Passes & Canyons Blog

“The road to Ensenada is plenty wide and fast” says Lyle Lovett but he wasn’t speaking about the preparations for the Baja 1000 currently underway with the race team I’ll be accompanying.

First off, if you don’t know what the Baja 1000 is you really ought to view this trailer to the definitive Baja 1000 movie, Dust to Glory.

I’m riding down to Ensenada, on the Baja Peninsula of Mexico, with Rsenal Racing to write about the event and the team’s efforts for the variety of motorcycle publications I write for. The race itself starts Nov. 19 but we’ll be down there in advance to get ready.

Chuck Shortt is the driving force behind this adventure, and what I’m coming to understand about Chuck is that he is a big idea person who then frequently turns to others to make his big dreams become reality. If the dream is improbable but the person succeeds, that’s fantastic, they’ve really accomplished something. If they don’t succeed, oh well, good idea that didn’t work. Move on.

This is not a criticism of Chuck or a bad thing; it is something useful to understand about him.

For instance, when he first told me about this thing, Chuck told me they would have satellite uplinks and wanted to livecast the event via the Web. He asked me if Examiner or RumBum might be interested and able to carry the feed. I agreed to ask RumBum.

Happily, RumBum said they were very interested and their tech guy, Tobias, would contact me to work out details. In the meantime, Chuck told me to hook up with John, the team’s tech guy. Well, it seems that having a satellite hook-up was not in the game, but Tobias suggested that if the team could supply video segments periodically, that would be fine and even easier than a live link.

I figured that before I pushed this any further I needed to check in with Jeff and Sydney Mikelson, the photographers on the team, to see what they felt they would be capable of in terms of supplying RumBum with segments. Surprise, surprise. Sydney told me they had no video editing software, and were planning to bring their raw footage home and turn it over to a friend who is a video editor. So nothing at all available to RumBum unless they wanted raw footage.

Then we learned that the non-satellite internet connection Jack was hoping have set up was not going to be within the team’s price range so the whole matter was really moot. And then Sydney called me to say that she and Jeff had had to opt out of the trip due to financial considerations. Totally moot.

OK, so that’s where we stand. The rest of us are still going, and I’m hoping to have some great pictures and terrific stories to tell. Coming soon.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Harley rider covers 30K in 30 days for MDA

Biker Quote for Today

Competition, once it gets in your blood, you can’t get it out.

There’s nothing like screaming around a racetrack at 150 miles an hour while hanging your body out of the vehicle to get your blood pumping. I had the chance to do exactly that last weekend at Miller Motorsports Park, outside of Tooele, UT, where I went to cover the Bonneville Vintage GP and Concours.

    That’s me in the rear

The ride was a Formula 1 sidecar, piloted by Rick Murray, now the past-president of the Sidecar Racers Association-West. You can read about my ride on Examiner.com; this blog post is the back story of how this ride came to be, and almost never happened.

I was immediately drawn to the sidecar racers, just because what they do is so exotic, and so different from your basic motorcycle racing. You’ve got a motorcycle totally sheathed in aerodynamic bodywork, with one person driving and another person whose job it is to hang way over the side to provide counter-weighting to keep all three wheels on the ground. Sure, motorcycle racers wear pucks on their knees that they drag as they lean way over in curves. Sidecar passengers would need entire suits made of puck material, except their intent is not to drag.

Of course, at slower speeds the passenger doesn’t have to engage in quite such extreme behavior, and in fact the sidecar folks like taking others for “taxi rides” just to give them a feel for it. When I heard this I immediately asked where I should sign up.

It turned into a bit of dominos. The sidecar guys were all for giving me a ride, but they needed the OK from the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA), the event organizer, to take me on the track. I went and spoke to the AHRMA people.

The AHRMA people like having the sidecar people give taxi rides because that’s good PR for the vintage racing event, but they needed the OK from management of the track. All this was on Friday.

On Saturday I checked back and there seemed to be issues that were not easily resolved, though I have no idea what they were. One thing was certain, however, and that was that there would not be any taxi rides on Saturday. Try again tomorrow.

Sunday came and I tracked down the AHRMA folks again and pleaded my case. Apparently, this very topic had just been under discussion “upstairs” and as much as they’d like to offer taxi rides, it wasn’t going to happen. There was no time to squeeze it into the schedule. No taxi ride for me. Rats!

So I went back up to the press box and was working on another story when I heard a guy a couple tables down saying he was going for a taxi ride. How can that be, I asked, I was just told they weren’t doing them. He said he had talked with one of the sidecar teams and they offered to take him. I explained what I had been told and we went to talk to the folks who said they’d take him.

I told the team what the AHRMA people had told me and they said, well, if that’s what AHRMA says then that’s that. No can do. But that didn’t faze this other taxi rider. He wondered aloud if some strings could be pulled, and we headed out to do that. I asked him if he had strings to pull and he said he certainly expected that he did, he was the Sales Manager there at the track and was responsible for bringing about $5 million into the facility each year. (I forget his name. Sorry man, I wish I’d written it down.)

