“Life is easy when you live it the hard way. And hard when you live it the easy way.”
Being the end of a 100 mile stretch of wilderness, every chase team was here at mile 480 to meet their race vehicle. We called the place “Pit City”. It looked completely different at night. I spied the Baja Pit and pulled in to fuel up. Javier and Victor appeared from the dark and told me what direction the chase trucks were. I rolled in and they took the bike from me. I was frozen.
All the teams had fires going. Oscar told me before the race that if I wanted to finish, I should take a rest here. It was my plan to take 45 minutes here. Victor had the van heat on high. I must have been 85 degrees in there. Kevin had emptied the back of the van and slung a hammock in the back. I had never seen such a thing. He had a pillow and a blanket.
My hands weren’t working. They took my boots off, which was unexpected but welcomed. I climbed into the hammock and Kevin put the blanket on me. I was shaking with cold. The heat felt good. I told them to wake me up in 30 minutes. No more.
For 30 minutes I shook. I was far colder than I knew. If I had gone on I would have been in serious trouble. Finally I stopped shaking as the cold left my body. They opened the door. No sleep. But it was ok. The value in a few minutes sleep is not the sleep itself, but letting your body just relax and reset. Everything that was in spasm or cramp mode can release a bit.
I felt better being warm and slid to the edge of the van where I put my boots back on with some assistance from Bobby and Kevin. I walked over to their fire and we shared what I remember as a cherished few minutes. I ate something they had for me – I can’t remember what it was but it was so good at that moment. There was a cactus burning in the fire. I wished I could hang out there for a while, but that was not going to happen.
The was the Baja 1000 Ironman. I was 19 hours in. It was up to me.