Baja Thanksgiving 11-2006
We woke up Wednesday to another beautiful sunny day - not only was the weather great, but it was race day!!! I was still in pain, but no worse than yesterday. I could not walk on my own, so I used a bar chair with arms as a walker in the house, and a quad as my transportation outside the house. This setup worked for me the rest of the week. After a hearty breakfast cooked by Kevin, the three guys suited up to go on a ride and watch the race. I stumbled to the quad and rode to the race party a few miles from our house. The Baja 1000 week is one of the busyest all year. Many of the people who own houses by mine are old racers and riders, and usually show up for the 1000 race. Since the race was going down the peninsula on Hwy 5 only a few miles from my house, we all set up a tent party to watch the race. We have shade awnings, coolers, BBQ's, chairs, all right nest to the race course. Also, my neighor Allan, had the radio tuned to the 'Weatherman' - he broadcasts info and helps with problems form Mt Diablo, the highest peak in Baja at about 10,000 feet tall. Here's Alan's setup:
Here I am on my wheel chair talking with Gary & Mike:
My neighbor, Bob, purchased one of the original 'Boots' that was made famous by winning some of the early desert races with various drivers including Steve McQueen and Bud Elkins:
The Baja 1000 race start in Ensenada at 6:30 am. The motorcycles start first, then the quads, then there is a 3 hour wait before they start the trophy trucks, class 1 buggies, and the rest of the 4 wheeled classes. They start a new rider/driver every 30 seconds and time them through the entire course. The rider/driver with the lowest elasped time wins. Since the bikes start first, they were the first to make it past our party. Here is Honda team #1X as they passed us (they won the overall 1000 and came in first in their class). They averaged about 57 miles per hour for the entire 800 mile course. Here they catch some air at about 90 mph.
You can tell when the trophy trucks and class 1 buggies are near by looking for their helicopters. The top teams all have a helicopter follow each truck and buggy to help radio for help if they get in trouble. Here is one of the first trophy trucks to drive past us:
It was great as we were watching the race near a very long straightaway and all the bikes, trucks, and buggies, were going by us at their top speed (bikes at about 100 mph and the trucks and buggies at about 120 mph). We also had a lot of action near us this year. The first thing to happen was when the Terribel Herbst Class 1 buggy had a tire blow out right if front ou us. They pulled into our area to change the tire - it only took them 2 minutes. They had an air bottle that operated air jacks and and air gun for the lugs - incredible!!! This buggy won it's class also.
Then about a half hour later, the McMillian team 1 buggy was approaching us when he got cross rutted and barrel rolled his buggy at about 80 mph right in front of us. We all rushed down to help. Mark McMillian, the driver rung his bell a little, but the navigator was ok. We helped him change their flat tire, pound out their caved in roof, removed all the dirt and rocks in the buggy, and sent them on their way. They eventually finished the race, but way back in the standings. One interesting thing is that unlike the Herbst buggy, the McMillian buggy did not have an air tank. They had a floor jack and hand lug wrench to change the tire. It took about 10 minutes - talk about a huge advantage for the Herbst buggy!!!
Here are a few videos Kevin took of race day: (press the back button on your browser to return to this page after the movie plays)