More good karma

The Big Unit, The Bigger Unit: 200 miles to go

We were in Maryland just for a minute, then we crossed over into Pennsylvania, where we will be for a long while. The next time we cross the Maryland state line, it'll be the Real Deal. The crew is hanging tough, the guys even tougher. This section of the course is very beautiful but very taxing, especially after you've already ridden 2,800 miles.

We have repeatedly documented here how the RAAM gods have been with us on this trip, and how good karma has served us well. Here's another bit: a crack was discovered in Richard's bike frame, but thankfully, he was not on it at the time. This is why the top of the Follow has spare bike frames on it. This could have been a disaster, but fortunately, it was discovered early enough to avert that. Last night, When Jim (one of the cycling enthusiasts on the crew) was racking Richard's bike, he was doing the routine quick inspection - tires, breaks, lights, etc. As he was going through that, his headlamp detected an unusual glistening. Here's what was causing it:

Yikes!

And then there is Charlie's power meter unit, which attaches to the top tube of his bike and measures perceived effort. Along with a heart monitor, it's how Charlie manages to stay so steady; Richard uses a heart monitor only. Charlie's bike was racked on top of the Follow vehicle and after the Follow went through some low-hanging branches, the power meter came loose and dropped off the bike. A little later, at the exchange point, someone noticed that the unit was missing from the bike. (Not the end of the world, but it's an $800 part.)

The piece was located on the top of the Follow, creeping its way to the end, ready to fall off. "We hadn't gone far enough for it to make it all the way, but it was close," Charlie said. "We were lucky."

Yes, we were.

Plus, remember Mark from the Buzzards Bay team, the nice guy who gave us an RV jump back in Arizona? We just saw them again in Pennsylvania – they are a four-man team – and saw that their Follow vehicle has been involved in a crash. The entire driver’s side front has sustained considerable damage. But they are still plugging along. We really have been blessed on this trip, and I am nothing if not profoundly grateful.

Charlie, who still manages to be considerably upbeat at this stage of the game, told me that story while we were waiting for Richard to arrive for an exchange. As we were driving along beautiful Pennsylvania countryside, Charlie mused about whatever came into his mind:

“We’ve got one more brutal climb coming up,” he said. “This course is really, really tough over here.”

“I really appreciate all you guys have done for us. You guys have done a great job.”

“About 200 miles to go. When you start this race, there’s 3,000 miles – three sections of 1,000. Then at some point, you can be happy when you get to under 1,000 miles to go. At this point of the race, we can count the number of pulls we have left each.”

“Thanks for your glasses, I don’t think I even asked, I just grabbed them. Sorry about that, but thanks.” (One night when Richard accidentally sat on Charlie’s glasses and broke them, I was furiously trying to repair them even though Charlie was getting on the bike. He looked into the RV, saw my glasses lying on the counter, grabbed them, put them on and then declared, “These will do.” After I got Charlie’s glasses snapped back into place, we did an exchange on the side of the road. Problem was, I gave Charlie’s back, but didn’t get mine back right away. I was, as they say, navigating blind that night.)

Charlie looks better in my glasses than I do

And finally, when we could see Richard coming into view, he said “Well, back on the bike. Think I’ll take another ride.”

I know I’ve said it many times before, but it bears repeating: I’m thrilled and honored to be along.