Slow Baja - Blake Wilkey And Michael Squier On The Slow Baja Safari And Urban Assault 3 Tijuana

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

Note: Strong language warning. We bleeped the F-bombs but left the other swear words unbleeped! In this Slow Baja Podcast conversation, I sit down with off-road personality and Shreddy brand founder Blake Wilkey and filmmaker extraordinaire Michael Squier. The duo teamed up to run a Manx Remastered in the 2023 NORRA Mexican 1000 Slow Baja Safari Class. From Squier, we get an update on the smashing success of his Baja Bug Movie. And a brief history lesson on Bruce Meyer's record Baja run from 1967 that led to the first Off-Road Race. We dive deeply into Wilkey and Squier's five days in the Slow Baja Safari Class. And their unabashed delight in running a Manx Dune Buggy 1286 miles --with a smile on their face and their foot firmly planted on the floor.  Our conversation concludes with Wilkey and Squier's new film project, "Urban Assault 3," where Wilkey rips his VW-themed trophy truck, “Jaws,” through the streets of Tijuana. This film is a fully-sanctioned project in the style of his famous 2016 video "San Diego Shark Attack Urban Assault" that went viral with over 3M views and resulted in Wilkey spending 45 days in jail. Enjoy this Slow Baja Podcast conversation with Blake Wilkey and Michael Squier, powered by Baja Bound Insurance. Get your Baja insurance here: https://www.bajabound.com/quote/?r=fl9vypdv2t Watch Urban Assault 3 on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/8Jlc5WWXi18 Follow Blake Wilkey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blakewilkey357/ Check out Shreddy Lyfe here:  https://shreddylyfe.com/ More information about The Baja Bug Movie here: https://thebajabugmovie.com/ Follow Michael Squier on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atypicalsquier/ More on Meyers Manx here: https://meyersmanx.com/ More information on Slow Baja Adventures: https://www.slowbaja.com/adventures

Hey, this is Michael Emery. Thanks for tuning into the Slow Baja. This podcast is powered by Tequila Fortaleza, handmade in small batches, and hands down, my favorite tequila. You know, I've long said it, ask your doctor if Baja is right for you. Well, I want to say hearty thanks to all those folks

who are coming on the Slow Baja Vintage expedition. They got the okay from their doctor, and they're going to have a great time exploring Baja Norte with me. Well, that trip is sold out. Believe it or not, that's right. It is sold out. So if you want to get in on the 2024 Slow Baja vintage, this time in Baja sewer,

you got to check out the Adventures tab at slowbaha.com. And if you have a newer rig, and a lot of folks did inquire with newer rigs, and you want a winner getaway, the Slow Baja rally is February 23rd. to March 3rd. It's a slow roll from San Diego down to Loretto and back. About 10 days long, we're going to have a couple of nights laying over in Loretto. I've got some ready-made adventures for you there. If you want to get off on a one-day mule packing trip, or if the

weather's good, you want to get out on the water, we're going to have a one-day water adventure. There's also going to be a one-day volunteer project for folks who might want to do that. And if you've got some stuff that you need to address on your rig, well, we're going to have some hand-selected Slow Baja-approved mechanics, whether you need a welder or a tire, shop or a mechanic transmission, whatever it is, we're going to have those resources for you, so it's going to be easy for you to get whatever you need addressed, addressed. You know, it's not the longest or the largest or the most miles. It's the slowest and the best miles and hopefully the most smiles. All right. For more information, check it out. It's a slowbaha rally at slowbaha.com

slash adventures. Don't be afraid to ask questions. You can always reach me through the contact link at slowbaha.com. Once again, that's February 23rd through March. 3rd, 2024, the Slow Baja rally. Well, thanks for tuning in to the Slow Baja today. My heaping dose of gratitude goes out to Lyman Scher. He's a magnificent mechanic, usually found building a vintage Ferrari or maybe prepping Big Oli for the Slow Baja safari class like he was last year. And Lyman kindly stored Slow Baja after the Overland Expo in May.

I was up in Scottsdale and got a chance. chance to see my son play baseball and I limerated slow Baja and against Lyman's better judgment. I foolishly drove from Arizona to California during the hottest time of the day and an extreme weather warning. Well, I survived and I got to tell you my new radiator in my old FJ40 kept the temp's well within spec. I'm not sure my temps within spec, but anyways, the reward was a frosty cold Slow Baja Cervesa at Cervasarea Trans-Peninsula when I finally got down to Ensenada. And I got to tell you, that was pretty dang cool. And you have to love Ensenada after 110-degree trip through the Arizona, California desert.

You get down to Ensenana, it's just a beautiful 73 degrees. And Cervasarea Trans-Peninsula are so inviting. And heck, there's a Slow Baja Cerva on tap. So it was all good. And again, thanks to Lyman. All right, today's show is with Michael Squire and Blake Wilkie. Michael Squire is third visit to the Slow Baja show, Baja Bug movie. He's a filmmaker.

