well - I agree with you...why do you think I wore fraternity letters.But as it turned out, there were dozens of crazy, impulsive people all over the place that helped us out.
When travelling/racing, you really need to concentrate on progressing. If you can't get a task done then at least get a few hundred miles in the right direction.
Basically - beggars can't be choosers, and our begging landed us people who were willing to help - we were pretty lucky.
greg