2012 Baja Series Begins

San Felipe Baja 250

The MX43.com  MPA Sales/Works Connection/FLY-WPS/Precision Concepts supported Honda CRF-X 450 made the trek down to San Felipe, Mexico to participate in the 1st round of the SCORE Baja series.  Things went according to plan with almost nothing to hinder the Class 50 team of Marc Prince, Eric McKenna, Dave Potts and Doug Smith. The bike ran flawlessly and the Suspension work that Bob Bell put together for the 501X bike was nothing short of amazing.

The 6am start time was early enough that the sun had not yet found all the sections of the course and the wind that seems to always be present in the San Felipe area took a vacation day. The start has riders going off at 30 second intervals and the wind usually keeps it from being too bad in the beginning. With no wind to speak of, the first third of the race was extremely dusty since it just hung on the course with each passing rider doing his part to dust the guy behind him.

The race progressed with the 501X bike building a slight lead that continued through the day as everyone on the team used their heads and rode well with no mechanical issues and no big crashes to derail the effort.  It should be noted that this year’s race was littered with damaged bikes and bodies along the way that included some of the biggest names in the race like, Cody, Bell and Weigandt. Some of it was caught on camera and video that can be found on YouTube. So this laundry list of Pro riders having difficulty makes it even more impressive that all of the 501X riders did such an outstanding job of cleaning their sections with a minimum of problems. Congratulations Boys!

The Class 60 team had the normal line up of killers on the 609X Honda, like Dempsey, Gates and crew. They have come to be known as “Team GEEZER”.  They were short a rider or two due to injuries and Don Lewis deciding to give this race a try solo!  So this time out they had 2 new riders they took a chance on with zero Baja racing experience. The first addition to the team, Doug McCaleb is 70 years old and has ridden in the woods for years. He has no Baja experience and took on the challenge with all the enthusiasm you would expect from someone much younger, like maybe 60!  Doug had a great time pre riding with his wife Chris doing the chase driving, they both learned a lot in the days leading up to the race. He completed his section with only a couple of tip over’s and found out how little you can see when a trophy truck catches and passes you. That made it to YouTube also! 

The second addition to the team was Don Nelson who is Doug’s senior at 74 years old!  Now Don has ridden in Baja for quite a few years but never raced in any of these sanctioned events. He completed his section with a minimal amount of trouble, other than riding off the course a few times when he couldn’t see through the dust. Again, it was a calm day unfortunately. I have spoken with Don since and he was amazed at the amount of effort required to put on, compete in and complete the shortest race of the series. He said he couldn’t believe how many people were out in his section that he thought was in the middle of nowhere. When he pre ran he thought he would be out there all alone with only another rider or two during the race. He said there was a sand wash full of whoops that he had no idea how all those people got out there to watch. He said it was fun to have spectators to cheer him on when he was tired. Don usually competes in the International Old Timer Motocross series up and down the western part of the United States in the 70+ class with all the other hard core more “mature gentlemen”. He has been riding for years but never raced a motorcycle until he was in his 60’s!

These guys seem to have the most fun of all the entrants with new stories emerging with each passing event. The latest story or rumor being of Bob Gates aka “spatula Bob” caught in a photo driving his truck back to the house wearing a female bikini top he acquired in a trade with a woman at a local watering hole. The story goes that she wanted his “Team GEEZER” shirt and was willing to trade straight across as long as the trade was done right there, right now, in the drinking establishment!  It generated some enthusiasm when they came to the agreement and made the switch! I am thinking Bob should have driven home shirtless instead of wearing her top, it seems one of your friends always has a camera phone!

Can’t wait to see what mischief, I mean fun, the Baja 500 brings. 

Adios, #33