We got to Mexico on Tuesday, checked into the hotel that night and on Wednesday morning we were at the paddock uncrating the bike.  I spent that morning and early afternoon getting the bike together and set-up.  After that we helped straighten out our pit are and get crates situated and a little more organized.  At this point I had met most of the team and everyone was very welcoming.

Thursday morning the team met at nine to go to administration check-in.  This is where we signed in and got all our paper work handed in.  Once we finished with that I got geared up to take my bike over to the practice area to make sure the bike was set-up and jetting was good.  I felt the jetting was pretty good so we spent most of the time getting my suspension dialed in.  I ended up raising my forks to help the bike turn on the flat corners.  I did several laps and was feeling pretty good about the bike.  This was also my first encounter with the amount of dust I would be dealing with once the race started.  I heard several people saying the area had gotten good rain fall a week or two before the race, but from what I say they could use some more.  At that point I was hoping for a little rain.

Friday morning was tech inspection.  This is where you go through sound test and they make sure your VIN numbers and frame numbers match.  They also mark several parts on the bike like wheels, engine, exhaust, and the frame.  The marked parts of the bike cannot be changed except for the exhaust and only if it is damaged or falls off.  After the bike goes through tech it goes straight into impound until you get it the day of the race.

Once the bike went into impound there wasn’t anything to do as far as the bike goes to get ready so Allan and I went in search of tests to walk.  The first test that we would be doing every day was named Pepsi and was an enduro test.  I was really excited about this test after walking it.  It looked like a lot of fun, like a short enduro section.  The second test of day 1 and 2 was named Union.  Union was a cross test and it was hard packed with flat corners.  I wasn’t too excited about it.  The last test we rode each loop was Altozono and was another cross test.  We didn’t walk the entire test but I wasn’t real impressed with it either.  The second test of day 1 and 2 was what we called the swamp test.  The test was in a field that was sloped down with the sections at the bottom being soft and muddy.  Nothing special.

Saturday we walked day 3 and 4 tests.  Day 3 and 4 also had us riding the Pepsi test on our way out on each loop.  There were 2 tests that we did that were by a lake.  The first test was in a lot trees.  It had a grass covering the ground that was sure to make the test slippery, but it still seemed like a cool test.  The next test we rode was right beside a lake.  It had a few short, steep hills and was pretty much dry with flat corners.

Day 1

I was super excited and nervous and don’t know how well I slept.  I got up, ate breakfast, got my gear on and headed to the paddock.  I got my cheat sheet and headed up to impound.  So, the way this works is the rider gets 6 tickets from their admin check-in.  These tickets are very important as each ticket has a designated day on it.  You have to have that days ticket to get your bike out of impound.  When it is your time to go into impound you give them your ticket and go get your bike.  When it is your designated time to come out of impound then you go to your morning work area where you have 10 minutes to work on your bike.  Then, you go to the start podium.  Can I just say how cool it was for me to be on that start podium?  I think all races should start like this.  I was nervous as I rolled my bike up to the podium.  Thankfully they didn’t make it very tall.  I’ve seen pictures of podiums that are pretty steep and I don’t know if I could push my bike up on them.  When you go to the podium you wait for your minute to come up on the clock.  Once your minute rolls over you can start your bike and go.  Until that moment, you are not allowed to start your bike;  not in the work area and not in impound.