He's an extraordinary fellow. And he tamed up with Blake Wilkie in the Nora Slow Baja Safari class and drove a beautiful Myers-Manks. Blake Wilkie is a trophy truck driver, class 11 racer, all around rad dude and I'm excited to have him on the show and have the two of them talking about their adventures in the slow Baja safari class and they sneak peek something that is out right now their Urban Assault 3 film where Blake rips his trophy truck that looks like a big purple Volkswagen Beetle he rips his trophy truck all over Tijuana so that is urban assault 3 which is just

hitting its premieres now so you're going to want to check that out, folks. It's not often that I give a language advisory here on Slow Baja, but this one definitely demands it. I think we bleeped all the F bombs, but I'm not sure that we got them all, and all the other salty language we let slide. We love having you feel like you're sitting there at the table with us, getting these Slow Baja conversations that you're right there listening with me, sipping a Fortaleza in this case. It was just after the Slow Baja safari class wrapped in the Norom Mexican 1000. And I think everyone was a little bit hungover from the huge party the night before. Anyhow, enjoy the show.

My apologies for the salty language, but that's the way these trophy truck drivers talk. So, okay, without further ado, Blake Wilkie and Michael Squire on Slow Baja. We are, now we're recording. Okay. It's a family show on Slow Baja, Blake, so we're not going to get in. to your urban ass salt from last night, but I think we're good. Kaiser, how's it look? Oh, great.

He just put me a blast. He just brought it up right from the bat, huh, bud? He just got thrown into the fire and toss a shot of tequila. Well, here. I guess, cheers to the assaulting. Cheers to Blake's night. Slow bah. And day.

Do you trophy truck drivers have a reputation to live up to, as do Class 11 racers. So, saludos. I'm glad we got them both covered. Yep. A little Fortaleza to clear the palate. That shit kicks you right and then, you know. It's beautiful. It was kind of like our race suits.

Beautiful stuff. Hey, it's Slow Baja. We're in San Jose del Cabo at the beautiful Barcello Granfarro Los Cabos. And I'm with an old friend of the show, Michael Squire. Say hello, Michael. Hello, guys. It's great to be back on. And always a pleasure to talk with you, Michael Emery.

It's really, it's been a while. We've got a lot to talk about, huh? We do. We do. You've had a lot of stuff going on since we last spoke. I have. I've got my new best friend in the whole world right here. Blake Wilkie, amazing human being. I've seen him pass out machaca burritos to everyone in the morning. He's caring. He's loving and he's held behind a wheel. And I just want to get you to tell me the whole story of what it was like to be on the Slow Baja Safari in a classic Manx buggy. So say hello, Blake. What's up? What's up? I mean, that's going to be a long story.

Like, there is an abundance amount of things to talk about. So I'm going to let you guide me with whatever questions you have, and I'll proceed to answer with my best. Should we start with how did it all start? Yeah, let's go. So, Michael, take it away. Michael Squire's well-known Baja Bug movie producer. He's been on the show a couple of times.

I hope you check out the podcasts with him. I think this is your third appearance. And the Baja Bug movie has had an awful lot of success. It has, yeah. It's been very well received at film festivals was the most popular film at the Newport Beach Film Festival. It sold out every screening it had. And yeah, it's been just pretty much going around film festivals around the world right now.

It's doing a lot of awards in New York and California. And it's won a few in Germany. And kind of it's making the rounds. And so that's pretty much where it's going to go for the next year. It's probably submitted to. over 150 different film festivals right now that I'm waiting to hear back from over the next few months and I'll keep updating everybody on that.

But through that... Yeah, so let me jump in for a second. Oh, I'm sorry, you want me to do it? No, no, and reset you. You know, Blake already told me you talk too much, so I got a... You should know, you brought me on here, man. You did this to yourself,

so don't you come pointing the finger at me when you put me on here. So, in telling the story of the Baja bug, you cannot tell that story without telling the Mank story. Correct. And so the Myers Manx, for folks who don't really know what that is, it's the original fiberglass dune buggy based on a Volkswagen, a shortened Volkswagen chassis. And Bruce Myers got some guys, and they figured out how to get from La Paz to, from Tijuana to La Paz was a thing back in the 60s before Nora started the Mexican 1000. Guys would just try and time it. And the Eakins brothers on their motos had a big, it was Bill Robinson, yeah? and Buddykins. Yeah, so they set the first record.

And then Mike Proman, Mike Proman's father, Ed Proman, tried to break the record in his land cruiser and did not. He broke the land cruiser. But take it away, pick up the story about the Manxes and how they did it. Yeah, so after that, you had Bruce do kind of a couple of feasibility runs. He did it along with Vic Wilson. Yeah, they scouted. They scouted. Yeah, they scouted it.

You know, him and Vic Wilson, Ted Mangles, Wheel Anderson, they went and kind of took a gander, if you will. You know, they looked at it and then they kind of took a step back and they're like, well, we could do this section and this amount of time, this section of this amount of time, and this, and they kind of add it all together. And they're like, wait, how many hours did you get? Like, well, that's kind of what I got. I was like, well, maybe we should go for it. We could set a record. Exactly. We think we could beat the bikes.

Like, wait, you're ready? And I double check, we're like, yeah, I think we could beat the bikes. And so they did it. They tried. And so what they did was they stopped at the police in Tijuana to pretty much mark their time. And they had to send a telegram. So it has a record of when they were. And they went down.

