After the Baja 1000, we did a tune up on the bike, and took it out to the desert to run a full tank through. We wanted to see if we could get the bike to behave better with the choke in the correct position. I drove it around for the first 25 miles and that left tail pipe never stopped smoking. Tim took over for the 2nd half of the tank and he got the smoking to stop within the first 5 miles. He continued riding the bike for another 20 miles and found the bike to be performing to expectations. This told me one thing. I was not driving the bike correctly. So for the next 5 miles, I got on the back with Tim and let him show me how to drive the bike. He WAS driving it differently, and I had a lot to learn! From this test run, we determined that my failure to complete the Baja 1000 race was due to 2 things: 1) I left the choke on for the entire 200 miles I completed, and 2)I was not driving this particular ATV as this high performance 2 stroke engine demands to be driven.

After this conclusion, I HAD to do another race fast. I needed to prove to myself that both the bike and myself could finish a race. Only 3 weeks after the Baja 1000, I entered the CODE Race Ready 275 race. Basically, this race was going to cover the same first 250 miles of the 2005 Baja 1000 race (at the last minute they cut out the first 25 miles of the 275); perfect! Not having recovered financially yet from the Baja 1000 and at the risk of not having the best Christmas for our kids later that month, I insisted that we do this race.

Completely opposite to the Baja 1000, we did no planning for this race at all. I had no chase vehicles or any pit teams other than Tim. We didn't have babysitting so we took the kids with us. Furthermore, I didn't buy gas for the race until the day before (yes, we smuggled it!), nor register for the race until the day of the race. We drove down in the suburban towing just my race bike on Friday evening, Dec. 9, 2005. After having to run all kinds of errands after work, we didn't make it to contingency and didn't arrive at the start line until 2:00 a.m.. We slept in the suburban until 4:30 a.m. and then I got up to register and do tech inspection at the start line.

The two weeks up to this race had been a pure rat race, trying to get caught up at work and at home, and still trying to unpack from the Baja 1000. With only two and a half hours of sleep and the hectic efforts of the previous 2 weeks, I woke up feeling miserable, and with a sore throat. But I HAD to do this race; I kept saying this was a very important chance to redeem myself.

I was at the start line too soon and didn't even say my proper goodbyes to Tim and the kids. We didn't even talk race strategy or have a course map. We knew that I was going to do the whole race alone, and that Tim was going to gas me every 50 miles. That seemed to be all that we needed to know. I guess we were already rookies. I noticed some knocking around on my bike, but I couldn't figure out what it was, and my bike was performing well so I really worked on racing this time.

While I started almost in the very last position, to my excitement I began to pass other quads within about 25 miles of the race. I proudly called in every pass because it was something I didn't expect to be doing. Tim and the kids were waiting for me at race mile 50 and I gassed up and ate my planned meal. Unfortunately, because I was the only 2 stroke and all the rest of the bikes didn't have to stop for atleast another 20-30 miles, I lost some places while I was refueling. But I was still happy that I got to even experience the race pass.

By the next pit stop, the knocking noise was getting worse and we had to take the time to figure out what it was. Tim discovered that we were missing a motor mount bolt and had to duct tape a substitute ill fitting bolt in its place. The bolt didn't stay in for long and the engine knocked around every time I accelerated or changed gears. But I was so pleased that the bike was performing the way it was supposed to that I just knew we would find a way to deal with it.

In this race, there would be a 3 hour lag for the trucks to leave the start line after the last ATV. Going over the Summit was like a walk in the park with no larger vehicles to worry about and with my previous experience in the mountain. The third time was definately a charm for me as I cleared the whole Summit in 10 minutes flat. When the bike cut out on me on the back side, I just let it cruise down in neutral at a very fast pace and kick started it up again at the bottom and kept going. I decided this time the Summit was now my favorite place in Baja!

I made it all the way to the dry lake bed before the first truck finally passed me. Unfortunately, however, I made it there before Tim did. I had to wait about a half an hour before he arrived and was able to gas me up. On the way there he found a deserted car that had a bolt that had the possibility of fitting my motor mount. He put that one in my bike and duct taped it again, and replaced the air filter to give me a clean start for the silt beds. I was off again.

After the Baja 1000 the CODE and RECORD race officials decided to re-route this course away from the silt beds. Thankfully, I only had to go through a small part of them and I had no difficulty working my way through. Instead, however, we had to go through a long, rocky section that really wore me down. At race mile 200, I began to feel the affects of my cold coming on and the fatigue from not having enough sleep and feeling so cold that day from what I now think was a fever. In addition to this, my right forearm was killing me because now I was driving the bike the way I was supposed to and twisting that throttle all the time to keep the rpms up. Tim and the kids found a way to see me about every 10-15 miles to cheer me on, check in on me, and feed me. Doing the whoop section at the end of the race was definately tough, but it was my favorite section because I kept seeing my family leap frogging me on the side doing the wave for me each time I went by.

Trucks and other bigger vehicles passing me in this race were so nice to me. Many stuck their thumbs up and waved as they went by. They patiently waited for me to move out of the way in tight sections and I felt much more relaxed when I was being passed in this race. I saw many broken down vehicles and I stopped for every one to see if they were O.K. I helped one guy on a quad after a bad crash and took time to make sure he was well enough to get going again before I left him. I truly felt like I was part of the club in this race and was thankful to have experienced a race in Mexico that was not so cut throat.

When I arrived at the finish line, the guys there applauded me. They couldn't believe I finished because they considered this course extremely difficult and never had a woman race before on a quad. Even though I was exhausted, I thought this to be funny because they didn't know that only 3 weeks earlier I tried to complete 709 miles of this course. But I arrived late and I knew I was going to be lucky if I made it within the time limit. They computed my times for me immediately to let me know and deduced that I arrived 20 minutes outside the time limit. I was only a little bit bummed because I knew that if I had more chase vehicles I would have made it in time and I STILL had the excuses of being sick, having only 2 1/2 hours of sleep before I started the race, and spending time stopping to help others out. After looking at the photos we bought from the race, Tim told me that I was the coolest girl he knows. I considered this race worthy of redeeming myself after the 1000 and fell asleep that night happy and satisfied.