Sunday, June 21, 2009

Climbing hard

Greetings from Flagstaff, AZ! The guys are riding very well today. Lots of climbing - Yarnell Grade climbs 1,800 feet in seven miles, followed pretty quickly by another 1,100 feet in six miles and then there's the 7,000-foot elevation between Prescott and Cottonwood- Mingus Mountain. Yikes. That's all before they go to 7,000 again just before Flagstaff, which based on averaging more than 128 feet of climbing per miile, is one of the toughest sections of RAAM west of the Mississippi.

You'd think these guys would like a nice rest after all that, huh? But someone's wheels will keep turning all night long, which, of course, is what makes RAAM RAAM. As the back of our T-shirts say, "This ain't no tour." Fortunately, now that we're out of the first night special rules, our racers will likely switch to a longer ride/sleep cycle tonight. Charlie is planning to sleep approximately three or four hours while Richard rides and then they will reverse positions. They hope to keep this 3-or-4-hour nighttime cycle for the remainder of the race.

Tonight, crew member Jonathan Jahant will be front and center doing his thing. He's a massage therapist from San Antonio, brought along not only for his wonderful hands but for all his cycling knowledge and cross-country experience - this is his eighth time across the country on some sort of cycling event. Jon will be part of the RV crew tonight, giving massages when the guys come off the bike. I'm sure the guys are looking forward to the relief of that and a real sleep break - each guy should get a good three hours of sleep, we hope.

Meanwhile, the crew wants to give a shout out to Mark from Team Save Buzzards Bay from Massachusetts for giving the RV a jump when it died - ok, when we let it die after we forgot to turn off the lights when sitting around for a while at Time Station 6. That's not as bone-headed as it sounds ... when the rules dictate that you must cross the country with your headlights on, it's sometimes easy to forget to turn them off.

So thanks, Mark, and best to your team.



RAAM is all about helping others achieve their goals too.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

The RV died? Are you guys filming National Lampoon's RAAM? :)

I know your strategy - get all the issues out in the first 48 hours.. good idea.

Karolina said...

Hey Richard,,,,High Charley,,,,,Hey Joni,,,,,,High Jeannie.....I've had a comp virus, so am finally up and adam ant......chuggin along like you are.....imagine yourselves as a high speed internet connection.....flying at the speed of light,,,,,,becoming one with that speed,,,,how liberating, how free, how powerfully steady and sure.....the views must be pretty awe inspiring ....what a challenge, what a tremendous feat, I'm proud to be remotely a part of your journey!!! Joni, Happen to bring along that song, Pure Prarie Legue, Two Lane Highway? I've proclaimed that my personal song to you, Richard and Charlie...or you can always start singing 10,000 bottles of beer on the wall....LOL.....i'M rootin, tootin for you all.......stay tough, and God Bless you with each turn of the wheel.......Karolina

Anonymous said...

Hi everybody! Jeannie - you are the best blogger ever. Lily left her daddy a ,special Father's Day message yesterday from New Mexico. Perhaps he can check his voicemail when (if) he gets a chance? I hope you are all well and safe and keep up the good work!

Unknown said...

Hey Boss!

Next time you start feeling motion sickness, you need to look out a window. You need your eyes to let your brain know you're in motion.

If you're in the back of the RV, pick 3 spots on a wall or ceiling, or three objects inside the RV in an imaginary triangle. Let your eyes focus for about two seconds at each point of the imaginary triangle. Do this until the nausea goes away.

Mike B