And they beat the record. But the thing is, is they were so fast that they beat them to the police station. So they had a way outside of the police station for a couple of hours before they could even register their time. So it was like two hours faster than it was actually registered for that first run to break the record before Nora even. They crush it. What was the time that they actually broke it? Wasn't it like something like six hours? The record?

Yeah. It was not like a little bit that they broke it by. It was significant enough to where it was like it made people. It's astonishing. Yeah, it made people step back and take a look and take makes a little bit more seriously. In today's efforts though, like these big long races, sometimes, are literally come down to seconds. So to take six hours or whatever that big number was

off of that pace is just pretty astonishing, you know. They did their homework. We're gonna leap ahead. So they actually, the other huge advantage is they filled the entire vehicle with gasoline. So it was a bomb driving through the desert. It was a bomb driving through the desert. So they didn't have to look for gas, find gas,

figure on gas, get somebody to drop gas to them. They just hauled ass with their. their gas. Yeah, they hold ass with their gas. And Blake and I haven't just done the Mexican 1000 in Myers-Manks. We, I mean, we went on slow Baja, but we weren't really the slow part of it was not so slow Baja for sure. It was not so slow. We managed to find the top speed, both on road and off-road of the remastered. Um, off-road, what do we get, Blake? Was it 76? I think it was 78. It was quick. We were moving. I don't know. It was way too fast. Yeah. Your eyes on the road, hands on the wheel. Yeah, I was

Yeah, I was navigating. I looked at the Stella, I was like, damn. That's 78. Coming into a corner. Reminder, we don't have a roll cage. Or five point harnesses or even neck braces, there's not even a full seat. Like we're talking, this thing is

prepared to go cruising down PCH and Newport. Like, that's what this thing is to have for. Yeah. Yeah. Same, same, just different. Yeah. Hey, so we've brought up the history of how you guys found yourself coming back to Baja in a manx. So Michael has this amazing film that told the story of the Baja bug,

which told the story of the Manx, which told the story of how Baja racing started. And I think I'm just, you know, leaping in here. I'm assuming you became pals with the new folks who were running Myers-Manks, and as they put this trip together and doing things the way that Michael and Philip do at Myers, uh, Myers Manx, they put an incredible team together. So you two were in one car. I mean, and Blake, we're going to get to who you are. We're going to cut this guy off for a minute.

We're going to get to who you are. I don't need to talk. I've been on here before. Like, I've talked. And, uh, the entire town, look at that scout. Look at that brilliant old. You guys can't see it because of the post. It's that vintage, vintage, vintage scout. He should have been in slow Baja, actually. But anyways, back to you guys. So, Myers-Manks put together an incredibly talented group of people to roll in three of these classic Mags. And I'm using that term loosely. I don't know what the actual term is, but hang on.

And then we had Michael in the G-Wagon. Yes, we did. And we had the support, film, what-have-you, Albert and Miles, and the other guys bringing up the rear or the leading or whatever in the Gladiator that they took half the crap off that they had. on last year that that bent the whole bed off the back of the truck they took half of that stuff off so at least the the gladiator the the modern modern vehicle of the the group actually got through unscathed yep and so blake take it away man you're in slow baha you you are a you've got a

trophy truck that is the most amazing vehicle of all time it's a it's a trophy truck that looks like a vw beetle in on steroids in purple bro yeah i mean uh i mean uh Dude, it's like a little care bear that's a trophy truck. I've been, yeah, I've tested the waters in all elements of off-road. I kind of, I'm an extremist, you know. I either want to have the most limited car that I can push the hardest or the class 11. The biggest, baddest car that I can drive to where it feels like, you know, I'm on the verge of death. And they both kind of are very fitting.

But this was definitely an experience in the Spires-Makes. that was a stock as stock could get to make it an adventure. And I knew we were coming down here to do slowball, ha, and enjoy all of Mexico for the right reasons. You know, it couldn't be kind of very similar to, you know, Bruce's story where he was scoping it out for bigger, better record-breaking endeavors. And, I mean, I'm not trying to break records, but I'd like to come down here and be more competitive,

but getting a better understanding of what it would be that I'm faced, I know that this was originally supposed to be something that Michael and I were going to do with very limited support. And it kind of evolved into this picture perfect entire remastered makes, which is their like perfected body. You know, everything used to be hand-laden. Now it's it's perfected and precision. Precision. And it has a lot of additions to it. You know, so it's still hand-laid, right?

Oh, it is? It is. So it's actually still hand-laid. Hand-laid in small batches. It is. And my favorite manx. But they're able to retain the structure and the rigidity there and do it more accurately. So it's all been remastered.

So they took all the early bodies, and they digitally scanned them all. And they took out all the little pain points of building. So everything fits up. The hood kind of just latches on. You can remove the dash. It has a trunk that you can remove, and you can remove the whole trunk. you can actually work on the rear. It's been thought through.

And this was something that Freeman Thomas designed with the whole team at Manx, and it's been beautifully crafted. And it was something that they showed to Bruce prior to his passing away, and he was ecstatic about it. And they also showed him sketches of the 2.0, the new electric makes. And he was so excited, and it was one of those things that, you know, to keep his legacy going was an honor. Awesome. So it was a huge, huge honor to be down here with that invite from, and support from Philip and Michael and the whole Manx crew. It was really something else. You know, what those guys did and what they had to deal with with what we put that car through was impressive. And they did it with a smile on their face every single day. And it was amazing. Shout out to the crew. You guys are rad. You guys are amazing. Thank you so much.

