I pulled out of the pit from Gonzaga Bay headed to my next goal – 389 before dark. The course snaked down from Ensenada along the east coast, and now it would begin to cross over to the west coast and back up the Pacific Ocean side to make a big snaky oblong loop back to the starting line, which would now be the finish line. I only hoped I could see it.
The desert landscape is a wonder to behold. There is no greater way to see more of it than this. At unpredictable intervals the sand would change, the rocks would change, the vegetation would change. And so would the course.
You’d be dodging coconut size rocks scattered in deep sand for a few minutes, and then be on a wash-boarded hard dirt road. Then you’d be in sweeping rutted turns for a few minutes and then hit a patch of silt – like riding through flour of various depths. There were a few stretches of dry lake beds – smooth as a tabletop. I’d twist the throttle open but not quite all the way lest I take a chance of blowing up the engine. Then the course would likely punish you with technical whoops where 20 mph would take great effort and skill. Such is the way of Baja.
The sun was getting very low and I needed to make it to mile 389 by the time it disappeared. I rode through a mining area with giant earth moving equipment strewn about. The course was such a pleasure here when I pre-ran it. No more. Now the dirt was pulverized off the course by high speed tire traffic, leaving the convex tops of all the rocks to produce chop and vibration though my handlebars. Preserving my hands was always a priority. I loosened my fingers around my foam handgrips.
I rolled in through a physical checkpoint where you come to a complete stop. They write your race number down and give you the green flag. I came out to the pavement, took a left and looked for a big yellow sign saying 714x among the hundreds of chase teams meeting their race vehicle here. They had to rendezvous here – the racers had to endure the next section of 100 miles of crap and hell before they could see their chase truck again.
I had not seen any race trucks yet, but I knew they should be getting closer. They released them onto the course five hours after the motorcycles. Truck chase teams had eighteen wheeler support vehicles and sometimes 80 men on their teams. This was serious business.
I saw my sign and they directed me to the truck just past where the course turned back into the desert. It was a happy time for me. I made my goal of 389 before dark. To be honest, I made a miscalculation and thought dark was at 6:00 pm. Well, it got dark at five. A happy mistake – I was one hour ahead of my plan.
There was a lot to do. Get me ready for dark and cold, and check the bike over. We put a new tire on the rear. The team was encouraged to see me and I was encouraged to see them. They said that they were all expecting me to break down and be half dead at some point. But I’d come into the pit with energy and in good spirits, and this was such good news to them. Thirteen hours into the race now, they fed off my good condition and I was bolstered by them.
They told me there was an accident on the starting line and they had to hold up the start of the race trucks. Apparently, a Monster Energy girl – a model hired for the fanfare of the start, got tangled up in the 40″ wheel of a race truck. She was in critical condition. I only found this out later.
Each year they make more and more rules to make the race safer. I am sure they will have this one covered next year.
My team told me the lead truck was 89 miles behind me. I thought I’d have a chance to get through a bunch of silt and to the hill climb at 415 before I had to deal with pulling over for them and waiting for their dust to clear. This was very good news for me.
It was “hurry up offense”. I drank Chia and crammed down some food. I knew this next section would be my test – a long test. My team filled me with encouragement. I remounted and rolled back out to the course. I accelerated strong through the gap in the fence and onto the course.
I couldn’t believe what I saw. In 30 seconds I was down.
“Whatever you do, do not doubt my presence.”