Who's knocking? Its called,jealous
Who's knocking? Its called,jealous
I'm hearing you.
I keep looking in here to see where he's been lately and then I think to myself "Shit, I should have taken a snap when I was at that interesting place last week". I ride heaps, but I don't take photo's (like I know I should)Originally Posted by Gix11
Keep it up Tony!!!
If I had a dollar for every time I thought about you, I'd start thinking about you
Does the car park at work count as a misc ride pic, thats about as far as I seem to go these days !!!
Here are a few dirt related ride pics to get started:
This was taken by the local paper just before me and a mate went to race the 2014 Baja 1000. Im on the yammy
At or during the race
No bike but its Jeremy MaGrath...........
At the finish
No headlight and 50miles of 2ft deep silt and rock to go
Locals giving a chair to rest while they look at strapping a torch to the bike
Those familiar with the Baja will know of COCOs corner
and COCO
About to head out past COCOs prerunning
More of the above, no lights and a very rocky hill climb. Locals practically dragged me off the bike and walked me up and then preceded to skulldrag the bike up the hill
Day before the race at contingency:
Now that's a serious ride! Great stuff again mate. Cheers.
Went out for an early short spin yesterday. Met up with a few new people at 5:45am which meant it was nice and cool. We were heading back by 9am before it starts getting hot. Only grabbed the one pic and my bike was hiding behind there somewhere, lol
Thanks bud. Ive got a few bike pics from a race I did a few months ago. 545miles from Las Vegas to Reno thru the Nevada desert if anybody wants to see them
Top effort slim, outstanding
Thanks mate.
I'll post up a ride report of V2R I wrote up. Its not streetfighter related so let me know if it shouldnt be here:
Just got back from this years V2R (Vegas to Reno) through the Nevada desert.
http://bitd.com/general-tire-vegas-t...sented-by-fox/
Advertised as Americas longest desert race, this years was 545miles, (877kms). The course is a little different each year, this year was the longest in a 1 day format and had the most entries at over 320+teams. By the end of the race only 58% of entries finished. I rode in the Ironman Expert class and placed 7th in class.
This race is more affordable than the SCORE Baja races, entry for V2R is less than $500, pit support at around $1000. A chase crew is not needed if everything goes to plan but that doesn't happen very often. Its always good to see a familiar face when you pull in for fuel. I used Baja Bound Adventures who supplied the same bike and chase crew I used in Baja for the 1000 last year.
The best way to describe this race would be to say its a very long version of Finke with a lot of high speed sections broken up with loose rock technical parts. It is very dusty, as bad and in some cases worse than Finke with fog thrown in.
The bikes and quads leave first at 5:45am with 30sec intervals. Open and Pro class are off first, followed by them teams separated by age group then Ironman. Once the Pro classes have left the other classes are divided into Expert and Amateur, quads leave last in each class. The Trophy trucks are the first vehicles which leave 3hrs after the last bike/quad, the rest of the vehicles will then follow with UTV last.
For anyone who likes desert racing and wants to do something a little different this is a good alternative.
We used Baja Pits, the same mob we used in Baja for pit support. Unfortunately we had a dry-break fail on a dump can and I got sprayed with fuel. After a good 15min wash down I was good to go:
My chase crew waiting for me to come into the pit. Ryan (left) I met 2 years ago doing a tour in Baja raced last years V2R and flew down from Michigan to chase me this year. My partner in the middle and Jeff (Richardo) who was one of the guides I met on the tour with Ryan and he chased with me at last years 1000:
At the finish 13hrs, 35 mins later:
It was very hot, 40C+ for most of the race and was difficult to get used to after coming from the middle of a SW Victorian winter. We arrived 2 days before the race so we didnt have much time to get used to the weather.
Its a very well run event and the course is laid out really well,.......... aside from the dry lake bed. The winds were that bad that the markers had been blown down and the majority of the bikes, myself included got lost. I lost about 25mins in the lake bed but everything else was good. All the hazards were marked well, sometimes it felt like they were being too cautious at times because you see a danger flag at some roughish ground and not be sure whether that was the danger or it was still to come.