I tried to work on it. And they said, we got this. You go do your thing. Yeah. We need something. to do. You've been doing something all damn way. We were getting them waters and getting them food. We were doing what we could to help make their day as easy as possible because they were making our day the next as easy as possible. Yeah, and Michael, you're a media professional, so I saw you filming with your red in the middle of the night, and Blake just never stops with the social media. This guy's a machine when he's not taking care of people physically by buying Machaca burritos and walking around saying, can I feed you, can I feed you, can I feed you, can I feed you?

He is literally shooting, filming, posting, it's amazing to watch him work. I'm sharing the ride. For sure. I mean, it's very loose. Usually, for me personally, like, other people, I'll let them do the very high-end professional stuff that we share. But for me personally, it's usually just iPhone stuff to, like, capture living in the moment and sharing, like, this is real. This is what we're doing. This is Slow Baja.

This is Mexico. This is the fun we're having down here. Like, no bullshit. There's no staging. It's all high energy. It's all like the best of the best. And just the hype is real. So how did this land with you?

So you get this opportunity to do the Slow Baja with Michael in a classic manx. And you guys are literally sitting closer than we're sitting right now. There is no room in those things. And I mean, you're used to VW. Beatles. It's actually pretty, it's more spacious than you think. Yeah. Like in the passenger seat, like when I'm riding code dog, if I didn't have the camera bag behind the seat, wedge between the body and the seat,

I could totally extend my legs out and, like, get comfortable. Like, you can totally take an nap in there if you wanted to. So it's a lot more spacious than you think. And the driver's seat's pretty comfortable, too. It's actually, we took it a thousand miles off road. And, I mean, after a night's rest, like, my neck hurts, but that may have been because of my driving and his driving. Like, one night a good,

address. I'm ready for more. I'm ready for more too. Like, let's, let's do another thousand. We were trying to take that bitch to Panama. Yeah, we were trying to convince the makes guys to let us take it all the way down to Chile. Take it all the way down. Take it. Let's just go. And then we actually, we took it further. And we want to try and get all the way around the world. Like, let's drive a Manx around the world. Like, why not? Let's share those smiles everywhere. Well, actually, Potiker right now is trying to figure out the support and the film and how much that would cost in helicopter time for you guys to do that. Because, you know, You know the helicopter would be following you.

We don't need it. We're going to take a break and get a word from our sponsor, Jeff Hill, at Baja Baja Bound, the best Mexico insurance and the best Baja Bound. Jeff. I love you, man. You should have been down here. You were down here last year. I don't know why you didn't come. Next time you come to Mexico, if you need insurance, Baja Bound is the way to go.

Super easy, quick. Go to Baja Bound.com and get insurance on your way down. You can even do it. Have your passenger do it while you're driving. And Blake is going to do an impromptu. commercial promotion for my favorite tequila. Tequila Fortaleza. Blake, you just said it. This tequila's kicking. Yep. Meant to be sipped. Handmade in small batches and hands down my favorite tequila. Here it's Little Baja, we can't wait to drive our old land cruiser south of the border. And when we

go, we'll be going with Baja Bound Insurance. Their website's fast and easy to use. Check them out at Bajabound.com. That's Bajaubound.com, serving Mexico travelers since 1994. Big thanks to my new sponsor Nomad Wheels. They stepped up and sponsored the Slow Baja Safari class at the Nora Mexican 1000, and I don't know if you've seen the pictures, but Slow Baja is running a set of 501 convoys in utility gray, and they look pretty damn sharp. They were a little shiny. I will admit that they were a little shiny when I got them installed at Basil's Garage just before the Norah Mexican 1,000. but after, I don't know, 3,800 miles from Baja dirt, they look perfect.

They really do. Nomadwheels.com. That's right. Check them out, reflecting a minimalist approach to off-road travel. Nomadwheels.com. And we are back with Blake Wilkie and Michael Squire, and we're talking about the Manks, the Myers-Manks experience in the Slow Baja Safari. So, Blake, pick it up, man.

You got this opportunity. and do you, I mean, I'm guessing, I'm guessing a guy with your skills and your attitude and your, your abilities, you probably get some opportunities to come your way to drive this, do that, you know, go here, do this. Blake, hey, hey, Blake, we want you to do, hey, Blake. What did you think? Like, I'm doing what in Slow Baja? Tell me about it. I mean, there's definitely a lot of opportunities.

