Baja 1000 for the Wounded

Dang... shame the ADV crew isn't giving you some couches and showers. Anybody on the south coast got room for these guys?

I'd love it if you linked the RR up on this thread as well, and I don't spend much time in the main threads but this one pings me when somebody replies.

Awesome effort guys, very nice!

Justin

Kudos to the team, both the effort and the results. Not sure which part of this story (to date) gave me the shivers the most, the tracking of the race or the story at Arlington National Cemetery. Can't wait to hear the rest, but if if not another word was posted this has been an awesome tale so far.

Scott, when you get time I'd like your advice on how to get a project started. Some time back I purchased a dirt bike magazine subscription and told the magazine to sent it to the Wounded Warriors Foundation. It got me thinking of how many left over dirt/street bike magazines and CDs all of us who participate in this sport have piled up in some back room somewhere. I'd like to begin an effort that would result in these items being sent to the Wounded Warriors Foundation and/or Veterans Administration hospitals for distribution to where these patriots are recovering. So two questions: (1) would this be of interest to recovering patients, and (2) where would I start?

Thanks to you and the team for your service to our country.

Hey all, made it back home last night Scott and I will be posting up some reports on everything and I am sure that John, Allan, and Ed will be putting some post up also. It was a great time and was so cool to meet some of you at the race! I would like to thank all of you that have given us advice leading up to the race and who have also supported us getting tshirts, and donating on our site.

Just to let all of you know this "is not" a one time thing, I am working with a lawyer right now to start my own nonprofit that will be focused on helping Wounded Warriors get started or back into racing. I hope to have everything up and running within the next 6 months.

lawnman if you would like some help getting something started send me an email at Brett@raceforthewounded.com

Again thank all of you for your support!!

One more thing, I got to meet Frog and he is a hard man doing that race solo!!! He also gave the best speech calling out the driver of the truck that hit him!! Congrats to all that raced, and Frog you are the man!!!

Brett

Well I'm finally 'home'. I arrived in South Florida last night. This morning I woke up and had no idea where I was. It was a weird feeling. But it's definitely nice to be motionless for a few days. I've been on motion for about 4 weeks straight. All in all, we traveled about 15,000 miles on road and on dirt over some of the wildest terrain I could imagine. One thing everyone can agree on...silt sucks!

I made it back from Baja with a finisher's pin, a podium finish, a forearm still full of cactus thorns, 2 black eyes, hours of amazing GoPro footage, memories to last a lifetime, a love of that crazy peninsula, and a newfound respect for my teammates. Quitting is harder than moving the bike forward. Each teammate made it his only goal to simply get the bike to the next rider.

More important than our finisher's pin or even the podium finish, is the fact that we were able to raise just shy of $20,000 for our wounded veterans. This is truly incredible. Thank you!

I'll be putting together a ride report as soon as I can. There's just so much to say.

This isn't the end of 'RaceForTheWounded'. Stay tuned for bigger news... One thing is for sure, Baja hasn't seen the last of RaceForTheWounded!

I want to second what Brett said about Frog. That's one tough M'fer. Congrats. Hands down the best speech all night.

I also want to thank our entire pit/chase crew John Sr, Sue, Fred, Becky, Hup, Chili Reno, Russ, Kyle, David, Jerry (my dad), and Trey.

And I can't forget our sponsors. Without your help, we'd never of gotten to the finish line.

Again...thank you all for your support and dedication to helping our wounded vets.

