My B1k Odyssey Haiku

[drj777]

first of all - its not really a haiku (besides, im not sure how many of you would know the differnce anyway - so who cares...right? right) the point is...i hope you enjoy my tale.

ensenada


tacos @ la chispa
3 nights on a couch i like to call "THE BACKBREAKER"

drivers prerunning just outside of town so...
the crew is having a meeting @ "the step-down"......& then comes - "the falling down"

(a couple of hoodlums @ the scene of the crime)


then comes the booze...and a few street vendors


one thing leads to another...


and another...


until this happened...(do these look like people you could count on in a race?? AB-SOOO-LUTE-LY!!!!)


drj

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[drj777]

...a little later - i met this lovely lady...
super cute - super nice...& i will probably never see her again...c'est la vie.


...naturally for the race AND the team - something needed to be done...


contingency...


a second or two later - i LITERALLY bumped in to "malcolm" himself...he was really nice and very cool. one of my personal heroes...wow.


just south of GOAT TACOS...just north of san telmo

[drj777]

the husky pit @ san telmo


...quite possibly the NICEST CRAPPER in baja...


the car on race morning...


the northern half of the crew - ready to go...


(then, about 28 hours later....)
a little siesta in ciudad constitucion (we were trying to buy a water temp sensor - the car was "down" near near loreto) - time to backtrack 80 miles to try to fix it......minutes after this photo - i stepped in the ONLY dog crap for miles.


did i mention the GOAT TACOS of santo tomas yet? or the killer chicken of constitucion?! or the sunrise over LORETO bay?

all night there was carnage on the radio.....unfortunately we came upon a multi-truck ordeal south of VISCAINO...looked real bad...coulda been anyone. coulda been us. i think thats when it finally "settled in" - how much MORE dangerous it is to be chasing, than racing.

i forgot to mention when i almost got ripped off in EL ROSARIO......i stopped for gas & got out of the truck, almost immediately a PEMEX guy starts pumping my gas...then he hands off the hose to some chic withOUT a uniform & then he walked away (however - she DID have a PEMEX hat on!)...we made some broken spanglish small talk (she seemed nice) & when she was done...she asked for $40 bucks. i paid her - so she walked off...& then from around the pump comes the PEMEX dude again - he looks @ the pump, holds his hand out and says "$40 please" - WHOA! WHOA!! WHOA!!! says i...i already paid!!! - he says "paid who?!?"...(the "ol' gringo rodeo") eventually - we got it sorted out - but JEEEZuzzz......you can NEVER let your guard down.

these two will become PROMINENT CHARACTERS LATER IN THE STORY...

[drj777]

more trouble in LORETO...




my long lost uncle T...


....we ALMOST put the car on the trailerin LORETO......but - it turned out to be someones JACKET had caught on the intake tube...PROBLEM SOLVED!! CARS UP & RUNNING!!

[drj777]

flash forward to about 14 hours from now...

we had a lame radio fiasco about car trouble outside of la paz...(which sent us on a bit of a wild goose chase) - we ended up meeting the rest of the crew and the car @ TODOS SANTOS...they were coming in with a BUSTED FRONT SHOCK MOUNT...(by now - the car had already been 'down' in LORETO for the intake - then it was 'down' again shortly after LORETO with CV issues...then - a last minute pit relocation AND rear brake change @ SANTA RITA) its now about 3am the 2nd night...and we still have lots more work to do.

[drj777]

when the car left TODOS - the sun was coming up - AGAIN...(thank god for KRAS & his BBQ...that sweet little oasis in the dark!!) so we made the final push to CABO trying to beat the car to the end...but we got stuck in traffic less than a half mile from the finish line. sucks...heard the whole thing over the radio.


heres some of our carnage...




heres one of our goons kevin...


our other goons "dino", eric & dan...


and the lady herself...


im tired - i'll post the rest tomorrow...

looking back - there is SOOO much ive left out - and probably even MORE that ive forgotten (local trucks - the busses - the cows - the OTHER chasers - the mayhem)...this was my 4th BAJA 1000...but my first time chasing - even now im still a little dazed and confused. its sorta like the first time you had sex - you KNOW it was great but youre not entirely sure what just happened - youre DEFINITELY sore...but you know you wanna do it again & again & again.

more pix to come...

drj

[klaus]

dope!

[King Dan]

verry cool i cant wait to see the rest

[pjc]

dope!

Dope? WTF Klaus, I thought you stopped that ****!

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DRJ, great story and photos. Magazine worthy!!

[la2baja]

Sick Jan. Best story telling yet. You and your Uncle TT should write a freakin book.