Dust to Glory

I have no idea why I've taken so long to watch this DVD. I'm overwhelmed with emotion after watching this. This race is like no other. Any man or woman that enters this race is right up there in my book.

In the Indy and Nascar races you've got cars on a nice smooth track that is the same...for the whole race. AND NO ONE is allowed on that course during the race.

The Baja 1000 is a different bird all together. You're riding 1000 miles either on a dirt bike, truck, buggy, quad, and yes...there are even VW BUGS, who race on and off road both in the day and night. Most racers ride as a team, but there are a few iron men and women who ride the whole race.

This movie covers mostly the men who race, but there's a few moments where they talk about the women too. Many of the woman race because they were tired of watching their husband, dads, brothers race. So they've decided to join in the fun too.

Some of the women mentioned in this movie were Kate Sutton, Bekki Freeman, Amy Thomas and Kelly Clement. Kelly's husband talked about how since Kelly's been racing she's happier and healthier than ever.

I ride a motorcycle, not even a dirt bike, and have to constantly be aware of anything that might cross my path, and I rarely ride at night. I can't imagine riding a dirt bike 100 + miles an hour with bystanders just inches away, dogs and cows in the road...oh yeah the roads or "track" is never shut down to just racers. When they're racing on road there are non racing vehicles all over the place. When they're off road there's pot holes, cliffs, just the natural terrain that is anything but flat and completely unforgiving. Oh, don't forget the cactus's. There was scenes of a guy pulling those out of his arms.

Then there's the dust or silt that bikes and vehicles get lost in, it's so deep. I would think if you lost your bike in that you'd have a hard time finding it again. That's rough in the day time, but to do that at night....with bikes and vehicles in front, behind and to the side of you.

You've got people with broken vehicles, motorcycles, body parts...who continue to race. Yes, it's about winning, but it's also about finishing the race. Finishing that race is a HUGE accomplishment.

As I mentioned the racers ride during the night. You think bystanders would go home for the night but it seemed like more people came out to watch. It would be 4:30 in the morning and there were people out there cheering them on.

Oh and the chase cars...they're helicopters.

After you watch the movie be sure to watch the Behind the Scenes clip. Really awesome on how this movie was shot and just like the race itself it took some major determination to create this DVD.

After watching this I went back and read Anna Cody's/Iron man account of her race.

As some of you may or may not know I crossed the finish line of the Baja 1000 on 11/17/06 somewhere around 4:20pm. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, I rode for 33 hours and 35 minutes, the longest break I took was 1 hour, and that was around 2:30am after my bike nearly got ran over by a trophy truck, I had to sit down and get myself together. I was just outside of Loreto when a silt pocket swallowed my XR650 I came up out of it only to dump it over on its side in a two track road with the rear wheel hanging in the tracks, the lights flickered off and I tried to pull the bike out of the way when I suddenly heard the roar of the trophy truck, suddenly I could see everything I worked so hard for go down the drain, in an instant I threw myself in front of the bike waiving my arms up and down, the co driver saw me and motioned to the driver, who than pitched the truck sideways into the bushes, the truck went sideways and missed my bike by about one inch, I had such an adrenaline rush I grabbed that bike and pulled it 25 feet off the course and picked it up, I peed my pants and than started the bike and went on to pit 14 for a well deserved break...

You can read the rest of her story at: http://www.blinkinteract.com/2006/12/anna_cody_first_woman_to_solo_1.html

I also know that Anna Cody is putting together a DVD of her race. Hopefully it will be out soon!!

Anna Cody, Ironwoman of Baja 1000

So until a few months ago, I had never heard of the Baja 1000 and to be totally honest with you, I still don't completely understand it. What I do know though is that I wish I could be at the next one in 2007 to see it, and write about it. Because the stories I keep hearing about it are just incredible.

I first became aware of the Baja 1000 when I came across Kathy Jarvis's site. I followed her this year via the Net. She wasn't able to finish the race in 2006, but I have a feeling she'll be at it again in 2007.

Then today I received an email from a gentleman named Dan who told me about another woman, Anna Cody, who was in this race. And she raced on motorcycle. If you read anything about Anna Cody, read this post about her personal account of the race. It's just incredible.

Also, check out Anna's website at: http://www.codygirlracing.com

And thanks so much Dan for bringing this to my attention!!

Hi,

I recently read your blog post about Kathy Jarvis attempting to
become the first woman to solo the Baja 1000 in a truck.

As inspiring as that is, the real story should be about Anna Cody.

"[In 2006] Anna Cody became the first female to ever solo and finish
the Baja 1000 [on a motorcycle even!]. She is Ironwoman [the term for
solo finishers]. She etches her name once again in the Baja history
books. Cody and Lillie Sweetland were the first all-female team to
finish the Baja 1000 back in 1990. After Sweetland succumbed to
cancer in 2001, Cody didn't have it in her heart to ride with another
teammate again and that was the impetus behind her solo run. I
suspect she probably helped Cody pull this one off too."

from: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Article_Page.aspx?ArticleID=4116&Page=5

Anna not only finished, she finished solo, on a motorcycle!

Here is her blog post about it: http://www.blinkinteract.com/2006/12/anna_cody_first_woman_to_solo_1.html

keep up the good work,
- dan