The second half of the course was badly weather affected due to storms and there were alot of washouts across the track. Unless I could see over a crest I would always slow down because more than likely there was a 2-3ft washout at the bottom. The pic below is of a guy who was prerunning part of the course and found one at speed:
This vid is me coming into our first stop. We skipped the first pit as it was a little too close, they are usually aprrox 50 to 60 miles apart but there were a couple around 30 miles a apart. Some pits were too far away for the chase crew to get to in time to meet me so the Baja Pit guys did the fueling and water while the chase guys went directly to the next pit.
There were a couple of rules which would result in an immediate DNF:
1. Pits were speed limited to 25mph beginning a couple of hundred meters before the pit started and extended the same distance afterwards. There were BLM (Bureau of Land Management) officers at some pits with radar guns monitoring speeds.
2. Road crossings (over bitumen) was heavily watched. The same as the pits, there was a speed limit before and after a crossing and the BLM would watch to see if the bike of vehicle roosted any rocks or gravel on to the road. If you did you would be disqualified.
Locos Mocos are a volunteer group who run a couple of Baja Pits in these races and were present when the dry break failed. They are are an awesome group and their moto is, "We fix stuff for free". They are also ninjas with stickers, by the time I left there were 5 on the bike and 2 on me. I ran into these guys at the 1000 last year but didnt really get to know them. This year I stayed in their pit for a while when I was being washed down and got to have a bit of a chat with them. They just live for the desert and racing and will do anything they can to get you moving and make sure you are safe.
I took over a slab of Crownies with some coolers we had made up and everyone loved the taste, will need to bring 2 slabs next time I think haha.
And a couple more race pics:
How the hell did you know where your pit crew were in that lot? I guess your situation was you looked for the tents etc, but what about others? Surely they set up ahead of you but you wouldn't know where and could waste ages checking each bay to see where your guys were?
When I raced the baja I wore the fluro yellow gear and gave my guys the same yellow jerseys with their name on the back. The baja pits have a large orange Giveway looking sign with Baja Pits written across it about 100yards before their pit and and again at their entrance.
My guys chase me to each pit and will decide if they need to skip one or 2 to meet me at one for stratigic reasons ie tyre/wheel change, mount lights etc. Because the race zig zags across roads the chase crew cant get to every pit ahead of the rider so they have to plan before the race which ones they'll do.
The yellow have become a bit of a theme now. Easy to spot in a crowd and they can spot me on the bike from a good distance.
I changed my mind, that's not outstanding, that is fucking outstanding!!!!!
haha, thanks bud. This one was actually uneventfull, Have got the Baja report below, now that was an adventure haha.
Ride report:
My Baja experience started last year when I decided to make racing the 1000 happen rather than just remain on my wishlist. I posted up on the Race Dezert forum in the bike section and asked for some advice on how to start. The responses were pretty much all the same, come over and check it out first and then race the following year. Baja Bound Adventures/Tim Morton came up as a good operator and several people backed him up. I didn't really think it was an option initially due to costs but sent Tim an email anyway. A few days later I transferred money over to Tim and booked my airfares, his offer was just too good to turn down. The tour was awesome, and I got to meet some great people both from BBA and the other riders. The tour was essentially a Baja 1000 experience ride and helping out with the 4X Kawasaki at a pit. By the end of the tour was determined to come back the following year to race.
Fast forward 12 months, 4th of November and we (myself and Daniel Mole, my co-rider) touched down in LA. Tim had agreed to support us and we were lucky enough to have Jeff (aka Amazing Ricardo) with us for pre-running and chasing for the race with Tim. We hired a car and drove down to San Diego to meet up at Tims shop and touch base. After a couple of hours chatting and checking out the race bike we headed off to the hotel to catch up on some sleep and get ready for the following morning.
The following day Jeff picked us up early from the hotel and we headed south, our destination, the hotel Pariso @ Collenet. This was where we would start our first pre-run. We took our time driving down and arrived by mid afternoon. This was where we would start our first day of pre-running to RM270 just south of San Quinten. This was also the first time we had ridden following the GPS and the race course markers so we took it slow and arrived at the Pemex where Jeff was waiting just on dark. Aside from some misaligned headlights and a couple of missing course markers there were no problems. The GPS (Garmin) didn't have the correct section loaded up so the course trail wasn't highlighted, only the waypoints were indicated so we just rode point to point finding our way. Once the bikes were loaded up we headed for the Baja Cactus in El Rasario and had dinner at Mamas restaurant. El Rasario is considered by some as where Baja actually starts as there are no cities until La Paz and the remoteness of Baja actually starts. Ensenada is the last major town where comforts can be found easily.
