Sponsors' stickers covered the cars, and spare tires and gas cans sat upon them in roof racks, so we were a curiosity to locals at most rest stops (though not as curious, I think, as the sign for the Testicle Festival in Montana).

I used to insist that I'd one day buy a Porsche even if it meant living in it, so I was grateful to learn that the seats proved comfortable for both driving and sleeping. The seats were so plush that after 48 hours, another driver actually cured himself of a backache. No comment on what actually caused it.

But who can complain when you're in a Porsche?

Unfortuantely, my endurance couldn't match the cars. I spent the full 24 hours, switching from driver to passenger in two-to-three hour shifts, eating whatever vegetarian offerings I could find at highway rest stops.

The first 12 hours went smoothly, and the excitement of driving a Carrera 4 in the land of high speed limits and no cops was enough to keep me alert. But as night fell and a heavy fog rolled in, my body started calling out for rest. I was grateful to switch with my co-driver, Linda, and to get a few hours' rest, but woke abruptly when Linda opened the window to keep herself awake.

There are lots of techniques to keep yourself awake while driving: listening to the radio, turning on the air conditioner, opening a window but we soon learned that they generally apply to everyone in the car. It was also much harder to get back to sleep after considering that my life was in the hands of someone who, after flying from Atlanta to Alaska and then driving for 48 hours, hadn't had a good night's sleep in several days.

Our team captain had recommended eating sunflower seeds to stay awake, but the process of extracting each seed from the shell proved too complicated and the finished product not worth the effort. Instead, I picked up a king-size bag of Skittles along the way, figuring the sugar would keep me alert.