Still Kickin'...

We're back! Strap yourselves in because as predicted the fun keeps coming...

For those of you who haven't been following us we were stuck in Oaxaca, Mexico for 5 days. The first diesel mechanic that we took our truck to had it for nearly 3 days and didn't fix a thing. When we got back to Oaxaca after a disheartening attempt at trying to catch up with the race, we decided that the safest bet was to take the truck to the local Ford dealer.
Initially the mechanics believed the problem to be 2 rubber o rings inside the trucks turbo. Kip and Willet spent an entire day searching for o rings in Oaxaca only to return to the news that the turbo was actually cracked and would need to be replaced. They told us that it would take about a week to get the part shipped in, and that it would be impossible to find it anywhere in town. That of course didn't stop us from looking, and by some twist of fate we managed to find what was probably the only turbo for a Ford F250 powerstroke engine within a 100 mile radius, wrapped in plastic at the second junk yard that we stopped at. We had the part installed that night and decided to leave the following morning.


As we were passing the spot where we had broken down only a few days previously, Willet made the joke that at least we had made it closer to our destination. Ten minutes later the tread ripped off of one of the rear tires, and we screached to a stop as Kip regained control of the truck. Luckily it was a quick fix. We replaced the tire with a spare and were back on the road. We drove the next 24 hours straight, covering roughly 1,100 miles through Mexico and finally managed to catch up with the rest of the racers in Nuevo Laredo.

107 cars started the race and roughly 60 cars finished. We're told that every car that did finish barely made it across the finish line. I was talking to another racer who said that the winnier of this years race didn't expect that his car to be able to drive another 100 miles.
We also had a chance to meet up with our photographer friend Alex. He has been gracious enough to share a number of his photos from the race with us, and is going to try to get a story about our adventures in Mexcio published when he returns to london.
For us the jounrey continues. Kip, Willet, and Jim are flying home from Texas today. This afternoon I will leave from Laredo, TX with the truck and trailer, stopping in Boulder, CO, Jackson, WY, Chicago, IL, and Richmond, VA. Can't wait for Richmond!
Eventhough we did not finish the race this year we certainly do not consider this trip a failure. We consider the connections that we have made with the other racers and Mexican locals a great victory for ourselves and our campaign for alternative energy education. Our mission now is to continue fundraising so that we can come back next year and compete in the Carrera Panamericana using only WVO, and continue finding creative ways to spread the word about sustainable alternative energy education.
On Nov. 7th the race car will be on display at the Lyndsay McCandless contemporary art galllery in Jackson, WY. I believe that the night will include live music and I will be giving a brief slideshow and talk about our adventures in Mexico.
I have a truck with 55 gallons of WVO in the bed, a trailer stuffed with a race car, and 4,000 miles to go. Stay tuned as there is much much more to come...