On the second day we started pre-running from a turn off from bitumen to dirt that was part of the course. This section was really enjoyable and we stopped a couple of times for photos and take in the scenery. Within the first 10 miles there was a washout that ran the width of the track with a small road section still passable. I was riding pretty quick and after coming around a corner saw at the last minute the washout and had no option but to make a 'controlled' slide into it. The washout was as deep as the bike and about 1 meter and a bit wide so once I came to stop with the bike in the hole it didn't take too much effort to pull out. Daniel pulled up just as I was about to bring the out. Further down when we stopped for photos and pre-runner buggy came past us and throughout this section we would leap frog taking turns leading.
With approx 20miles from the pickup point we were riding up a small rocky hill trying to put some distance between us and buggy we'd been leap-frogging during the day. Half way up the hill I hit a rock and got bounced, next thing I knew I was on the ground. My right arm hurt a little and when I looked closer I saw that there was deep cut which peeled back the skin and fatty layer exposing the muscle underneath. By then Dan had caught up and after a quick look reached for the roll of trail marking tape in the camelpak and wrapped my arm up. Once done we continued to ride the rest of the way the old museum.
After loading the bikes up we headed to Catavina to look for a medical centre. We did find an ambulance parked up and enquired at a shop nearby. The lady who worked at the shop took a look at my arm while her daughter (I think), went to get some medical supplies from the van. Unfortunately the only first aid that she could offer was peeling back the skin and washing the wound out wish water and gauze. It was a painful experience to say the least but it was the best she could do. This was the first time Jeff had seen the cut and started offering suggestions to get fixed up. Heading back to the states was Jeffs preferred option but offered stopping in El Rasario where there was supposed to be a better set up clinic.
We asked around and after a couple of passes up and down the road finally spotted it. The doctor was very good and an hour later the wound was flushed out and stitched up, she also gave me some antibiotics and pain killers, they are as concerned about infection as we are, also making a point of no alcohol. Even after much discussion and bargaining the answer was still no,.. bugger. Once we were done and asked how much did everything cost she couldn't give us a figure, their only concern was making people better, the money side was second to them. We asked if $100US was ok and she was very happy, so were we and even gave them a couple of 321X team stickers to sweeten the deal. Once done we headed south again to continue pre-running for the next day.
Last edited by Slim; 12-01-2016 at 11:07 AM.
Another day we had a long 300mile+ section to do without support so we had to strap 4ltrs of fuel to our waist with a couple of old leather belts to help us with fuel range. This along with the 20+ltr fuel tank on the bike, 2ltrs of water in our camelpaks as well as tools etc made for a hard ride and we pulled over first chance we got to empty the 4ltrs into the fuel tank to lighten the load on our backs. While we were pulled over another rider, Max Eddy Jr who later with his team mates would win the race pulled up to say hi. We were introduced to hi, briefly the previous day and it was awesome to be talking to him out on the trail. While chatting we noticed his rear tyre was flat. Like us he was supposed to be running solid tubes (moose tubes) but unfortunately for him a normal was installed instead. We offered to follow him until he could get help and eventually we ended up at a fella's house on the beach called Poncho. He is well known to the desert community and before too long Dan and I were helping Max change out his tube with one Poncho had found in his shed. This was a real highlight for us.
Thru the course of pre-running we got to meet some awesome people like Max Eddy Jr (4X), Colton Udal (1X), Jeremy McGrath and COCO (from COCOs Corner), as well as some lesser known characters like Poncho, and a host of other locals. COCO is a local that has lost both legs from the knee down but still comes out to support the race and has a small bit of land which allows people to camp for free and watch the race. Everyone I met was fantastic, nothing was too much trouble. Once we had pre-run as far south as we planned we headed north back to Ensenada, a 14+hr drive. How Jeff had managed to do everything he did through the course of our trip was amazing, some nights he wouldn't get to be until 3am working on the bikes or setting up for the following day and still being the first one up at 5am ready to go. Once back in town, Tim and Jennifer (Tim's wife) were there to meet us and we got our first look at the completed race bike.
