The Vagabond Chronicles

Happy to report that the trip to the Baja 500 was a blast. I left the city ‘early’ on Wednesday and headed out to the coast after stocking up on food and beverages. The first stop was some off-roading off the Pacific Coast Highway.

Thinking about selling B.E.V., I needed to get some good one on one time with her. I drove the Prewitt Ridge Trail to Cone Peak and rounded out the journey along the South Coast Ridge Trail. These were great trails with fantastic views of the Pacific and surrounding mountains. These little used trails - at least during the week were loads of fun. It is nice to change your perspective and take in some new sights. There were loads of spots to camp, but I would have to get closer to San Diego so I wouldn’t have long haul on Thursday. I continued down the PCH to Pismo for some much needed beach camping.

I arrived in time to catch a sunset on the beach, but not early enough that I wasn’t racing the fading light to setup camp. I burnt my chili and nearly lost my campfire, but I was successful. I stayed up a little too late burning the box of wood and drinking beer. All worth it. While not thinking about life, I realized that there were fewer cars on the road for this time of the year. Rising gas prices are squelching the American Road Trip. The good news is, destinations are lighter than normal so last minute plans can be had.

Thursday, I was up at the break of dawn, broke down camp and headed towards LA to meet Mike for some mid-afternoon coffee and a welcomed break from the road. It was good to catch up with Mike, but I still had to face LA-traffic and the Orange Crush. I would spend the next 3 hours in bumper to bumper traffic heading into San Diego. Arriving shortly after dinner time in San Diego where I met up with Tim and his Father-in-law. Few more beers, a couple of hot dogs for dinner, and a comfy couch would give me enough rest to head into the Baja on Friday to meet up with the Mag7 crew.

Tim had to drive his wife and newborn to the airport on Friday, while Kevin and I finished loading the truck and heading towards the border for insurance and another step closer to Ensenada, Mexico. Not being familiar with the San Diego freeway system, Kevin and I had a bit of a tour. We eventually met up with Tim and continued the journey. In almost no time, we were driving down the coast of the Baja towards Ensensada.

Arrived in Ensensada with plenty of time to check out the contingency and sites. It was fun to check out the sites and the race vehicles lined up for tech inspection, their final stop before the race. We returned to the fuel depot and waited for the fuel delivery which was running two hours late. After finally getting the close to 100 gallons of fuel, we were on our way to the middle of no where.

We would head to the Mag7 Pit 2 location, which was close to Race Mile 105. There were limitless views and no shade. Great camping spot despite the number of rocks around. Air mattress was a welcomed comfort. After setting up the pit, we would sit around the campfire, drink more beer and share stories. The cool thing about the Mag7 crew is the number of folks that have actually raced the Baja. The stories danced around my head and let me continue to daydream about myself piloting a vehicle through the Baja.

We were up early to finalize our preparations for race day, eat some breakfast and get ready for the action. We serviced all of the bikes and trucks that we were scheduled to pit - except for one, who didn’t make it as far as Pit 2. One racer, Fat Rob, aka Rob Ransford, stuck out of the rest. He was racing without a support crew, just the Mag7 Team and drove from Chicago, arriving early enough to enter the race. He was in great spirits and seemed more interested in chatting than racing, but we enter these endurance events for our own interests.

Filthy, sunburnt and tired, it was decided to head out that night. We were down early and broke down camp. We actually were headed to the border before the sunset! After missing the exit and circling back, we made it to the border. The border line was moving slow. Apparently, we were in the line with the guy inspector who took his job a bit too seriously. I ended up having to go to the secondary inspection because I had too much beer. Drag. Another 30 minutes in line and dealing with the second search. Lesson learned: buy beer in Mexico and don’t leave till consumed.

I spent Sunday driving up the 5 and spent the night with my girl, who I missed horribly. It was the longest we have spent away from one another since we started dating. I was glad to see her, but in the back of my mind, I dream of my return to the Baja and devise schemes to race.