P106
CN
III LOWSIDE
I
t should come as no surprise
I was more than happy to see
the back end of 2020.
The year that bought us Cov-
id-19 and all the associated terrors
of death, unemployment, financial
distress and social distrust was
the most stressful of my life, so I
could think of no better way to see
those 12 months go up in smoke
by gathering a few friends, putting
on our socially distanced adven-
ture helmets, and heading south
across the border.
Mexico is a country still pretty
foreign to me. Growing up in Aus-
tralia, the most contact I had with
the country was the occasional
El Paso taco night in the fam-
ily house—not exactly the most
authentic experience, I grant you.
Later in life, I discovered the
brilliant Dust To Glory film and so
came my first exposure to the Baja
1000. However, I still didn't really
appreciate just how full-on that
race really is. I remember talking to
Johnny Campbell when we were
teammates at the Vegas-to-Reno
desert race in 2016 about the
event, and the way his eyes lit up
about a race he so dominated left
an impression on me. I had to see
the terrain for myself. Obviously, at
a much, much slower pace.
Meeting at Chris Fillmore's
place at 6:00 AM on December
29, we set off an hour and a half
late after Jon Beck slept straight
through his alarm. We finally got
moving and crossed the world's
easiest border crossing at
Tecate, immediately hit with the
wonderful scent of the finest cuts
of meat from the big spinning
stick. The longing for tacos fills
your brain until you finally relent
and satisfy the demand.
We rolled on Highway 2 for
about half an hour, then it was
straight onto the dirt for a three-
hour taste of what was to come.
Open two-way dirt roads with next
to no one on them, you're sudden-
ly in the world's biggest adventure
playground. It's hard to convey the
sense of freedom this gives a rider
A deserted beach,
some buddies and
an adventure bike.
Baja is about as
good as it gets.
G E T T I N G
AWAY F R O M
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
2020