It was somewhere over Lake Mead when reality started to kick in. Why was I headed to Sin City for an adventure race?

Isn’t an adventure in Vegas doubling down on 18, or making eye contact with one of the guys handing out escort cards.

Luckily for me I was headed to the desert to film the first race in the Desert Winds Adventure Race Series.

I met Robert Finlay, the Race Director, at Primal Quest Badlands last Summer. Through a long complicated  chain of events that some how worked out,He asked me to come to the desert film and produce DVDs for the racers. Two 12 hour,one 24, and a 5 day expidition race in September. Oh yeah, and my wife Paulette Kirby is going with Robert, his son Druce, and Val Chapa to Patagonia next month to race.

I haven’t been to any of the Desert Winds races but I have done my research and found a lot of positive buzz about them.Robert has the same kind of attitude that Paulette and I have, “I’m not sure where we are but it looks fun that way” this should make for an interesting course.

This is what I know so far. The paddle is 15 milesish on Lake Mead. There is a 15 mountain bike ride , and 10 miles on foot. I think you better be on your navigation game if you want to be competitive.

Now is the weird part, I fly into Vegas  and have some time to kill.  I make a lap of the Strip. But a couple of hours of that and  the Fear starts to creep in.  How many strange people can one town hold and how can so many of them be so out of shape that they can’t even climb one flight of stairs without stopping.I head for the desert.

The desert is calm and dark. Soon I will be in my sleeping bag in my rented Toyota. This is the difference between racing and documenting a race. I have no pre race jitters. Just a good night sleep and a day of sticking my camera in their face.

Tomorrow the race.