Don Headed to Santiago

Texted last night at 10:45

If the truck had been another 6 inches closer I would not be texting you right now…  It is 3 am here and I am in an airport somewhere in Chile trying to get a flight to Santiago

I am going to go to Santiago and have a shower a good nights rest a good meal and think of a new adventure to look forward to. And give away the Duncan flags I just found in my suitcase. I swear I have given away 2000 flags they were really popular.

I feel of course gutted to finally realize finishing the Dakar is not happening. At the same time proud that I finished the two toughest days of the Dakar. This was the last airport for about 7 days so I booked a flight and will meet up with our son. Otherwise all I had to look forward to was 1000s of of kilometers driving and that was not for me.

The thing about being a racer is that I am a lousy spectator not to mention that our team still has a rider in the event, the support truck is setup for the two support people the riders were never supposed to be in the truck with them meaning I was sitting on a coke crate between gas cans and spare parts.it is normal for the racer to leave the bivouac at the first opportunity to get out.

No it was a very dramatic moment. My bike was damaged and I did not know if I could continue. I did not want Natalie to worry because I knew she was tracking me and she would see I was not moving. I asked to borrow an officials telephone at that point I did not know there was a news crew near by.

Just boarding got to go into airplane mode… Talk to you later