2014 Mexican 1000
My Post-Race
I should have been starting the day getting ready for a race day from Loreto to La Paz, but instead was getting ready for a ride in the truck to La Paz, and to see about getting surgery for my collarbone. It turned out to be a pretty long ride, mostly due to a large amount of road construction taking place. While gassing up in Constitucion, we saw a few of the teams getting gas before heading out for their second Special of the day.
We
reached La Paz, and found our hotel that we had previously scheduled
just for the one night. We explained that I may end up having surgery
and would therefore probably me there for a few more days, which was
just fine with them.
Then we
headed over to the La Paz malecon, where the finish would be for the
racers that day. I needed to wait for the Mexican insurance agent to
show up before heading to the hospital. We saw the bikes coming into
the finish of their Day 4.
We also saw the
first several trucks and cars finish too, before the insurance agent
finally showed up. By then it was probably about 4 in the afternoon. We
followed the insurance agent over to the hospital, and after just a
short wait we were able to see the orthopedic surgeon.
The orthopedic surgeon only spoke minimal English, so they found someone else in the hospital to translate. The surgeon looked at the copies of the x-rays I had received the day before in Loreto. He explained the same options: either have surgery to reset and plate the bones; or let them heal themselves. I told the doctor that I wanted to go ahead with the surgery, and about 15 minutes later found myself being admitted into the hospital with surgery scheduled for later that night. It all happended pretty quickly.
Shortly after being admitted I was already have
blood and vital statistics being taken. Then my crew stopped by for a short visit before heading to their hotel.
Then I watched some Mexican
TV for awhile, and I think it was about 9:30 that night and I was being
wheeled in for surgery. Next thing I know, I'm being wheeled back out
and back to my hospital room with a large bandage on my right shoulder.
The results from the surgery...
The next
morning, my crew shows back up to check in on me. I feel pretty good,
and was hping to get out by about noon, but it was probably closer to
late afternoon by the time I got out. Then I get to see what the crew
was enjoying while I was in the hospital...
So
one more night in La Paz. We went to downtown for a really good dinner,
and then found a great churro stand for desert. The next morning,
it was time to pack up and get ready for the drive north.
One ofthe highlights of the drive was stopping at my favorite tamale stand in Villa Jesus Maria...
We ran into a
little road construction...gave us a chance to visit with one of the
construction workers, and we gave him some water and snacks.
We made it to Catavina on the first day. The next day, we continued north and stopped at Mama Espinosa'a for lunch.
As we were
passing through one of the small towns, we ended up with flashing
lights behind us a got pulled over by a federal policeman.
Cory was
driving, so he gets out and goes to talk with the policeman. I'm
looking into the rear view mirror and wonder what's going on when the
cop pulls out a tablet, and he and Cory are talking for an awfuly long
time. Turns out the cop was interested in the motorcycle tires we had,
and wanted Cory to bring him back tires to sell.
Then it was
north to the border, and luckily a fairly short wait at the border
crossing. Joel continued onto LA, while Cory, Robbie and I headed
towards Vegas. By the time we reached Barstow, it was about 10pm so we
stopped for the night, and made it back to Vegas the next morning.
It wasn't the
race result I wanted - ending up not finishing, and with a plated
collar bone. But I was actually pretty happy with my riding up until
that one mistake.
Can't wait until next year!
Race Day 1 Race Day 2 Race Day 3 My Post-Race