Let’s get this out of the way and not make it too uncomfortable.  You are not a man. 

Rod Hall, Rod Hall is a man.  If you ask him, Rod Hall will tell you, jokingly, “I couldn’t read or write so well, so I had to drive fast” (translation: ‘I am a man’).  Rod didn’t race in a few Baja 1000s, he raced in ALL of them – every single one.  He raced in the Baja 1000 when it was the Mexican Mil (i.e. in Spanish); when California, Nevada, and Oregon where still part of Mexico and Native Americans were his only pit crew.  Okay, well maybe not that long ago, but you get my point.  Man.

Rod also happens to be damn funny, charming, and grows the largest lemons you’ve ever seen in your life.  (Insert joke here.)  I met Rod in Baja over the weekend and he spent a good portion of the afternoon buying me beers, telling salty jokes and bench-racing stories, and generally living up to his status as a legend of the off-road community.  He also gave me a lemon.

I’m off to make whole pitcher of lemonade with Rod Hall’s lemon.