Virgin in Offroad Racing

[coopdad]

Glad to see there is such an informative site... I am learning much!
Hi, my name is John and I "won" a co-driver's seat in the BC Broncos Bronco (#348) at Baja 1000 this year. Very excited!

Not sure if this is the correct location to start a thread but...
Since I have never done this before I am still coming up with questions to ask. The am worried about the questions I don't know to ask. Other than the usual safety and logistics (where will I sleep/eat/pee) are there questions I need to ask? Any words of advice? I am thinking there should be many "boy, the first time I went I wish I had..." comments.
Thanks all.
John

[fj40]

Hey John, congrats on winning a ride in the B1000, just ask, there always something we could all learn.
A word of advice?.... ENJOY!!!!
welcome to C3R.

[Blanco]

(where will I sleep/eat/pee)

I would hope the Team your gonna run with would provide you with all these answers..

But I feel pretty confident as its not gonna be all comfy like at the Hilton. http://www.thewebwheeler.com/forums/images/smilies/14.gif

I hope you like Camping & all that sorta ruffing it thing.

[11wnb]

Congratulations on winning the co dog seat! If you've never been to Baja you are in for an experience. Keep an eye on your stuff (and that of your team mates) things seem to grow legs and walk away on their own. What section of the race will you be riding?

[3amigo]

Go to your doctor and get the patch that goes behind your ear for motion sickness. Nothing sucks worse than being car sick in a race car.

[coopdad]

Glad you mentioned the motion sickness patch. I will definately need that! Thanks!

As for which sections, the team has it divided up into eight sections, all pretty even lengths. I will be running race miles 395-605 and 1106-1226. I checked the map and course notes and I believe they have me riding in the "nice" sections: dirt road, along the shore and the roads (with the speed limits).

It will really be an experience of a lifetime!
John

[Blanco]

I checked the map and course notes and I believe they have me riding in the "nice" sections: dirt road, along the shore and the roads (with the speed limits).
Yeah, That makes sense.
They probably prefer to have their more experienced Co-Dogs for the more technical portions of the course.

It will really be an experience of a lifetime!
John

I'm sure. :)

[coopdad]

Yeah, That makes sense.
They probably prefer to have their more experienced Co-Dogs for the more technical portions of the course.

Smart on their part. While yes, it might add an interesting twist to the story I am working on, I doubt me taking them out of the race would not be looked upon favorably... they might just leave me out there in the desert ;)
John

[Blanco]

Ok well?
The race has been over for a while now & you've not told us how losing your Off Road Racing Virginty went?

Did you actually get to ride? Or? :confused:

[chuck]

This is Chuck, John is editor for Bronco Driver mag so my guess is he is very busy right now getting his story ready about the Baja. I did not ride with John. He rode with Wayne, one of my brothers. Wayne only had good things to say about John and the great job that he did as co-pilot. As you can tell from Johns earlier posts he had no experance with off roading and was very nervous about going at all but by the time he got out of the racer after his first leg that was gone and he was ready for his next leg. I am sure he will give a more detailed report later.

[coopdad]

Ok well?
The race has been over for a while now & you've not told us how losing your Off Road Racing Virginity went?

Did you actually get to ride? Or? :confused:
Yes, I was in the 3rd leg talking to the GPS for about 9 hours.

It was one of those experiences that was so special that I can't even begin to explain it. Like watching a race on TV, the only way to really experience it is to be there....I am not sure I can write the story (for the magazine) so it give the feeling of really being there.

And the more notes I jot down about the whole thing the more I realize all the aspects of the race that never dawned on me while I was there. For instance, I never once felt like I was in danger... Maybe because we were taking care of the equipment (going slow), or maybe the fact that I rarely got my face up out of the cockpit (the GPS was my buddy.) One example...we were trucking down the paved road at 59.9 mph and the track bar came off...jump out quickly, find the problem, find and throw on a bolt and then do my best to remember the correct order of getting back to work... can I get my belts on in the proper order by memory or would I have to remove my helmet again (you can't look down to see the belts with a helmet on)? Second comes my radio wire, then air hose, don't loose those gloves or wipe rags, where is the mike? did the Bronco get hot while working on it? (check temp NOW), check the mirror, am I at 0.6 miles or 6 miles on the GPS??!?!?. Maybe it was my brain being in "racer mode" or plain not thinking about what could have happened.

My hope is to write the story as a "Racing Baja by a Non-racer". So many of the Baja coverage stories in magazines were written by the guys that ran it before that they tend to be either generic, blow by blow coverage.... "at race mile X we did passed racer Z" or the horror stories. I think it is interesting the fact that I ate cheese crackers and granola bars every meal for 2 days, the cool way we communicated with the racer when the radio "went dead", seeing the ice cream man walking in the middle of the desert, the invaluable (and hopefully not under appreciated) job that the pits/chase/driver transport guys did, "nerfing", sleeping (and pooping) in the desert, "steekers", etc, etc, etc.

And while the number of breaks was high and not finishing was terrible from a race point of view, from a writer's point of view, it couldn't have been better. Nobody ever sat on their hands. We were a (somewhat) well oiled machine creatively working though the next issue that arose. Constantly juggling tools, numbers, manpower... a real and exciting dance where every person down to the guys driving the transport had a real value to the outcome of the race.

I gotta give a ton of thanks to Chuck and Jason at BC Broncos for inviting me. Sorry we did not win (or finish) but I certainly "won" in many ways. We will see if I can actually create in words how awesome the week was.
John (Baja Proven)

[fj40]

Nice!!! welcome to the co-dog´s club, glad you enjoyed your racing experience.

[straightaxle]

My hope is to write the story as a "Racing Baja by a Non-racer". So many of the Baja coverage stories in magazines were written by the guys that ran it before that they tend to be either generic, blow by blow coverage.... "at race mile X we did passed racer Z" or the horror stories. I think it is interesting the fact that I ate cheese crackers and granola bars every meal for 2 days, the cool way we communicated with the racer when the radio "went dead", seeing the ice cream man walking in the middle of the desert, the invaluable (and hopefully not under appreciated) job that the pits/chase/driver transport guys did, "nerfing", sleeping (and pooping) in the desert, "steekers", etc, etc, etc.

John (Baja Proven)


John, it was good meeting you the day before the race. Congrats to you guys making it that far, you were so close. I knew the time limit was going to kill the finishing rate for the slower classes, and really wish SCORE would think about that.

I never thought to mention what its like to eat Costco trail mix and a Pepsi for 3 meals a day for 2 days straight, or the guy that shows up peddeling cheap jewelry from a briefcase at a pit 100 miles from any town, but yeah, that is really what happens! When someone offers a sandwich, I never turn it down anymore!

Jesse James, now a multi race finishing Trophy Truck driver, mentioned that he may put together a video or TV production of the Baja 1000 from the chase crew's perspective. I think this is an excellent idea, and the real story of what gets an entrant to the finish line in a race like the Baja 1000.

We will look forward to seeing what you write.

Don