Good results as a Baja lojack.....
As many of you know my first love over flying is still my dirt bikes. This year after turning 50, several of us decided to take a crack at the over 50 class in the Baja 1000. We all bought SPOTs both for use during prerun, on the race bike, and whatever other aviation-marine-???? uses after the race.
We started out with using the tracking mode in the support trucks as they made their way to their appointed places on the peninsula--all as advertised. We then were able to check in and track each other making sure no one was left out on the course during prerun, it was not always possible to prerun with a companion so the SPOT provided a level of security not otherwise available.
It all got much more interesting on race day!!
For those not familiar, the 1000 usually starts in Ensenada about 60 miles south of San Diego. This year, as the 40th anniversary run, it ended in Cabo San Lucas covering 1296 miles. It is run nonstop, day and night, by bikes, quads, trucks, buggys and all sorts of off road vehicles. The vehicle is the entry and rider changes are the norm where the course crosses roads or other relatively convenient locations.
Our first rider was scheduled to ride the top 203 miles then start the handoffs. In the bike's fender pack with a spare tube and miscellaneous gear was one of our SPOT devices.
I was waiting my turn sitting in a hotel in Loreto, about 600 miles to the south monitoring the progress in track mode---seeing faster areas, slower areas, etc when I saw a run of 3 overlapping pings at the same location--Race Mile 188.5.
Not good---a likely crash in high speed country! Soon I got a call that our rider was injured and going out on a helicopter, nothing life threatening, but easily enough to end his day. While the guys in the area got organized to go retrieve the bike and hopefully initiate repairs and continue the race we looked back at the SPOT site and saw the bike had moved!! Not good--local vultures at work!!
As the rescue bike arrived, fortunately with cell phone coverage in an unlikely area, we were able to direct them about a half mile to the north off the course and up through rough country. After a bit of searching, the bike was found, stripped and stashed in an arroyo and covered partially with brush.
Thanks to SPOT we were able to retrieve the bike albeit that our race day was toast. Maybe next year, but for sure with a SPOT.