2012 Mexican 1000 - Day 4 Stage 1.1

Day 4 started early.  Rhonda and I checked the car over as the sun rose (we'd been a bit too exhausted to look it over the day before).  Even though we were tired it was a beautiful morning.

 

Ned Bacon's "Killer Bee"
It wouldn't get out of the lot until noon because of an electrical gremlin(?).
Even with the delay he'd finish second in class.

For this last stage of the Mexican 1000, Norra would throw a bit of everything at us.  Straight fast gravel roads, horrible whoop dee doos, traffic, towns, highways, straight stretches along the Pacific Ocean, hilly dirt roads, sandy washes and some of the narrowest steepest mountain roads of the race.  Add to this the cars left in thre race were a bit beat up after the previous three days.

The Zuercher/Norton Bronce showing surprising little wear from it's roll onto it's side.

Arwen, Mary and the kids came down to send us on our way.

Stage 4 would be  a 17 miles of transit from the hotel to the start and then140 miles off road from La Paz to San Jose del Cabo.  The cars started to line up and the zebra land cruiser (which had now become “A Land Cruiser”) would be at the back of the pack with the handful of other DNFers. 

Most of the Broncos were at the back too, so it made for good company.  We lined up, started and were immediately stuck in traffic.  It was a Wednesday morning in La Paz  and the 17 miles to the off road starting point was heavy with traffic.

We made our way across town with Brutus and another buggy eventually finding the turn off to the dirt road and the start of the fun part of the race.

The first section was  pretty easy to drive but harder to navigate.  The roads were well used which meant a lot of turn off forks, and small towns to get lost in.  

We learned to go wherever the locals pointed.  This wasn’t the sort of race where there was much misdirection and, being at the end of the pack, I think people were rooting for an underdog.

As we moved along the plant life got larger until it was a literal cactus forest.  I really didn’t want to go off the road.  We hit some sand and gnarley whoop dee door.

I’d gotten the hang of it but it was still annoying.  We were passed by many and passed many along the road.

Eventually we got to the Pacific Ocean.  Long strips along the ocean of beautiful road that would abruptly end in a 90 degree turn.  This is where we lost a bit of time.  On a paved freeway the land cruiser maxes out at around 70mph.  On these straight dirt roads we were consistly doing 60-65mph but most of the other cars were cruising at 80+mph.

We hit the northern edge of Todos Santos and made a hard left up into the hills.  Cutting through a semi deserted development and a totally different environment.  We’d climb through brush until the GPS and some orange ribbon told us to go right and off the road.  A thin trail, that looked like it was made for this race, took us down a steep embankment and onto the highway.

1.2 coming up!  featuring mountain adventures! right here!

2012 Mexican 1000, Day 4 Part 1 - Video Update!

Here's a video of the first half of day 4.  La Paz to the Pacific Ocean.

and the text part of the adventure continues here

2012 Mexican 1000 - Day 3 - Stage 2

May 1, 2012

We finished stage 1 and headed down the freeway.  At the Pemex we filled up the tank and ran into the Stroppe Bronco team.   We told them that we had seen their car by the side of the road but that’s all we knew (see 1:58 on the Day3 Stage1 video).  It would turn out they were having electrical problems.

Arwen and Mary hadn’t caught up, so we left a note at start of stage 2.  We’d heard that the start was going to be horrible.  “4 feet of silt” was the term that was thrown around and awful mountain roads.   Rhonda and I talked about it and decided I should drive.  I was really getting the hang of the zebra and she was getting better at juggling the map book and GPS. 

The Mexican 1000 is an unmarked.  It keeps people from messing with the course, or driving on it, but it makes navigation a challenge.  Before the race I hadn’t realized how important it would be to have a good navigator.  Rhonda’s combination of being a flight instructor and super bike training made her exceptional. Oh and Arwen had told Rhonda not to let me kill myself (or her), so she kept me from getting too reckless.

 

We started the stage --- no silt.  It seemed the “four feet of silt” didn’t exist, it was miles of straight flat road.  Which was great, but also a little tense when you’re expecting it to be horrible.  Finally we started to climb and the road got interesting.

 

At 31.3 miles we came across a jeep, car 8.  The welds on the cross member that held the tops of the rear shocks had broken.  So, basically the rear shocks were gone.  To top it off they’d worn a small leak in the fuel line.  The driver was going to remove the shocks, patch the leak and limp on to the Mag 7 pit.

 

We headed up the road and continued to climb.  It was beautiful.  Deep canyons, weird rock formations, wild horses and the occasional oasis.  We made good time and Rhonda tried to keep me focused on the road and not the amazing environment.

