Tevis - an Interneter's story Part 1

[Victoria A Thompson <toriandsteve@juno.com>]

Well, I guess you can tell by the Part 1 in the subject heading that this
is going to be a long, drawn out story; so if you don't want to read the
whole thing delete it now.  


When I tell a story I like to ramble with my words so that people can get
a better feel for what happened.  So I suppose I shall begin my adventure
several weeks before Tevis weekend.   Team O'Gara almost didn't exist. 
For months we had been planning our strategy.  Who would do what, when,
where and how.  Less than 3 weeks before Tevis our team leader, Donna,
underwent major surgery.  For what is inappropriate for me to say, but I
can say that in the grand scheme of things it was a minor annoyance and
Donna is fine.  However, she really shouldn't have gone to Tevis.  She
declared herself fit enough to go, however, so we went.  There was one
other little hiccup in our planned adventure.  I moved away.  On July 1
my husband and I left our beloved coastal home for a new location 55
miles inland.  Now, I realize a great many of you will not understand
what I'm about to say, but pretend that you do and just keep reading.  We
moved 55 Los Angeles miles away.  Most places that would be a simple 45
to 60 minute drive away.  We're talking 2 1/2 hours here.  It wasn't all
that easy to get together in those last few weeks before we were to
leave, so we didn't.

I left my home at 7 AM on Thursday to get to Donna's by 9:30.  Sure
enough, that's when I got there.  We piled all our gear into Alice's
Suburban and got on the road around 10:30.  We were really kind of
tickled that we got to use the car pool lane since there were 4 of us in
the car, but we weren't paying close enough attention and ended up
getting off the freeway in Downtown LA and had to detour around some
construction for a few blocks in order to get back on the freeway.  That
set the tone for our driving the rest of the trip.  We headed up
Interstate 5 with the pedal to the metal stopping only for gas and potty
breaks (unfortunately, those potty breaks came at every single Rest Area
along the way - which in this case is about every 30 to 40 miles).  Don't
ask me why.  

As a side note I must say I've never seen a group of ladies eat so much
and still want to hit a drive-thru for lunch and dinner.  We grazed the
entire drive up.  We were the veritable pigs at the trough.  

We had to make one stop in Auburn at a drug store because all of us
forgot to pack bug spray and I was in dire need of a pair of sunglasses. 
I had broken my prescription sunglasses 2 days before and the plain ones
Donna let me borrow had a huge scratch right in my focus area that was
driving me nuts.  Up the hill we headed to Truckee.  Donna said to get
off at one exit and I said to take the Central Truckee exit.   Alice
bowed to my instructions because I did, after all, grow up in the area. 
I told Alice to turn right at a stop sign (driving mistake number 2).  I
quickly realized my mistake and had her turn around and go in the proper
direction.  We arrived in Robie Park at 10:30 PM.  After driving around
the camp we decided the best idea was to park in the vender area and just
make sure we got up early and move the truck before anybody came.  

The ride organizers do a wonderful thing in the vendor area.  They spread
a thick layer of straw all over the place to keep the dust down.  We
piled out of the Suburban and immediately got ready for bed, or should I
say sleeping bag?  Donna and Mary pitched their little tents on the far
side of the truck on bare ground, but I was going to be smart.  I wanted
a good nights sleep, so I pitched my Bivy Sack on the other side of the
truck in the thick layers of straw.  In went my foam pads, my down
sleeping bag and 2 (count them!) 2 down pillows.  I kicked off my shoes,
pulled off my pants, wiggled out of my bra and dove into my bed.  Wait
.... what's this?  Don't tell me .... a rock, no .... a huge root.  Right
under the small of my back and it ran all the way across the Bivy Sack. 
Well, I had 2 choices.  Get up and move my bed or sleep on my side.  I
chose to sleep on my side.  Big mistake.  

Let me digress for a moment if I may.  Let's see a show of hands of how
many of you know what a Bivy Sack is?  1, 2, 3, 4 .......  A Bivy Sack,
for those of you that don't know, is a one man tent.  To be more
specific, it is a coffin with netting over your head and a zipper.  I was
doing OK trying to adjust my body over the root.  But let's face it, you
can't lay in one position all night even when you're comfortable, and I
was a darn sight far from comfortable.  It took about 30 minutes for the
first mild panic attack to occur.  I was turning over, again, and tried
to stretch my arm out.  It wouldn't go.  I drew my knees up and they
smacked the wall.  I turned on my back and my toes hit the end.  My eyes
opened to look out at the stars through the netting and I could feel
myself being gripped by panic ... total fear.  I quickly closed my eyes
and said to myself, "You're an adult, for crying out loud.  Grow up. 
There's nothing about this Bivy Sack that can hurt you, now just stop
this nonsense."  It worked.  For a short time.  The next attack left me
panting for air and on the verge of screaming, so I unzipped the Sack and
stuck my head outside.  All the stress drained away and I fell asleep. 
When next I woke it was because I was in extreme pain.  The zipper I had
my head cradled was digging into my jaw and cheek.  That wasn't going to
work.  I rolled back inside and zipped up.  The panic started
immediately.  Once again I unzipped and stuck my head out.  I figured if
I was to ever get some sleep I better find a solution PDQ.  I brought my
head back inside and started zipping up.  However, this time I left the
zipper open about 4 inches.  When I felt myself start to panic I would
pull the flap open a crack and thrust my hand outside.   Eventually just
knowing that the opening was there was comforting enough to quell all
further panics and I slept pretty darn good for a few hours.  

I opened my eyes to a just beginning to grey sky and decided it was time
to get up.  I pulled on my pants, slipped into my bra and a clean
T-shirt, laced up my boots and ever so quietly tip toed through the straw
to the porta-potties.  SCREEEEECH went the door.  I did my business and
SCREEEEECH went the door again.  I'm quite sure I woke everybody in our
general area because about 10 minutes later bleary eyed people starting
making their way to the john's.  Good Morning, Robie Park!

My companions arose and we broke our little camp.  We swallowed some
Danish and plain water (why is there never a Starbuck's around when you
need one?), and so we began our day.  
 
It is time to break for the evening and spend a little quality time with
hubby.  

Coming soon,  Part 2, or "For the Folks Back Home".

Tori