I've been sitting here at home since Tuesday trying to decide what to write and all I can think off is HOLY CRAP we did it.
Brett and I did the Northern sections and the other guys did the Southern.
Brett started and handed off the bike to me at Ojos Negros,38 miles in. I took it down to Borego and Brett got back on and took it to San Felipe where I got back on and took it to Puertecitos.
From Ojos I was doing pretty wel except fo a couple of slow speed get offs in the deep sand sections.No big deal! Down the Goat Trail and on to the pavement. Good for a short rest.Good.--Then down the San Matios wash. Not a problem-------'till some locals in a Jeep Cherokee that I met coming UP the wash. I couldn't get the bike slowed down or turned in the deep sand and almost missed them.I collided with their left rear quarter panel(hope I dented it).This girl,who spoke english got out screaming "I'm sorry,are you OK?" The others picked up the bike and asked if this was the course.Yes it was. The one guy was trying to kick start the bike and I told him "button". He looked at me with the look of no comprehention of what I just said.I got on the bike and said"button"as I pushed the starter button and rode off.I took the bike to Borego and handed it off to Brett.
Now off to San Felipe for a 50 mile stint
John Sr.is driving and Sue is passing me water,GaterAid, bannanas and apples.We finnaly found Baja Pits to wait for Brett.But ,not quite yet------We got John Jr's suburban stuck in the sand in 4 wheel drive-------------Almost-------------two 60+ guys with extensive off road experience---HUBS LOCKED-----What? OK we rember know. the suburban drives very well in the sand with the hubs locked.We attribute our mistake to our 4 wheel drive vehicles don't require hubs being locked. (that's our story and we're sticking to it)
After a short wait Brett arrives.The bike is doing good so off I go.I'm thinking to myself"this is an easier section and I should be able to make some good time".I'm on the Old Puertesitos Hwy cruzing along at 65-70,just so happy wi-----------------I hit something in the sand and it just jerked the handlebars out of my hands.Oh CRAP--look for a soft place to land.Well that didn't work.I guess I laid there on the ground for awhile because a local was asking me "Senior are you alive?" while I'm trying to breathe,and have an extreem headache and a shit load of pain in my left knee.All I could muster up to reply was "no".
He helped me turn on to my back and I started taking inventory.I by know realize I have rib damage -----Not good as I have 20 miles of very rough road to travel before giving the bike off to Brett again.I went down 2 or 3 more times and all I could hear was my voice telling the other riders"your only responsability is to get the bike to the next rider". The last time I went down I lost the front end climbing up a steep bank.My foot was caught under the bike and I was trying to get up and a crowd arrived out of nowhere.I heard a voice say"that's the Wounded Warrior guys". As I was getting up a guy kneeld down beside me and said"you are almost there,the Hwy is only 300 feet further".Was like he knew how far I had to go.The crowd got the bike off me and I got on and rode away to the cheeres and aplause from that crowd.
I got to the rider change and all were telling me to get off the bike-----I couldn't. I think I told John Sr "I can't".He said "put your foot on the peg and step off". From that point on all I remember is sitting in a chair and Brett riding off.
I spent the next 4 days waiting for the rest of the team to return to San Felipe.In extreme pain I might add.Knowing we finnished,but unaware that we were second in class.When Scott brought in the trophy I was very startled and proud to a member of this team.That's when the pain was not as bad.
Now that I'm home and my better half "forced" me to go get checked out. 1. Destroyed the remaining good parts of my knee---Getting a new one on the 14. 2.Ribs -2 broken and 2 more dislocated. 3. Head-All that know me, know it's not quite right anyway.
I'm still in awe that we finnished let alone a podium finnish. Just to finnish is a feat in it's self.
Thank You to all our sponsors and our support crew and most of all to Race For The Wounded for allowing me to be a part of "Mission"

Heroes, each and everyone of you guys.

Glad your doing better Ed, you looked like crap when we got back to SF. That was a great adventure and was stoked to be apart of it. Proud of all the guys getting it done. To do what these guy's did was a major accomplishment. As John said " The Hero Team did it with one leg, we did it with no talent" Lot's of talent didn't do what these guy's did. Again just AWESOME!

