Baja 2012, 3 for 3 = 500x

Last year (2011) was a good year in our Baja race series as we wrapped up the championship with a nail biter by crossing the finish line with no lights. (Flashlight ride) for those of you that may not remember.

Our 2012 effort has paid off in keeping the 500x plate for another year with consistent rides and minimal problems throughout the year. You know the old saying, sometimes it is better to be lucky than good! Well we were lucky enough to win all three events in the SCORE Baja race series which includes the 250, 500 and the grand daddy of them all the Baja 1000!

The FLY/Western Power Sports/MX43.com/Precision Concepts supported CRF 450-X was almost flawless throughout the year. We were blessed with minimal injuries, minimal bike problems and minimal spectator intervention (booby traps). Our support crew drove thousands of miles allowing us to pre run all the miles needed to ensure we knew our problem areas during each race. The crew at Precision Concepts that did most of the prep work that goes into a bike making this many miles without a failure did their part. A big Thanks to Bob and Phil at Precision Concepts.

Yours truly, #33, rode from the start in Ensenada to race mile 235 before handing off to bike owner Marc Prince. It took just about 5 hours and kicked my butt! The last time I remember being that worn out was at the Virginia City Gran Prix all the way back in 1986! The ride was supposed to be at a completely controlled pace to make sure the bike got to Marc so we could make it to the finish to secure the Championship for the year. Well guess what happened along the way……..I run into Ricky Johnson, (yes that Ricky ex National and Supercross champ) before the race and find out he is riding on a team on a Class 40 motorcycle. I hadn’t spoken to him in 20 something years! He is starting a few minutes in front of me and going to ride to race mile 167.  We have a good time kicking it and laughing about old times when we raced in the 80’s.  So now I have a target!  Any racer know what happens next………..I am going to try to catch Ricky and he is going to do his best to not let that happen! It was probably a good thing for both if us because it kept us pushing each other and not settling into complacency. At each pit stop I was asking how far ahead is Ricky and I know he was asking how far back Eric is. Since we both used the Honda pits and they have radio communication from pit to pit that information was available. It made it more fun for me and I am sure for Ricky too.

Well we see sawed back and forth for about 3 ½ hours at right about 3 to 4 minutes between us. I never caught him and he never got away. So when he got to his hand off point he came over and gave me a pat on the back and wished me good luck in my next section. I asked him if he wanted to ride my bike to the next hand off point and he declined. I think it was the 40 or 50 miles of whoops that lay ahead that swayed his decision.

I did try to keep in mind that the most important thing was to get this bike to my team mates because the championship was the ultimate goal. So I didn’t take too many risks and had some good luck along the way. My first gift was the overcast day I awoke to. This made the start which is right at daybreak completely tolerable. Since we start and head east the sun is usually blinding the riders for the first hour of the race. Mix that with the dust hanging in the air with everyone so bunched up and it becomes a matter of survival as opposed to racing. The spectators were fairly well behaved and I only came across a couple of mounds built up as kicker/jumps along the way. I did come across a few vehicles on the course going the opposite direction on a couple of occasions. I was fortunate enough to spot their dust and the top of their vehicles as I approached so I was prepared. They didn’t catch me napping!

The information I got from my team mates after the race led me to believe that no one had any major problems or crashes and the bike ran great all the way down to La Paz. One of our night riders, Bob Johnson, said his ride was fairly uneventful which I find hard to believe because I know that he rode high speed, all at night and through some of the worst silt beds you can come across. I have ridden some of these silt beds in the daylight  and it worries me to cross them not knowing what holes, ruts or ditches are beneath what you can see. I do my best to go around that stuff! So Bob is racing through that crap at speed in the dark with head lights. That is my idea of heroic. Good job Bob!

Doug Smith was another night time rider and we were very lucky to have him on the bike when we did encounter a problem. It seems the head light plug was damaged during a light swap and it caused a problem during Doug’s ride. Fortunately he has a helmet radio and called his support crew to come back instead of driving down the road to pick him up. He was able to ride using only his helmet lights to get to where he needed to be to meet the truck. So obviously he was prepared for anything with a back up helmet light, spare parts and the radio communications. Smart man.   Doug and the Baja Designs people found and fixed the problem to allow him to continue to the finish. It sounded like they only lost 20 or 30 minutes to make the repairs. Along the way he described to me boulder fields with rocks like bowling balls and fog so thick he had to stop and swap his goggles for glasses so he could see to keep going. What a ride!  Hero #2!

Over the course of 27 hours the bike and all the riders probably encountered every kind of condition you can imagine. I know one rider, Dave Potts, was nursing an injured knee (injured during pre running) to make it to the end of his section. Another Hero! Then there was Marc Prince, the rider of record for the race who stepped up and took on some of the mileage that Dave had to relinquish with the knee problem. That gave Marc a minimal amount of time to rearrange his plan of attack with adding mileage and having to learn the added section.  I am starting to think I am not worthy to ride with these guys.

Thank you to all the riders, all the wives, friends, drivers and support crew that helped us get through this year with so much success.

I am going back down to ride in January with some friends, but I think I will go a lot slower and look around a bit more. I am going to take in the scenery this time.

Buenos Diaz, #33