We eventually ran into Sol Saltzman, Justin Rivera and Big Oly. 

Saltzman has built a duplicate of the original Parnelli Jone’s Big Oly Bronco.  They’d been shorted gas from their pit and were dry.  We had plenty but getting it was a challenge.  The roll over flap on the fuel cell made syphoning difficult.  Rivera tried to disconnect the hose from our carburator but the mechanical fuel pump only gave a trickle.  

Finally I pulled the feeder hose and we syphoned straight from the tank.  We gave them three gallons and everyone was on their way.  Good karma.

Spreading some of my dad's ashes by Big Oly

As we went on the roads got rougher and the views more spectacular.  There were boulders that were fuzzy and green from the copper  deposites.  Small ranches and moments when you thought you were driving through the 1800s.  I swear we saw Don Quixote with a horse and albino mule.

We reached Mag 7.  Big Oly gave us 5 gallons of gas.

We passed the Stroppe Edsel with one of it’s back tires off.  Luckily it’s chase crew had caught up to them and they would eventually finish the stage.

Then we started the climb.  Narrow roads and steep cliffs.  We didn’t get any pictures because we were focused on the road.  We also came across a new phenomena, the random concrete road.  Some of the steeper sections had been coated with concrete.  It could be a patch that was about as wide as our car, often with deep pot holes.  Or it could be an array of rocks cemmented together in the form of a giant unruly cobblestone.  It was odd and a bit unnerving.

We climbed and then eventually started going down towards the see of cortez. 

Going down a steep grade in the land cruiser is kind of nice.  The first and second gears are so low you really don’t have to use the brakes.  Just put it in gear and slowly roll down the hill.

 

Toward the bottom we ran into truck 19.  Their fuel pump had gone out and their spare pump wouldn’t pressurize.  We couldn’t really help them, so we gave them some water, wrote down their information and were on our way.  

Within a half a mile we ran into car 203.  They’d lost their steering.  We gave them our extra power steering fluid and once again were on our way.  There was one last steep climb and then we dropped down and starting racing along the coast.  It was beautiful

 

Until the car start lurching.

 

My worn out brain decided we were out of gas.  Rhonda knew that with our 32 gallon tank we couldn’t be out of gas.  Then Big Oly came by.  They offered to syphon some gas but they were still in the race.  Their times were good enough they might place, so I told them to go on and take a message to Arwen and Mary.  As soon as they left, I looked at the fuel filter….it was a mess. 

Luckily I brought a couple spares.  We changed it and were on our way.  The last thirty miles of the race was fast and smooth and we finished to 161 mile stage with a time of 4 hours 51 minutes (not bad but not great).

 

We made it to the hotel just as Mary was gathering up stuff to come get us.  Had some dinner, took a swim and headed down to the beach for a bonfire and some excellent tequila.

to continue go here

Mexican 1000 - Day 3 - Stage 2 - Video Update!

 I haven't had time to do a written update but here's an 11 minute video of the 4 hours and 51 minutes we spent driving stage 2.

adventure continues here

Mexican 1000 Day 3 Stage 1 - Video Update!

It a bit long so I put some decent music behind it.

enjoy

more of the story here

2012 Mexican 1000 - Day 3 Stage 1

May 1, 2012

 

Sarah Palin? and other delights

 

Rhonda and I woke up at the crack of dawn got in the Land Cruiser and headed towards the start of stage 1.  We left Arwen, Mary and the kids to sleep and instructed them to take their time, enjoy the pool at the Oasis, and try to meet us at the end of the stage.  If we beat them, we could just meet in La Paz.

After missing the entire second day, we were a bit out of the loop.  One thing lacking with NORRA, us and everyone in Baja, is communication.  So, we went to look for the start and didn’t find it.  I did find and finally met Bill Brindle and his International Harvester.  I’d “friended” Bill on facebook because he had raced a Bronco in previous years and was a fan of Ween.  You don’t find that combination too often and to me that said he was okay.  He informed us that the start was outside of town at the Del Boracho Saloon and that there would be a very special guest, Sarah Palin.

It turns out that Trig? or Todd? or Trap? or Trip? or “something” Palin is friends with Walker Evens.  Sarah would be racing stage 1 as his navigator. (side note - to make me feel better Walker Evens DNFed the Mexican 1000 also).  So, we headed out of town to Del Boracho for our complimentary breakfast and the start of the stage.

I have to admit, I was more interested in this old Suzuki Gaucho than Sarah Palin

When we got there nobody knew we were still racing but they were excited that the zebra was back.  We were sent to the back of the line with all the other cars that were still racing even though they wouldn’t technically finish. We went in the Saloon had a couple breakfast burritos, coffee and orange juice.  

