As I prepare my personal gear as well as a few support crew supplies for the upcoming Xstream Expedition Race in Moab, Utah, I have to wonder what the H*#@ am I thinking? Remember last year?

The airlines confiscated our camp stove and lantern, which had to be repurchased upon arrival in Moab. Flying with the bike was a lot more expensive than we were originally quoted and the ticket agent gave us a hard time about some of the gear we were bringing along.

But, we love Moab and the team was counting on us, so we continued on. That's when Mother Nature dropped the "Storm of the Century." That's right. It rained, and rained and rained. It rained so much I spent the race huddled in a minivan with all of the gear and only a tarp (thank you to the Colorado police officers whose support team loaned it to me) for shelter. It rained so much that there were mudslides closing the bike trails, and some of the roads, transition areas were flooded and the race was cut short -- very short. Hotel rooms were extremely hard to come by and we ended up with a lot of extra time on our hands. I felt awful. I had wasted my time and my money and never wanted to travel for a race again.

So why are we going back? Well, time works wonders. Also, I know that by definition we won't see another storm like that in Moab until the year 2100.


- Lisa Cox