RABikes2
08-14-2005, 01:39 PM
Some of you might remember, I attended RAAM 2005 and crewed for solo competitor, Tom Rodgers, of Arlington, TX. Spending 14 days on the road, in tight quarters, with 8 strangers, left a person craving quiet and stillness. Coming home was odd, I needed to decompress while trying to play catch-up on my business, home, lawn, and second job. My son came home from camp two days after I returned. We were home again and it was like everything had to be done and I didn't know where to start (even with the list in hand). I didn't want to do anything but sit on my back deck, listen to the woods, and listen to my son tell me about his camp experiences while we brushed our "four-legged kids." We did a lot of catching up and it felt good to be home. Chores could wait a little while longer.
RAAM was anything but a vacation, 24 hr. work days for 12 days straight. They were hard days with sleep deprivation, hot temperatures, and rough conditions; which included the RV from hell. There were times following Tom on interstate highways or 4-lane roads with vehicles speeding by at 60+ mph. Then driving the van behind Tom as he made a few descents in Colorado where the speedometer in the van read 60 mph. He was in front and to the right of us, as we were guarding him from traffic, meaning he was going around 62 mph. There were numerous sections of the route that were more dangerous than others; the state of Missouri comes to mind. :crap: And RAAM was also an opportunity to meet helpful, kind, and special individuals. Many times we'd come into a town and the Time Station volunteers would have a tent set up with coolers of bottled water, an autograph book for RAAM visitors to sign, and chairs to rest. In Ulysses, KS, the TS was in a McDonald's parking lot that had a church a few doors down. The preacher came over and asked if he could help us with anything. He took two huge garbage bags of dirty water bottles back to the church and cleaned them. In Yates Center, KS, volunteers Tammy & Jim Porter and Chris & Cyndy Jenkins gave everybody a cookie cutter of the United States (there was a cookie cutter factory in the town). People would offer assistance to be a part of RAAM in some small way by helping to make things a little easier on us. This refreshed my faith in society. :)
We stopped at a few bike shops along the way to pick up tires, tubes, and different supplies. In Flagstaff, AZ, Absolute Bicycles opened the store 45 minutes early so we could get the stuff we needed and get back on the road to catch back up to the follow van (I left a Serotta Forum sticker there). I'm not sure where Ironclad Bicycles was in AZ, but they were helpful, too. Scenic Bicycles (Marthasville, MO) and Granada Cycles, I think also in Marthasville, MO, assisted us with new parts and supplies. I didn't get to go to all the shops, but the crew had praise for how helpful shops were being to us.
Our crew and rider, all rookies, did an outstanding job. We did what needed to be done and handled it. From flat tires on support vehicles, support vehicle emergency lights malfunctioning, sleep deprivation, nutrition neglect, no showers, sleeping sitting up or reclined in a van seat for short naps. "Baby wipe" baths were the norm putting on fresh deodorant with the same dirty clothes. I carried my toothbrush and toothpaste in a small baggy in my pocket so I could brush my teeth in any clean restroom found. We stopped at Super Wal-Mart across the country and I got cleaned up in many of them. Some crew members got 3 showers (depended where you were when the showers became available), but I managed to get 2 showers in 11 days. We started with a basic schedule and it initially took the first day or two to accomplish an efficient 24 hour routine. However, at any time of the day or night, the schedule could change, and it did. I drove the van for 15 hours one day following Tom; that was mental fatigue to be alert and attentive driving 15mph for hours at a time.
I've asked myself "Am I glad I crewed," and the answer is 'yes'. I received firsthand knowledge of how the RAAM experience could possibly be made a more tolerable experience. And as much as I love my adventures, some adventures that we encounter in life are for us to learn from and are not always entirely pleasant. I felt crewing was necessary and beneficial to my growth and learning. Too Tall said it correctly in an earlier RAAM thread; "You have to pay your dues."
RAAM was an invaluable lifetime experience. You can't read or be told about this race, you have to experience it to learn what it is. Anybody who considers doing RAAM, either solo or team, should crew first. The things you learn, what works, what doesn't work, the ideas, and what you "figure out," will have a lasting impression and it will save on finances, time, and results during your own attempt at RAAM. Tom and Tuula budgeted $18,000 for RAAM and went well over that amount. Lesson learned; doing RAAM on a shoestring budget is not the way to do it. Corporate, product, and/or foundation sponsorships is the way.
