No Cars Allowed on the beach
At least that’s what the sign says entering Conalep, a public beach just south of the main drag in Ensenada. No cars,,,, no alcohol and no planes,,,, but of course Conalep has all three…. The plane being a little two-sitter kite with a Briggs& Stratton engine you can rent for a ride if you have big ones…. The alcohol being everywhere you look and cars galore. The beach scene at Conalep on any given Sunday is about a mile of beach jam-packed with locals spending their one-day a week off basking in the sun with the family while pounding a few to many beers…
At the south end of the beach the rumble starts about three in the afternoon with the passing of the first truck,,,, you wonder, what the hell does he have in that thing as he proceeds by to find a high place in the dunes to stake out his pray….. then another and another come cursing by…. Some, top notch looking trucks and jeeps while others look like their ready for the junkyard,,,, don’t be fooled…. a little Chevy Luv truck with a full-blown V-eight is not to be taken lightly….
Around five in the afternoon it starts,,,, someone lays out about a eighth mile of orange cones along the beach and the first two trucks light it up… the Sunday afternoon beach drags are on. Cars line both sides of the beach as trucks fly by on the edge of being out of control… one after the other…. Then un benounced to me, all the trucks that are in line waiting for their turn scramble to take a position between the on-lookers cars… a moment later the police can be seen heading toward us with lights flashing… but no one is racing and the cones have been picked up… all the beer is locked away in the trunk and everyone is leaning against their cars just shooting the breeze…. The lookout had done his job..
The police make a slow circuit to asses the situation… their driving a late model 4x4 Dodge truck…. Second time by he stops in front of one of the trucks that was racing…. He looks like he is giving him a bad time….. minutes later, the truck and the cop line up…. A hat is waived and the two fly down the beach… the Sunday beach drags are on....
