Kacey Smith (alias: Lizard Lady) collects, manages, and creates the Baja GPS guidebooks and events, but in all honesty...........
It was all John Franck's idea (better known as Juan Valdez). There is never a dull moment in life when it's being spent with Juan. As we planned our 6-week dirt bike expedition over too many Negra Modelos one evening, Juan says, "Hey, ya know, my dad's using a GPS to navigate his flights; we should document our rides with this GPS gadget and turn it into some kind of Baja guidebook". And, so the creation was born and Juan had no idea what he'd gotten himself into.
With my neurotic ways of taking the bull by the horns, we ended up with full support from all the best product sponsors: Honda, Magellan GPS, Baja Designs, Dunlop, FOX, Amrel Ruggedized Laptops, IMS, Fugawi Software, Alpinestars, Arai Helmets, and many others. Juan and I saddled up on our XR400's and headed south without a lick of GPS Experience. We stumbled, we fell, and we got lost the whole way down the incredible Peninsula. The Baja GPS Guidebook Volume 1 is a serious collection of information (safety, set ups, locations, warnings, tips and more) that we needed to know on our first off-road trip in the desolate desert. Within those 6-weeks, we learned, we got raspberries, and we managed to put together the first ever system for retracing our tread. Learning from our mistakes was costly, but damn fun.
With my neurotic ways of taking the bull by the horns, we ended up with full support from all the best product sponsors: Honda, Magellan GPS, Baja Designs, Dunlop, FOX, Amrel Ruggedized Laptops, IMS, Fugawi Software, Alpinestars, Arai Helmets, and many others. Juan and I saddled up on our XR400's and headed south without a lick of GPS Experience. We stumbled, we fell, and we got lost the whole way down the incredible Peninsula. The Baja GPS Guidebook Volume 1 is a serious collection of information (safety, set ups, locations, warnings, tips and more) that we needed to know on our first off-road trip in the desolate desert. Within those 6-weeks, we learned, we got raspberries, and we managed to put together the first ever system for retracing our tread. Learning from our mistakes was costly, but damn fun.
The Volume 1 Baja GPS Guidebook took 6 years of the "poor mans" type riding. After the first year, Juan's pocket book gave up, but I continued the threat of green stamps. Alan Roach from Baja Designs and my cousin Jason Lee were the two responsible for keeping my sanity; it was a trying experience to say the least. They gave up all their spare time to "test" the routes and make sure they were as accurate as the GPS promised, which all came to fruition in December 2000 when the Guidebook V1 finally published.
The Baja GPS Events were invented to educate off-roaders how to use the guidebook, how to use the GPS, and help keep us out of dangerous areas and private property without permission. The first ever GPS Event was held in 1998, however, we waited until after publishing to hold the second event in 2001. And, we continued the GPS Events annually until our last event in 2006.
Although I spent most of my life on a dirt bike (since I was 5) and many weekends in Baja (riding or playing on the beach), it wasn't until that first big 6-week expedition that made me realize just how much there was to know and love about Baja. There are places to stay away from and there are places to keep going back, but most of all, there are some places to be shared with others. That is what the guidebook is all about:
Keeping us in the RIGHT places safely & accurately with the aid of the Baja GPS Guidebooks! Enjoy.
The Baja GPS Events were invented to educate off-roaders how to use the guidebook, how to use the GPS, and help keep us out of dangerous areas and private property without permission. The first ever GPS Event was held in 1998, however, we waited until after publishing to hold the second event in 2001. And, we continued the GPS Events annually until our last event in 2006.
Although I spent most of my life on a dirt bike (since I was 5) and many weekends in Baja (riding or playing on the beach), it wasn't until that first big 6-week expedition that made me realize just how much there was to know and love about Baja. There are places to stay away from and there are places to keep going back, but most of all, there are some places to be shared with others. That is what the guidebook is all about:
Keeping us in the RIGHT places safely & accurately with the aid of the Baja GPS Guidebooks! Enjoy.