Well it is all over and we didn't make the biggest goal that we had. When I first decided to try and raise money for the WWP my goal was to try and raise $10,000 after talking to Russ we changed it to $50,000. We did almost double the original goal but didn't raise half of the 50 we went for. All and all that isn't bad, and I would like to thank all of you that made a donation to the WWP. This isn't the end as Scott posted I am working now to start my own 5013c and hope to have it up and running by June of next year. It will be under the same name Race For The Wounded, what we would like to do is gear it to getting wounded men and woman started or back into racing. Not only on bikes, but trucks, buggies, or anything else with a motor. We will just have to see how everything works out but after meeting the people who were racing I don't think that we will have a problem getting the help we need to get guys racing.

I do think that the best part of the race was the support that we got throughout the conception of the idea to the end of the race. We have had people opening their homes to us, putting us up for the night, to offering us bikes to pre run on. As you know this was my first off road race. I haven't been on a real dirt bike in over 25 years before we started this. I had a steep learning curve "not like Scott, his was vertical" LOL I couldn't believe how the off road community took us in and gave us help at every turn. Before all of this I didn't know who Tim Morton was, and I get an PM from him giving me some tips. I know all of you know who Tim is, and now I understand who he is. Out of the blue I have had so many people wanting to help and it was such a great feeling knowing that people who didn't know us from Adam were willing to take the time to help us. We had pro teams letting us use their pits and helping us work on our bike, and feeding the team!!!! Hell Colton Udall, wished us good luck and gave us some advice on the race!!

Ed, John, and Allan told me that once you went to Baja that would be the only place you would want to ride. I have been thinking about that and I understand what they were telling me now, but it isn't the riding and the freedom you have riding in Baja, it is the people!!! I haven't experienced anything like that since I will still in the Army and all I want to do is get back!!!

I will never be able to thank all of you enough for your support, advice, and donations.

This was a learning experience, and boy did we learn a bunch. I made the mistake of not having a pre ride bike at the start and didn't get to ride the first 40 miles. Man that was a big mistake that I will never make again, it cost us some time!! We also only did the pre ride to mile 807 do to time, never again we will ride the full thing. We should have split into teams and went to our sections and just ride them over and over but live and learn.

The race was about as stressful as can be, not the racing but waiting on the bike!!! The start was fun but not pre riding it I couldn't go as fast as I would have liked to go, I had to just take my time and get the bike to Ed. It was killing me, I was calling myself all kinds of names for not pre running it. I sure wasn't calling myself the names I was calling the quads, man I hate them things!!!!!! This was also the first time that I have ever got arm pump, and it started about mile 5 and didn't stop. Once I got to Ed I felt much better knowing what was coming next, the San Felipe whoops. Now don't get me wrong I didn't want to ride them but did pre ride them so I know what was coming and just wanted to get through them. Once Ed made it to the rider change after being hit by the truck, I got back on and started moving through the whoops. I was doing good trying to be smooth, (well for me smooth, I kinda suck) but I was moving and doing OK and then I had a bit of a get off. It was nothing bad but 202x passed me, I had know idea he was behind me at that time. I think that was the best thing that could have happened, we just started having a good time!! I would pass him, and he would pass me then we would do it all over again. I was having a great time just having fun, this is what Ed told us find the speed that you are just having fun at and you will be going fast enough. When we got to the last turn going up the power line to the dump road I knew that we were almost out of the whoops due to the pre ride with John. So I thought what the hell I am just going to try and give it all I got, and I did. I went as fast as I could for the last 10 or so miles and made it to the rider change, Baja Pits filled the bike checked the oil Ed got on the bike and took off. We all got in the truck and were getting ready to take off when the 202X bike came into the pits, man was that a great feeling!!! We gave each other a thumbs up and a big smile and John Sr. and Sue were taking me to the next point to get back onto the bike.

