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XLADV Races BAJA RALLY


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This is one version of a video I just put together with music.  I was seeing this girl who told me "your bike is your girlfriend."  She was right!  :lol:  

I'll have another video or series of them covering each stage and the challenges I faced & how I got past them.

(give the video a few minutes as it may still be compiling at the Vimeo site)

 

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Here's kind of a summary of my experience at the Baja Rally...

 

Day 1 Prologue

A short stage designed to tune riders to the terrain and navigation as well as to determine the starting order for the next day.  It's a short stage.  They started me on the wrong stage though on the Rally Comp computer so the first waypoint at the start never registered nor reset my odometer so I was like "where am I supposed to go?"  I had to return to the start twice but they figured it out.  Once on the course I found the navigation extremely tricky and confusing.  I took a wrong turn almost immediately but somehow got back on what I thought was the right track; confirmed by the presence of the photographers.  Shortly after that I come to a three way intersection but no turn is indicated.  In those cases you're supposed to continue on the main road you're on so I went right.  That was wrong.  Next choice was straight ahead but that was also wrong.  So the only choice remaining was to go left and that turned out to be correct.  I was like how the f was I supposed to figure that one out?  Then later I found myself completely at a loss for where I was and another rider took pity on my and said "dude just go north on the highway a bit more and you'll see the next waypoint with a sharp right turn."  Really glad to get that help because I got to ride some great tracks on the other side of the highway.  I actually rode very well but when I got to MD Vinos at a waypoint on the hill I once again was at a loss as to where to go from there.  It helped that the course last year went by there so at least it was familiar.  A photographer pointed me to a fenceline trail and I was back on track but then again found myself kind of lost until I came upon @Joshua Jones with his bike troubles (video to come).  After that it was relatively easy to find my way to the finish.

Day 2 Special Stage 1

The day began with a chilly liaison down to Erendira about 45k or so.  I had to go back to the bivouac about a mile down the road because I'd left my water!  Got to Erendira (been there many times) and we started on the beach and then took a left up the sand wash.  I was feeling really good because I passed some Mexican riders like Mauricio Olmedo in the sand wash.  I was like "watch how the LC8 handles this" and was like braaaap!  But I came up this steep hill with the sun in my eyes and couldn't see the track I was in.  The better line was left but I was right and I fell over.  No big deal, I just picked it up but when I was rolling back down the hill it got away from me (should have tried to get right foot on rear brake) and fell again but this time my right boot was pinned under the bike.  Luckily another rider came along and it was @Joshua Jones and he understands a big bike tipover better than anyone so he helped me (video later).  But gas was pissing out the top of my right tank and that would bite me later.  Got under way but then took a wrong turn (I stayed on the damn main road too!) so I opened the waypoint and headed back but took another right rather than a left so I decide to ride "off piste" through the field and ended up in that ditch.  I had a similar situation in training so I knew not to blast across the field so I just plopped down in what was concealed by sage brush thankfully.  Joshua passed me like three times and I'm waiving my hands (other riders too) but no one saw me.  It took me a damn hour to get out!  I had to ride down the ditch to an egress point.  Got under way again and was riding very well but ran out of gas 17k short of the gas stop.  There's no way I got 20 mpg so it's obvious I pissed out too much gas in the earlier tipovers.  But nonetheless I had to dnf because when I got to the gas stop they said it was too late to do the remaining part of the stage.

Day 3 Special Stage 2:

We left Rancho El Coyote early again but the start was delayed for weather because the plane/helo could not take off down under the marine layer.  So I got off at 8:50 and came down the mountain navigating perfectly all the way back to the highway and then left and then right at the sand wash.  There's where I was like "um where are all the damn waypoints?"  I never had a speed zone beep or the stop or any waypoints!  That's when I realized no one ever started my Rally Comp!  I had to start the stage myself and then open an skip each previous waypoint so I could continue.  I was pretty pissed off but it turns out it was my fault.  I did argue the point but Victor was supposed to start my Rally Comp on the stage at the tent at the bivouac before I left.  The thing is though I WAS AT THE TENT QUEUED UP TO GET STARTED but like 8 riders in front of me just took off at the same time and my assumption (wrong) was that we were told "just go to the start up the road" so I took off.

