On an early September morning Brianna Limebrook, Kate DeWald, and Jim “The Wrench” Matheson set off on a 2-week, 2,000-mile journey. Their chariot? A rusty (and unreliable) three-wheeler known affectionately in Indian neighborhoods as a tuk-tuk. Team Raiders of the Lost Tuk will travel from the northeast corner of India to the sandy deserts near the Pakistani border as one of just 60 teams in this autumn’s Rickshaw Run. They’re doing it as a grand adventure, an exercise in self-torture, and to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Brianna found some time between training for the event–squats, Hindi lessons, and motorcycle school–to answer a few questions about what they’re hoping to accomplish, how they’re preparing, and why they hope to lead a noisy pack of tuk-tuks across the subcontinent.
WAM: Whoa… 2,000 miles in a tuk-tuk? Have you ever been in one before?
Brianna: Do the words 145 CC engine, 7 HP at 5000 rpm mean anything to you? They don’t to me either. Which is probably part of why we decided to do this. Everyone we know who has ridden a tuk-tuk gives the same reaction when we tell them we’re driving 2,000 miles across the entire subcontinent of India in one; first a look of shock, then a laugh, then once the realization hits that we’re serious, the look becomes one of confusion, pity combined with a sympathetic pat on the back, and a “I cannot wait to see video of that”…
But hey, why dip a toe when you can dive right in?? Plus, I bet it beats doing it on foot or a bicycle and, as my teammates assure me, much faster than the public transportation system in San Francisco!
WAM: Did you have the same reaction when you first heard about the Rickshaw Run? Shock and laughter followed by confusion and pity? How do you feel as you’re getting closer to the big day?
Brianna: Actually, I was pretty excited. It was more like: India? Cool. In a golf cart? Interesting. For charity? Come to think of it, I could use some karma points in my favor. Himalayas? Taj Mahal? Okay, sold!
It’s only natural to have the pre-race jitters as we get closer to the kick-off but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! The more I tell people about it, the more excited I get. Sure, the comments from one of my co-workers in India that we’d need to be very careful of snakes (cobras, specifically) and riding a rickshaw for 2,000 miles could be as painful as “riding a wild goat” caused a temporary spike in blood pressure, but where’s the adventure if you don’t get out there in the world? (Come to think of it-what IS riding a wild goat like? Add that to the bucket list.) Of course there are unknowns and uncertainties, but risk is everywhere, whether you choose to enjoy it or not is what makes it an adventure. The magnitude of what we’re doing is definitely sinking in more as we get closer to the big day, but a little anticipation is a good thing. And besides, after all the work we’ve put into this so far, I know we’re doing all we can to prepare ourselves and I know without a doubt there’s nobody other than my teammates I’d rather spend two weeks in a tiny, loud, uncomfortable, and prone-to-breaking down tuk-tuk with. Except Tom Brady, of course.
WAM: Riding a wild goat? That sounds pretty painful. Have you adopted a training routine that you think will help with that, or are you going to jump in front-wheel-first when you land in Kolkata?
Brianna: Yeah, haven’t tried the wild goat yet, although elephant riding is a MUST on our trip! There’s only so much training we can do here in the States as auto-rickshaws are hard, if not impossible to come by–believe me, we’ve made a lot of phone calls to try! A lot of the places we’ll be going don’t have any traffic lights or signs. So that should be interesting. I’ve taken a motorcycle safety course to get my motorcycle license and our teammate Jim used to race dirt bikes so we hope that comes in handy. We’re doing as much planning as we can, but I think we have to be honest with ourselves in realizing that no matter how much we prepare, it’s bound to still be a pell-mell jump in head first kind of thing!
WAM: What about the lifestyle stuff? Rice and dahl for dinner, eating with your right hand, squat toilets, and trying to master the sari? Are you studying up on Indian culture and do you have a strategy for dealing with the places you’ll see that are WAY off the tourist map?
Brianna: I don’t think anything we can do here can fully replicate the culture… but yes, we’ve been making it a point to eat more Indian food (with a healthy dose of probiotics on the side and while sitting on our left hands, of course) and upping our physical fitness (squats included) to get ready for the cultural differences we’ll face on the road. I’ve been taking Hindi lessons to be able to communicate in those out of the way places; though I’m still trying to figure out why my Hindi teacher Lekshmi put a big red asterisk next to the phrase “Help!,” chuckled, and said that would be a good one to remember??? We are all lucky to have colleagues that are from or living in India which gives us a much more real understanding than what we can find out in Lonely Planet, and we’re trying to make contacts in India that we can reach out to for advice or maybe even a place to stay along the route. Our strategy is simple though: breathe, take a pic, and breathe again. Oh-and to bring a fire torch a la Indiana Jones-for the snakes, of course! Though I’m hoping our flute charming skills will suffice.
WAM: Charming as I imagine your flute to be… what do you think your team’s got going that’ll set you apart from the crowd of tuk-tuks taking off on Sept 11?
Brianna: We’re a determined, fun-loving group that is really passionate about why we signed up for this in the first place, and I think that’s what’ll keep us going for 2,000 miles in an open air tuk-tuk during monsoon season. Aside from the adventure of a lifetime, we’re dedicated to using this journey to raise money for and bring awareness to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), as Jim has been living with Type 1 diabetes since the age of 10. Sure there’s more to prepare for and more to think about with this, but our goal with this adventure is to show others living with diabetes, particularly kids, that any adventure is possible with proper management and nothing can really hold you back. We’re doing everything we can to prepare in advance and have put more into this journey than anything else we have in our lives, but once we’re there, we’ll just have to rely on all we’ve put into this the last several months, jump in and go for it! I think our team will be good at relying on humor and an open mind to get us through the tough times, knowing it’ll be one heck of a story to tell when we get home. And one other thing that’ll set our Rickshaw apart at that starting line? A custom “Pimp my Rickshaw” paint job that even Xzhibit and the boys in the shop would be proud of.
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Meet the members of the team, support their efforts to outfit their tuk on a budget, and help them raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at www.losttuk.com
