Comments from Kevin's Friends & Followers after the 2006 Rally

I thought it would be fun to share some of the comments/emails I have been receiving for Kevin:

Jackie Embro - Jan 9:
"He is still such a inspiration to so many people. Some people can only dream of going to Dakar, and he made it happen. He is truly an incredible athlete... just an unfortunate circumstance for him."

Rita Hochfellner - Jan 9:
"I must say we are all EXTREMELY proud of him, and am sure he will be back again next year."

Alicia Embro - Jan 7:
"We are so sorry for his injury and therefore his withdrawal from the rally. He was going so good. He and James were riding well together."

Iain Platt - Jan 7:
"I'm sorry to see Kevins out. Bummer."

Brian Campbell - Jan 6:
"He and the other privateers are my HEROES and I am damn proud of him."

Rick Stuart - Jan 6:
"Kevin being the racer that he is I'm sure he is figuring out how to get back for 2007!"

Keith & Louise Lively - Jan 6:
"I am so sad for Kevin and hate that he is injured on top of it. Please tell him how sorry we are."

Jerry & Joyce Moore - Jan 6:
"We are now admiring Kevin for once again taking on the Dakar challenge. I am glad he was able to enjoy nature's beauty on this year's trip through the sand dunes."

Bob Bergman - Jan 5:
"I've been glued to the computer following Kevin. I'm proud of him and he's doing fantastic!"

Wayne Taylor - Jan 4:
"Tell him I am thinking of him and to ride his AARSE OFF!!"

Wayne Mitchell - Jan 3:
" Rachel:  Thanks for looking after the boy. Thanks and keep your fingers crossed."

Kevin arrived back yesterday. We welcomed him back to work with streamers, balloons and "Welcome Home" signs. Thought you all might want to see a picture of him to know that he is whole.

I haven't talked to Kevin for a few days, but I received an email from him early this morning. He said that he was about to leave for the airport. His plane left South Africa at 7:30 pm (SA time). He said he would try to email again from the airport, but at the very least would call me when he arrived in Atlanta. I will be picking him up at the San Diego airport tomorrow mid day.

I wanted to Congratulate James Embro on his finish!! Way to go!! In the end, 93 bikes, 67 cars, and 33 trucks made it to the finish line. What an accomplishment!

I continue to communicate with Kevin in South Africa either by email or skype (internet phone). He is doing fine. He is enjoying his final days in South Africa with friends and family. He will be returning to the USA on Wed. He thought all this time that he would be flying in on Tues until I received a copy of his itinerary and pointed out to him that he doesn't arrive in San Diego until Wed. (We have to continue to hold his hand on things like this!)

I spoke with Kevin this morning. He seems to be doing well. He refers to himself as the one arm bandit. He is going to be flying home on Tuesday. I know that many of you have been sending him emails and he is doing his best to respond to them all. I'm sure the first few days that he is here will be hectic, but I'm sure he will be glad to share his experience with us all.

There are some really good photos of Kevin at this website: http://www.maindruphoto.com - his race number is 180.

His riding partner James Embro is still in the race. He seems to be doing well. His website has dialog of some conversations he has had with his wife and sister. He has definitely felt the hardships of the Dakar rally, but continues to be strong.

Ronn Bailey is withdrawn from the race. Apparently, they had a mechanical problem with the car and were towed in. They missed two checkpoints in stage 9, which disqualified them from the race. Ronn is definitely disappointed, but will appear at Dakar in 2007.

I still hadn't spoke with Kevin, so I decided to call his mom's house in South Africa this morning, and he answered!! So he has made it to South Africa safely. He seems to be doing okay. He said that it was a really long flight and he didn't have pain killers, so he was miserable. He has been to the doctor in South Africa and they seem to think that they did a good job on his operation. He says that he has a 12 inch pin and screws in his arm and a cast up to his bicep. He plans to stay in South Africa to rest up a bit before returning to the USA. He will probably fly home in about a week.

There were a few articles in the local San Diego newspaper. Here's links to the articles:
January 5 Article
December 29 Article

I haven't heard from Kevin since my last posting. I assume that he will try to call me later today now that we are back at work. I will let you know if I hear anything from him.

On a separate note, I just read on the Dakar website that KTM bike rider by the name of Andy Caldecott died in a serious crash today. I think that puts it more into perspective how dangerous this race can be and should make us all even more thankful that Kevin will be okay. I would like to send my sincere condolences to his family, friends, and followers.

Kevin called me this morning but I missed his call. This was his message:

"Hey Rach, it's me. I didn't realize it was Sat, I have been all drugged up for the last day so I called the work but I don't even know what time it is there and I'm too tired to work it out, so I will try to call you again in like 2 hours.

I'm in a hospital on the Canary Islands and I'll be here until Mon and then they are getting me back to South Africa. So I will probably get back to the states a few days early. So I will try to call you again and we can catch up. Don't try to call this number back."

About 2 hours later, he did call back. And this was bits of our conversation:

"I hit a piece of camel grass and my front wheel spun out and threw me off the bike. It really wasn't that bad of a crash. It happens all the time, but as I landed, the bike was in the air and fell right on top of me. I put my arms up to stop the pegs from stabbing me, but the bike was full of fuel and so heavy, it just crushed my arm in two places and broke a rib.

Two helicopters came and they had to reset my arm in the desert, then they flew me to bivouac where I was then transported to the airport and flown to the Canary Islands. I'm at a place called Los Palmas. The hospital is full of dakar people and I've heard that they started overflowing to another hospital now.

