Father and son take Baja race trophy

Roaring engines. Cheering spectators crowding the race route shrouded in clouds of Baja California dust. A father seeing his son cross the finish line a champion. It was an exhilarating moment in time for Greg Willitts and his son Gabe, as they rode across the rugged Baja terrain to victory in the Sportsman's Motorcycle Class in the SCORE International San Felipe 250 on January 24.

Eighteen-year-old Gabe Willitts joined his dad and teammates Marc Jenkins and Matt Ladendorf in the demanding event, which tests mental and physical resilience and the ability to improvise mechanic work in the field just as much as it does the ability to handle a motorcycle.

"One bike starts and stops," Greg Willitts said. "That's kind of the complexity of the race. If you have a (mechanical) problem, you all have to repair it before you go on. You have to trust each rider to have the same knowledge ... and not ride it hard enough that you break it permanently."

A veteran racer, Greg pulled off a clever bit of field-expedient mechanical repair in this 250-mile race. A vent hose broke, spraying Willitts with fuel and threatening to run his bike dry before he got to a pit stop. He found a lonely piece of brush and broke off a stick and jammed it in the hole, stopping the leakage.

"The plug went another 112 miles before we could repair it," Willitts said.

The course punishes equipment - and it has pitfalls for the riders, especially when it's shrouded in dust. That makes the advance week of pre-ride opportunities crucial.

"You memorize spots where you can go fast and spots where you can die," Greg said.

Gabe had "a pretty good crash during pre-run," which let him know just what he was getting into.

The Willitts took the most fraught portions of the race, when crowds of motorcycles and spectators make things sketchy. Attempting to pass in clouds of dust is a dangerous maneuver.

"Starting the race is perilous and finishing the race is perilous," Greg said. "I started the race and Gabe finished it."

Gabe acknowledged some nerves going into the week of prep.

"I was kind of scared at first, then I got super-excited," he said. "Everybody was really understanding of where I was, level-of-riding-wise. I got comfortable later on in the trip. I'm glad we got to pre-run."

As he rode toward the finish, Gabe believed he was closely pursued by another rider, which put the pressure on. It turned out that the other rider's bike had broken down and he dropped out.

"I was running away from a ghost," he said.

There was another concern to navigate, though.

"Pretty much the whole town is on the course in their minivans and stuff and driving backwards on the course," Gabe said.

He made it through the throngs and across the finish line. He couldn't know for sure he had capped a victory for his team, because penalty points can be assessed for course violations.

"I didn't want to assume that I'd won, but I had a feeling," he said.

The feeling was on the money: his team had pulled out a victory. And that victory was sweet for his dad, too.

"We've never won this race," he said. "I have two second-place trophies... Now my buddies are clamoring to have (Gabe) back on the team, because he's smart and fast."

Of course, for Greg, the thrill of winning a tough race was the least of the emotions coursing through his consciousness.

"It was emotional for me," he said. "I had a desire to see him, see him healthy. I had a high level of anxiety. Normally, I get off the bike and I'm relaxed. I had to run after him, chase him down, give him a big hug."

The race is physically and mentally exhausting. The nature of the terrain forces a rider to stand up on the bike - sitting won't get it done and could put you on the ground. Handling the bike like that taps every bit of strength.

"Afterwards, I felt like I'd gone rock-climbing for four days because my arms were completely dead," Gabe said.

Greg put in some training in advance to make sure his middle-aged body could handle the strain. Crossfit-style training and hot yoga did the trick.

For the father-and-son duo, the race was a big moment, since Gabe will be heading off to college next year. He plans to major in mechanical engineering.

"He got a lot out of this trip," Greg reflected. "Dad got five times more out of this trip."

And Greg has plans to take on similar challenges with another Willitts rider, just a couple of years younger.

"I look forward to doing a similar-style trip with my son Sean in the near future," he said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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