willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
course marking,what a mess!
""What is the most current course status: A rancher made a road block, on the' authorized' race course, near Race Mile 1093. We went around to the
paved highway just past the little tienda and went back in near race mile 1098. The Baja 1000 race course is all is good from race mile 1098 to the
finish line, today.
Yesterday, 4 trucks and 8 people worked all day to mark just 80 miles. We buried a Raptor and a F150 4x4 Prerunner to the floorboards. Lots of
digging, lots of cut branches, 60 feet of tow strap, 3 hours and my Cherokee finally got the F150 out - I couldn't budge the Raptor. With the F150
strapped to the Raptor and my Jeep strapped to the F150 we finally got the Raptor out.
""When prerunning use SPEED Mex's Exclusive eCourse Products if you can, they include all the latest information, even the stuff the state doesn't
know. One man's danger is another mans blip of the throttle. There are way too many DANGERS"".
The F150 4x4 got buried trying to drive around a long section of flooded main line - looked like the smart thing to do until it sunk to the frame.
We decided to drive right up the main line in the middle of the road (mind you no one had driven through here since the storm) even though the water
was 18 inches deep for several hundred yards; and had the Raptor hang back in case I got stuck. Turned out I relearned and old Baja lesson - the main
lines are many years old and hard packed, even under the water - never even spun a wheel, got to the other side and watched the Raptor cross with no
effort. Stay on the road where you can!
Baja Racing News LIVE! asked, So how did the Raptor get stuck? ANSWER: ""Trying to pull out the F150 it slid sideways and the right wheels got off the
main line a few inches and it sunk that side to the running boards, left side was high and dry on the packed but muddy road.""
There is water that is not passable near ~RM 910 - the course marking crew came back out to paved route one and went around and then backwards up the
course to mark the other side. Everything else from ~RM 900 to ~RM 991 is passable but there are some very wet areas and deep water.
The crew continued their reporting, ""We tested the middle of the road, unless it breaks down with more traffic, it was passable. We did go around
several spots where there were dry bypass routes. We were able to mark from race mile 990 to 1045 . we ran out of ribbon at that point."" [Typical for
the infamous Baja route marking crew led by one of the biggest dolts on the planet]
Since we were by ourselves we only went for one bonzai run after some shoveling to make a ramp. We left a note at the start , no 2wd unless it is
going 100 mph near race mile1055. The next day, we went from race mile 1085 to the finish with no problems, it is much better over here.
The main problems with the damaged course is that the top 3 or 4 inches on the top might dry out but underneath the crust it's still very wet. It's
very difficult for the water to evaporate through the crust for weeks! There are tracks all over the official race course and chase access roads, that
just end when folks get buried.
The race course though San Javier wash still has water running as of mid-week. Where the wash meets paved route one, race mile 840 there is no race
route. Lots of water, rocks and up rooted trees, lots of storn damage. Further up paved route one, the first of the washouts at race mile 842 as you
start the climb the damaged paved route up to the hamlet and mission town of San Javier.""
|
|
|
rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
And more from various prerunners on face book
|
|
|
TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Member Is Offline
|
|
Holly Cow, what an experience or should I say mess. Thanks for the report. This could be a very interesting pre-run and race.
|
|
|
willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
how cool would a picture of david pulling a raptor out of the mud be?
|
|
|
rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by willardguy
how cool would a picture of david pulling a raptor out of the mud be?
|
I would love to see him try! 
|
|
|
liknbaja127
Nomad
Posts: 463
Registered: 1-17-2012
Member Is Offline
|
|
We have 2 more weeks before we prerun, cant wait to get down there!
Looks like we will have are work cut out for us!
Thanks for the report.
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
