Zero minus one

I was lined up at the Baja 1000 start.  At the last minute the starting rider on the 1x team, Colton Udall, comes walking through the crowd of bikes and riders in the starting gate shouting, asking if anyone has an extra red blinker light for his backpack.  I always used them, but this year it was a rule you had to have one.  The 1x would not have to worry about getting run over by a race truck that would be released like hounds catching up to the bikes 5 hours after us, as they’d stay ahead of them.  But they wouldn’t let the 1x bike go without the little $3 blinker.  “Colton” I yelled.  I had two and I gave him one off my pack.  He gave me a bro hug as I saved the team starting on time.  In that class, seconds count.

They released bikes every thirty seconds.  I rolled up, ten feet each time.  Three, two, one…green flags go up in front of me, and I roll the throttle open.  A few city blocks, down into a river wash where I passed Liz.  I knew I’d likely see her again – she was tough.   Through the city, pop up onto streets again and out into the desert.  I took advantage of the sugar high of the start, knowing it would wear off soon enough.  This was it.  A whole year of preparation, and here I was, rolling, in the race.

As with any big goal, after all the pondering, planning, dreaming and goal setting, in the end, you have to do something – take action.  That time was now!

It was a relief.  I didn’t want to wait any longer.  I knew how to ride well and I was at home on the bike.  When you’re racing, you don’t have to think about preparation and planning.  You don’t have to worry about working out or eating well or staying healthy.  You just stay on course and focus on one thing – finding your next stop.  It’s either a gas pit called “Baja Pits”, your chase truck, which I had planned to meet 16 times in the race, or a checkpoint.  Most times there were two or more of these at the same place.

Racing the whole season was a good move.  I felt more prepared for this race than ever before because of it.  I was a Baja veteran now as this was my seventh race there.  People knew me from our movie which most every race fan and participant had seen.  I knew many parts of the course really well.  I had lain in bed and visualized nearly all 806 miles in my mind.  I had finished this race in my head many times by now.  This was just another run through it – with much higher consequences.

“You’ll see it when you believe it.”

I really believed I could do this.  Especially after we made history at the Baja 500 in June.