I didn't think that we would have long before I got back on the bike, but this is when Ed had the big get off and got hurt. Now we (The Team) thought that we wouldn't need the lights on the bike until Coco's and really wouldn't need them then but would put them on to be safe. Well this was the next learning point, put the lights on way before you think you are going to need them!!!! When Ed got to the rider change it was getting dark and I had no light!!! Ed pulled into the pit riding with one arm and had to be helped off of the bike. Next learning point, I didn't have clear goggles on me thank goodness that Ed did so I took them. I asked Ed if he was OK and his response was NO, I don't know what my response was I just got on the bike and started moving. I knew that were were way off of our pace and I had know idea how we would make it up. I kept the bike under 60 for the road section and was right behind a buggy and a bike as soon as we turned off the blacktop I got on the gas and passed the bike, and tried to stay as close to the buggy as I could for as long as I could. That wasn't easy and might have been a dumb thing to do but I thought that well that is less dust from the bike, now he has my dust and the buggy dust. It worked, I never did see the guy again! The only thing that I had going for me at this point was the GPS with the track on it. I couldn't see anything at all with the dust and crap day light on the bike, so I just went off the the GPS like a pilot flying on instruments!! I would go as fast as I could on the straights and just keep my eye on the GPS, it wasn't the best plan but it is all I had. Most of it was nice and straight to Cocos so it wasn't that bad, after the trucks, and buggies went past it was a few min. of just hold on and hope, but after I got out from the dust it was OK. I made it to the pit, we got the good lights on and Scott was on his way.

After that it was just a game of waiting on the bike and I hated every min. of it all the way to the finish!!!

Thanks for the report, Cornbread.

The double light worked really well if I don't say so myself. I was so happy to see Chris ride up with the light on even if it was flopping around. Chris rode from Loreto to Insergentes with one hand on the light and the other on the throttle, the guy is an animal. Once we fixed it and I got on I was glad that Brett had decided to send the bike with the big light. The japanese rider that I rode with for awhile seemed to like it as well.

I am gonna do a few design changes so the light will not come loose again.

-John

Thanks for rubbing that in John I wasn't about to have you go through the same thing that I went through. "I am not a smart man but I know what light is!!!!

John you need to put your story up of riding with the Japanese guy, I told Vera the story and she couldn't stop laughing.

I was hoping to hear Scott and Allan's reports first.

-John

I am sure that Scott is with 4 or 5 girls and drunker then Cooter Brown right now!! I am sure that he will post something up soon, not sure about Allan, and we know that Chris is.....well he is Chris and will never post anything.

I would like to see the ride report on the girls too!

Found this pic of Scott. I think it is Scott...

This puts the hair up on my arms right here...

Finished with a trashed knee, broken and dislocated ribs...

After careful analysis of the terrain in the picture, lighting, rider body position, motorcycle position, and rider form...I would have to disagree. This cannot be me. I have studied this picture in great detail and concluded that the motorcycle is, in fact, standing upright...instead of on its side. Additional evidence shows that this rider is clearly moving the bike forward and not picking it up off the ground and therefore cannot be me. It's science.

LOL, at first I would agree with you 100% but after looking at the boots it must be you....I DID HAVE THE LIGHTS!!!!!.....
So the only logical conclusion is that this is you between your dirt naps!! You did 100% of what was asked of you, get the bike to the next guy and don't brake it!!!! Not bad for having less then 2 months riding time

Some pics after the race and during the pre ride.
John, and Allan

Scott, Allan, and I

Scott and wishful thinking

Me and VERY wishful thinking

Chris and his mom Becky

The "Turbo Donkey"John

John Sr. and Sue

Ed, Allan and John

John and John Sr

Russ

A few more
Fred and Becky

Scott and his dad Jerry

Chris, Hup, Chili Relleno, and German

After watching all of my GoPro footage...I've realized that I'm a foul foul human being. I apologize for the language. But here's a pretty good crash about 20 miles south of Bay of LA during the pre-ride. As I was going down I was hoping it wasn't the end of my race. I have a few more crashes of me and one awesome one of Brett. I'll try to put them up soon.

Chris: "You picked a really f**king hard place to land!" Love that line...

The crash is about 50 seconds in if you want to fast forward.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/22pRAZ-gYYc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>