My OperaBaja 1000
Monday, November 6, 2006 11:27:58 PM
First off, let me offer a giant congratulations to Kim, the kids and Bryan on the arrival of the little one. He is a beautiful baby boy, and I’m sure will bring joy to Kim and Bryan to the end of days.
It was also very refreshing to see Bryan welcome this baby into the world, instead of denying fatherhood, like in all the other instances. (Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about Bryan, because Shelly, Margret, Ishnish, Barbra, Leslie, Sue, Pat, Ashley, Carrie, Deidra, Tammy, Mona, Norma, Georgia, Katie, and Debbie have not.)
Secondly, a big thanks to Bryan for allowing us to hold hostage his blog for the next couple of weeks. It has proven a wonderful medium for family, friends (and now sponsors) to keep track of our shenanigans.
A little background. Following the last race (the Baja 500) chronicled on this blog, I made numerous unsuccessful attempts at getting Bryan and Brent to race the 1000 with me. Even after offering bikes to pre-run on, and free tequila, they could not make it due to busy schedules. So, I resorted to forming a second team for the race. It started with a very fast friend of mine, Mike “Korny” Korenwinder. He is a blistering fast racer, and a nice guy to boot. It snowballed from there. Our team now consists of 6 riders, including myself. As I have come to find out, fast riders run in circles, and each guy added to the team can hold his own. So much so that I have been working on increasing my own speed considerably. Not hard to do when you start out as slow, with the goal of becoming less slow.
How fast are these guys? Some of you may know the name Paul Krause. He won the Baja 1000 overall in 1988, 1995 and 1996 (riding with Johnny Campbell). When he heard of our team and who was on it, he volunteered to ride with us. And even crazier, we declined the offer as we had enough riders and no one wanted to forfeit their spot!
One of the guys on the team (Brent “Brento” Needham) owns a KTM Dealership. Besides being fast he is well connected in the industry. We put together a sponsor request flyer and a rider bio and went to work on sponsorship. The response has been incredible. As a brief overview we have received sponsorship on the following items:
• SCOTT, SPY and OAKLEY goggles. A few dozen pairs. Enough for each rider and sets at each pit (16 pits).
• Sets of AXO riding gear for each rider.
• Factory KTM Hard Parts (cylinders, pistons, suspension, etc.)
• Maxxis Tires (20 sets) - MTA
• BF Goodrich Heavy Duty Tubes for the tires – MTA
• Motorex Oils and Fluids
• MAC Tools – Flashlights, team shirts, work lights, etc..
. Trick Dual Sports HID Lighting - Twin 6" beams. Two sets. The owner (Dale) will be following the bike down the course to assure if we have a lighting problem he can help out.
The list goes on, but you get the point.
I will post pics of the race bike, outline our race strategy, and provide pre-run updates in postings over the next 11 days.
Lastly, regarding the flat tire poll. Things have not started well. I can’t believe this s***, but I discovered a slow leak in one of my truck tires the same day Bryan posted the poll.
Some of the pre-run equipment. Yep Brent, I broke down and bought a KTM (525 XC), and a Yamaha (WR250). It's not too late to join us to pre run. Pick your poison.
A few of our race radios and satallite phones. Logistic planning is a nightmare.
3Sponsor flyer w spy.pdf Our Sponsor Flyer
It was also very refreshing to see Bryan welcome this baby into the world, instead of denying fatherhood, like in all the other instances. (Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about Bryan, because Shelly, Margret, Ishnish, Barbra, Leslie, Sue, Pat, Ashley, Carrie, Deidra, Tammy, Mona, Norma, Georgia, Katie, and Debbie have not.)
Secondly, a big thanks to Bryan for allowing us to hold hostage his blog for the next couple of weeks. It has proven a wonderful medium for family, friends (and now sponsors) to keep track of our shenanigans.
A little background. Following the last race (the Baja 500) chronicled on this blog, I made numerous unsuccessful attempts at getting Bryan and Brent to race the 1000 with me. Even after offering bikes to pre-run on, and free tequila, they could not make it due to busy schedules. So, I resorted to forming a second team for the race. It started with a very fast friend of mine, Mike “Korny” Korenwinder. He is a blistering fast racer, and a nice guy to boot. It snowballed from there. Our team now consists of 6 riders, including myself. As I have come to find out, fast riders run in circles, and each guy added to the team can hold his own. So much so that I have been working on increasing my own speed considerably. Not hard to do when you start out as slow, with the goal of becoming less slow.
How fast are these guys? Some of you may know the name Paul Krause. He won the Baja 1000 overall in 1988, 1995 and 1996 (riding with Johnny Campbell). When he heard of our team and who was on it, he volunteered to ride with us. And even crazier, we declined the offer as we had enough riders and no one wanted to forfeit their spot!
One of the guys on the team (Brent “Brento” Needham) owns a KTM Dealership. Besides being fast he is well connected in the industry. We put together a sponsor request flyer and a rider bio and went to work on sponsorship. The response has been incredible. As a brief overview we have received sponsorship on the following items:
• SCOTT, SPY and OAKLEY goggles. A few dozen pairs. Enough for each rider and sets at each pit (16 pits).
• Sets of AXO riding gear for each rider.
• Factory KTM Hard Parts (cylinders, pistons, suspension, etc.)
• Maxxis Tires (20 sets) - MTA
• BF Goodrich Heavy Duty Tubes for the tires – MTA
• Motorex Oils and Fluids
• MAC Tools – Flashlights, team shirts, work lights, etc..
. Trick Dual Sports HID Lighting - Twin 6" beams. Two sets. The owner (Dale) will be following the bike down the course to assure if we have a lighting problem he can help out.
The list goes on, but you get the point.
I will post pics of the race bike, outline our race strategy, and provide pre-run updates in postings over the next 11 days.
Lastly, regarding the flat tire poll. Things have not started well. I can’t believe this s***, but I discovered a slow leak in one of my truck tires the same day Bryan posted the poll.
Some of the pre-run equipment. Yep Brent, I broke down and bought a KTM (525 XC), and a Yamaha (WR250). It's not too late to join us to pre run. Pick your poison. A few of our race radios and satallite phones. Logistic planning is a nightmare. 3Sponsor flyer w spy.pdf Our Sponsor Flyer
moickel # Tuesday, November 7, 2006 4:49:48 PM
where's the guns? Do you keep em hidden...? Good idea, don't want to frighten the ladies at home
Good Luck, although without Bryan I'm sure you'll be fine.
Moickel
Bryan CoxBryanCox # Wednesday, November 8, 2006 3:02:28 AM
Bryan