So the sand wash tripped me up a bit on nav and the medic/sweeps lost me (they thought I was ahead) and I continued south on the course but not for long as my rear mousse basically came apart and the rear tire came off the bead.  I replaced it with a tube but without a rim lock and with residual lube inside the tire it lasted about 20 minutes until my first real twist of the throttle getting up the dunes at the beach.  I took a left on the beach and was headed south and I was like "why is my bike crabbing again like a half hour ago?"  It was flat.  So I limped to the highway and texted Ken to come pick me up in the van.  Another dnf :(

Day 4 Special Stage 3:

We had another delayed start (weather) out of Cataviña but the tracks were really cool sandy tracks weaving in and out of the cactus.  But then it got really rocky and took quite a bit of energy to get through but I was steadily passing riders, especially when we got to the graded dirt road.  I was like "let me show you how the LC8 eats these roads up!" and braaaped by three or four of them like they were standing still.  Not sure what my top speed was (edit: only 73 mph) because my REVER stopped at about 39k that day for some reason.

We got to a point where Scotty halted the stage due to a missing road book note (his bad) so to keep everyone from getting lost, he gathered us all up and did a re-start about 15k north off the highway (they handled it extremely well).  Off again and stupidly I was in race mode and again passed the same guys as before but realized I'd better just chill and be safe (very smart).  I came upon Joshua who'd had a fall and was in some pain but he was with the medics (who were fixing their own flat).  Joshua was later airlifted to Ensenada with some busted ribs and maybe an injured shoulder.  The tracks were super silty and rutted so I just putted along safely.  My bars came down though and I couldn't push them back up and another rider, Kent Choma, was super kind and stopped to help me with his tools.  I had an open end wrench but those clamp bolts really need a box end wrench or socket.  I later told Victor of Kent's help and I believe he was credited that time (karma).

I found that fatigue was setting in and fell once or twice (video later) and kept making dumb nav errors but I did finish the stage thankfully.  Scotty was up on a hill and got that interview with me:

Felt really good to get a stage finish finally.  Honestly, the bike handled so well and I felt I rode it very well.  My fitness was fine and my nav wasn't bad for a first timer.  It's just that I was plagued mostly by a rear rim that was too wide to properly fit a mousse.  I'll go 2.5" next time.  Others suggested a UHD tube, rimlock and Slime inside.

Day 5 Special Stage 4

Started out of the Santa Maria hotel on the beach at San Quintin and in line I found my rear tire was off the bead already!  Damn! I thought I was done right there but luckily I was able to re-seat it with a CO2 cartridge but my confidence in that holding was low.  That second mousse was only 120 width so it was going to last even shorter than the other one (140) had.  But I did get out on the beach and navigated extremely well after that.  I found myself riding with Beto Verber who is a super cool guy.  I enjoyed showing him how the 990 can be ridden ;)  We did some gnarly sand tracks and then out on the beach which you've seen part of in that first video.

But at the last point on the beach in the cobblestones the bead once again came off because the mousse was cooked.  Beto stopped and gave me three zip ties but those snapped immediately; probably because they were too tight and the tire flexed them when I took off.  They lasted about 3 feet!  My 32 mm axle wrench must have fallen out from under my seat or something because it wasn't there.  I texted Ken and he met me at the highway again with a wrench and we put another tube in it.  Because I'd gotten his assistance meant I was out again.  Besides, that tube wouldn't have lasted any longer than two days earlier without the rim lock and the lubed tire and I didn't want to become someone else's problem trying to extract my bike again so I just took the highway to the hotel.