And I'm usually a yes man when I shoot myself in the home. foot with that stuff because like my schedule's already so freaking crazy and um this one just seemed really fitting like obviously myers minks is just looking at one has like a vibe and like a fun characteristic to it to where it's like you see it and you're like that looks fun um it paired with you know the Volkswagen the history the capabilities and everything um You know, it was an open invite to come have fun and promote this vehicle. And I have not necessarily actual O.G. Myers makes, but I have what I call the Munster makes. That is a piece of shit that we bought on a Summer Shred Tour for a couple grand, put a new

mp. Carbredator on it. And the thing was purring and some plugs. And we smash that through a lot of Michigan. And I know the fun that I had in that and kind of pairing that with this and an iconic company such as Myers makes and then watching your video on the Nora website of shout out Sam Hurley turtle wax thanks yeah how you expressed what slow Baja is all about and the people the people yeah and the the people and also the uh the historic spots you know the the missions the hot springs the terrain, the scenery, and just kind of all of your endorphins being released by the sense, the cold, the hot, the wind, the freedom. Like, when I watched that video, after kind of getting the opportunity presented,

it was just a no-brainer. It was automatically a yes. Love it. That's what, you know, and I mean, we're spending, you know, nine days, and there's a lot of shit on my plate at home, but this surpassed what those priorities were to become my number one priority. So I owe you from that video a lot as well as, you know, Michael for setting it up through our work endeavors together on the Baja Bug movie and him working with Myers and kind of just lining it all up. And there's more to come, hopefully for next year.

You know, my goal is, you know, with a little bit of input, trying to get Myers-Manks to send me those CAD drawings of the new remastered body and remastering it ourselves internally with my boy Kevin Butts, who engineered the TT bug and designed all the bug fiberglass for this monstrosity of a trophy truck to kind of make it look very proportionate to a bug in a similar manner with the minks. So it's like, you know, last year we did it, just like I've done before with the stock class 11 stuff. Well, you know, the TTs get a ton of limelight and attention. So why not let us work our magic and put a Manx body on the trophy truck and come do it on both spectrums just like I've done for the last few years? And I think it would be a very big fan favorite for the people of Mexico. The amount of love and support we've seen down here at each finish line is just still surreal to me because it's like I'm just a kook having fun doing my thing, sharing the ride, sharing the adventure,

and to see the support that we have from all these people that are in a whole other country that have so much passion for Bahad's like, how can I do more for them? Can we talk about that for just a second? because you don't hear good stuff about Mexico in media. I'm struggling to, like, say it politely. There's a lot of misinformation that is out there. You don't hear anything good about this. Stereotypes that are out there.

Right. It's not accurate. You're going to get cut up by the cartel. You'll be hanging from a bridge. Like, tell me about the people. I mean, the people. What is it? Far from what you just said as possible.

It's amazing. If you fuck around, you're going to find out. If you look for trouble, you're going to find it, and that's the same no matter where you are. Yeah. But the other thing, you're driving through the middle of dirt BF nowhere, and there's an entire family out there that brought their pristine 88 Azuzu trooper and a, you know, a pop-up. Pristine? Yeah, or what about an angel who towed us out? They've got a pile of Takate cans that.

are four feet tall and they are just stoked that you're driving by. It's a holiday for them. It's a highlight of their year and they'll be out there for eight hours in the sun and join themselves. It's a vacation. It's something that they look forward to and that's what I want to be able to provide for them is something that they can look forward to. And I think we have that the capabilities to make that impact and because, because

time one of the underdogs because, you know, we don't have a budget that's, you know, just overflowing. It's, it's, everything has to be very methodical, but, um, and everybody has to do double duty. So you've got your own social media team in the car, out of the car, drivers. Anybody can go either seat, left seat, right seat, film's a lot, drive, whatever. I saw this guy ripping in front of a helicopter. Michael Squire, yeah, ripping in front of a helicopter. where Blake's just kicking. Blake's just kicking. I got Spacoli over here, like looking at Mr. Hand and saying,

where's the surf, bro? And this guy has got a helicopter following him, you know, and he's ripping and doing donuts. And we were, I mean, we were on a hold, so we were just having fun. We couldn't go anywhere. And there's acres and acres and acres and acres and acres of dirt just waiting to have donuts ripped on it.

And Michael Squire, filmmaker extraordinaire, took up the opportunity. And obligated to oblige. That's right. I mean, and then there was miles of... There was miles of sand, too. You guys, what you didn't see was what happened on the sand. That was where the magic was.

We missed that. We missed that. But Ted Donovan, and the reason that Ted is with me, he approached the first local role in buying his Chevy Love pickup with the fenders cut out and big balloon tires and said, can you go pull my friends out? I've got some money for you. Yeah. And that dude said, yeah, I got that.

That was angel. Then he ripped his back bumper off. I know. That was, I mean. Myers-Manks took care of him and he had a huge fiesta last night, I hear. The word is from Toto Santos, there was a huge party on his block. No, that's awesome. Yes, Angel.

Michael Potacher made it rain. Michael, Michael made it rain, and he's got a new bumper and a carnia sada and everybody had a good time. That's amazing. So thanks, Myers-Manks. He saved the day. He saved her eyes. He saves us. And did Ted dig you guys out?

Who got stuck? No, that was Nevin and. Rory. I got stuck also. Rory? That was Rory. Yeah, he came. We were, well, we were digging for a while, and then it was like digging, digging, digging,

lift, okay, let's try it. Nope. Nope. All right, keep digging, digging, digging. And then finally Rory came over. Traction boards. It came out with traction boards and shovels, and it made all the difference when we were out. And then it was after that.

After Blake got stuck again, he was kind of, we got our show, we got some drone shots. Worked out perfect, though. Yeah, it was beautiful. It gave us time for the heli to show up. Yeah, and it was nice for Ted to get a little workout in. It was perfect. Yeah. Working on his beach body.

