Baja 250 2016

[aki]

It is time to go race again. I have entered the 250 Pro Ironman class and will be racing under 789X again.
The race is right at 250 miles this year and I will be pulling off the starting line around 6:15 am on Saturday the 27th of February. I am hoping to average around 30 miles per hour so it should take about 8.5 hours. The Trophy trucks should catch me around the last 10-20 miles. I am a little nervous about the average speed since normally the check point closing times and the time limit are based on about 25 mile an hour speed and this time they are based on less than 15 miles per hour. So I don't know if that means an extremely difficult course.
They are using 3 washes/canyons in the south end that have not been used for a while, the most difficult and dangerous is the Matomi wash that is about 30 miles long, there are plenty of you tube videos of Matomi wash.
I will be prerunning either on Monday the 22nd or Tuesday and will update after that.
Attached is the map, I think I have done about 90 percent of the course between the past races.
[atbaja 250 2016.pdf (921.16 KB)baja 250 2016.pdf (921.16 KB)baja 250 2016.pdf (921.16 KB)baja 250 2016.pdf (921.16 KB)baja 250 2016.pdf (921.16 KB)tachment id="122"]baja 250 2016.pdf (921.16 KB)

[jes]

Aki you are a true Ironman! Best of luck, ride fast, and stay safe!

[bmiller]

Good Luck Aki! Time to get rid of the nerves and get after it!

[aki]

I got done with the prerun yesterday, it ended up being near 300 miles and took 11 hours with 4 pit stops. I completely forget how technical the 250 is, there are no real breaks any where to speak of. It is also good 60 percent whoops. The first 46 miles are sandy whoops which was to be expected. The Matomi wash/canyon from about 126 to 140 is unreal. It is insanely beautiful and difficult. There are several areas of trials sections over boulder piles from rock falls. 154 to 174 is hell on earth, it is 20 miles of rock whoops, fist to soccer ball size rocks that are severely whooped out for 20 miles. Rocks constantly hitting the bike and flying over head. This section may end up being the reason if I can't get to 30 mile average speed. It is so long and it is hard to recover so late in the race after getting so tired.
There were quite a many hidden titanic rocks in fast washes. Basically going 40-60 miles hour in soft deep sand and you hit a hidden buried boulder. Couple of them literally knocked the wind out of me and sent the bike flying every which way. Then you start wondering what if anything broke.
In general prerun went very well. I am quite sore and my right side is bloodied up so I'm trying to heal now and figure out what I could do better for the race Saturday. Yamaha 250 worked awesome yesterday, big thatnks to Don at JAaxMoto, no issues what so ever.
You can follow me live in Score International website, I should pull of the line after 9:15 am Saturday eastern time.

[jes]

Aki you are a Beast! Thank you for the update and Good Luck on Saturday.

Remember to record some GoPro video of your epic ride to share with us when you get back home safely to Jacksonville.

[aki]

I was able to finish this one ok. I am really beat up and worn out, there are a couple of 100 foot grooves in the desert made by my helmet. I caught up to another ironman class rider around 20 miles and made the mistake of racing him for close to 100 miles so by 110 or so I started to get too tired knowing I had another 150 to go. At pit 154 I told my folks I was really tired and from there I had to do 20 miles of rock whoops. It was a real struggle, once I got done with the rocks and went into deep sand I started crashing. At 199 pit they told me the Trophy trucks were half an hour behind me. It's a pain trying to look back and go fast at the same time in deep sand when you are already tired and dizzy. The first one past me at 220 and I was expecting more of them but it took another 10 miles for the second one. I actually stopped in high points to try to see if they are coming. In the end 2 more past me. The last 4 miles were dirt roads and were full of people, I was trying to pin it hoping people would move out of the way and it was hard to see were the road was with so many people. I may have finished second in class, I don't know since I could not follow it. Tomorrow is trophy presentation so we'll see if I got one.

[gar]

Congratulations on the finish Aki, fingers crossed for the second place finish

[jes]

Aki,

Your accomplishment as a Baja 250 finisher is a true testament to your physical strength, overall endurance, mental toughness, and incredible riding ability. You are without question a true champion! 

Well done my friend! 

[aki]

Here is a video of the start, some what boring. 6 or so minutes of waiting and then 35 miles of whoops start. They changed the start the night before where we did not turn straight into the dump road and you can see I was looking for the turn. And then the roughness of the turn surprised me, the dump road was soft and the bike would not go faster than 80.
The actual placing in the race was a roller coaster, I was initially second, then after multiple penalty bulletins and protests I went to 9th and then to 6th without my own finishing time ever changing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o45D4Vyax3k

[johnnyb300]

Congratulations, Aki, on an outstanding ride, regardless of where they placed you at the finish. My back got sore just watching the video of you blasting the sand washes. Have a safe trip back to Jax.