Our story of 1000 Miles in Baja in a Meyers Manx
This is the story of our trip home as told by my traveling companion JT Taylor.
[caption id="attachment_259" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Meyers Manx loaded for the long trip home"][/caption]
This is a shot at the hotel in lapaz at the end of our race and the beginning of our adventure home. Doug Nagy and I had the pleasure and honor of being around Bruce Meyers on his latest trip back to Baja during the 2011 NORRA
Mexican 1000. His stories and memories of the places and races of past days were amazing to listen to as we rolled through the Mexican desert. And to see the Mexican people young and old recognize him as the man who helped bring this amazing sport to life, and to their country put a huge smile on my face. Even as the ever humble mr Meyers would shrug his shoulders and wonder why they were making a big deal about he and his cool little red car.
We won the race in our class and then set to the task of homebound logistics. Bruce needed to vet the car home to cali and Doug Nagy and I need away to get home. So Marty Fiolka talked to Bruce and Winny and they agreed to let Doug and I bring little red home. So we loaded up and off we went.
Doug and I thought it would be cool to photo document our adventure up the peninsula running close to some of the places that Bruce had raced in old red so many years ago.
Our first day of travel we headed out of Lapaz with no real plan as to our stop. We made it to loretto in good time and had enough daylight left to push on. We had agreed at the beginning of this trip, not to drive at night and play cow roulette! We pulled into conception bay at dusk and found a cool little beach to camp on.
[caption id="attachment_260" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sunrise over the Meyers Manx on the beach at Concepcion Bay "][/caption]
In true Meyers fashion we pulled little red onto the beach next to a fire pit. We toasted a great day in Mexico with a cold Tecate and set out our sleeping bags on the sand and went to sleep under the stars, dreaming of races and adventures past. The next morning we awoke to seagulls and sunrise. Again we headed north after a great breakfast at Olivias! Thanks to Marco and Olivia for your hospitality. We pushed through strong crosswinds but Bruces strong little car kept on trucking. We stopped along the way in a few spots to take pics and enjoy the view.
We rolled into San Quitin near dark and had heard stories from Bruce of the Old Mill Hotel as the volcano near it that he had driven to the top of with old red so we couldn't help ourselves but to stay there. We got checked in with Jim and he handed us a cold Pacifico to welcome us. We got our history lesson about the place from him as we sipped our cervezas and enjoyed the pictures and race posters on the walls. With a great meal and a good nights sleep we loaded up and headed north once again.
Knowing that this was or last day with little red made the drive that much more fun. As we rolled along, little children to construction workers smiled and waved as we past. We pulled into Ensenada early afternoon and stopped at my favorite taco joint for lunch. We chatted about our adventure as we ate but didn't mention that it was coming I an end. We didn't want to admit it to ourselves.
[caption id="attachment_261" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Manx packed for the last day of our trip home"][/caption]
Passing the beaches and bungalows I wondered how it must have felt for Bruce to get to this point in his record breaking run so many years ago. If he felt relieved it was over or if like us, didn't really want it to come to an end.
But our adventure did have to come to an end. We crossed the border with no trouble and headed back into reality. Thank you Mr Meyers, for trusting us with your little red car and for making our lives richer with your stories and memories.
JT Taylor
We drove a current model buggy called the Kickout. This is available direct from Meyersmanx.com
Thanks again to Bruce for the opportunity to share some of your experiences in Baja over the last 50 years!
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