Too Tall and a few other friends in the ultra community who have previously crewed gave some great advice prior to going. I appreciated it; especially the crew advice. There were 8 strangers that came together to crew, and the rider, Tom Rodgers. Seven crew members worked as a team, got a system going, and worked productively. We had one crew member that was a royal pain in the a**. It was a daily situation we had to deal with, some days more than others. One disruptive crew member can exhaust a crew. It got old and put a slight damper on the RAAM crew experience.
Tom did fabulous; a good athlete and rider. Unfortunately, it was the sleep deprivation that got him. He was strong on the bike and took every hurdle that was thrown at him, dealt with it, and continued on. He was biking strong, but just couldn't make up the time on the bike for the time he was requiring to sleep after days on the road. We were in Marshall, IL ( 2,160 miles) when we were supposed to be in Indianapolis, IN (approximately 100 miles east of where we were), for the third and last critical time cutoff requirement; we would miss it. It was understandably a sad situation since Tom had no physical complaints. Tom was gracious in thanking his crew. He apologized saying he felt he had let us down, but we had done a great job for him. Again, he thanked us profusely; we all congratulated his outstanding effort. He was a champ to us.
On a personal note, I had a different perspective on Tom's talk. On our crew, we had two "racer" bike mechanics and another kid who did a few tri's, but I was the only ultra-distance athlete. The bike mechanics were both 21 years old and the other guy was 20 years old, the other crew members had limited or non-athletic backgrounds. I am 50 and an active athlete for 21 years. So, when he talked about this being his first DNF and my first DNF was last year at Boston-Montreal-Boston 2004, I truly related to Tom. This is an excerpt from Tom's RAAM story, written and sent the week after we returned:
"Then there's that gnawing feeling of incompletion, a lack of closure on the whole affair. All the other problems would have been tolerable if I had finished, but not finishing leaves this as an "unfinished goal." Just about every other endurance goal I have set for myself I accomplished, usually earlier than I thought. Over the next year or two, I will have to decide whether sleep deprivation is a limiter I will live with and not try to change, or whether it's worth putting myself through six more months of training."
Tom Rodgers, 7/05
Just change 'sleep deprivation' to 'saddle bruising' and that's how I felt; I knew the feelings he was expressing to us. He apologized saying we had worked hard for him and he felt as if he was letting us, friends, clients, sponsors and his supporters down. I had similar feelings last year. To plan, train, breathe, focus, visualize, and believe in something for months and months, and know you are capable of accomplishing your goal, and then to not complete the goal that is started, can be frustrating; an incompletion. In a way, now knowing how hard he worked, giving it his all, and knowing it was the circumstances, not his ability that was stopping us, helped me to mentally put my lessons into a better focus. Again, I learned.
Continued on next post:
RAAM was anything but a vacation, 24 hr. work days for 12 days straight. They were hard days with sleep deprivation, hot temperatures, and rough conditions; which included the RV from hell. There were times following Tom on interstate highways or 4-lane roads with vehicles speeding by at 60+ mph. Then driving the van behind Tom as he made a few descents in Colorado where the speedometer in the van read 60 mph. He was in front and to the right of us, as we were guarding him from traffic, meaning he was going around 62 mph. There were numerous sections of the route that were more dangerous than others; the state of Missouri comes to mind. :crap: And RAAM was also an opportunity to meet helpful, kind, and special individuals. Many times we'd come into a town and the Time Station volunteers would have a tent set up with coolers of bottled water, an autograph book for RAAM visitors to sign, and chairs to rest. In Ulysses, KS, the TS was in a McDonald's parking lot that had a church a few doors down. The preacher came over and asked if he could help us with anything. He took two huge garbage bags of dirty water bottles back to the church and cleaned them. In Yates Center, KS, volunteers Tammy & Jim Porter and Chris & Cyndy Jenkins gave everybody a cookie cutter of the United States (there was a cookie cutter factory in the town). People would offer assistance to be a part of RAAM in some small way by helping to make things a little easier on us. This refreshed my faith in society. :)
We stopped at a few bike shops along the way to pick up tires, tubes, and different supplies. In Flagstaff, AZ, Absolute Bicycles opened the store 45 minutes early so we could get the stuff we needed and get back on the road to catch back up to the follow van (I left a Serotta Forum sticker there). I'm not sure where Ironclad Bicycles was in AZ, but they were helpful, too. Scenic Bicycles (Marthasville, MO) and Granada Cycles, I think also in Marthasville, MO, assisted us with new parts and supplies. I didn't get to go to all the shops, but the crew had praise for how helpful shops were being to us.