Contingency was memorable experience, walking thru the crowd with the race bike, all of us wearing our BBA shirts really brought home the 'team' feeling to me as this was the first time we were all together in Ensenada. Even though only goal was just to finish, at that point it felt like we could have been pushing the 1X bike. Topping off the experience were the awesome BBA/321X helmet bags that Jennifer had made up for us. While in Ensenada we waited for the first section of the track to be released for pre-running. This section starts in the middle of the city and before dropping down into a large storm water drain for a few miles and then coming out into another part of the city and then heading out of town. We took the opportunity to set-up the GPS the best we could, modifying the maps to work best with how we planned to hand the bike over with minimal interruption loading up different sections as the race progressed.
Come race day(s), the theme continued. Tim and Jeff chased down the peninsula with minimal fuss. The first 80ish miles were incident free and making great time. While I did lose a couple of positions with some of the pro 'hired guns' came past I also made back a couple with some of the teams that started before me, a race was beginning.
It was around this RM that the first of the pro quads came past. I didn't really appreciate just how fast these guys were until I tried to keep up with the second one that came past, (no one likes the idea of a quad being faster). The dust a 2 wheeled bike puts out was bad enough but the quads were 10 times as bad. As I was trying to keep pace in the dust I overshot a sharp corner and got thrown from the bike. This is where I suspect I tore open my stitches in my arm. I had bandaged my arm up and was wearing my enduro jacket with slide in body armour in the arms but it didn't help this time. All I could do was stay focused on the race and get back on the bike. 4 bikes went passed as I was getting back on the bike, all stopping or gesturing to make sure I was ok. These were the same riders I had overtaken earlier and within a few minutes I managed to get past them again and be out of the dust.
I came in to a pit where Tim, Jeff and Dan were waiting and I had managed to maintain 50+MPH average, things were looking good. The next section was through twisty mountain roads with sheer cliff drops, around 50 miles later I lost the rear tyre on a rock and low-sided the bike breaking the rear brake lever in the process. It was a slowish 15/20 mile ride to the pit where Dan got on the bike. I had hurt my hands pretty bad by that stage and it was all I could do to hang on and keep moving. Holding the throttle constant was difficult, this was also the time the helicopters were hovering over head as we were still relatively close to the leaders of the race. The last obstacle was a very steep downhill and having no rear brake on a rocky face made the ride a fair bit harder. I came in a little sheepish, disappointed on breaking something so early but Tim and Jeff didn't batter an eyelid. They made sure I was ok and then got to work getting the bike right. Minutes later Dan was away and so were we.
Dans section was part of what we pre-ran the first day we rode and he was somewhat familiar with it. There was a large boobytrap in that section now which did claim one of the riders on the Honda 1X bike. It was so big they used a frontend loader to dig it out which was parked nearby. Luckily though the locals camped there were waving their arms warning Dan to slow down and go around. While they most likely did build the trap they had no intention of hurting anyone like similar things built throughout the race they are done for the trophy trucks and buggies to jump for some entertainment. Mostly they are just small ski-jump type stuff which is harmless or little kids heaping a row of dirt across the track. Throughout the whole trip we did not come across anyone who was negative in any way, all they wanted was to help and try to be part of what was going on.
Dan brought the bike back in the same shape he got it at the next rider change, his shoulder still giving him trouble. I stayed on the bike as long as I could to give Dans shoulder a rest and managed to make it through the night and into the next day. Together we had managed to maintain a higher than expected MPH average and this meant that I was heading to COCOs just on dusk. The twin 8inch HID lights were mounted at the Baja pit on the turn off to COCOs from the H/way. This section ok and after riding past COCOs the terrain turned to multiple creek crossings. Most of the base was river rock with some sand in between. I had ridden this section a few days prior and I was still remembering different parts as I was going thru. I did miss a turn where previous riders had done the same and had to double back a few hundred meters and rejoin the course. Through a tight sandy section there was a turn that rode through during pre-running and marked on the GPS as a warning (I had done a similar thing just past COCOs where the road crested into a right hand corner which I went straight through but somehow managed not to crash, I remembered this corner very well and went a little slower during the race with no problems). The sandy corner crept up on me again in the race and I overshot it again, skimming by the same cactus. The rest of this section to the next pit which was set up at the same corner Jeff had picked me up from during pre-running. The BBA team were there and after a quick chat and pit I was through the whoop section on to the H/way crossing where the guys would be waiting in case help was needed. I came across Jeff and Dan waiting right where they said they'll be, a sea of people, several thousand spectators and several hundred more people running various pits for other competitors. I stopped briefly just to ask where the next Baja Pit was as I had roughly calculated I was due for one. Neither of the of them knew so I was on my way again. Each time the course crossed over the H/way, the intersection which only a few days ago was barren was now a small city of people which at times lasted for more than a kilometre, thousands lined up to watch or help. This next section was fresh in my mind as this was where Dan and I had finished up after meeting Max Eddy Jr and where I continued on solo because Dans shoulder was too sore to continue to ride.
Last edited by Slim; 12-01-2016 at 11:59 AM.
I was confident and still making good time during this part of the race but I had not taken into account just how bad the track had become with all the vehicles that had been through pre-running after I had been through. At approx RM689 I ran into a very deep silt section where the front wheel dug in and I got thrown over the bars. I got up straight away but I could not see my bike anywhere. I figured that the bike was buried covering the lights but soon found the bike and realised that I had broken the brackets welded to the frame and the lights were no longer connected to the bike. There wasn't much I could, and after a minute I got back on the bike and tried to carry the light assembly across the tank balancing them with my knees. For the rest of this section it would be silty or rocky and after 20minutes of trying I accepted the fact that I had to leave the lights and continue on. I walked off the track a few meters and found a bush to stash the lights and marked the GPS so I could come back later to retrieve them.
I could only see a couple of feet in front of me and could not get enough speed up to ride through the silt successfully. Every 10 to 20 meters I would lose the frontend and have to pick the bike up and continue on again. After a few miles I saw a farm house and pulled up. There was a local outside with a small torch and after a few hand gestures managed to tell him I wanted to buy his light offering 500pesos (approx $50). He would not take any money for it and offered the torch to me straight away. He duct taped it to the front guard and I was on my way. This was the same time the first of the trophy trucks were coming up behind me. I was able to pull off the track as the first 2 trophy trucks came thru, seeing their lights in the distance and hearing the motors gives you a couple of miles warning. By the time the 3rd truck was in sight I was in a section with high banked walls either side of me and very little strength to ride out in time. All I could do was lean hard up against one of the banks pulling the bike against me to make as much room as I could to allow the truck to pass. Unfortunately there was still not enough room and the truck clipped the wheels of the bike and rode up high enough to bend the front brake rotor leaving me with no front brakes as well as no lights. The long ride at night just got longer.
I did lose a lot of time during the night but as they say, 'that's Baja'. Given all that was happening at the time when it could have been easy to give up but the locals kept me going. I still recall the locals at one camp just looking into my eyes and saying "Just get to La Paz, just get to La Paz'. On 2 other occasions I pulled up near a camp and within minutes had 30odd people surrounding me trying to help where they could. Each time someone offered up a small headlamp or torch which was strapped or taped to the bike to give me some hope. Realistically the lights didn't make a big difference to my vision but helped keeping me going and boosted my morale when I needed it most; their kindness will not be forgotten.
I ended up riding for approx 50 miles with no lights and a moonless sky. This was definitely the hardest part of the race for me. Riding through talcum powder like sand 2ft deep was exhausting at walking pace. I tried everything to improve my lighting situation, even hanging my camelpak over the front of the bike to use a snap-type glow stick and flashing reflector light normally used to warn people behind someone was ahead as a light source. Eventually getting to the next meeting point, once again Tim and Jeff made sure I had food and water and set about righting the bike. In what seemed like seconds after what I had just been thru the bike was ready and away I went.
I rode for as long as I could before handing the bike over to Dan for his final section. We had not pre-run this far south so all we had to go by was Tims advice. I will just say that the truth and what Tim told us from here on in differs a little but he told us what we needed to hear, the truth wouldn?t have helped. Dan once again did his section with minimal fuss riding mostly rocks and water crossing with some sand whoops thrown in and handed over the bike for me to finish on.