We went and found the AHRMA people and asked if it was the OK of the track that was needed. Yes. He grabbed a walkie-talkie and called his boss and asked if it was all right for the sidecars to do some taxi rides. His boss said yes. Presto, we were in. In minutes we were both suited up and loaded into our respective sidecars and out on the track.

Does the term “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” ring a bell?

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Fowler Formula racing: Speedsters on a budget

Biker Quote for Today

Speed overcomes clearance–always!!

The coolest thing about building a career as a motorcycle journalist is getting to go to a lot of terrific events. I’ll be heading out on Thursday to cover the 4th annual Bonneville Vintage GP and Concours, in Tooele, UT, Sept. 4-6. Of course I’ll be telling you all about it.

So what exactly is this event? I’m still learning about it myself but I’ll tell you what I think I’ve figured out so far. It seems to be in essentially three parts, vintage motorcycle racing, sidecar racing, and a vintage motorcycle show.

The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) is sponsoring the race events. Motorcycle Classics magazine is sponsoring the show.

There will be a two-stage “Battle of the CB-160s,” featuring two-time World Superbike Champion Doug Polen. Polen also offers a racing school on Friday. Saturday and Sunday, the two main days, will both feature a “Vintage and Legend Bikes Parade Laps” event, after which the day’s racing begins. The vintage bike show is on Saturday.

The location for all this will be Miller Motorsports Park, just outside of Tooele. That means it’s about 30 miles from downtown Salt Lake City. The venue is billed as “the newest world class racetrack – the largest in North America – that will very soon . . . also be legendary.”

Beyond that, I can’t tell you much – yet. Stay tuned.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Demo riding the Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Ultra Classic

Biker Quote for Today

My theory, you only get one chance, go full fucking throttle, all the way, all the time.

Everyone who rides a motorcycle has heard of the classic movie, On Any Sunday. Produced by Bruce Brown in 1971, the film is the icon of motorcycle movies, depicting the joy of riding, whether in top-dollar races or around the sand lot down the street.

I’ve heard of On Any Sunday for years, and for years I have intended to rent it and finally watch it. Well, wouldn’t you know it, while looking for trailers for Dust to Glory, which is the film that inspired Chuck Shortt to enter the Baja 1000, I found On Any Sunday available for free online.

Now, you have to watch a few commercials along the way but I can deal with that. I finally get to see this movie!

You can too. Here’s the link. Enjoy.

http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi2162491929/

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Breast/ovarian cancer-fighting dirt-bikers roll to conclusion

Biker Quote for Today

They cannot be built any bigger or faster without leaving the road. — Thomas Krens

If you’re like me you’ve probably heard of the Baja 1000 but you don’t really know much about it. Well, let me tell you, this thing is pretty dang interesting and I’m going to be learning a whole bunch more about it.

About a year ago I met Chuck Shortt, who builds custom motorcycles and owns Rocky Mountain Custom Bikes. Chuck emailed me several months ago to tell me he was going to compete this year in the Baja 1000 and did I want to do an article about him and his team for Examiner.com. I said sure, you bet. But I never made the time to do anything about it until a few days ago.

I finally went down to Larkspur to meet with Chuck, see the bike and his shop, and talk about the race. He told me then that he was inspired to do this race by the movie Dust to Glory. He got hold of it on DVD and ended up watching it five times in one night. Then within a week he started putting together a team to race in it.

Of course I had to watch the movie, and oh man! You’ve got cars and trucks and motorcycles and custom built vehicles all racing at the same time on the same course, as well as spectators who decide they want to ride along with you on their own vehicles. It’s crazy! And it looks like more fun than any human should be allowed to have.

Here’s a couple trailers. You may find yourself tracking this movie down soon to watch it all. You won’t be sorry you did.

Here’s another.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle team seeks dusty glory in Baja 1000

Biker Quote for Today

You live more in a few seconds at 150 miles per hour than most people do in a lifetime — Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian

I have a proposition for you. How about if you do some work and I’ll take possession of it, for no fee. Of course, I’ll let you use it, as long as you meet my terms. I may revoke your right, however.

That, in a nutshell is what you have to agree to if you want a press pass to the AMA Nationals.

Every year out at Thunder Valley Motocross Park here in the Denver area they hold one of the races that make up the AMA Motocross Championships. This year the event is set for June 27. I figured I’d go and take advantage of my press affiliation to get in free and get some preferential treatment in doing my coverage.

I contacted the appropriate people and they sent along the 2009 Pro Motocross Media Guidelines, complete with a waiver for me to sign and return to them. Sure this is just standard stuff and if you want to play you have to play by their rules, but I read what I was about to sign anyway.

