The 2018 NORRA Mexican 1000
1,362 Mile of Off-Road Motorcycle Racing over the Length of Mexico's Baja Peninsula
Ride Report continues --->
Super, everything is good with the trailer, us and the rancher has gas. We lost a solid day on our journey north but hey, I got time. I just hope Ron and Tim can endure my constant questioning. To me it’s like I’m spending time with rock stars whom I’ve been fans of my entire life. This is just unreal. I concisely try to practice good listening skills and not be the self centered loud mouth that I am. All I want to do is hear about racing, motorcycles, Baja and life. It’s like I’m listening to an adventure novel play out in real times and I’m in it. How cool is that! Thanks again Tim and Ron.
Alright, we have a long day ahead of us while we try to make up lost time. These guys want to get home and punch out so they can prepare for the next. I almost feel bad for enjoying every mile. Tim and Ron are both former Baja 1000 motorcycle racers and are now running support for others as experts in logistics, strategy and technical support. The stories are endless but I know are only scratching the surface…So Cool!

Tooling through Santa Rosalia we talk about the town and how interesting it is. I exclaim I know of a good coffee shop, Ron loves coffee as do I. Next door is a favorite taco stand of Heidi’s and mine. Tacos it is! We tool…The Stories…The Baja…The People….The Culture…Fantastico…

Tim’s wife Jennifer is racing NORRA this year solo in Vintage Class 1/2-1600. Tim is assisting work still being performed on her race car as we drive. It is so interesting listening to that. Jennifer won NORRA in 2016 racing an XR400r. She is my idol and the sole reason I picked the XR400 as my race bike. And here I am today. sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself.

North of Guerrero Negro Ron knows of a taco restaurant just off the highway that supposedly has unique and great grilled cheese tacos. Unreal, this is another place i will have to surprise Heidi with. but be careful with the hot sauce! We finally make it to Ensenada, I think it was after Midnight. Thanks again guys, I owe you for the pleasure of your company if nothing else.

They did end up spending the night at the swanky casino right across the street from me. Early the next morning we unload my bike and they take off heading toward the border
Ensenada!
Tim was trying hard to make sure I am going to be comfortable and enjoy my week in Ensenada before the race starts. He offered to drop me off at a hotel at a nice beach resort area outsider of Ensenada. But I’m kind of a strange dude (da! Do ya think) I love exploring large Latin American cities on foot searching out Mexican culture, street food and places where locals dine, and Ensenada is certainly a large Latin American city. I’m not into fancy food or touristy stuff. I grew up in one of the largest tourist areas in the Midwest and I’m back living there today, I search out other.

The first morning I head out on a long walk working my legs and looking for real Mexican food.

Score.

Ensenada, the home of Baja racing.

Right across the street is an empanada restaurant! Cavegirl is going to so jealous.

The employees were stoked to add my racing sticker to their collection. How fun.

The area where I’m staying seems like an old Mexican area. This restaurant, a few blocks away had several large tables filled with locals enjoying a meal and each others company. This plate doesn’t look like much but was fantastic, eggs smothered in mole sauce. Baja mole is to die for.
OK, let’s bring her back to motorcycles and Baja racing. When Ron helped me unload my bike he noticed the steering was binding when turning hard right. He said “you gotta fix that” He also suggested I install softer hand grips stating it will help my hands in the long run. And forsure I need help with that. Months ago when I was planning on riding the XR400 from Cabo to Ensenada prior to the race I planned to look for a place in Ensenada to install new tires and mousse. BajaBoundMoto Tim reached out and gave me a name of a good shop in town “Moto Garage 730” owned and run by a Baja 1000 Ironman, Francisco Septien.

I get the bike to him my first day and he is all over it. I said “You are a Baja 1000 Ironman, you are the man I want prepping my bike for NORRA” “Grips, cables and give it a good go over” That’s all I needed to say.

At the end of the day his mechanic Victor was still working on it. He showed me the new handle bar stops he fabricated to prevent pinching the cables and wires against the steering damper mechanism, beautiful. Victor has all my hacked wiring torn apart and is redoing it right. I am so happy. I’m told to come back tomorrow at noon.

The next day at noon Victor is showing me the fried rear bearing I have. Francisco tells me he wants me to be able to finish NORRA. WOW! Did I bring it to the right place or what!

Victor on the left. Baja 1000 Ironman Francisco on the right. What a fantastic experience. Based on the charge for two days of quality work at Francisco shop I will be inspired to bring the bike back here whenever I need work. Thinking back I CANNOT believe what the Honda shop charged me in the states and all the things they didn't do. But in the end it's all on me, it's my bike.

Again I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this fall into place as it did.
I recommend ‘Moto garage 730’ to anyone who wants their bike worked on or prepped for racing by a pro. Thanks a ton Francisco and Victor, you guys ROCK!

Yesterday I spread all my stuff out and sorted everything between what the team Flying Pig Racing crew is carrying for me and what I need to grab from them at the end of each stage so what I’m carrying is minimal. I have 4 plastic bags packed with protein power so i can end and start the day with that, two cliff bars, a protein bar, a granola bar and a fiber bar that I will carry and eat during the transit sections.
My small laptop will be in the duffle bag team Flying Pig Racing crew will be carrying also so I can load the next days race tracks onto my GPS. Yesterday I successfully loaded the first two race days on my GPS so I'm set for two days. I remember trying to load three days of last years race and that didn’t fly. And I’m afraid to try that again, l it seems when the GPS gets whacked out it whacks out good and is hard to get back to normal, so I’m good with two days at a time.
Yesterday I went out to take care of any last minute shopping. I had two tubes of loctite that both went dry, and my coin battery for my Striker odometer went dead. I removed the Striker to make room for the RaceTrax box and am using rallyBlitz on an iPhone for my odometer but if I crash and break that at least I will have the Striker to fall back on. I can always duct tape it on somewhere if I have to (Always have a backup plan)

Score! Even with my limited Spanish I have fun making conversations with people I come in contact with. It’s been three days where I have spoken nothing but Spanish and I love it. The words are coming out of my mouth so natural now.
I also didn’t like how I looked in the photo with Victor and Francisco, those orange beach pants are not cutting it so I go off into the Mexican part of town in search of.

When I look for street food I look for places where locals go. This place had standing room only so I give it a shot.

I keep saying this but these tacos are out of this word. They are like the tacos Tim, Ron and I had north of GN. Fried tortilla with cheese, birria meat, whole beans and all the fixings.

Another place packed with locals.

Best fish tacos of the trip. My mouth was exploding with flavor my entire walk back to the motel.

I need to stay hydrated. Fresh squeezed OJ here is the best. When I take photos where I’m in peoples face I always ask permission “?Permiso sacar un foto? Por la mi siteo de web” I always get a huge approval and again it sparks beautiful conversations in Spanish.
OK, I check out how my new sunglasses look on me. HS, last year I was fat and my boobs were starting to droop. And then after my crash in NORRA last year I couldn’t lift at the gym and that made me feel like shit. I thought to myself ‘Is this what it’s going to be like being in my 60s!!! (which I am)’ Something clicked, the constant pain in my shoulder went away, I still couldn’t lift chest but I could work out. So I signed up for NORRA again and went nuts as if my life depended on it.

I’m not only posting this pic because I’m a cocky self centered SOB but I also want to reach out to others to maybe inspire that growing old doesn’t necessarily mean slowing down getting fat and out of shape and looking bad. This transformation happened to me, after a debilitating injury that still stifles. All I got to say is 'just go for all', as far as we know for sure this is the only life we have.
Stay tuned for more fun in Baja Mexico…
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