The Weekly Reekie: Life and Death Week
The Winter 2024 edition of Sick The Mag has just dropped and I’m having a blast reading all the tales of torment and triumph from Death Week. Now that the dust has settled and most of the emotional scars have healed, I’m wondering why we aren’t planning to do it all again. Why has Death Week been declared a one-time-only deal? Yes, I know the inaugural Sick 66 scheduled for October this year is shaping up to be something similar, but why does it have to be at the expense of Death Week? Surely two torture tourism events are better than one, right? Is there anybody out there with enough annual leave to give me a hell yeah?!
Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Sick The Videographer. My name is Reekie (that’s me above captured by 1320 Video) and I’m the run-and-gun video person who produces the daily updates for Tom Bailey YouTube channel whenever we’re on a drag-and-drive. In their divine wisdom, the Sick The Mag leadership team has encouraged me to write a column called the Weekly Reekie because, according to Tom, “Monthly Reekie doesn’t sound good”, so welcome to the first of my random ruminations.
Bring back Death Week! Everybody made it out alive, so why not?
I can still recall the mischievous look in Tom Bailey’s eye the first time he told me about the idea for an epic eighth-mile event that would run along the California coastline and through Death Valley over to Vegas. He thought it would be hilarious to gather together some like-minded car folk and torture them over nine days and 2000 miles across Arizona, California and Nevada. At one point he was almost doubled over with laughter predicting the very worst things that could happen – spiders, snakes and speeding tickets were all mentioned. Those of us who went along deserved everything we got. And what we got was a life-changing experience.
Bring back Death Week! The victims demand more abuse!
Among the many to experience the profound power of Death Week were California couple KJ and Allie Moore. The first-time drag-and-drive participants showed up to cruise and race their cool 1967 Chevelle. Making lifelong friends was an unexpected bonus for them.
“I’m really thankful for the friends I made,” said KJ, who rolled along in convoy with eventual Death Week winner Jason Rousseau in his 1980 Malibu and Bryce Nicholson in his ’72 Nova. Jason and his co-pilot Jeff Oppenheim lent a hand to weld up some broken spider gears in the Chevelle halfway through the trip. KJ and Allie sent those guys home-baked cookies around Christmas time.
“We felt like we found people with the same kind of attitude as us,” KJ continued. “The scrappiness and ingenuity is just something we hadn’t really found before.
“Drag-and-drive is special. It really pushes you, and most people don’t get that, especially in today’s society. At Death Week you can actually accomplish something and have the satisfaction of doing it.”
Finding your people, finding your purpose, finding a sense of accomplishment, I don’t know about you but this kinda stuff hits me right in the feels.
Bring back Death Week! KJ and Allie would sign up again in a heartbeat. So would I. So would Joe Leone.
Joe took on the challenge in his 1960 Ford Falcon gasser. Him and his co-pilot Mike Sorchy cruised along with fellow Californian Josh Metivier in his 1946 GMC off-road truck. From valvetrains to rear ends, they fought multiple problems with both vehicles and yet never stopped smiling.
“Death Week was about perseverance, testing yourself, and just making the best of what you have,” said Joe afterwards. “In a few days I’m going to be four months sober, so I’ve definitely learnt a lot about myself – I went through Las Vegas and still came out sober! I’ve been helped by great friends and great people, all of the above, so I’m super-stoked.”
Bring back Death Week! Let’s prove the theory that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger all over again.
Stay Sick, and leave a comment if you agree!
By Matt Reekie
