Dust to Glory Page #2

He was gonna race

the entire Baja 1000 solo.

One man's name is synonymous

for racing the Baja solo...

the Ironman, Ivan Stewart.

Well, to do a 1,000-mile race

in a car is tough,

but at least you can sit down

and get a drink of water

and you're protected a lot more.

And to do it on a motorcycle,

I mean, I can't fathom it. That's tough.

Anybody can trail ride the thing

for the thousand miles.

But to be competitive and do it

was a whole different deal.

And I knew I looked up to him,

and now, wow, I'm really gonna

look up to him if he finishes this thing.

This is gonna be amazing.

People say, "Don't you

worry about your son?"

No, I don't worry about him

because he's gifted.

And he usually gets there.

I think Mouse is one of the best

when it comes to preparing.

He pre-ran down here

more than anybody I've ever seen.

Supercross legend Ricky Johnson.

Who's like Mouse's big brother,

had some reservations.

Not because he's a bad rider.

He's a great rider.

Not because he was out of shape.

He was in great shape.

But for those exact things.

He knew how good a shape he was in

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.

So he's had quite a year.

Don't rub it in.

Hey, Social Insecurity.

Yeah.

J.N. didn't get a lot of time

to reminisce about his past victories

because Jimmy, Mouse, and Greg Tracy

had him on a rigorous pre-run schedule.

Pre-running is when you get to practice

your section of the course.

Now, in Mouse's case.

all the sections were his section,

so J.N. got to do a lot of pre-running.

I'll tell you what, the ol' butt

in the last few days is taking a lickin'.

- Taking a lickin'.

- No pun intended.

We still live in different states,

so we don't see each other all the time.

But when we do see each other,

it's usually around

a motorcycle-based environment.

And he's so, like,

compulsive disorder kind of...

Really goes over things

over and over and over.

And I can see myself when I'm

by myself becoming that a little bit myself.

I love you to death, but some

of your habits drive me crazy.

But the roles reverse. It's just funny.

It's just the way it is. It's life.

Look at the McCoys.

We've seen that yesterday with them.

Yeah, they have

the same relationship, kind of.

They're kind of bagging

on each other all the time.

Like a couple ol' hens

most of the time.

What can you do about it?

It's your blood. They can't fire ya.

Jimmy and J.N. are less father and son,

they're more like clones.

Well, I know I'm

a lot more cautious than he is.

Let's try and be nice.

He's just, you know,

"Yeah, pin it, Dad."

Well, I don't know

what's over that hill.

So I back off and roll it off a little bit

because I'm gonna go home

and cut wood this winter.

I got things I gotta do.

Where he's just got a little more...

You gotta have a little faith,

trust yourself.

I do trust myself,

but that's still who I am.

I don't have it that way, but I think

that comes with doing a lot and age.

J.N. may talk about getting old,

But how many 62-year-olds can

pick up a 300-pound motorcycle?

No matter his age,

J.N.'s a father,

and he's not about

to let down his son.

By any standard, J.N. Roberts

is a true motorcycle legend.

50% of a legend is better

than 100% of someone like me.

When Jimmy finally got his turn

he took full advantage of it,

getting all the way up

to eighth place overall

and not being passed

for 300 miles.

J.N.'s shoulder was possibly separated,

putting in jeopardy

the plan for him to ride the last 50 miles

to the finish later that night.

In the meantime

there was nothing to do

but sit back and reminisce

about the good ol' days.

A few of the old-time boys

used to come down here and...

But long before it was a race.

Just to see if they could get

from Tijuana down to La Paz.

And just to find

your way was a chore.

You telegraph the time you leave

and you pick up the telegraph

and check in your time

when you get to La Paz.

That's the only way

you could document it.

There wasn't anybody down here with

helicopters flying in those days to follow us.

When promoter Ed Perlman announced

plans for the inaugural Mexican 1000,

race legend Malcolm Smith

immediately thought of two things...

get J.N. Roberts for his partner

and buy a map.

I tried to get him to read

the guidebook so he'd know his way.

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