Constitucion whoops was my next section and once again sapped every bit of strength I had. The whoops went on for over 60miles without a let up, all over 1 meter deep, all I could do was ride through them 1 at a time. There weren't many corners as this seemed to be a boundary track and as I crested a hill all I could was another straight line of whoops for as far as I could see. This happened time and time again. The only let up I had was when another vehicle was coming up behind me and I would pull over to let him past. As this section came to a close I was greeted with Tim and crew waiting for me for a quick chat and make sure everything was ok, the end was now only a little more than 100mile away.
With Tims pep talk of a couple of miles of whoops here, some rocks there I set off. The closer I was getting to the end the more drawn out it was feeling, seeing the RM markers I?d do a quickly do the maths in my head to convince myself it was only 'an hour way' till the end. By now I was only averaging around 30ishMPH so I actually had almost 4hrs still to go. Each RM marker I would re-do the maths trying to give myself some hope. The first hint of finishing came around 30ish miles from the end when i could see the lights of La Paz in the distance, but instead of heading for the city the course weaved in the opposite direction and snaking thru the mountains and across fields that had been churned up by other vehicles ahead of me. I could see lights and cars on a h/way not far from me but each time I thought I was getting close the track would veer away. Eventually I came up to the local tip where the track goes through the middle of it made its way to the highway. Riding down the highway with local traffic didn't feel like I was in a race at all, no other competitors around, it was a little strange. Ahead there was part of the road blocked off from traffic and my GPS showing that was my queue to the finish line. A policeman sitting in his car giving me a short wave, I guess Im going the right way.
Getting to the finish line, it was all I could do not too stall or drop the bike in front of the crowd, I was knackered, my clutch hand more of a claw than individual fingers. Having Jeff and Dan come up to meet me was the signal that the race was over. A quick look around and I spotted Tim and I felt we had done it.
We travelled back to Ensenada over 3 days before Tim headed home leaving Jeff, Dan and I in Baja to stay a little longer and relax. We spent the night at the San Nicholas before heading south again the following morning. We had no real plans or timelines and Jeff had finished up as driver/chaser and was now just kicking back with us. He had spent the last 2 weeks driving us around and prepping for the race as well as chasing during the race so it would have been easy for him to go his own way and get some peace and quiet on his own. Tim allowed us to keep the chase vehicle while we stayed in Baja so we said to Jeff, where do you want to go? The answer was Coyote Cal's Hostel & Bar. Jeff had stayed there many times before and it was one of his little sanctuaries to come to get away from it all and ride. We had a great time there, initially we were only going to stay one night but after a few hours of arriving we decided to stay for 2.
Rick and Ta own the hostel and have set it up to reflect an Australian style theme. Most of the exterior walls have been painted in large murals, mostly ocean themed except for the main one in the outside bar area which has a large picture of Cameron Steels trophy truck. The bar area itself has a sand floor and open fire pit and is a great place to spend a few hours.
A highlight was meeting Lu Rojas Rangel. She works at the hostile on and off and the day we left Ensenada Jeff sent her a message to find out where she was so they could catch up. At the same time Rick and Ta were also in Ensenada and caught up with her to ask if she wanted to come down for a few days work. Both were separate events and worked out perfectly for Lu to come down. While we were there we got to try Lu's signature drink the 'LuLu Rawks' which she made up and where Jeff was the original taste tester for. Dan celebrated his birthday here and woke up the following needing a few panadol to get through the day.
Once back in the states the BBA hospitality continued, Tim offering up Grants (his son) car for us to use for a few days as well as a couple of bikes if we wanted to ride any local tracks. Once the race was over it would have been understandable to end things there on BBA's behalf but even a week after the race we were still being looked after and nothing was too much trouble, even to the point of inviting us to the Endurocross finals for an evening.
I can not thank Baja Bound Adventures, Tim, Jeff, Jen, Grant enough for all their support, it was the best bike experience Ive ever had, I will be back for sure. Im glad we were able to continue your 100% finishing record.
There was a lot that I have left out but this will give you a small idea of how we went, there is nothing I would change, as Jeff says 'it makes for a great story'.
Bloody Brilliant !
Thanks for sharing.
Love it !!!
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