My arm is broken in two places - my ulmer and radius (close to wrist and right at the elbow). Where it broke near the elbow, the bone was right through my skin, so they are worried about infection. That is why I have to stay here until Monday. I'm on some heavy drugs and antibiotics."

Overall, he sounds good. He says that it is what it is and things like this happen. That is why it is the hardest rally. He was pretty drugged up so he sounded a little groggy. He says that he will try to call again tomorrow to let me know when he will be out of there for sure. He was just getting ready to eat some Pizza and get some more pain medication in him. I will always update as I hear more.

I wish I didn't have to post this, but Kevin is out of the race. I received a message today on the office voicemail at 4:03 am from him. These are his exact words:

"Hey Rachel, it's me. I don't have any good news. I had a crash and have broken my arm. I am in Atar now and I am getting sent to the Canary Islands for an operation. Um, I will try you later. Talk to you later, bye."

I spoke to his mother in South Africa and she also received a call from him. Apparently, when he crashed, his bike fell on his arm. When he called her, he was in an ambulance on their way to an airport to fly him out. He was upset and afraid that he let us all down. But I think we would all agree that we are just grateful that he will be okay in the end and his arm will heal with time I'm sure.

I will keep you all updated as I hear more.

1-5-06
10:15 am

HE JUST CALLED!! I was trying to type everything that he said as he spoke, so that I could update you all. This is what I got:

"Hi Rachel, it's me. I knew that I would catch you at work one of these days. How are you?.... This is the first day that I have showered. I have just been so busy working on my bike everynight. I have James' satellite phone and he is going to let me use it for the rest of the rally. I'm not hurt, not falling, I feel strong, feeling really good. It is dusty as hell and difficult to see at times. I'm really tired because we got up at 1 am last night to get through the liason. My bike broke in day 3. I had an electrical problem. Come to find out it was something with my ground strap but I took the whole bike apart on the side of the track. I thought that I might be out but I got it fixed. So many have been crashing and falling out. It's been hard, but doable. It's so funny because James and I came in within 10 seconds the other day but we never saw each other the whole day. We were laughing about it. I've really been being careful. I back off at 130 mph, but if you slow down, someone will pass you and then you will eat dust. I'm just trying to keep the motor strong. Today we hit the first sand dunes. It was so fun to be out of the stuff that we have been riding in. It has been so rough like Baja. Just rocks and rocks pounding you. It's so beautiful out here. Last year it was so dusty from the wind, but this year it's dusty, but you can see everything. It's amazing!! The whole day is sand dunes tomorrow.

The hardest part for me is coming into the bivouac and everyone's tents are up, their mechanics are there, and they can just relax and eat. But I have to work on my bike. Everyone eats dinner for about 45 minutes, but me, I eat for 5 minutes and then go work on my bike. There have been so many little things wrong with the bike. Most riders get new tires everyday. I rode with the same tires the first 4 days, but I have a new tire for tomorrow. I really think I can finish if my bike will make it. If I can get to the rest day, I will be good, but the day before and the after the rest day are the hardest days of the rally.

I'm really tired. My ground sheet has a hole in it so I'm right on the ground, inside my tent. It is freezing cold and there are flies everywhere. Today I actually fell asleep on the bike and usually when we get to the start of the specials, we all lay on the ground and fall asleep. Today someone was kicking me telling me to get on the bike. My butt is hurting like crazy, but my seat is amazing compared to last year. I'm a little worried about my hands, I have a few blisters.

Ok. I will try to call you every couple days. I just never know what time I will get in, so the time will vary. I'm just so tired when I get in and have to deal with endless shit."

I haven't heard from him today but I checked his status online. For some reason the tracking feature shows that he hasn't finished yet but I think something is wrong with it because the standings say that he finished 197 out of 223. I will let you know if I hear anything else today.

I also received an email today from a guy in Lisbon that took some photos of Kevin. Kevin asked him to contact me and get me the links, so he did:
http://ateaofimdomundo.smugmug.com/gallery/1077317/1/50052987 http://ateaofimdomundo.smugmug.com/gallery/1077317/1/50052950 http://ateaofimdomundo.smugmug.com/gallery/1077319/3/50641857
http://nomads.smugmug.com/gallery/1088771/4/50612846 http://nomads.smugmug.com/gallery/1079603/1/50162580

I received an email from Kevin today. This is what it said:

"Most of us are through tech inspection. It went OK for me and James. I have a couple of issues, my battery went dead so I have to replace my battery before the start. We cannot work or see the bikes till then. I have a small issue I need to start the race then stop and fix something so I will miss the start of the special by some time and take a penalty, I am not worried as it is more important to fix the problem. The weather has been great but we expect rain. The race starts tomorrow morning at 6.30 we head to Potimoa and then stay there the night. New years day we cross to Africa. We are all feeling good I am over the flu I had (I hope). I have posted on ADVrider.com that is the website all the US Dakar nuts go on, check under the heading racing."

This is an email that Kevin sent out while he was still in South Africa just before he left for the rally. Just in case some of you didn't receive it:

"Hi
As some of you know I am in South Africa preparing for the Dakar Rally. Many of you have asked, and Rachel has updated last years Website with information regarding the race. I hope to call in some days and give her updates for the site. The site has plenty of information with links to some of the other American Riders sites and the link to the Dakar site with daily updates. Marry Xmas and Happy New Year to all. - Kevin"