Tuesday in the Desert

Just a little after 6 a.m. here in the Nevada desert. The sun has been up for an hour, and I'm running around this luxurious comfort kingdom of a hotel room throwing stuff in my old Raid Gauloises duffle as we prepare to head out. There will be camping tonight, somewhere far away and off the beaten trail. The folks at Land Rover have secured permits to race vehicles far into the Nevada outback as part of the G4 Challenge, which starts in, oh, 38 minutes. I am waiting on the room service breakfast and still need a shower, but there's always time to post.

The way G4 works is this: ten two-person teams from around America have converged here for four days of what might be called adventure racing, not because adventure racing is a very broad umbrella these days, but because it will truly be adventurous. Each team has their very own Land Rover, with a kayak and a pair of mountain bikes on top. Somewhere between, oh, 36 minutes from now and sometime Friday, they will literally race across Nevada, using 4-wheel drive, kayak, bike, and a little bit of other stuff thrown in along the way. The race is not nonstop, but rather short four-hour bursts of energy that require mental knowledge (apparently, there's to be lots of orienteering) as well as physical stuff. 

So... out my window I can see the mountain peak to which I ran yesterday afternoon (and then promptly repaired to the spa for a massage -- you have to revel in luxury when you have the chance). I don't think I'll be able to squeeze in a run today, because my job is just to watch. I'm thinking that it will be a day of great scenery and competitive spectacle. Hope so. The Land Rover folks have a tradition of doing this sort of adventure well, and they've brought in Team Unlimited, of Xterra off-road triathlon fame, to organize the event particulars.

If I can get wifi I'll post something from out in the desert. If not, I'll wait until tomorrow. And though I will miss the Ritz-Carlton, something about camping beneath the stars in the midst of a great desert tonight sounds pretty cool, too.