"Spectator hit by motorcycle at mile nine," the radio dispatcher relays to the paramedics and then adds the ominous, "no pulse." As luck would have it, that death was only one of that year's Baja 1000 race, an off-road race through the silt, rocks, boulders and some public highways of Baja California in Mexico. Since the courses aren't closed to the locals during the race, the drivers of motorcycles, trucks and even old, unmodified VW Beatles are constantly challenged not to kill anyone as they fly in the air at speeds topping 100 miles per hour. As they race throughout the day and the night, they never know what may be over the next rise as people and animals walk in front of them.
