I went down to the Baja 1000 last week with Bill Jarchow. The plan was to help Nomads Tunaeater on bike 280X but the rider of record became ill and
had to pulled out. Paul then got a ride on bike 304X and since all their pits and chasing was in place Bill and I were free to watch the race. I
picked up BJ at Whiteman airport in LA Thursday morning and we headed to the Tecate border crossing. My plan was to cross at Tecate and head to La
Rumorosa and pre-run down the La Rumorosa grade, a dirt road down the mountains to the desert. My brother and I did it after the 95 1000 race in my
Toyota. There was a parade going on in Tecate and it took us a while to get thru the town so I decided it may be better to go on to Ensenada and
contingency etc and do the pre-running after the race.
We checked into the Ensenada Inn and then went to contingency. Had dinner at the Casamar restaurant, white seabass, great. Went to the drivers/riders
meeting in the Rivera Conference Center and saw Sal Fish intro everyones friend Coco to a round of applause. We were up Friday morning and went to the
start line. Coco was there in a wheel chair. This is the first time I have seen him since just before his leg was taken off in March. There is a guy
in Canada that is making him a set of legs and will fit him when he is healed. He expects to be back at Cocos Corner sometime next year. We hope so
anyway.
Lot's of bikes and cars in this years 1000 loop race, about 360 total. After watching the bikes leave we head to the east side of Baja near Borrego
where the race course comes out near Diablo dry lake. We pulled one stuck race watcher out of the sand. Stayed there watching the racers until dark
and started for San Felipe stopping to pull another spectator out of the sand at Borrego, then into San Felipe for dinner at El Nido. Back to the race
course and camped overnight. Racers went by all night. Saturday morning two UTVs pitted near us. They were the side by side ATV type vehicle. They
don't look like they have much ground clearance and appear top heavy. But those two ( I think it was 1804 and 1805) did finish in time and became the
first UTV to finish a SCORE race. The UTVs have been racing a couple of years.
Johnny Campbell on Honda 1X finished 1st OA and Tim Morton 10X finished 2nd on a factory Honda. Good for Tim. Paul finished 8th in class 30 out of
about 20. Not too bad. He said before the race they just wanted to finish and have a good time, which they did. The OA car/truck was Norman and
Rosseler in a Ford Trophy Truck. The top cars /trucks and bikes averaged about 50mph on a 630 mile course.
We had breakfast in San Felipe and headed for the La Rumorosa grade. It was a fun down hill ride. I had to backup 3 or 4 times. Met 5 or 6 motorcycle
riders coming up the grade. It's about a 4000 foot or more drop over 7 miles of single lane dirt and rock switchback road. At the bottom we jumped on
the toll road and headed for Tecate. When we got to the border turn off both lines were backed up to the main drag. So we headed to Santa Veronica for
dinner and stayed overnight in the hotel. They use to give you an electric heater now they have a fire place in the rooms. They build the fire and
leave several logs to burn overnight. Up and to the border and a 20 minutes wait. Had breakfast at Barrets Jct. All you can eat $8.99 includes drinks.
No problems with I-5 to LA and I was home at 3pm.
Pix to follow
Looking Down La Rumorosa Grade
TMW - 11-28-2008 at 02:56 PM
Near the Top
TMW - 11-28-2008 at 02:57 PM
One of the Switchbacks
TMW - 11-28-2008 at 02:59 PM
House at the Bottom
TMW - 11-28-2008 at 03:00 PM
bajalou - 11-28-2008 at 03:28 PM
Great report Tom. Sorry I missed you - Next timecapt. mike - 11-28-2008 at 06:18 PM
can't begin to imagine "racing" down that road.
thx for the pix!!David K - 11-29-2008 at 08:54 AM
Thanks TW.... !TMW - 11-29-2008 at 10:44 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by bajalou
Great report Tom. Sorry I missed you - Next time
Lou after breakfast on Sat we stopped by your place but no one was home. I don't remember the time, maybe 10ish. We'll see you at newyears.Bajafun777 - 11-29-2008 at 10:59 AM
TW, great report and isn't it a trip how much La Rumorosa has grown from when you blinked and it disappeared from sight. Of course Tecate has also
gotten really big over the years too. I like to stop at the bakery on Benito Juarez heading back to get onto the road that swings you back up to the
border. It is pretty big and very clean with the biggest selections in town by far. I have a friend that has lived in Tecate and here in El Centro
over the past 30 years and it just really makes you remember when you show some of the backcountry photos of just how close to some of these towns
that backcountry once was. I have been on some of those back roads and remember coming up the mountains on the old two lane road from Mexicali to La
Rumorosa as I had another friend that had a place up their we use to go to on our way to fishing at Ensenada. La Rumorosa was known for its Saturday
night Rancho dances and a lot of people from the Valley and Mexicali use to go to these as well as folks from Tecate. Again, great photos and sounds
like you had great fun along with great food, good friends, and of course great cold ones. Later--------------- bajafun777