That sand was really soft. That's what you said. I didn't get out there because land cruisers and sand do not mix. There was a lot of shells. But Blake, you said it was like powdered sugar and shells. Yeah, I mean, it was very light. It was very fluffy. It wasn't super.

It was coarse, but it was also super light to where the traction was really low. And we didn't really, we had our kind of fat. speed dirt tire settings for air pressure so we did air down a substantial amount and then we were already kind of committed and stuck so air down a little bit more stuffed the traction boards in there got it off of the belly with the shovels in the rear and she pulled right out and was continuing to rip and yeah but I mean it's just part of it you know I'm I do it a lot but shit happens I was stuck as f.

Far for the course, man. Stuck as F. Hey, can we transition a little bit and just talk about the two, the thing that you two are doing together or the you two just did together in Tijuana? That looked kind of crazy. That's not slow Baja. Like, how did that, wait, Michael set it up,

and then, you know, Blake pick it up and tell me, like, how it worked for you with the camera team and all that and logistics, and how it worked for you behind. the wheel. So Michael, just set up what the heck that was all about. Sure, but do you want to preface it a little bit with what you're talking about? With a little bit of Blake's history. So why don't we let Blake do a little bit of his own history? Or Michael, you want to tell us all about yourself? He's just a poor kid from the dirty side of San Diego. East County, where all

the motorcycle racers and all the dirt drivers come from. It's like Finland of California. This is where rally drivers, dirt drivers, motorcycle racers, this is where they come from. And they have for decades. Mom was a desert rat. Dad was a desert rat. I grew up going to the river. So it was just, you know, horsepower was circumfercing my life growing up. Voltzwaggans, my mom had a Volkswagen when I was born.

There's a picture of me and her in a Volkswagen when I was young. I was always on the fridge. We moved around a lot after. they divorced. She had a lot of boyfriends, so, you know, she's getting some flavors in, whatever. And lost the picture, but I would never forget that picture. And I just, bugs just are so cool. They have so many different characteristics to them that people can mod, and the people that surround the bugs are just special. And they're easy going and they're cool as fuck. So I always wanted a bug. I was working for buggyworks. Got a bug body.

for free from a dude that wanted to build a manx, so the bug show had to come off, and the dude didn't care about it. So I basically did the labor for free to pull it off for a free bug. How old were you about this time? 17. 17. Yeah.

Built the OG bug. It took me from the time I was 17 until I was 26 to get it to its perfected nature. You know, I'd say two-thirds of every paycheck went into that bug. And then I knew there was. ways to make it better. So I was, and I was just ready to build something new and better and bigger and faster. And did a last hurrah on San Diego called Urban Assault, which, didn't you sell it before you did that, though?

I did sell it. And then the shipping date was, you know, a week after I had received the cash and it was all good. So I was like, dude, fuck it. Let's do a last hurrah, San Diego, super punk rock, skater, thrasher. a couple friends with a camera, homie Mark McNeil with his minivan that he had. We just went and filmed a video that really made waves. And a lot of people saw it as like, you know, you're giving off-road a bad rep.

And that wasn't the thought process. It was just like pretty much, let's go have fun and send this thing on its way as like a salute and something that we've always wanted to do in these spots that we've done but really never documented it. We kind of put it all together and it blew up. So we did a second one with the new car, which was at the time, which was Megalodon. So they're all named after sharks. And that went really well in Mexico, or in Las Vegas. But we had to set a bunch of stuff up.

It still did really well. And it was cool and super fun and professional was kind of like, you know, sponsors got on board. We can do this with the support and be really creative and make things that are different that a lot of people haven't done in the off-road kind of community. And the goal was always, you know, hey, the top-tears trophy truck. So it's been probably about five years in the making to build this trophy truck named Jaws with the pastel purple wrap that a lot of people have seen. And it came to fruition.

And as soon as it was done, you know, get some testing, dial this thing in. and me and Michael spent literally a year on several scout trips trying to make the right connections. Luckily with his Baja Bug movie, he made a lot of connections down there, Sal. And it developed into a work of art where we spent eight days down there for the actual, with the crew, to shoot it five days on set. And Tijuana was beautiful and blessed us with basically the keys of the city. Wow. and it's going to be so epic because every shot spot is just super special.

There's color around. There's people in the neighborhoods. The streets are lined with people and there wasn't one person that was mad about it. Like we had to cut off a metal pole and no one bitched. Everyone was like, do what you got to do. Like, I want to see this shit. This is like right here in front of my house. This is awesome.

And you jumped a cop car with a cop actually in the car. Yeah. I mean, I don't think I'm not letting the cat out of the bag. I don't think we're supposed to do that. But we talked him into it. And he got in a little trouble, I think. No, actually, we didn't talk him into it. You want to know how that came about?

Enthusiasm is how it came about. Exactly. It came about because of the love of Vochos in Mexico. So it's something that kind of goes back to what you were saying earlier about the stereotype of Mexico. This is something that we worked with the tourism department to create. And this is something that we wanted to share Mexico. You know, through my travels and shooting the Baja Bug movie,

I came to love this country. The people are so welcoming and so helpful. It's one of those things that once you come down here, you want to stay. And it's such a beautiful thing that you just want to share it. And so every time I go back, I hear all of these things like, oh, it's so dangerous. You're going to get shot. You're going to get robbed.