Holy smokes! Read this:

Media Members agree and hereby do assign to MX Sports and its affiliates (collectively, “MX Sports Entities”), all copyrights in any or all still or motion picture . . . or any other form of media captured . . . MX Sports hereby grant to Media Member a royalty-free, non-exclusive, limited, revocable license (“Licensee”) to use the Works, illustrating, describing, relating to, or referring to the Event(s) for editorial purposes only.

Oh, thank you so much for allowing me to use my own pictures for free.

I’m still going to go to the races, but I’m not sending in the press credentials form. I’ll pay my way in and I’ll jostle with the crowds to get the best coverage I can. But I’ll own my own work.

Recent from the National Motorcycle Examiner
An experienced motorcyclist’s lessons in humility

Biker Quote for Today

Well, sister, the time has come for me to ride hard and fast. – Rooster Cogburn

The first ever motorcycle roadracing event was held at the brand new High Plains Raceway Saturday and I was there. The weather cooperated and it was a good day to be out having fun.

Mind you, I’m not a big race fan. I think this was only the third racing event I’ve ever been to. Judy and I went to the Super Bike races at Pikes Peak Raceway some years ago, and then we went to the ice races down by Woodland Park earlier this year. And then High Plains on Saturday.

It was fun, and I’m sure I’ll go again, but what I’m saying is, don’t expect me to talk about this like an expert because I’m not. But I’m going to offer you my novice observations on what it was like.

First off, I went because it was the inaugural motorcycle event and that seemed worthy of coverage, which I posted on Examiner.com.

Secondly, I wanted to meet and speak with a racer who is being sponsored by ABATE of Colorado, Jonathan Kuo. As Jon put it, ABATE is generally perceived among young sportbike riders as being a bunch of grey-hairs who ride Harleys. Sponsoring Jon is an outreach effort to try to change that perception and bring more of the motorcycle community into the organization. I’ll be doing a separate story on Jon later.

So anyway, one of the fun things about High Plains Raceway is that everybody gets a pit pass. That is, the parking and spectator area and the pit area are all one space, so you can walk around and talk with the racers, look at their bikes, and just mix freely. And if, like me, you’re pretty new to this sort of thing, it’s interesting some of the things you notice.

For example, it seems like everyone has a scooter or pocket bike or at least a bicycle. Getting around in the pit area can entail quite a bit of walking, so it’s completely normal to see some really big name racers like Jason DiSalvo and Matt Lynn, both of whom were there Saturday, riding around on little 50cc scoots. Small electric bikes are particularly popular, it seems.

Also, it’s a real family scene, right down to the critters. Hey, if you’re going out for the weekend you’re going to take the dog along, right? In many cases, at least, the answer is “Hell yes!”

From what the racers say, the track itself is a very good one. I was told it has some challenging turns, some fun and exciting elevation changes, and once they finish putting in the amenities it should be worthy of hosting Super Bike racing.

Of course it was fun to watch Jon Kuo race, in the way it’s always more fun when you actually know one of the guys out there on the track. Jon’s only in Novice class as yet but there’s no question he’s one of the good ones. I watched him run two races and he placed second behind the same guy each time. The two of them were smoking the rest of the field. You could see in the curves how they would swoop down and through, while everyone else had nowhere near the lean and often were way off the line.

So I enjoyed myself. And hey, it was historic in at least a small way. First time for the new track. And I looked in the Denver Post and they said nothing about it at all in the sports section. Too busy with the Nuggets, I guess.

Recent from the Denver Motorcycle Examiner
Healing is focus of Denver-area biker couple’s Run For The Wall

Biker Quote for Today

When you’re riding lead, don’t spit.

You’ve got to love it when you run across a piece of writing that makes you say, “Everyone ought to read this–it’s great!”

I did just that the other day when I paid a visit to Fasthair, a biker blogger in Iowa whose blog I link to in the sidebar column to the right of this post, under “Favorite Links.”

First off, that’s a picture of him, and yes, he’s on a bike wearing a tuxedo. This is a piece of the photo he uses on his blog, and it’s worth it to go to his blog just to see the whole picture. Then, of course, you need to read the story behind the picture. Fasthair, if you have any problems with me using this piece of your photo just let me know and I’ll remove it.

But, back to my main topic, Fasthair recently posted a story, My First Time, where he tells about his first day wrenching for a nitro-powered motorcycle dragster. I’ll quote just a few lines here, to whet your appetite, but I don’t want to spoil the story. Go read it yourself.

It snorted nitro out the carburetor instead of ingesting it the first time Frog whacked the throttle, it did it couple of more time just for good measure a couple of seconds later.

With what I’m sure was a surprised look on my face I said matter-of-factually “it needs more fuel.”

opening the crankcase drain so what oil is there can drain and I drain the oil tank of what looks like a babies diaper on a bad day

“I’ve got a little trick for that” he replies pointing to the little can hanging off the front of the carb.

OK, now go read the rest yourself.

Biker Quote for Today

The nasty little bugger looked like it was going 90 miles an hour when it was standing still in my garage. — Hunter S. Thompson