It was somewhere west of the Colorado border. I remember it well. We had been driving all day after loading all of our gear into Todd’s E46 wagon and stashing my shitbox in his garage for safe keeping, storms had been called for after all. The restaurant had a buy one get one drink special. I do have a fondness for IPA’s, and being a cheap ass. I had drank my third beer, and was asked if I was ready for my fourth. I hesitated. The waitress sensed my weakness and pounced upon me. Started calling me a little girl, Todd and Dave chimed in in chorus with her. I try not to make it a habit of conforming to social norm’s or peer pressure, but I wasn’t driving, and she was right, it was more or less a free beer, and I may or may not, in fact, be... a little girl. So I drank it. Well most of if it anyways. more or less in a few gulps. We paid the toll, and proceeded upon our way. Before we left, thinking wise of it, I relieved some pressure that had formed in my bladder. Now you have to keep in mind, we are in the middle of nowhere eastern Colorado. Sitting in the back seat of the wagon it soon dawned on me, that I had not in fact relived a sufficient amount of pressure from my lower abdomen. Being where we were, rest stops, and more importantly bathrooms were not so easy to come by. It was a miracle we made it to a gas station without me leaking converted beer all over the back seat of the wagon. A dubious thought, no doubt. After returning to a chorus of laughter, we continued on our journey to the High Plains Raceway, where, in a few days a feat of automotive and physical endurance would commence. 1 car, 6 men, and 24Hrs of automotive racing. I was merely a tag along. “Crew” as some call. Mostly a shiftless layabout with a camera and a strong penchant for using it without regard. I made it until dawn before I rested on race day. I managed, with the help of friends, to wake before the finale. The drivers, they had a longer, harder slog then I. Rain, lightning, red flag stoppages, darkness, parts failures, blinding sun, blinding lights from other cars, fatigue, the unrelenting pressure of competition. There was much brought to bare, but in the end, they finished. which, if you have ever competed in any kind of endurance exercise, is in, and of itself, a significant accomplishment.
