SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1545032
THE LESSONS YOU DON’T FORGET Being Prepared For Short Trips Is Essential By Dustin Ensign I was 12 years old, bouncing across the Sea of Cortez in a little aluminum fishing boat. Ice chest in the middle, full of Miller Lite. “Water? We’ll just be out for an hour.” That’s how it started. I get it now, but this quick trip wasn’t exactly stocked with anything a kid needed. No food, no water, no real plan. It was a quick run out with my Uncle Bob and my stepdad, Pete, that turned into something a bit longer than expected. Hours later, sunburned and beyond thirsty, I’m drinking melted ice out of a fishy smelling Ziplock bag. It’s funny now, but at the time, it wasn’t. To this day, you won’t catch me heading out on any adventure, boat, bike, or otherwise, without enough food and water. Some lessons stick with you because they hurt enough the first time. Others… are better learned from someone else. The Desert Teaches Fast UTV Champions Kristen and Wayne Matlock aren’t new to the desert. They are not only championship racers, but also longtime off-roaders, and a family that lives it, kids included. Despite all their knowledge, what started as a perfect day in the desert turned in an instant. The family had just wrapped up a long group ride. Everyone was back at camp, settling in, getting ready for dinner. The kids, still full of energy, kept riding around camp. Not ten minutes later, the radio call came in. One of the boys had crashed, and they needed help. Kristen said, “The day “went from a beautiful day in the desert to one of the scariest moments of our lives… after one radio transmission came in.” They rushed over to find their son Clayton on the ground after misreading the terrain coming off a drop. He tried to ride it out, but the impact went straight into his arms. Both of his wrists took the full force of the impact. It was immediately clear something was wrong. One person called 911 while others checked to make sure he was responsive, oriented, and had sensation in the damaged areas. They did everything they could to keep him calm and stable until medics arrived. From there, he was airlifted to Rady Children’s Hospital, where doctors treated fractures to both arms and got him on the path to recovery. Looking back, Kristen pointed to one thing that made an immediate difference: “We were grateful to have comms with the kids… we were able to be alerted immediately.” The Desert Doesn’t Wait In this instance, there was no delay. No searching. No guessing. The message came through clearly, and immediately. Out here, that matters, because when something goes wrong in the desert, it doesn’t wait for you to figure things out. It doesn’t give you time to go looking or hope someone comes back to camp. It comes down to one thing -- When there is no cell service, can you call for help if you need it? Not Just For Race Day In racing, communication is everything. Chase coordination. Pit strategy. Safety. It’s built into how teams operate at every level. But those same realities don’t disappear when the race is over. This wasn’t a race; it was a family at camp with kids riding nearby. A normal day in the desert, but the need to communicate didn’t change. Weather it’s a group ride with your buddies, pre-running sections before race day, or a weekend trip with the family with kids burning laps around camp, the reality is the same. If something goes wrong, how fast can you get the word out? Be Ready Before You Need It Some lessons stick with you because they hurt enough the first time. Others… are better learned from someone else. Staying connected falls into that category. Not because something will go wrong, but because if it does, you won’t be wasting time trying to figure out what to do next. You don’t plan for these types of emergency moments to happen, but you can prepare for them. Whether you’re lining up for a SCORE race start, pre-running the course, or just letting the kids ride around camp, being able to communicate isn’t about convenience. It’s about being ready when the day takes a turn you didn’t expect. Ride smart. Stay connected. It just might save you from drinking fishy water out of a Ziplock bag, or worse.