My bike started up with no problem and I was off, nervous but excited.  I just wanted to follow my team until I got comfortable.  We started on a road and went directly to the first test: Pepsi.  I did horrible my first time.  That test was okay, but this was right after the start and I was nowhere close to being warmed up.  After the Pepsi test we took off following arrows to the next test at Union.  Day one and two we followed red arrows.  I was riding behind Mandi and Nicole so I didn’t have to do a lot of searching for arrows.  The trail was pretty cool we did a long downhill that was neat.  After that we hopped on and off roads.  There was a cool little rocky section that was like rock shelves.  After you got over all these shelves there was a big rock you could go over.  I took off to go over the rock not able to see what was at the top.  I got about half way up the rock and there was a rider stopped in the trail.  Of course, I let off the gas and started to fall to the side.  I was thinking, “Great, 3 miles into the race and I’m gonna break my leg falling off this damn rock.”  I didn’t break my leg and found an alternate way to go around the rock.  Safe.  After that we did a few woods sections and pretty much rode to the next check on a dirt road.  There was nothing too difficult about that section, but I was making a lot of mistakes.  There were some sections of dirt road that had a lot of pine needles over it.  Under the pine needles was black dirt that was surprisingly slick.  I don’t know how many times I went down on that black dirt.  It was like every time I braked the front end would just go out from under the bike.  I used a lot of energy picking the bike up.  On the dry sections of road there was so much dust it was crazy and I was even trying to hang back.  There were a lot of dry rain ruts on the road and I hit a few of them going pretty fast in the dust and didn’t make it.  Another thing that was a problem was the jetting.  The bike was running terrible on the top.  Anytime I got it on the pipe it would cough and blubber.  I made it to the first check and noticed a vent hose had come off the carburetor.  We thought maybe that had something to do with the way the bike was running so I got that worked back on.  My so-sweat hand guards were also starting to look pretty sad after all my falls so I zip tied them on to make them a little more stable.

After the first check we went rode the swamp test.  David Kamo was there pointing out lines to all our riders and what a big help that was.  There were bike eating ruts out there.  After that we headed to the second check and the union test.  The dirt road sections going to the Union test were not as slippery as the other section and were more gravel-covered than the other roads.  This made for a very dusty section.  We went through a lot of little villages with little kids and adults watching and shouting for us.  It was very cool and nothing I have ever experienced.  These little villages are exactly what you would expect out in the middle-of-nowhere-Mexico.

There was a tight little section right before we got to the union test that was weird to me.  It was definitely a trail that had been there for a while but there was so much greenery around the trail and making a canopy that I had to duck all the way through.  There were a lot of softball and melon sized loose rocks on this trail.  This had to be some animal trail, like a donkey, or something.  Weird.

At the second check, which is just before the union test, I ate several pieces of fruit and PB&J and drank a few small glasses of Gatorade.  My first run at the Union test was more fun than I had expected.  I felt pretty good going through the test and was having a lot of fun.  After that test we headed back towards the paddock to ride the Altozono test.  This transfer section had a few rocky areas, a rocky downhill and a loose, silty uphill.  Somehow, on a rocky downhill I ended up going over the bars and had the bike end up on top of me.  For a second, I didn’t know if I could get the bike off me, but I managed to quickly.  Here I was, picking the bike up again.  There was a section after that where several riders got lost.  Once we found out where we went wrong I knew why we had missed the turn.  There was a small little pond - or just a big puddle - right where the arrows were for a left turn.  The puddle was a strange red; I mean red-red, not natural red.  I think there were several riders that were in awe of the red puddle and missed the turn.  We finally got going in the right direction.  We hopped out on a small piece of paved road that was a nice change – no dust.  We stayed on the road back towards the paddock to ride the last test of the loop: Altozono.  This was a cross test that I wasn’t pumped about, but turns out it was actually a lot of fun as I thought it flowed well.  Immediately after that test we went to the third check which was at the paddock.  That was loop 1.

After the paddock we set out to the Pepsi test.  That lap was pretty uneventful.  We rode all the same tests, except on the way back in we rode the Pepsi test then went to Altozono.  We rode Pepsi 3 times on day 1.

On the second loop, as you come into the paddock, you went through a pre-check.  You had 10 minutes there to work on your bike before you went in for the 15 minute work time.  You could do anything to your bike there that could be done with the tools you carried.  Most people loosened the pinch bolts on the front wheel and the axle bolts to help with time in the actual work area.  My plan was to just change a rear.  Once you go through the pre-check you have 15 minutes to get to impound.  So, you have to account for time to get from your pit to impound.  We were kind of far from impound so that meant we had about 14 minutes in the work area.  Tire changes were the one thing I was sure of coming into the six days.  Allan said I busted out the rear in 3 ½ minutes.  I think I changed the filter too.  Got the bike to impound on time - day one complete.  Back to the pits for some s’ghetti.

I developed some congestion from riding in the dust day one.  I was coughing up some pretty nasty dust balls.  Sweet.

Day 2

 

I woke up on day 2 coughing up some goobers my 12 year old would be proud of.  Breakfast was hard to swallow but I forced it down. I think it was nervousness.

I was excited to get started and I felt better about knowing the process from the start day.  I got to the paddock, got my cheat sheet and headed up to impound.  When it was my turn to get my bike I handed them my ticket and went in.  I was definitely aware of sore areas on the body.  Nothing was too bad just some muscle soreness from picking my bike up so much on day 1.  Wasn’t going do that today.  I had torn up a hand guard the previous day so I used my work period to change out a hand guard.  I rolled up to the podium start and got the bike started with one kick.

The more I rode, the looser I got and was feeling really good.  Got through the Pepsi test with no problems and headed to the next check.  It wasn’t too far into the transfer section when I came to a small creek crossing I had no problems with day 1.  I chose a different line than I and gone through before and this proved to be a bad mistake.  The creek was not that deep but as riders had been going through a hole had gotten dug out.  I hit the hole with the front end and immediately came to a stop almost going over the bars.  The hole was pretty deep, so I wanted to get the front end up and over the bank, but it didn’t go as planned, and went to pop the front end up the bike stalled out as the back tire fell in the hole.  There was water almost up to the seat.  It took some work but I got the bike up.  I pushed the bike over to the side of the trail and began trying to get the spark plug off.  We had never changed the spark plug so it was tight from the factory and it was not budging.  At this point I was getting very frustrated.  All I was doing was rounding the edges of the nut.  By this time, a course marshal had arrived and was rerouting the course.  I was saying some pretty foul things in my moment of frustration.  After the marshal finished the rerouting he came over to see if he could help.  He couldn’t get the spark plug loose either.  We ended up having to take part of the tank off to get at it.  We changed the spark plug and it still wasn’t firing.  We took air filter out and it was pretty wet. We rang it out and were working on getting it back in when another marshal came up.  Neither of them spoke English well enough for us to communicate.  The second marshal immediately started saying, “DQ! DQ! You’re out! Done!”  I absolutely started freaking out.  I thought marshals could help and were the only ones that could help.  As I was crying in disbelief, the second marshal said, “No, no, you’re not out, I just need your number.”  What?  You were kidding?  Now I was freaking out more.  The first marshal is still trying to help and keeps putting the filter in wrong and I’m taking it back out and he’s putting it back in….  Finally we get it in right. I’m trying to get the tank back on and he’s putting the seat on, but it’s not on all the way.  I’m trying to tell him it’s not in while he’s half paying attention to what he’s doing and talking to the other marshal.  I have to tell him it’s not on and that the back off the seat has to be held down to get the bolt in the seat and he’s saying “it’s on, it’s on.”   I finally get going, but I’ve lost close to 30 minutes.  There’s a few mud sections after that which I make it through but take my time to find the right line.

After that section, it’s back on the dirt roads to get to the second check.  I’m cruising down the road and go to sit down and the seat start to slide off the side of the bike.  I stopped to get the seat on and trying to decide if I should stuff the seat in my camelback or hope it doesn’t fall off.  I don’t want to waste any more time so I decided to stay seated on the bike so I wouldn’t lose the seat.  I constantly have to scoot the seat back up while I’m flying down these roads trying not to lose any more time.  I’m getting closer to the check when I start catching up to a rider and am riding in his dust.  I hit a rain rut in the road and crash.  The handlebar hits my right hip and I am on all fours in the middle of the road trying to catch my breath.  Thankfully one of our club riders come up and stops to make sure I am okay.  I tell him that I have lost the seat bolt and crashed trying not to lose the seat.  He, fortunately, has a seat bolt and we get the seat secured on the bike.  In the crash I had tweaked my front end so bad it wasn’t ride able.  We get the front end straightened and I tell him to go on.  I would be even more upset if I knew that someone lost time helping me out.  He gives me words of encouragement that I really needed to hear and he gets going.  I was pretty upset again.  With my right side hurting pretty bad I get into the second check.  I was at least 40 minutes late so the plan was to try and bump back up so I wouldn’t hour out.  I made it to the third check with no serious problems, just trying to ride as hard as I can, but I was hurting pretty bad.

My front end was still sliding out so when I got to the third check I raised the forks and took off still trying to bump back up.  I made it through the first loop and was about half way through the second loop when I got a horrible upset stomach.  I kept pushing trying to make it to the next check, but I was afraid I wasn’t going to make so I had to make a pit stop.  Not fun.

When I got back to the paddock for the 15 minute work period, even though I had a horrible day, I wanted to get my front tire changed.  I guess I didn’t realize how much I use my right leg and right side to change tires.  I had developed a technique where I use the inside of my right knee to help push the tire iron.  The injury to my right side made it impossible to for me to use my leg and it was torturous just to push the tire iron in.  Needless to say, that tire change was not pretty.  I got the wheel back on the bike and headed to impound.  After that I headed straight back to the hotel for a shower and nap.

Day 3

Getting out of bed was a test in itself.  The day after an injury can be worse than the initial injury.  It hurt to walk.  At least my stomach had settled down.  When I got to the paddock I had Spook stretch the muscles that were sore.  It definitely helped.

Day 3 and 4 were to be the harder days.  We had heard that there are a lot of ups and downs and there was a technical uphill.  In the 10 minute morning work area I had to tighten all the bolts on the front, put on another hand guard, and change an air filter.  Got to the start podium and took off for the first test – Pepsi…. again.  It was the first turn in the Pepsi test when I realized I had no rear brakes.  None!  Great!  So, there’s nothing I can do about it in the test, just keep going.  I blew through several corners in that test!!  When I checked out of the test I pulled over looking for any American spectators, but didn’t see any.  Of course, I had no brake fluid with me.  I bled the brakes a little to see if that would help and of course it didn’t.  Great, big hills, technical sections, and no rear brakes!!  I didn’t know what to do so I kept going.  The first several miles weren’t too bad - I just slowed down a bit and tried to stay up right.  The trail was definitely more technical.  We were riding trail for the most part and I liked that. It was also pretty rocky.  The rocks were pretty big so far, but I was navigating well and having a bit of fun - or as much as one can in a race with no rear brakes.  It wasn’t long before I came to my first hill.  There wasn’t a developed trail and the hill had a lot of the big rocks in it.  I kept the bike in a low gear and got down the hill. Scary, but I made it.  The next hill I came to was quite a bit longer, it was wide open, fast, and had a lot of the same rocks.  I won’t lie; I was scared to death.  So, I got started.  I tried to go as slow as I could, but it wasn’t long before the bike started gaining speed.  I was trying to put all my weight on the back and, ever so lightly, use the front brake.  There were a few times when I thought the back of the bike was going to pass the front of the bike, and I might have been screaming like a little girl.  I got to the bottom of the hill and my heart was beating like crazy.  I don’t know how many more of these hills I could do.  Right after that there was an uphill that crossed a road and there were several marshals there.  I pulled over when I got to the road and asked if anyone had any brake fluid.  Everyone was looking around and after a few minutes someone pulled out a bottle of brake fluid.  It took quite a bit of fluid and bleeding before I got a hint of brake.  It took a bit but I finally got going again with some rear brakes.  I was behind again.  The trail started getting more and more rocky.  The up hills were difficult for me because the dirt was silty and would just go away.  Every time I had to dab with my right foot it would pull on the muscles around my hip and would hurt so bad.  I wasn’t having a good day.  There were a lot of ups and downs.  There was a downhill that was tight and rocky -  boulder rocky.  It had some pretty steep sections on it.  I was getting behind but pushing forward.  The section after that calmed down and wasn’t too long before we hopped on a paved road to get to the check.  So, I was behind again so I gassed up, ate some PB&J and headed back out.  The test after that was one of my favorites.  I didn’t think it would as fun as it was when I walked it.  It was the transfer section between this check and the next that kicked my butt.  There was an uphill that I’m sure was not a trail before the first riders got there.  I don’t even know how to explain it.  It was tight with a lot of turns.  Once I lost my momentum it was so hard to get going again.  My side was hurting so bad and every time I had to do anything with my right foot it was excruciating.  I lost a lot of time here.  It was like it would never end.  You couldn’t see much past the next corner.  My 2 stroke was overheating!!  I would go to put my foot down and there wouldn’t be anything to put my foot on and would fall over.  I pocked my bike up a lot in that section.  My shoulders were killing me.  I was getting so frustrated because I knew I was a much better rider than this.  Nothing was going well for me.

I finally made it out of that section, but realized as I was going down a faster trail that I had bent the front brake rotor and now I had no front brakes.  Geez, what next!  I finally made it to the next check, but I had houred out.  I was absolutely devastated.  We tried to figure out what to do.  We decided that I should go back to the paddock and re-impound the bike so I could ride the next day.  We decided it would be best for me to take the highway back so I could spend the time getting my bike in working order so it would be ready the next day.  It was pretty scary riding back on the highway.  They drive crazy in Mexico!!  Motorcycles weave in and out of traffic and hop on the sidewalk if needed.  When in Rome!

Once I got back to the paddock, we had to ask to be re-impounded.  I worked on the bike and changed the rotor, oil, got the brakes working and even changed a tire.  We got the green light to re-impound.  Day 3 was done.

Day 4

By houring out on Day 3, none of my scores will count, but I continue riding in case one of the other team mates has a mechanical problem or injury that keeps them from riding.  If that happens then my times will be counted.  I was so sore and tired at this point.  It was so important to me that I finished the six days.  I got started and was riding pretty good.  I got to a rocky section where a rider had knocked the chain off his bike.  I had to push my bike back to find another way around.  At this point, any time I was off the bike pushing or picking it up it was using a lot of energy and taking me longer to recover.  I made it through the first loop without a lot of problems.  I had lost some time, but I just kept pushing.  I was getting pretty tired.

It was the second loop where I couldn’t do anything right.  I was making stupid mistakes and couldn’t get my head up.  I had a lot of trouble on a sandy uphill that I had had no problems with before.  I was going up behind another rider and couldn’t see anything for the dust.  I hit a big rock and fell over.  Got the bike up and couldn’t get going.  I had to go perpendicular to the hill and zigzag my way up the side of the hill.  The dirt was so soft and if I lost any momentum the back tire would just spin.  This took everything out of me.  I finally made it to the top of the hill and just kept going.  I was losing time and getting upset.  Somewhere in that transfer section I lost my clutch.  Thankfully I had a Rekluse!!  I still use the clutch a lot, especially on those silty hills when I would start to lose momentum.  By the time I made it to the next check I had houred out again.  I was horribly upset.  All I could think about was all the people that had supported me and that I had let them down.  When I got back to the paddock, I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even look at anybody.

Day 5

I wanted to work a check to support all the riders that were still out there.  It was important to me that I do whatever I can to help with the entire team.  From what I hear, day 5 was pretty tough.  When our check closed I wanted to be back at the paddock to help with whatever I could.

Day 6

 

Allan and I planned to head up to the paddock first thing in the morning to get my bike cleaned and loaded in the crate so we could help with everyone else’s bike after the race.  As soon as we got there we learned that they had canceled the day’s race.  The riders had to wait to get their bikes out of impound and as soon as they did there were burnouts all over the place.  The French team was riding around waving their flag as they were the winners.  I have to hand it to ‘em, they can ride some dirt bikes.  The paddocks had turned into complete mayhem.  Security was gone so anyone could walk anywhere in the paddock.  Everything had to be secured or kept in view because people would walk through and take what they wanted.  Local riders wanted to buy the used tires and inserts.  It was pretty cool.  Allan stayed until the container was completely loaded.  There was one rider that impressed me on the track and off the track.  Jeff Fredette stayed every night to help with picking up the paddock and getting everything put up.  Very cool.  By the time we got the container loaded and were ready to head back to the hotel I was so sunburned.  My bottom lip hurt so bad from being sunburned and wind burned (maybe because over the past few days I had it poking out, ha ha).

That night was the banquet and awards ceremony.  I was so tired and sun burned I didn’t really want to go.  Our flight was leaving at 7 in the morning which meant we had to get up around 3:30.  We hadn’t packed anything at the hotel and I was ready to get home.  Of course, we went to the banquet to cheer to all those getting medals.  The Women’s team was taking second place and I definitely wanted to be there for them.  So, I was told that I had to go up with our women’s team when they got their awards.  When we got up there I was not expecting to get a medal.  As they came to me to hang a medal around my neck, I was thinking. “No, not me, you’ve made a mistake, I didn’t finish.” Evidently, you medal as a team so I had a silver medal hung around my neck.  How awesome was that?  I was a bit overwhelmed.  I was experiencing two opposite emotions at the same time.  I was so honored to have been able to go up on stage with the fastest women in the world and at the same time I felt horrible because I didn’t even finish the race.  Shortly after the awards ceremony, Allan and I had to get back to the hotel to start packing.

Getting home

We got up close to 4am. Threw everything in the car and since we didn’t know how to get to the airport we waited to follow someone to the airport.  We got to the airport at 5 and I wasn’t expecting to see anyone else there but riders.  However, there were a lot of people there.  We stood in line for about 45 minutes.

Our adventure home started when we got to the ticket counter.  I handed the guy my passport and he started punching things into the computer, made some not-so-reassuring-faces, and said we didn’t have any reservations.  He wanted us to call the booking company and kindly move to the side so he could help the next person.  Absolutely not!  We argued with the guy for 15 minutes.  Luckily, Connie, who was with the travel agency that booked the team’s hotel, was still there.  We grabbed her and she talked to the guy and they found that somehow there were duplicates and he found us and our reservations, but he said that there were no seats left on the plane and that we would have wait on standby.  This did not go over well with me.  I was so ready to go home.  I said some not-so-nice-things, but nothing worked so we made our way through security and to the gate.  We had spent at least an hour at the ticket counter trying to get things straight and I was in fear of not getting on the plane.  Again, Connie helped us out at the gate.  The lady at the ticket counter took everyone boarding pass and counted them.  One minute we had a seat, the next we didn’t.  Finally, Mandi came to our rescue.  She was traveling to Cancun and did not have a flight confirmation from Mexico City to Cancun so she asked if they could give her a later flight with confirmed seats, she would give us our seats.  They found a later flight and confirmed her seats on that flight, so Allan and I had seats.  The plane was late taking off because of the frost and that the fact that the airport didn’t have a de-icer.  After we got on the plane, Allan and I were still a little skeptical.  Mandi and Dave get on the plane.  They said the airline found two extra seats.  I think Allan and I had seats the whole time.  How else would they have mysteriously found two extra seats?

Once we were in the air, I felt much better.  We made it to Mexico City and ate breakfast.  We had a bit of a wait for the next flight but we just went to the gate and hung out.  Once we got on the plane at Mexico City I look out the window as they are finishing loading the baggage.  I see three bags sitting on the cart that I realize are ours.  I wait thinking they are about to throw them on the plane. I wait, and wait, and then they shut all the doors.  I tell Allan to go tell the flight attendant who says she’s sure they’re gonna put the bags on but will have the captain confirm.  After a minute I see a guy come running around the plane look for the bags and throw them on the plane.  Whew, that was close.  We flew from Mexico City to San Antonio and had to get our bags and re-check them from San Antonio to Dallas.  There wasn’t much time to do this plus we had to go through customs.  When we got our bags and went through customs we had to go to a different terminal to get to the ticket counter.  We were running as fast as we could with giant bags.  When we got to the ticket counter and the lady said we were too late to check our bags and that we would have to be on standby for the next flight.  We were about 10 minutes late.  I got a little upset again.  So here we were again on standby, but at least we were in the US.  Allan talked to a lady at the gate who said it wasn’t looking good for people on standby.  Luckily, there were flights leaving about every hour for the next few hours.  Allan talked to a car rental company that would hold a car for us in case we couldn’t get on a flight that night.  Finally, we got on a flight after about 4 hours of waiting.  That standby crap is stressful.  We got to Dallas and our baggage wasn’t there.  It was in a different baggage claim area from one of the earlier flights, probably the one we couldn’t get on because we were 10 minutes late.  We got our luggage and got our car and headed towards Oklahoma City.  We were hungry and Allan asks what I want.  I see a taco bell and say, “let’s eat some real Mexican.”  WE made it to OKC around 10:30, picked Alex up, came home and got to see my puppies.  Good to be home.