variety of terrain: roads, double track, single track, washes, river beds, silt beds, shale, gravel, dirt. You name it, we rode it.

Big props to Jesse Kimball who hosted the event and was our fearless desert guide. This was an incredible step towards our goal of completing the 2008 Baja 1000. It really put everything in perspective – we’re going to need a lot of riding time and will redouble our efforts in the gym, running, biking, whatever you got. This race is going to require absolute dedication.

I’ll post a few pics here, but check out this photo gallery and this photo gallery. Around 100 pictures in all. Great stuff. I’ll also follow up with a gear review in case it helps anyone out with similar pursuits. Enjoy!

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