One more ride to glory

Coming out of retirement proved to be a worthy exercise for Nielsen, who along with his three teammates placed fourth in their division at the legendary race that covers almost all of Mexico’s Baja peninsula.

“Our division was the largest of the race, with about 60 teams entered,” Nielsen said.

“This was my first Baja race. There was another guy from Whatcom County, Pat White from Bellingham, who finished ninth. It was his second Baja 1,000. I never got to see him, though.”

Nielsen drove the second and sixth legs, then met up with his wife, Vanessa, and children Olivia, 10, and Cole, 8, to celebrate at the finish in Cabo San Lucas.

The venture wasn’t cheap. Each rider pitched in $5,000 to buy the motorcycle and pay for crew costs and other expenses.

“The motorcycle is now in California, and it’s for sale,” Neilsen said. “I’m expecting to get back maybe $1,000 of my costs. But it was an experience to remember. We just aren’t going out for a lot of dinners for a while.”

Nielsen, a tiner (metal bender) at Mount Baker Roofing for more than 20 years, said he got his inspiration to race motorcycles from his 77-yearold father, Paul.

“I was born to race,” he said. “Dad still races vintage motorcycles — machines from about 1974 and earlier — and he didn’t start doing that until he was 60.

“He inspired me to begin racing at the Hannegan Speedway when I was about 10. I’ll always remember winning the old Sea to Ski race up to Mount Baker when I was about 11, riding on the back of the motorcycle with Dad.”

Motorcycle racing became an outlet for Nielsen’s competitive nature after injury ended his college football career.

Nielsen, a member of Sehome High School’s class of 1981, was recruited by Western Washington University following a standout high school football career and two seasons at Wenatchee Valley College as a linebacker.

“I played in my first game at Western as a defensive end, but then I tore ligaments badly in my ankle during practice the next week,” he said. “That was the end of football.”

But it was only the beginning of his pro off-road racing career.

Nielsen raced five seasons (1986-90) on the national offroad circuit and won the open class (250cc and over) in the 1987-88 National Reliability Trials series.

“Then I really enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame in 1996 as part of a three-man team that won a world championship in the International Six-Day Enduro in Finland,” he said.

“Along with Guy Cooper (from Oklahoma) and Fred Hoers (New Jersey), we raced in stages on a 400cc Honda, about 150 miles per day. It was similar to the Tour de France cycling race, and it was a big deal in Europe.”

Marriage and child-rearing limited him to recreational riding the past decade — until the unexpected call from Scott Lathrop of Snohomish.

“Scott said their fourth guy for the Baja 1,000 had backed out and wondered if I’d be interested. At first, I thought he was kidding. I told him I’d need a couple of days to think about it and to talk it over with Vanessa.

“We decided I would do it. Scott and I flew to California to meet with the other guys, Steve Williams and Dennis Rogers (both from Southern California). We went for a two-day time trial on our Honda 650cc R on the Old Mojave Trail and rode to Laughlin, Nev.

“Our bike is about as big a dirt bike as they make. I loved it. We had a crew of 13 people to support us, and they did a great job. None of us made money on the race, but it’s something we’ll always remember.”

On his two legs of the race, Nielsen rode about 190 miles from San Vicente to Guayaquil and 185 miles from Loreto to Cuidad Constitucion.

“I rode about as fast as I comfortably could, but I didn’t take any chances,” he said. Is he ready to rumble again?

“Oh, not next year,” he said with a grin. “But I’m sure I won’t be racing as long as Dad.”