MueckeRacing

Everyone arrived as planned yesterday and after a lunch break we headed down to the race office and got checked in.  Alison has done a superb job handling all the ketails surrounding the necessary paperwork, so we had an easy time of the check in process.  The rest of the day was spent sorting out rooms and boxes of stuff, then a journey into town to attend Sandy Earl’s barbeque.

Today I got out for a longer ride this morning and rode the second half of the unsupported racer route – and arrived back at the hotel a bit late for our planned 9:00 trip back into town.  Alison decided it was a bad precedent – but we soon got on our way to take care of the day’s chores.

First up was racer photo session – done and over with in about three shots.  Another lunch break, then Alison and Dad attended a crew meeting, whilst the rest of us looked around the town.  Vehicle and bike inspections were next up, and in short order we were checked off and had our official “clearance to race”.  We’ll all head down to the racer banquet in a few minutes, and I’ll get to stand on stage with the likes of Jure Robic, David Goggins, George Thomas and Gerhard Gulewicz.  Amazing. 

Tomorrow I watch as the crew puts the vans together into race configuration and learn just what they have planned for me for the next 12 days.

Made it to Oceanside yesterday – decided to push through instead of stopping somewhere near LA.  The drive down the valley south of Sacremento was a tad long – the scope of the valley is amazing, though.  After seeing all the farming in the Yakima valley, I was amazed at the size of the farms along the freeway.

Overall the drive wasn’t too bad, about 1100 miles total, nice to have it over.  The next few days will be busy with pre-race meetings and such, but for me it should be pretty relaxing as I watch my crew bend over backward to help me get ready to race!

go big, or go home

a few shots of the drive down

stuffed like a turkey

Logging museum

Yes, I did stop at a museum to torture Brandon with some culture and history – but of course he stayed in the car.

Today we shoot for somewhere near LA – the weather has greatly improved – clear skies and much, much lower humidity.  I’ll grab a quick 20 miles after breakfast, then southward, onward!

Left the house around three and drove south into the rain. We made it to Bend by 7, which will help shave some hours off of the next leg.   It’s been raining all night and looks to be soggy the rest of the day as well.  Brandon managed to avoid any driving duties yesterday by pulling the old “I’m a teenager, must sleep” maneuver – but that’s alright, he’ll have plenty of time to drive next week.

For those of you who don’t know the details of crewing an ultra-cyclist, I thought I would throw in a little bit about how it works:  during ultra-endurance cycling races the racer gets to have a crew follow him in a support vehicle.  Due to the demands of RAAM, more than one vehicle is required.  The Primary vehicle is the one that stays with the racer at all times.  During the day they may do “leapfrog” support in which the racer may get out of sight for a little while, but for the most part the vehicle stays with the rider, following behind.  Ultra-races do not allow any drafting for the solo racers, and that includes your pace vehicle.

Life inside the primary support vehicle is divided up into several jobs: first and foremost is the safety of your racer.  Next is hydration and feeding.  The racer gets the luxury of having you fill water bottles and make up your food, then bring these items up to you and hand them out the window.  But, of course there’s more to it.  The demands on the racer’s body are extreme and careful tracking of protein, carbs and fat are important to keep your racer moving down the course.  In the desert, hydration and electrolyte balance are a constant struggle.  Next, you get to keep your racer on the route.  The route book breaks the race into 54 time stations, each of which you have to arrive at by way of the official route.  RAAM keeps track of racers through these time stations, so every crew or racer must check in when they arrive.  And of course you have to attend to your racer’s comfort – sunscreen, advil, stomach issues, foul weather, and all the other discomforts that accompany riding a bike non-stop.At night, you get to do all these things as well as stay within fifty feet behind  the racer – to help insure the safety of your racer.

While all this is going on, the second vehicle with the second crew has gone up-course to find the hotel, do any needed shopping, and tried to get some sleep.  When the racer and primary crew arrive, the two crews change places – while the racer looks longingly at the hotel room with it’s shower and in-room coffee maker.  Repeat this process for ten days.  Pretty easy, huh?

One more quick ride around the bridges, and then Brandon and I will be on our way.  And I can’t help but wonder what changes RAAM will bring.  Oh, by the way, the blue didn’t come through too well in the photo.

Brandon plunges into the RAAM effect.

pouring rain all day, and buckets of debris to load into the van – so no riding.  Pretty sure Brandon and I will be ready to leave on Thurs. – hoping for a relaxing drive to Oceanside with some time to ride and stretch the legs.

Here’s a little page I worked up for the kids at Pasco High who were interested in what was going on:

RACE ACROSS AMERICA

2010, SOLO DIVISION

ROSS MUECKE, #393

What shall you dream?

What will you seek?

Where is the edge of your courage?

Will you risk it all, perhaps having bitten off more than you can chew?

What sacrifices are your goals worth?

Race Across AMerica is a non-stop bicycle race across the North American Continent.  Unlike the more publicized races such as Tour de France, competitors in solo RAAM may not draft (have team-mates help them), and the clock never stops.  To remain competitive, solo racers must race for 22 hours a day and conquer over 3000 miles of desert, mountain and prairie in 12 days or less.  The demands on the body and psyche are unparalleled in any other endurance race on the planet.

Training for RAAM has been far more difficult than I imagined, encompassing 10 years of physical effort, and three years of mental effort in order to accept the challenge. The commitment to compete in Race  Across AMerica has refocused my life: wife, child, family and work are now more important when balanced against the demands of training for and believing in completing a trans-continental bicycle race.

Follow the race at www.raceacrossamerica.org and click on “live coverage”

Live blog updates at www.mueckeracing.net

Short ride yesterday in the early am, then lots of little details to take care of all day.  Might have gotten the a/c fixed in the van, though it’s going to be a “turn off the a/c when climbing the Yarnell Grade” situation.  By the way, try googling Congress and zooming in while in the terrain view, then slowly work your way up the Yarnell Grade.  Fun.

Anyways, I would say training for RAAM is over.  I estimate 8500 total miles, 9000 if you count the Hoodoo as a training ride.  Of those, 5000 have been rides of a century or more.  I am happy with the total miles, though I am still wishing my master plan hadn’t been interupted with illnesses.  I don’t feel I could have done much more than I did – unless I were to have had the luxury of not working for the last 6 months.

Gear-wise I have two awesome Bianchi bikes, wheels to match their potential, and (hopefully) enough Garneau clothing to get me through.  The mighty van is set up the way I think it will work – although I do wish I would have had the chance to get some speakers set up on the hood.  I suppose an MP3 stapled to the side of my head will work ok.  Most of  my crew probably wouldn’t appreciate a mix of Clutch, Disturbed, Oreja de Van Gogh and Zeppelin anyways.

Brandon and I are planning to leave Thurs. after school so we can break the drive into three days.   This will hopefully give me the chance to ride a bit every day.  And, Brandon’s goal for the summer is to run at least ten miles in every state we go through.  Not sure if WA counts, though, as he hasn’t yet gotten the shoes on the pavement around here …

Sat on the living room floor with a cup of joe and stretched for a while as I waited for the sun to come up,  then decided to check e-mail and see if Craig had had any luck with the website.  Turns out he had gotten the pic. function to work, so here’s a pic of my new webmaster:  Like all things wordpress, it’s pretty easy once you know what to do.

Anyways, we (Craig and I) took a ride up to Basin City to see the sights.  It is supposed to rain the rest of the week, so it was good to get out and stretch the legs.  The  unplanned week and a half of  early tapering didn’t feel too good on the legs, but hopefully they will come back in the next few days.

Basin City

 The ride went well, though.  Craig had not been up to Basin City by way of Ringold,  so it was a good ride for him to see some new roads.  We stopped in town and found a little sustenance, then turned into the wind and hammered out the 35 miles back to Pasco.  I must admit that for the first time in about five years I did do just a little bit of drafting – it does of course cut down on the workload to let someone else pull for a little while.  The only drawback to going out to Basin City is that it feels like a long ride but you are still about 30 miles short of a century when you get back home.  So we swirled on out to Finley,then turned back into the wind for the final push home.

And in the back of my mind all day : only nine days till RAAM.  Unbelievable.