San Diego to Ensenada went fairly smooth. I easily linked up with Frank from the 1749 Jeepspeed team. Luckily, it wasn't putting him out at all to come get me from the airport as his team needed some header wrap and asked him to find it. We looked around at a couple parts stores but they really don't carry that kind of thing. Offroad Warehouse was closed, and everywhere else we could think of right away was closed too. So I called my friend Shane Henry. Shane knew where to score some- his house. It was Frank's lucky day. Shane sold him a bunch of wrap and some safety wire to put it on there with.
While at Shane's shop I took a look at a really sweet project he's working on. I'm not going into much detail right here but expect to hear more about it....
Anyhow, next we headed South. The border crossing was uneventful. I made a quick stop there to get myself a Mexican Tourist Card or, "FMT". These are not visas precisely but are required if you are leaving t
he border area or staying in Mexico longer than 72 hours. Last year, I blew it off in favor of grabbing it in Ensenada at the port there. Bad move. The port master, jacked us for three times the actual cost and was a jackass about it as well. This time was much smoother and it cost only $23. Last year, no on
e even bothered to ask me for the stupid thing but since I'm actually returning from Baja via air, I'll actually need it to board my plane at the other end.
We cleared the retched hive of scum and villainy known as Tijuana as fast as humanly possible without speeding. Seventy-two kilometers down th
e road we stopped at Baja Seasons, a hotel. There Frank dropped off his tape and I ran into a familar face or two.
Next Frank took me to Las Rosas where I was pleased to see both JT Taylor and Mark Munson immediately upon my arrival. We BS'd a bit and JT introduced me to the other guys and gals in the Speed Technologies family
. Everyone was super friendly and down to earth.
I had time to throw my gear in JT's room and relax for a few minutes and then the Prerunner driven by Mark c
alled on the radio asking to meet up with him at a Pemex station in town. Before I knew it, I was being herded into the Prerunner, a white Bronco with very little of it's former Bronco self remaining.
Mark, Cammy and I strapped in and got underway. Cammy, is Speed Technologies PR person. This race will be her first real exposure to any kind of offroad motorsports. I'm not sure who enjoyed more our ride
through the first 13 miles of the race course as it snakes through the back streets of Ensenada, me or her.
Mark didn't push the Bronco too hard but we definitely broke 60mph a few times which was a blast. I was really amazed at how well behaved and soft the suspensi
on was. I could barely feel big holes and ditches.
Groups of 5 or 10 Mexican children ran out by the side of the course and screamed at us to give them stickers. Mark stopped to give a few stickers out but didn't stop for the ones he recognized from earlier runs throughout the day. Those kids hur
led rocks at us.
Eventually we hopped back on Highway 3 and made for the hotel. When we pulled into the hotel there was a special surprise awaiting me.
Meet The Dominator. This is Speed Technologies' brand new Class I buggy. This year, they are actually racing both the old buggy and the new one. No words or even this one picture can describe exactly just how bad ass this car is. To give you a little inkling, it has a Dodge V10 with over 700HP at the wheels..... yeah.
Battery is dying on me now and I need food and water. We leave early tomorrow for Cataviña. I'll try to update from there but if I can't.... this will be all you hear until I reach Cabo. Wish me luck.
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