The field seemed really small at this point, a fraction of the cars that started the race.

Mary caught up with us and took a few photos of Palin.

 

Sarah Palin and Walker Evens went first.

Then the bikes, buggys, trucks and finally all the Broncos and then us.

 

Stage one was a trip.  We started on paved road went three miles and turned off the road into a wash.  Then after another 2 ½ miles we were back on the pavement.  The treacherous mountain road people had warned us about no longer existed.  The car shouldn’t have been in four wheel drive and it wasn’t happy with the luxurious paved road. Finally, after about 13 miles the pavement started to end with a series of detours off the road and eventually it became a dirt road all together.

We hadn’t really researched this leg of the race.  We were a bit surprised by San Javier.  Not only was it a beautiful oasis with a cute tiny town and cobblestone streets.  There was the giant mission.  This was going to be a day of “did you see that?” asked in a way to check if you were hallucinating or time travelling or something else.

The first stage was a blast.  After San Javier the road was fast but could throw you for a loop with the frequent washes.  Towards the end the road there was an odd combination of hard pack with about six inches of sand on top.  It was a bit like running around on linoleum in socks.  The corners were “interesting” and I eventually made us pull over to see if we had a flat.  We didn’t. 

We finished the 64.4 miles with a time of 1:36:57, which wasn’t fast but was acceptable.

video recap and next chapter here!

Side Note – picking up the car.

I thought I should do an update, while I get together the video from day 3 of the Mexican 1000.

 

After the race we left the land cruiser down at my parents in Jamul.  We headed there this weekend for memorial day and to pick it up.  Arwen will be driving it up today – she had a couple meetings in San Diego.  Hopefully driving a vintage race car will help.

While we were there Mary and I drove the car out to the drop off.  It’s an old, kind of secret, trail I used to ride my yz80 on as a kid.  My dad enjoyed scaring people by coming to an abrupt stop on a cliff ledge towards the end.  Considering fires and development the trail really hasn’t changed at all in the past 30 years.  Lot’s of brush and rocks.  Here’s a video.

Back to editing

2012 Mexican 1000 - Day 2

I woke up rested and sore at the Cactus II motel.  My head was aching.  Not from the previous day of racing but from the Cactus II’s bathroom door.  They felt that 5 foot 10 inches would be a good height for the door, which meant every time I went into the bathroom I wacked my head.  Other than that the stay was great.

The porch, like the bathroom door, was a head bashing challenge.

even Rosarito is on google street view.

There was a motel diner, next to it an auto parts store and there were dogs to pet.  Mary recalled her childhood of petting dogs in Mexico.  Something you’re not supposed to do but Duffys are genetically unable to resist.

We had a leisurely breakfast and I checked with the auto shop about a power steering line.  Like #10 Ford team, they recommend a mechanic in Vizcaino.  So, we packed up the cars and headed down the road.

 We were further north than we’d thought and it took us two or three hours to get to Vizcaino.   Once we found the shop everything went great.  Vizcaino’s in the middle of a big farming area and it’s obvious they work on a bit of everything.  When I asked them about the part they said they didn’t have one but they could make one (my kind of shop).  I think because we were a “race car” we got priority and they made the hose and installed in a bit over 30 minutes.

For a bit over $100 we left with a fixed car, jumper cables, wd40 and some starter fluid.  It was really nice to have power steering again.

We’d missed stage 1 of day 2 which was a 125 mile road from Bahia de Los Angeles to just north of Vizcaino and headed down the road to San Ignacio and the start of stage 2.

At 175 miles, stage 2 would be the longest stage of the race and probably the most isolated and beautiful.  I was looking forward to it but by the time we got to San Ignacio it was late enough in the day that we decided we should skip it.  Realistically, the stage would take us 5 hours and that would mean doing half of the stage in the dark and that was if everything worked.  So we hung out in San Igniacio.

 

San Ignacio is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert.  We stopped and visited the mission, I fixed the throttle (which had been acting funny) and we headed down the road to Loretto.  On the way Mary reminded me of Las Casitas, my mom and dad’s favorite restaurant in Mulege.  

 

We decided to stop for dinner and some of the best margaritas of the trip.  We ate in the courtyard and surreptitiously left some of dad’s ashes in a planter.  His spirit was definitely with us.  Before any of us were drunk enough to pass out and hit our head on the concrete we hit the road.

The drive to Loretto was uneventful.  We got into Hotel Oasis after dark and settled in for an early wake up call.

next up - Sarah Palin and other weirdness right here