fantastically long way to get there and to race...

since it was the government-owned vehicle our jail van was a well maintained van and ever since we got it we've been devoted a lot of attention to it, well, DIY way, tough. however, before we left to bonneville we decided to take it to a nearby van & truck center for a "professional" check-up and tune-up. the guy over there found used-up parts here and there including the heater hose and we gave them the go to replace them all because we knew that we needed to. the van was perfectly ready to hit the road, we thought...

how come shinya is opening the hood
before we even get to baker?

waiting for the water temperature to cool down
in the middle of nowhere.

task No.1 before the race -- repair the heater hose.

the pro-guy did replace the hose but he forgot to put the coolant back in. as a result, got overheat and the new hose exploded. very simple 4th grader science experiment...bummer!!!

we couldn't stop laughing because all of the sudden after we　asked for the professional help the van is acting up...but were quick to snap out of it and headed to the salt flats. got there safely 9 hours drive later.

before we even set up our pit, we needed to bring our bike up for the inspection and registration. despite that, shinya found an old guy with trailer parked right next to us had a flat tire...

task No.2 before the race -- change a tire for a stranger.

now, the toughest part is to pass the inspection. somehow there is always something that we have to make changes in order to pass. shinya had raced the same bike with the same setting just a month ago at el mirage so it supposed be all right...

oh, you again, hah?

hurry, shinya! you have to do it before they see!

let's see...steering must not turn more than 15 degrees...

fail!!
of course...as usual...

task No.3 before the race -- make a couple of changes to pass the inspection.

ok, we did pass and could register for the race next day! all we needed to do was to rest. we usually sleep in the van but this year we got a fancy hotel...the tent...we could lie in a sprawl. what a comfort...ZzzZzz