Lessons:

  • Fitness is KEY!  I felt I did well there
  • Hydration/nutrition is KEY!  The pedialyte mixture helped and you really must try to eat along the stage to keep your energy
  • Mousse works best when fitted properly!  I really should have had a narrower rear rim but wasn't aware of this since it's my first time using mousse
  • Pit assistance is KEY!  Make sure you have an experienced pit crew like I did
  • Navigation:  Practice and experience are KEY!
  • Ability:  You really have to be able to handle a big bike in technical situations with a certain level of expertise.  This is NOT for beginners or even intermediate riders.
  • Bike:  I shudder to think how a bike bigger than 1000 cc would do (except maybe the HP2).  You might be able to manage but the issue is why would you want to?  Consider the big bikes that have done the ADV class so far:  990R (2), 950 SE (2), Africa Twin, HP2, KTM 640 (I say it's ADV but they had it in the small bike class)

PS...  My objective in doing this was primarily to advance the idea of big bike racing.  It's not easy but that's part of the appeal.  One thing I picked up on was kind of a disbelief of either my own or my bike's capabilities.  I had many people come up and express a lot of concern for me asking things like "are you okay?"  "how are you feeling?"  "Are you going to be alright?"  I'm sure they were just concerned but it made me feel a little bit like I was one of those "little yellow bus" riders.  Despite the tire problems and dnf's, I do believe that many people who actually saw me ride (Beto, medics, etc...) realized that these bikes are plenty capable and that we actually know how to handle them properly.

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These are the "unofficial" results posted Oct 15.  These tend to change a bit over the next few days because of the re-set of stage 3 meant manual calc's plus riders tend to protest penalties and those have to be adjudicated plus time typically gets credited riders who stopped to help others.  Note Wes's finish time on the final stage though! :o  That guy is FAST

 

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My objective in racing Baja Rally was to get others interested in doing the same thing.  Baja Rally is known as a more tough and technical rally raid event and I honestly felt the terrain, while indeed tough and technical, was not beyond the capabilities of big bikes.  That being said, it was certainly not always a cake walk.

I put this video together in a longer and more honest format because I want people to see what the real challenges were I faced and how I got past them.  These are important things in big bike riding as in life in general.

I apologize for the salty language but I didn't want to filter that out.  I wanted the real and honest experience to come through and I hope you can appreciate that.

 

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6 minutes ago, Jason R said:

Eric, 

So what was the most technical part of the track?  Was there a part that made you think "Damn this bike is just too damn big!"

Not really.  Maybe that one short section on the beach in the video but I just rocked it back once and got over it.  There were some tricky rocky uphill sections that were tough but those are tough on any bike and is something I've done many times on more difficult rides (of shorter duration of course).  The challenge is really the fatigue doing difficult stuff for 300+ kilometers a day.  Harder to get through stuff when you're tired.  I think they want to make it challenging but at the same time once they throw in an enduro-cross type section they get too many bikes caught up and then you get injuries, late finishes, dnf's, etc...  I think they want to keep it moving but still a challenge.  

I was told Sonora Rally is more Dakar-like in that they have longer stages but they're not as technical, although there's a lot more dunes.

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13 minutes ago, greedyg said:

I won't shy away from admitting, I'm jealous...

and how the hell did you end up in that ditch?

 

I was headed for a waypoint but took a right instead of a left and instead of turning around, I went across the field.  I was going super slow because I thought there could be a ditch but that sage concealed it so well that I didn't have a chance to turn away from it and just plopped right into it.  We had a similar situation in nav school so I knew not to blast through there at full speed.  I should have turned around and gone around to the other side via the road.

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10 hours ago, Eric Hall said:

My objective in racing Baja Rally was to get others interested in doing the same thing.  Baja Rally is known as a more tough and technical rally raid event and I honestly felt the terrain, while indeed tough and technical, was not beyond the capabilities of big bikes.  That being said, it was certainly not always a cake walk.

I put this video together in a longer and more honest format because I want people to see what the real challenges were I faced and how I got past them.  These are important things in big bike riding as in life in general.

I apologize for the salty language but I didn't want to filter that out.  I wanted the real and honest experience to come through and I hope you can appreciate that.

 

Legendary extracting yourself from that ditch. Without the tire issues you did very well my friend

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