You're going to this and that. And it's like, not really. No. You know, it's like if you're stupid and you might lose something, things might go missing. If you don't take care of it, if, you know, you go looking for trouble, you're going to find trouble. Like if you, you know what I mean? Back to Urban Assault 3. Exactly.

So, I'm sorry, I'm exhausted. So we were down in Tijuana. It came about with the jumping of the cop car. We were there setting up for this scene without the cop car. car. Our location manager walks over and it's like, do you want to jump a police car? Like, can we jump a police car? Glara case. Yes. If we can jump a police car, we want to jump a police car. Duh. And so it's like, yeah, we can jump a police car. In a trophy truck that looks like a purple smurphy VW beetle. Name Jaws. Name Jaws. Not Megalodon. Jaws. And so again, tell me when this

this epic is going to be released so that I can properly waiting on this guy all right so we're planning on probably a July release we're in post right now we have we have some amazing stuff we had about six red cameras rolling on every location we found whatever budget my wallet hurts yeah it was not it was not cheap we did it correctly you know it was done the right way the safe way the way the to do it justice. Compared to what other people spend on these big films, though, or these short videos, I guarantee you we did that with, I mean, I've always had to be resourceful, you know, and make do.

And we had a lot of really good support, but they're still off-road brands, you know. And I feel like most off-road brands or like companies don't have a, an abundance of wealth to like really like throw that out there so it's it was a huge huge help huge support but we definitely went over budget and I'm okay with that because this is going to be something that we can look back on and show people what we can create with a fraction of the cost of what other people are doing with damn near an unlimited budget but it's just we're resourceful so can we just We're going to have to wrap it up here, but can you just tell me a little bit about your background?

You operate a, let's put it politely or hilariously, you operate a mobile shredding service. Yeah, that's what my Instagram says, yeah. I mean. I just love that. Yeah. Shredding service. Absolutely. So tell me a little bit about shreddy life and what's going on there.

It's an apparel company that I started after Urban Assault 1. So basically, you know, a bunch of people. people wanted like me to start a go fund me and I'm like dude I'm not taking people's hard earned cash I did Wilkie work shirts with the bug and urban assault my logo and everything and I didn't want to be like a cliche dude that like has my name on people's backs like like yeah it's I respect people that want to do that and like support me but I'm like I think I could build a brand that brings people together and you know common interest of shredding and it's not like a niche market where it's just off-road it's like i grew up

snowboarding surfing skating shredding and shredding and if you're ready to shred then guess what you're shreddy shred ready baby you know there's some good skate parks on the way you see those yeah so like you know we see that different features and we're like dude i want to shred that i want to shred that and like even if you shred sushi or the guitar it's it's like it's more of a way to bring people together with common interest of shredding and that's pretty much what shreddy's all about so again shreddy life you just shredded 1286 miles your mileage may vary i don't know closed course professional driver do not attempt but tell me i mean how do you explain a slow baha safari be in a vintage looking remastered Manx

See Baja bring it home It can be summed up in one word beautiful And like I mean It's hard to put it into perspective You can talk about it all you want But unless you experience it You just

Videos Won't do justice So if you want to experience the beauty of Mexico With a guided tour Safer than safe and see Baja and enjoy it with racers. This is either if you're an entry person to Baja, this is the perfect fit.

If you're a racer, I've raced probably over hundreds of races and many walks of like off-roading between Moto and off-road many classes. And I actually enjoyed this. It was a release from the stressful environment, and it was just, again, beautiful. Did you actually get to see some of the places that you were when you were there, as opposed to when you're racing as just a tunnel vision? Everywhere.

You said, you were there. I probably covered the most distance walking around every spot. Like, yeah, people would be like, we got to go. And I'm like over on the hill looking at the different cactuses. And like, I'm just an adventure. And I see cool things. And like, I sometimes beat to my own drum and do my own thing and get to soak it all in. Slow Baja approved.

Slow Baja. approved on that for sure. Yeah. Michael, the big talker, Blake said he was going to have to turn off his helmet just to shut you up off of his ears anyways. He was coordinating a lot, and there was a lot of chatter. There was a lot of chatter, and we had quite a few cars. But it was great.

And, you know, doing it with Myers-Manks was the perfect way to experience it. You know, you're in an open car. You get to go your own pace. You're doing it the way it was done in the beginning. And it's something that you can do in your pre-runner, and your stock four by four in your new Myers-Manks that you can get and build one in your garage with your son,

with your wife, with your girlfriend by yourself. We're going to do a build series on those as well. We're doing a build series, so if you guys want to learn how to build a minks with your son, I'm going to be getting a body soon and showing you guys how to specifically build one to the tee of what we race down here.

Sorry to cut you off. No, no, no, feel free. I'm just really excited about it. Love it. See, that's what happens. you take five minutes in a manx or a thousand miles in a manx and you want one because the second you get out of it the second you get in it and start moving you're smiling i mean we had a thousand miles of smiles and we didn't want it to end i mean it was great now that i'm out of it i'm like thinking like let's go take it for a cruise do we have the keys for that still like let's go find that thing to lunch like it's it's addicting man because it's or like let's jump it off this curb right here where in mexico there's a lot of perfect opportunities to do some urban assaulting. Quatro.

