Me with driver PJ

Baja is a beautiful piece of Mexico south of California and it certainly represents the new wild-wild west. I had been down a year ago for an amazing adventure with Cameron Steele, riding 500 miles on our dirt bikes through the mountains, deserts and beaches.

Early morning sun and a long way to go.

I fell in love with it again and wondered why I had not ridden down there before. Well one reason is, the drug lords are having a party with a corrupt government and you just never know. Another is the hospitals are sub-par and getting back to the US can take a while.

Also, living in San Diego you hear all the horror stories of banditos (pirates) pillaging everything my fellow surfers own be extra cautious taking good looking women down there!

As I left the comfort of Studio 3 (me casa in Carlsbad, CA) it felt as if I was rolling the dice with my life going down there to race. Even my brave friend Jeremy McGrath texted me - Be Careful Down There!! Yet I had rushed last minute to get everything together just like I did on the Gumball Rally. I had borrowed a helmet and fireproof suit from Jim Hancock and now it was time to learn what co-driving was all about in the Baja 1000.
ripping through teh desert at 60, 70, and 80 MPH +
over whoops and whiteouts is wild.
Our car (more like a off-road buggy) was the Baja Challenge 1 car or BC-1 car. It arrived at the first driver change about 5 hours behind the competition. It had been waiting to get repaired with a new transmission in a remote section of the coarse. PJ and I headed into the darkness and got a good feel for what the car could do. He drove solid and we had the fastest time for our 220-mile section of the coarse.

In the cockpit - yes forward!

We also had the roughest section of the race. The San Felipe loop is legendary for its big whoops for hours. We drove in a deep narrow canyon that I will never forget, the rocks looked surreal! We gave it everything we had for about 5 hours till the next driver change at about 4AM.

Navigation is bit more high tech than simply reading
maps.

In the end, I did say be careful a couple times when we hit the white out conditions of the silt beds. Those who drive straight through this race like Robby Gordon are truly hardcore.

PJ gave me props as a co-driver and I quickly learned what a full time job it can be to navigate, work the headlights and be on the radio. I don t see how guys do it on a MX bike it s just so much to ask of the body and mind.
Best food on earth after 5 hours of straight Baja
desert driving.
When we finally arrived it was cerveza time at the finish line and I was stoked to get my finishers pin! Thanks to GoPro for the awesome HERO cameras and to Nick Rosa for doing such a great job with the shooting.

Tara Dakides celebrates crossing the finish line.

One day I hope to cut together a video to share. I really love this stuff. There is a final Lucas Oil Short Track Race at Lake Elsinor Motocross Park in Southern CA coming up on 12-12-09. It will be big. I hope to see you there.
Glen Plake with a big grin of relief.
Wide Open Adventures does tours in Baja and will expanding into the US if all goes well. They also sell race packages for the BAJA 1000. If you are interested please visit
http://www.wideopenbaja.com/

Hold it Wide - Thanks for reading,

RVE

Check out the full gallery from Baja 1000 Part 2

Also view the Part 1 Blog and Part 1 Gallery

Tara Dakides with her finishers plaque.