The Adventures of a Rally Roadie

I saw a post from an old rally friend of mine, Dick Rockrohr, that he was doing the Mexican 1000 Rally in Baja California and he needed a service truck driver at almost the last minute. The short version: I dropped him an email and told him I was available. I few messages back and forth I was sending shirt sizes and making plane reservations to San Diego to meet up with the team.

I met Dick years ago in what turned out to be the first Alcan for both of us. We hit it off famously and bumped into each other occasionally in the rally scene. Now I was off doing the 1,300 mile, 5 day long race down Baja California in Mexico. This looked like fun but probably not for everyone. The race starts in Ensenada and end in La Paz, just north of Cabo San Lucas. Besides, what could possibly go wrong.

Up at 4 AM. In the car with Ayron to the airport at 4:30. In the air to Atlanta at 6AM. A quick 55 minute transfer to another terminal and on another Delta flight to San Diego. Check the Delta app baggage tracker and it says the checked bag is on the plane. Another 4 almost 5 hours and landing in Szan Diego. Sure enough the bag eventually comes out of the baggage carousel. Text Dick that I’m out of the terminal andf wait for him to come by and pick me up.

“How ill I recognize your truck?” “ I’m in the bus. Trust me, you can’t miss it.” A few minutes lsater, a very loud airhorn blares and a bright red converted short school bus stops. I climb in and we’re off to pick up Dick’s son Dan, a driver, and Carl, Dick’s other driver and chief mechanic. In to terminal 1 and they’re already out on the sidewalk. We stop, they get in and we’re off to Ensenada.

We head down I-5 through Chula Vista and stop at Mexican immigration to have our immigration entry form stamped. Like many other countries, Mexico has instituted a new form that you have to present to immigration which the compare against your passport. You can get it online before you arrive for $35 or gothrough an online service agency that charges over $100 or wait until you get to the border and get the form done there.

I assume that the point is for immigration to have some advanced warning of who is coming through the border and check the form against watch lists of known or suspected bad guys. Or it’s just a money-maker. Whatever the purpose, you have to do it and doing it online before you arrive is a big time saver.

While this is going on, Dick is in another part of the facility getting the docs done for the bus. That seems to go smoothly and soon we are on our way.

We meet up with one of out chase trucks that’s pulling the race car and head south. We get through Tijuana relatively easily and make good time going down the road. Well, considering that we are in Mexico not California. This is all relative.

We get to the hotel by 2PM and move into the back parking area. We are the first to get there and we get a very nice convenient area to park and work in. All afternoon other teams are moving in and arriving early has been a great move. The parking area fills quick and good spots arer soon gone.

Eventually, Tim and Brenda, more Alcan veterans arrive in Tim’s bright red Raptor. Myself and some of the others are staying in a different hotel a few blocks away so we all load into the Raptor for the short ride to our hotel, the La Pinta.

We regather back at the parking area and all load into Big Red Bus (henceforth, BRB) and head off to a local brewery for dinner. Then back to the hotel for the night and some sleep.

Tomorrow, we register and do tech for the car and the team. And catch up will all the little things that didn’t get done before the team left Idaho. And finish setting up the technology. More about that in the next post.

Obi-wan