Dust to Glory Page #3

and he knew how fast he was.

And I knew if he got into a competition

with other riders that are

fresher, fresher, fresher, fresher,

I was afraid he was gonna die.

Survival. That's all it is.

You survive, you'll win it.

Soft and smooth, brother.

Soft and smooth.

At 6:
30 the race began.

They'll leave 30 seconds apart.

At 6:
31 and 30 seconds,

Johnny Campbell takes off.

Chris Blaze of the Honda B leaves the line at 6:33.

J.N. Roberts, 6:
37:30.

If a car pulls out in front

of a speeding car,

results are dented metal

and possible injury.

If a car pulls out

in front of a speeding motorcycle,

results are probable death,

which was exactly the fate of former

Baja champion Danny Hamel in 1995,

only a few miles

outside of Ensenada.

Mouse McCoy. 6:
37.

And the rhythm

of the race begins.

At 6:
46:30. the quads

began to join the fray.

Mile 38. there

is no flagman. No flagman.

By the 50-mile mark. Johnny Campbell

had settled into his usual lead.

In second was Chris Blaze

of the Honda B Team.

Mouse. in an effort

to show his newfound maturity,

had gone from sixteenth

to fourth in the first hour.

For a motorcyclist to compete

at the front of the pack

he has to fully commit.

He has to hurl himself into the void.

Mouse was on fire.

And just as amazing was J.N. Roberts

passing riders a third of his age

until our camera helicopter got

a little close and J.N. went down.

We missed the shot.

And 30 miles away,

Jimmy Roberts had

a sudden premonition

that he'd miss his ride.

If J.N. couldn't get back

on the bike, their day was over.

It didn't seem fair.

J.N.'s a living legend,

winner of the first

Baja 1000 back in 1967.

That was a era

when as many as 3,000 riders

would start a California desert race,

and J.N. Roberts

would win 27 in a row.

When I was growing up, of course

he was the man in the desert.

And any time we'd be out

riding motorcycles

and I'd do something that

my dad thought was pretty good,

he'd say, "Oh, all right, J.N.

Good job, J.N."

So J.N. Was this

mythical figure in my mind.

So when I had the chance

to actually race with him

it was a pretty awesome

experience for me.

I wanna make sure it works for J.N.

First time back in 30 years

to Baja for him.

It's kind of exciting

to go riding with him.

He can't seem to get the bike

started, though.

- New technology.

- Get it to the top of the stroke.

J.N. won two

of the first three Baja 1000s.

He'd come back to team with Jimmy.

Who was racing in his first.

He just recently won

the Vet World Championships.

And now here he is

two weeks later racing Baja.

And then in January

he signs up for Social Security.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes