I can't believe it's finally here, but I leave out Weds flying to San Diego CA to begin my adventures as part of the crew (I'm not riding a bike...I'm driving a van) for the Team Type 1 RAAM Team. RAAM-Race Across America-is considered to be one of the toughest cycling events in the world. It's a continuous race from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD, 3005 total miles I think. It's not a stage race. It's a continuous effort, coast to coast. Riders will be on the road for several days straight. Some will do it solo while others will ride on a team. I've gotten hooked up with one of the 8-man teams-Team Type 1. All of the riders have type-1 diabetes and from what I have read, Team Type 1 is apparently the team to beat. They've won the 8-person team race in the RAAM 3 of the last 4 years and hold the record for the fastest finish ever-5 days, 9 hours and 3 mins with an avg. speed of 23.38 mph. That's pretty amazing stuff even if you aren't a cyclist. Just imagine, crossing the US in just over 5 days...on a bike! To put things into perspective, think about the this. This year's Tour de France covers 2236 miles in 20 stages over the course of 22 days. The team I am crewing with is expected to cover 3005 miles in just over 5 days. The top solo riders will cover that distance in just over 8 days. So it's a grueling, intense test of human ability to say the least.
So how did I get involved? Well, a teacher at a school that I work at is married to the guy who coordinates both the Team Type 1 & Team Type 2 RAAM efforts. He's sort of the team manager and has been involved with this RAAM team for the past few years. In order to pull off the race, he needs about 20 or so folks to crew each team (Team Type1,2). She knew he needed folks to fill out the crew, knew that I am a cyclist, knew I have my summers off and so she passed my name along to him. I called him, found out the details and now I am part of the crew. The best part is that it doesn't cost me a dime...they pay all the expenses of the crew as long as we commit to serving the team as best we can. So to say no to an opportunity like this would have been nuts. The crazy part is that I started out just being a gopher/whatever guy on the crew just filling in and helping where needed. Over the course of the past few months, he's moved folks around and now my role is a driver of the race van. That means I will be driving the van just behind the rider on the road. Talk about pressure! We all work in 8 hr shifts and we are split into 2 groups. So that means I will drive for 8 hours and then spend 8 hours in the RV that will be following close behind while the other driver drives and then it all starts over again. We will do that from CA to MD. From what I understand, once the race gets started, it's a pretty grueling effort for everyone involved. But there is also lots of adventure and fun. I am excited and can't wait to find out what it's really like first-hand. I have a feeling it will be something I want to do again...but only time will tell.
I'm going to make an effort to blog & tweet as much as I can during the race, but that will all depend on how much down-time I have as well as availability of cell service. If you want to keep up with my journey, the blog I set up can be found at http://raam2010tt1.blogspot.com
Check it out and leave comments often as I will be checking frequently. Also, please say a prayer for the safety of all involved as well my family while I am away. This will be the longest I have ever been away from Meghan and kids, so that part is going to be tough but I know it will be okay.
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