La Carrera Panamericana Race Journal

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La Carrera Panamericana 2002

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Sunday, 10/20/02, Through Mexico City and Down to Tehuantepec

We were up at 6AM to get through Mexico City as early as possible on this Sunday morning. Actual transit through the city was relatively painless, though the traffic was dense even at this odd hour. We were very glad for the new load-leveling and anti-sway devices on our trailer because Mexico City has some really narrow lanes and some really aggressive drivers. East of Puebla we turned south again toward Oaxaca and the roads turned slow and ugly. About midnight (long day!) we hit a deep pothole hard enough to trash one of the right side wheels on the trailer. Then one of the lug bolts stripped and wouldn't allow the nut to come off, meaning that we had to remove the wheel and drum and hub as a unit. Fortunately, Brandon and Will were able to drill out the bad lug bolt from the backside of the hub, allowing us to mount the spare with the remaining four lug bolts. Meanwhile, another team's service truck had come by and hit the same hole with the same results. We watched them change their tire, too. Finally, we headed into Tehuantepec for some much needed rest.

Monday, 10/21/02, Repairs in Tehuantepec and on to Tuxtla

We slept a little late today and said goodbye to Peter and his crew as they headed on to Tuxtla Guttierrez. We ate a leisurely breakfast with two Federal Highway Police officers who were very excited to be a part of the upcoming race, which is sponsored by the Federal Highway Police. These officers were to prove very important to us in a few days. Their final words to us as they drove away were "You never forget your first time."

Our suburban had developed a very loud exhaust leak because of some loose exhaust studs and we spent the first part of the morning replacing those studs. Next, having decided that two spares tires for the trailer made sense, we found a tire store to sell us two new tires and another store to sell us a couple of good used wheels. Then we had a nice lunch, did some money changing, and a spent a few minutes watching a naked lady doing her laundry in a river. After that, we headed down the road to Tuxtla---our home for the next few days. Our hotel was the Camino Real, a five-star massive hotel on a hill over looking the capitol city of Chiapas. It set the hotel standard for the rest of the trip with great rooms, swimming pools, outstanding restaurants, great cars, and great new friends---what more could anyone want in a hotel?

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