Our crew and rider, all rookies, did an outstanding job. We did what needed to be done and handled it. From flat tires on support vehicles, support vehicle emergency lights malfunctioning, sleep deprivation, nutrition neglect, no showers, sleeping sitting up or reclined in a van seat for short naps. "Baby wipe" baths were the norm putting on fresh deodorant with the same dirty clothes. I carried my toothbrush and toothpaste in a small baggy in my pocket so I could brush my teeth in any clean restroom found. We stopped at Super Wal-Mart across the country and I got cleaned up in many of them. Some crew members got 3 showers (depended where you were when the showers became available), but I managed to get 2 showers in 11 days. We started with a basic schedule and it initially took the first day or two to accomplish an efficient 24 hour routine. However, at any time of the day or night, the schedule could change, and it did. I drove the van for 15 hours one day following Tom; that was mental fatigue to be alert and attentive driving 15mph for hours at a time.
I've asked myself "Am I glad I crewed," and the answer is 'yes'. I received firsthand knowledge of how the RAAM experience could possibly be made a more tolerable experience. And as much as I love my adventures, some adventures that we encounter in life are for us to learn from and are not always entirely pleasant. I felt crewing was necessary and beneficial to my growth and learning. Too Tall said it correctly in an earlier RAAM thread; "You have to pay your dues."
RAAM was an invaluable lifetime experience. You can't read or be told about this race, you have to experience it to learn what it is. Anybody who considers doing RAAM, either solo or team, should crew first. The things you learn, what works, what doesn't work, the ideas, and what you "figure out," will have a lasting impression and it will save on finances, time, and results during your own attempt at RAAM. Tom and Tuula budgeted $18,000 for RAAM and went well over that amount. Lesson learned; doing RAAM on a shoestring budget is not the way to do it. Corporate, product, and/or foundation sponsorships is the way.
Too Tall and a few other friends in the ultra community who have previously crewed gave some great advice prior to going. I appreciated it; especially the crew advice. There were 8 strangers that came together to crew, and the rider, Tom Rodgers. Seven crew members worked as a team, got a system going, and worked productively. We had one crew member that was a royal pain in the a**. It was a daily situation we had to deal with, some days more than others. One disruptive crew member can exhaust a crew. It got old and put a slight damper on the RAAM crew experience.
Tom did fabulous; a good athlete and rider. Unfortunately, it was the sleep deprivation that got him. He was strong on the bike and took every hurdle that was thrown at him, dealt with it, and continued on. He was biking strong, but just couldn't make up the time on the bike for the time he was requiring to sleep after days on the road. We were in Marshall, IL ( 2,160 miles) when we were supposed to be in Indianapolis, IN (approximately 100 miles east of where we were), for the third and last critical time cutoff requirement; we would miss it. It was understandably a sad situation since Tom had no physical complaints. Tom was gracious in thanking his crew. He apologized saying he felt he had let us down, but we had done a great job for him. Again, he thanked us profusely; we all congratulated his outstanding effort. He was a champ to us.
On a personal note, I had a different perspective on Tom's talk. On our crew, we had two "racer" bike mechanics and another kid who did a few tri's, but I was the only ultra-distance athlete. The bike mechanics were both 21 years old and the other guy was 20 years old, the other crew members had limited or non-athletic backgrounds. I am 50 and an active athlete for 21 years. So, when he talked about this being his first DNF and my first DNF was last year at Boston-Montreal-Boston 2004, I truly related to Tom. This is an excerpt from Tom's RAAM story, written and sent the week after we returned:
"Then there's that gnawing feeling of incompletion, a lack of closure on the whole affair. All the other problems would have been tolerable if I had finished, but not finishing leaves this as an "unfinished goal." Just about every other endurance goal I have set for myself I accomplished, usually earlier than I thought. Over the next year or two, I will have to decide whether sleep deprivation is a limiter I will live with and not try to change, or whether it's worth putting myself through six more months of training."
Tom Rodgers, 7/05
Just change 'sleep deprivation' to 'saddle bruising' and that's how I felt; I knew the feelings he was expressing to us. He apologized saying we had worked hard for him and he felt as if he was letting us, friends, clients, sponsors and his supporters down. I had similar feelings last year. To plan, train, breathe, focus, visualize, and believe in something for months and months, and know you are capable of accomplishing your goal, and then to not complete the goal that is started, can be frustrating; an incompletion. In a way, now knowing how hard he worked, giving it his all, and knowing it was the circumstances, not his ability that was stopping us, helped me to mentally put my lessons into a better focus. Again, I learned.
Continued on next post: