#4 Talk to Yourself

It’s Thursday, November 17, 2016. One day until go time.

Today, we packed our packs we’d carry with us during the race. Hydration bladders with water and electrolyte powder added. Multi-tool, knife, wire cutters, wire ties and tape. A small tool kit, flashlights, headlamp, and battery back-up lights that attach to your helmet like two Mickey Mouse ears. Energy gels, Clif bars, a rag, extra goggles; tinted for day, and clear for night. And of course, race team stickers – highly collectible in Baja, even by the military at checkpoints.

We packed a race bag to be kept in the truck with extra jackets and warm shirts to layer up when night came.

We put reflectors all over us. I went nuts and put them on the back of my helmet, boots, inside the rear fender of my bike, on my pack, my riding jacket and neck brace. I did not want to get run over by a trophy truck. It has happened too often here. I wanted to reflect their billion candle power lights back at them through the dust.

Then we went to the grocery store. My wife Wendy, and then Tanner, taught me how to eat. While I’m not perfect, I have changed my diet a lot. While Tanner had his own ideas, I bought bananas, apples, ham and bread, and something Tanner turned me on to – Chia.  

After listening to the book “Born to Run,” we learned about the Tara Humara, an indigenous people in the remote mountains in Mexico, who were long distance runners. They could run more than 100 miles. I heard much farther than that. What did they drink before this? Chia. You mix Chia seeds in water and add some lime juice and maybe a bit of sugar for taste. The seeds expand and look and feel like frog eggs in your mouth. You get used to it. Chia is rich in slow burning fat (calories). You can eat and drink at the same time. It’s like a natural Red Bull, without the roller coaster. I prepared three bottles for the race, and Tanner prepared four.

At 7pm, we went to the mandatory drivers/riders meeting. In this race, there are various classes of vehicles.  Besides motorcycles, there are different types of four wheeled vehicles. Trophy Trucks are at the top of the food chain. They cost a million dollars to build from scratch. 800 horsepower, four feet of suspension travel for huge tires – they can do 100 mph over rocks and rough terrain – and they do. Truly impressive – and scary as hell for motorcyclists. These guys don’t play around.

Then there are multiple classes of buggies. Don’t let the cute name fool you. Buggies are two-wheel-drive versions of trophy trucks, and nearly as capable. Behind that are a variety of other four-wheeled desert racing machines. This year more than ever, I realized this race was all about the trucks. The motorcycles are an after thought. That’s why they don’t do the safe thing and let the motorcycles race the day before the trucks. Because the spectators come for the trucks. That’s why they start us at 6am and the trucks at 10am. The spectators will come out more at 10am.

The trucks are faster and catch up to the bikes midway through. This means that 150 trucks have to come through 100 motorcycles. That is a recipe for disaster. The riders meeting was all about “safety.” The conversation was all about the motorcycles getting out of the way of the trucks in time so they don’t get run over, and don’t hold up the trucks. God forbid the truck should lose a few seconds to give a bike a chance. No admonishing the truck drivers to be careful of motorcycles. I was angry.

They did start using a tracker system called the “Stella” system this year. This is a box that is bolted to your handlebars next to your GPS. The Stella allows the race organizers to track your every move on GPS to catch cheaters, making sure you don’t cut the course and assessing penalties if you do such that it is not worth it.  Another thing it does is really cool. If a truck comes up behind you and he sees that a bike is ahead, he can press a button and “light you up.”  Your Stella tracker will light up bright blue and a siren goes off to tell you to get out of the way before you get run over. It sounds great. Now let’s see how they work in real life.

After the meeting, we needed to sleep. That, of course, was a problem. How could you sleep knowing you had to wake up at 4am for a race that could last 36 hours? Sleep under pressure! I managed to get some sleep, but keeping my mind off the race was not easy.

Controlling your thoughts and emotions is really important in all areas of life. If we think about failing, or how hard things will be, or that we aren’t good enough – then that becomes our reality. Of course, you have to prepare because that is where confidence comes from – preparation. But you simply must control your inner dialogue. Your subconscious mind cannot distinguish between what is real or what is imagined. It acts on the messages it gets.  

Let’s say you are talking yourself down and saying you can’t do something. And let’s say it is not true – you really can do it. Your subconscious hears the message and makes it come true. You will take yourself out of the game, or perform badly to validate what you already said was true.

Pay attention to your self-talk. Then change it. Even if you don’t believe it at first. Keep talking positive to yourself.  

I laid in bed at the San Nicolas hotel hours before the most difficult race in the world, telling myself I could do it – and that I would not stop until I saw the finish line. How hard could it be? If anyone could do it, I could…I got this……zzzzzzzzz.