Reunited riding buddies will fulfill Baja racing dream

Frank Prince, of Big Magic Racing, during the 2007 Baja 1000. (Photo: Mark Hintsa)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hintsa/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Jason Hill and John Lowe rode motorcycles together as kids, grew up, and went their separate ways in life. Then, in 2007, Facebook and a class reunion brought the two back in touch.

"As we began catching up, John asked, 'Do you remember when we were riding as kids how we used to watch the Baja races on TV and always said we'd run it one day?'  'Yeah,' I replied. 'Well, it's time.' And that was that. It took some convincing, but I finally agreed that it was indeed time, so we began incubating a plan."

Now the two are headed for Ensenada, Mexico, as J2 Racing, for the 2009 Baja 1000 race, and you can follow them as they realize their dream. They'll be sending me reports and photos and I'll get the updates out as quickly as they can send them. We're looking for the closest thing we can come up with to real-time reports, within the limits of race preparation and email.

Come race day, Friday, Nov. 20, you will also be able to track the team's progress on Spotadventures.com, where their GPS unit will update the rider's location every 10 minutes.

The way I see it, Jason and John are going to be able to tell their story best in their own words. I'll just be doing some organizing and editing of the reports they send me. For starters, here is some information about the team.

John and Jason - two longtime friends who first met in 2nd grade at Burnt Chimney Elementary. More or less brothers from the start, we later began riding dirt bikes together, John on a Honda 50 and Jason on a '74 Honda XL70.

John's family moved away, then back, and the two saw each other off and on up until 1993.

For about the next 16-17 years we both bounced around the country along our respective roads less traveled. Both still motorcycle enthusiasts. Both with that lingering, insatiable need for speed and the open road. I (Jason) later learned that John's stable was full of Hogs and others. Too many bikes over the years to list, suffice to say he always had one. I hadn't ridden in several years since that XL70 but after moving back to SC in 1996 (was there previously, in 94-95) I bought a drag racing-tuned '81 KZ 1000 that later taught me a hard lesson about respect for the power of the machine.

When they reconnected in 2007, "Emails continued and the first phone call in 17 years lasted 4 hours. It was like that much time had never even passed."

With the decision to go, it was time to pull together a team. The crew chief is Rod Pegram, "chase support, distinguished gentleman, avid motorcyclist and British expatriate."

Says Rod, "I met John through the local Harley club when John purchased his first Harley and I was assigned as his 'Big Brother,' It did not take long before John and I came to the conclusion that the Harley club was not for us, we had a 'need,' a need for speed and trips that the local Harley club were incapable of riding or organizing. Most weekends we would throw some things in a bag and head out and just ride the whole weekend. John introduce Jason to me when he came down to test the race bike, Grunt."

Other team members are Liz Pegram (Rod's wife), and Ashley Clifton-Hill (aka "Sara Miller," Jason's wife).

Liz and Ashley will be riding shotgun in the chase truck to offer their assistance to keep us fed and watered, and to keep morale up and maybe provide a relaxing neck rub between riding shifts on the bike. I (Jason) first met Liz on the recent visit to Columbus, GA, for a practice run on the race bike. In her company, I felt at home immediately and knew she'd be a valuable asset to the team. Likewise, Ash has put forth tremendous effort over the past year to assist with race planning, equipment/supplies gathering, and just generally providing the loving support needed to keep a clear head as time draws closer to leaving for Mexico.

More to come on the bike, the ride strategy, and the teams's hopes and expectations.

Related articles
Baja 1000 getting ready to roar
Reunited riding buddies will fufill Baja racing dream
J2 Racing on the road to Ensenada
J2 Racing run in Baja 1000 ends prematurely with crash and broken bones
Teaser for upcoming J2 Racing Baja 1000 story
J2 races Baja: Getting to Ensenada and settling in
J2 races Baja: Preparation and pre-running
J2 races Baja: Tech inspection, registration, and encountering a legend
J2 races Baja: Final pre-running, damage, and a fix
J2 races Baja: Trouble at the starting line
J2 races Baja: First leg of the race and a premature ending
J2 races Baja: The rescue
J2 races Baja: The long way home, an adventure in itself

Check out the latest articles from other Motorcycle Examiners:

• Looking for riding buddies? Try Meetup.com - Fort Collins Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Uncertain, Texas; certainly a great motorcycle ride - Shreveport Motorcycle Travel Examiner, Mary Baker
• Salute to our Veterans - Seattle Motorcycle Examiner
• Motorcycles and red light sensors; which ones don't work? - Baltimore Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• 30K in 30 days Harley rider touches in: 'I'll recover fully' - National Motorcycle Examiner
• Cycle World international motorcycle show - Dallas Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Pagosa Springs - Water that has strong smell? - Colorado Springs Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• The vintage project part 4 - before you start get organized - National Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Drinking and riding  -Newark Motorcycle Examiner
• BMW 2010 R1300RT - spy shots - Colorado Springs Motorcycle Examiner
• Learning to ride a Sidecar Rig - Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Mental and physical discipline in motorcycle riding - target fixation and gravel - Spokane Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• BMW demo ride - first impressions: Sport - K1300S - DC Motorcycle Travel Examiner