Beez' Blog of Moto Greatness - The Baja 1000 and Dust To Glory

[RSCnet 579]

This Friday, November 20 at 6:00am Pacific starts the most historic off-road race in North America, the Baja 1000. Hundreds of bikes, buggies, trucks and quads will leave the start line in Ensenada, Mexico at timed intervals and race south down the west coast of the Baja Peninsula for approximately 450 miles until they loop north and head up the east coast of the peninsula where they finish back in Ensenada for an 840 mile race distance. The course is different each year, some years longer, some shorter, sometimes point to point, sometimes a loop like this year.

The idea for the race was born out of a publicity stunt in 1962 by some guys at American Honda to prove the reliability of Honda's new CL72 Scrambler. They rode over 952 miles in just under 40 hours. 1967 marked the first official race and became sort of a who's faster, motorcycles or dune buggies. Read more about the history here.

Due to the nature of the race, its remote location and a general lack of interest in motorsports in the U.S., watching the race is nearly impossible. It's better with the internet, GPS tracking and live streams but it was never meant to be a spectator friendly race. It's even more difficult to follow than the Dakar Rally. If there is anything televised it's an hour long highlight show that airs between stick & ball sports 2 or more months after the race and it focuses only on the high dollar Trophy Trucks.

However there is a really great way to get a taste of what the race is like, learn a little history of it and watch exciting footage in the drama filled documentary Dust To Glory (2005). D2G was made by Dana Brown who more recently made On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter and is son of Bruce Brown who made legendary documentaries Endless Summer (the original surfing movie) and On Any Sunday. There are rumors Dana is making a follow up to Dust To Glory due out sometime soon!

The great news is if you have Netflix you can watch Dust To Glory tonight! Or tomorrow or someday. If you like motorsports, especially off-road racing you will dig it. Heck, if you're planning to make an off-road race in GTA, watch it for some inspiration.

View the full article