As I said in a previous email, the Vuelta a La
Republica is the Indy 500 of Ecuador. It is a 7 day
race around the country and it is huge. As the only
North American, I recieved a lot of attention. I
tried to make it clear that I was racing the same bike
I rode from BA and was heading back south to Ushuaia
on the same bike after the race, that I was just here
for fun, etc. I was actually making excuses because
my bike was by far the heaviest and slowest in the
race.

My old friend, Joe Kenty from the Bentwheels racing
club in michigan came down to join me for a few weeks
and watch the race. This is his first trip to the 3rd
world so its quite an expeiience for him. From Quito,
we took a bus to Ricardo Roccos motel in Santo Domingo
where my bike was waiting. On the previous trip, I
had ridden it from Buenos Aires to Ecuador and left it
at Ricardos motel. I had not yet met Ricardo as he
was in USA at the time but felt I knew him because of
all the stories Matt and Ed had told me. I then
returned to USA to make some more money. I had poured
oil in the cylinder to prevent rusting and it didnt
want to start. Ricardos friends nephew, Daniel, took
joe, me and the bike back to Quito with a pickup
truck. I met Ricardo for the 1st time at Mario Gomez
Motos. About 5 minutes later, Ricardo, another rider,
and I were sitting at a table being interviewed on
national TV as the Official Team Honda. The other
rider is Felipe Eguez, a young hotshot, former
national motocross champ, english speaker, and all
around good guy.

I finally got the bike started for the first time
after the interview. Ricardo and I headed down to the
start of the race in Loja with Daniel and a young
mechanic named Luis. Joe would later name Daniel and
Luis The Two Stooges. Joe stayed in Quito and later
flew down to Loja.

The racing started with the superprime, a short 1 km
dirt cicuit where riders race head to head 2 at a
time. The superprime only determines start position
for the next day, nada mas, but I wanted to show the
southerners what I had. Unfortunatley I went into a
corner way too hot and slid the back end ALL the way
around and dumped it where everyone could see. Joe
said maybe they didnt know I was American.
Considering the huge American Flags on each side of
the bike, I doubt that was possible.

The crash was actually good, because it slowed me down
a bit during the real race. The race was about 60%
hard dirt roads with the other 40% pavement and
slippery cobblestones. Speeds were high, the course
was fast, fun, and dangerous as Hell. I rode the
first 2 days at about 95%, butt on the back fender,
chin on the gas cap, throttle wide open all the time.
I had switched my digital speedometer over to kph.
Its scary to glance down and see triple digit speeds
locking up the brakes for another blind gravely
corner. I had adopted a style I learned long ago. A
friend of my dads had taken me to a combat shooting
tournament. I used his modified 1911 Colt .45 pistol.
He told me this-just find the front site and
immediately pull the trigger. NO front site- dont
pull the trigger, but the instant you find it, pull.
All the corners are blind to me as I dont have a
copilot telling me what is next like the car guys do.
So I went in consevartively and looked for the exit.
The instant I found the exit of the corner, I pulled
the trigger (twisted the throttle) No exit, no
throttle. By the end of day 1, I had moved up to 4th
in class, 8th overall.

The course was tough on rider and bike, and the
attrition started on Day 2. Ricardo was the first one
out, having taken a bad crash at speed breaking, among
other things, a brand new helmet. A little later,
Juan Pablo Validvieiseo went out with a locked up
engine. Ricardo loaned him enough parts from his bike
(both XR650Rs) to rejoin the fray. But he had a 3
hour penalty for not finishing Day 2. Juan Pablo is
Blazingly fast, but not that fast.

The attrition moved me up to 2nd in class. Good
enough for a $1,000 prize! No that is not a typo- one
THOUSAND dollars, baby! I had a 30 minute lead over
third place so I was pretty safe- just needed to
finish, so I started riding very conservatively on day
3. All went well until I got a flat tire. I did not
have a spare tube, nor a pump (bad planning on my
behalf) I could see 10 Ben Franklins flying away and
all I could do was ride. 90mph on a flat front tire.
This race in not for the faint of heart nor the small
of testicle. I finally caught up to Felipe, who,
thank God, had a spare tube. I got it changed with
about 1 minute to spare before the next prime.

Day 4 started tragically when a support truck hit a
bus head on. Felipes mechanic, Christian saw the
whole thing and rushed out to help. All he could do
was hold a mans hand as he pleaded for help and died.
The racers voted not to continue racing.

Day 5. Last day. Im 2nd in class (500cc and up), 5th
overall, with a 30 minute lead over 3rd place. Our
friend Tito Sanchez, was 1st overall, 1st in class
(250-500cc). Unfortunately, he broke a chain on his
YZ450 in the first prime of the day, taking him out
and moving Felipe to 1st in class, me to 4th overall.

I just rode conservatively, trying to conserve my
engine. It has no compression left and no power.
Christian blames the cylinder sleeve I had installed
in Bolivia. It needs another rebuild badly.

At the end of the 2nd to last prime, my friend Andres
blew his engine. He had been leaking water all day,
filing the radiator between primes. NOw it was locked
up solid. He was in 3rd place in class (250-400cc)
and looking at $500 cash. If he didnt finish he didnt
get the money. If I didnt finish, I didnt get my
money. If I got 3rd, I only got $500. I WENT AND
BOUGHT A ROPE AND PULLED HIM. I pulled him 25km to
the start of the next prime. I then pulled him 18km
through the final prime, risking my money and my
engine.

The course was totally lined with people cheering. I
have never been so proud to display the American flag
as at that moment, pulling Andres. I cant even begin
to describe it. The race ended in Ambato, the town
where Andres is from. Those who understood what I did
came up to to thank me and congratulate me. Every
time I turned around, someone put another drink in my
hand.

Felipe took 1st in class, 2nd overall. I took 2nd in
class, 4th overall and had the time of my life.

It doesnt get much better than this.