Day One from Ensenada to El Rosario was uneventful, Vanscourt rode the whole stretch on the 312 machine, Ernie split riding duties with his partner Joe Bolton. Challenging terrain including a series of silt beds, deep sand, and tricky navigation was a polite introduction to the obstacles ahead.
Day Two had the Tigers starting in the 3rd and 4th position and staying up front early with Ernie setting the pace. Ernie reported a top speed of 132 mph.
Then the rear shock broke.
Ernie’s spirited pace also resulted in his bashing a rock with his left foot peg, tweaking his knee in the process.
Focus on Day Two shifted to extracting the 121 bike from one of the most remote sections of the course. We were not able to finish the section as a result. This led us to a welding shop to field repair the shock mount. With those challenges overcome we finished prepping for day 3.
Day three started with a timed special out of San Ignacio of 175 miles, followed by a 38 mile transit. Ernie decided to sit out the day with a sore knee. Vanscourt and Bolton took it easy initially with some concern that the dirty welding job on the shock mount, the first section was a rough and bumpy enough that the riders felt confident and continued to rock the salt flats with GPS reporting 122 mph top speed in that stretch.
Mechanical gremlins resurfaced with the 121 machine stuck in 5th gear. We’re wrenching on this now, it’s looking like collateral damage from the same rock that took out Ernie’s knee.
The bikes have just received full service, including oil changes, fresh air filters, cleaning out the stepper motors, and a lot of bolt re-torquing.
