The Mexico Interval: An Introduction

Do you want the facts, or the story?

If you want the facts, we went to Mexico to race the Baja 1000. We got 5 flat tires, nearly ran out of gas a few times, deprived ourselves of food and sleep (but not beer) and didn't finish the race. We drove through stunning terrain, camped on the beach and gawked at the stars. We got some good deals and we got ripped off. It was an adventure. The fact is this was the worst vacation ever. The story is we were having a blast. It was the best vacation ever.

There is a mystique surrounding the Baja 1000 that draws people in. Specifically, for this story, it drew us in. Even though Seth looked at it as a stepping stone to racing the Dakar Rally, the Baja 1000 is a fierce and grueling race. The organizers label it the toughest off-road race in the world: around a thousand miles of desert riding done as a single long push to the finish. The Baja 1000 will eat you up and spit you out if you're not prepared for it; sometimes even if you are.

This is Seth's idea of a fun vacation. According to the facts, I hated it. (But we've moved on to to the story, so soon we'll be having fun.)

Seth's New Bike!

We had given the last few months almost entirely to preparing for this race. We traded my motorcycle in for a Honda 450x which Seth had decided on for his race bike. Seth then tore it apart and rebuilt it with race parts. He would do this a few more times until he declared it ready to go. We rented satellite phones, because there is no cell reception in the desert.

 We bought a new GPS so that Seth could add coordinates of exactly where the chase truck needed to meet the bike. I worked, scrimped and saved and stressed and made sure there was enough money for this adventure. Every day I'd come home from work and Seth would have a new item that we needed. He'd give me the pitch of why we "needed" it and I always gave in when he got to the "it makes it safer" argument.

Seth's new race exhaust sytem is much lighter!

Maybe if we cut a little off the electric bill, and a little off the grocery bill Seth could make it out of this vacation alive. When the stakes are Seth coming home alive and maybe even well, it is easier to scrimp and save.

Seth spent a long time putting a route together for pre-running, because it's not enough to have everything you might need for the race, you have to know the course, which changes every year.

You have to know it so well you could do it in your sleep. That might be exactly what you're doing towards the end. You have to know it so well that in your exhaustion you don't get lost in the desert, or worse.






His plan was good and it allowed us to cover the entire course once. We were going to go all over the place. His favorite parts of the plan were camping on the beach, camping in the dessert and of course, the riding. My favorite part of the plan was staying for two whole days at Mike's Sky Ranch. His plan got us all the way around this map in seven days.

There are lots of different classes of racers in the Baja 1000. You can race a million dollar trophy truck, a million dollar buggy, a less expensive buggy, (or a more expensive buggy, we're not picky here) a motorcycle or quad, practically anything you can imagine. Seth obviously raced a motorcycle, but even within the moto category there are subclasses. Seth liked the idea of the ironman class, which means one person has to do the whole thing. The rest of the classes, based either on engine size, age or experience, allow you to have a whole team of racers, each riding different sections.

Seth decided it was stupid to enter the ironman class as a rookie, so he enlisted a motorcycle racer from Vermont who had done Pikes Peak and all the Vermont Hill Climbs for as long as anyone could remember. Seth called Jimi and said "so I'm thinking about going to Baja."

"I've been waiting 30 years for someone to say that to me," Jimi said.

Seth and Jimi entered the Pro 30 class, meaning they are both pro motorcycle races over 30 years old.

Seth was excited to be accepted and categorized as a pro.

Aside from being eligible to win actual money, being in a pro class put them closer to the start of the race, which gives them as much time as possible before the trophy trucks pass them. There are mainly two concerns with the trophy trucks. First, (mostly),they are dangerous, especially if they are passing you at night. There is legitimate concern that they won't see you, or even if they do they won't bother to go around you. Second, (definitely second) once they pass you the course ahead is guaranteed to be completely wrecked. The farther ahead of the trophy trucks you can be, the safer your race will be. The more likely it is you will finish.

Seth paid $500 extra to be an hour farther ahead of the Trophy trucks. From June of 2013 through November of 2013 the Baja 1000 was the our only focus, the only thing we spent money on. It consumed our entire lives.

He rebuilt the bike one last time and suddenly it was time to go.