Myers-Manks destroyed San Jose del Cabo. Hey, we're going to leave it right there on a thousand miles of smiles. But I do want to know, Blake, where can people find out? Well, let's start with you, Michael. Where can people find out more about the Baja Bug movie and more about you? And then we'll get to Blake where you can find out more about Blake and what he's going to. So you guys can find out more about the Baja Bug movie at the Baja Bugmovie.com or on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, all those.

Myself, you can find me on Instagram as atypical Squire. If you want to get yourself a new Myers-Manks remastered kits or any of the beautiful merchandise, the hats, the shirts that you have seen in all of this live stream that Blake has been doing, because it's pretty impressive how much he's been doing. Like, I'm right there next to him the whole time. I'm impressed.

Like, when did you have time to post this or even record it? Like, what? It was impressive. Prograde. Pro great. It's impressive. So check out MyersMakes.com. Get yourself one.

And we'll see you down here next year. Slow Baja, Nora, Mexican 1000, 20203. Blake, how about you, buddy? Where can people find out all about your shredding service? Shreddy life. So life is with at y.com. We have a ton of active wear, lifestyle, apparel on their hats, collabs with multiple partners that we put our own twists on.

to give you something, you know, unique, special that stands out that has my stamp of approval because I ain't going to sell you no bullshit. My Instagram's Blake Wilkie 357. Our YouTube is Shreddy Life and hopefully we can inspire you to do cool shit, get outside, have a good fucking time. But I think that's about it. And I'm ready for another shot at tequila, slow. God, I wish I had another one.

We have poured every single drop. You know, Fortaleza is sold. out all over the world. They sent a couple of cases down with me, but they sent their very, very, very best. So I'm- See this wristband? That's all access? Yeah, let's fucking party. Right. We're going to leave it right there, folks. Thanks, Kaiser, thanks, Blake Wilkie 357. Thanks, a typical squire, Michael Squire, the best of your third visit to Slow Baja. Hey, bro, what a fun week we had. Follow it all at slowbaha.com. Follow it all at Shreddy Life. com and Michael

followed all at the Baja bugmovie.com and I can't wait to tell you all about urban assault three. Stay rad. Stay bad. I'm shred hard. Don't die. There you go. We did it.

Thanks guys. Hey, I hope you enjoyed that show. Again, my apologies for the salty language. You know, I meet people where they are. Blake Wilkie really is an amazing fellow. It's so wonderful to just watch and walk into a taco shop in the back of a

grocery store, see that people were ordering Machaca burritos for breakfast, and he just ordered, I don't know if he ordered two dozen of them or something, but he walked right out into the parking lot where the rest of the Slow Baja Safari class was gathered, and he started passing out Machaca burritos to the folks in the class buying everybody

breakfast, and that's the kind of dude he is when he isn't dropping an F-bomb every other word. So again, check out Urban Assault 3. You're going to want to check out all those websites. that we drop there to see that. And, well, I'll be back next week with something fun. And until then, to paraphrase, almost Hall of Famer, Mary McGee's pal, Steve McQueen.

You know, he left Baja. He got Mary McGee on a dirt bike riding Baja. Well, Steve McQueen said it. Baja's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting. You know, I'm a minimalist when it comes to Baja. travel, but the one thing I don't leave home without is a good old paper map. My favorite is the beautiful, and I mean beautiful, Baja Road and Recreation Atlas by Benchmark Maps. It's an oversized

72-page book. It's jammed with details. It brings the peninsula's rugged terrain into clear focus. Get yours at Benchmarkmaps.com. In fact, get two. One for your trip planning at home and one for your Baja rig. And while you're at Benchmarkmaps.com, you've got to check out all their other atlases. I think They're up to 17 now, including British Columbia. They've got folding maps. They've got digital maps. They've got giant wall maps. My favorite, and I've got it up on my wall right here at Slow Baja HQ, is the 30-inch by 46-inch Baja wall map.

It's so great to just look at one thing to see the entire peninsula there. I love it. Benchmarkmaps.com. Slow Baja approved. Huge news, folks. Huge news out of Ensonata this week. Surveisa Ria Trans-Pencillular has added. I've added slow Baja to the summer tap list.

I can't believe it. That's right. You can walk right in to Cervasaria TransPencillar and order yourself a cold and frosty, slow Baja on tap. And that's what I'm going to be doing this weekend. I'm heading to Baja this weekend to pre-run for the Slow Baja vintage expedition. I'm going to stop right there in Plaitas de Ansonata,

right next to the Hotel Corral and Marina. And I'm going to walk right in, and I'm going to say, hey, bartender. I want a slow-baha servesa, and he's going to pour me one. And Colin, the good-hearted owner of Serviceria Transpennsalar, said he's going to drop a couple paces in the tank for every servesa he sells this summer. So you buy yourself a cold, frosty, slow-baha beer. That helps Slow Baja stay on the road, bringing you these great podcasts.

It's win-win. All right, I'll see you down there. Cervaseria Trans-Pencillular, limited time only this summer. Get yourself a Slow Baja on tap.