A Winner in Waiting

I think it is fair to say that 2020 has been a most unexpected year.   I knew the writing was on the wall the first week of March that RAW and RAAM were likely to be canceled, but even then, I had yet to comprehend the severity of the worldwide crisis that was coming.  CoVID-19 swept over the world quickly.  The week before, I had completed a 9 h ride up and over Box Canyon, with a 12 mile dirt segment that was simply epic--the kind of ride that fills me with moments of uninhibited joy.   A day later Italy would shut down the northern part of the country.  My next week's 9-h ride, an all paved ride out over many of the same roads was overcast by the storm clouds of the growing pandemic.   I was passing riders on the road with 2 m of space, quickly, and with only a quick glance--surprised there was some small organized tour on roads I usually see no other bike on.  Over the next week, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic and the United States declared a National State of Emergency,  The next week, Germany and Canada closed international borders, Spain and France locked down, and RAAM Texas Challenge canceled. Within two weeks, the United Kingdom had locked down, TransAm canceled, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics postponed.   Tour of the Gila canceled, and shortly afterwards, USA Cycling suspended all US racing.  On April 3rd, Fred and Rick Boethling announced that RAAM and RAW 2020 were canceled.

When you are delayed to achieve your dream, it's not a denial but a preparation for the best time to come.  For you are a winner in waiting" -Nomathamsanqa Matladi.

At home over the next month, store shelves were empty of some items (especially toilet paper).  The normally busy University of Arizona was deserted. Idled American Airlines jets are now stored at a local municipal airport.  My wife was sewing masks for my sons in New York City, Boston, and Minneapolis from the very same material she made baby quilts for them 25 years ago.  New York's first Stay-At-Home order went into effect just two weeks after the birth of Eli Clay House-Pearce, our first grandson--cancelling our plans to visit and meet our grandbaby in Manhattan.  During one of our Facebook video calls with them, New York City had the nightly applause for hospital workers. The New England Patriot's sent their jet to China to bring back medical equipment, including N95 masks for health care workers, and delivered it to the New York City and Boston.  We all now know what "PPE" is.  Through my friends in the international ultra community, and contacts throughout Europe as an owayo Ambassador via social media I was getting first hand updates on how it was to train and live all over the world as the pandemic was developing.

With much emotion, I had decided on 23 March to roll my 2020 RAW entry into 2021 and cancel our plans for RAW 2020 (two weeks before it was officially canceled). World events have severely impacted preparations and motivation to train. It's created an environment where the ask from my crew is too much, both in personal expense and risk to their own health. The risk to my own health with the exhaustion inherent in RAW training and the race itself were also significant factors in my decision.  But most of all the ask of my crew weighed heavily on my mind, and I knew that even if the race were to happen, it would not be the shared adventure that makes RAW and RAAM so special.

Even though RAAM really is the world's toughest bike race, RAW arguably the second toughest, and a dream with much investment--at the end of the day, they are just a bike races.  The climax of events over the last weeks compare in my lifetime only to 9-11.  The scope of the worldwide crisis only compares to the World Wars or the 1918 Flu Pandemic.  Many of the athletes I ride with have never experienced an event like this--and this one is in slow motion. We have a worldwide pandemic and a national emergency. These are words that if they are understood need no superlatives. They are words easily dismissed if we do not educate ourselves with credible sources.  

The reaction through the ultracycling community has been as diverse as we are all.  Most of the blogs have gone silent and the Facebook forums are as quiet as our city streets.  Some continue to train for RAW and RAAM, even if it means >24 h rides on the trainer.  I've learned that on Zwift, apparently you can let your avatar coast down a hill at zero watts without you actually being on the bike!   A Virtual RAAM (VRAAM) has been organized.  As difficult as I find it to explain to "normal people" why I would want to ride my bike 3000 miles across the America in 12 days, I cannot even explain to myself why anyone would want pretend to ride across America on a trainer in their basement or garage for 12 days.  Others are self-organizing events to replace the canceled races, even if it means violating government stay at home orders and common sense.  Most have ​set athletic dreams aside to re-focus on family and community in this crisis while replanning our training around 2021 or 2022 goals that are yet to be definitized. 

​Personally for me, the clocks have been reset.  What would have been "My RAAM Story...  415 days to RAAM 2021", is now "780 days to RAAM 2022".  RAW 2021 is 415 days away.  Even with that, I recognize much uncertainty ahead even in those dates.   Historically pandemics have taken years to resolve, and I think the community has still not wrapped its head around how slowly things will return to normal--especially with larger events.  The economic impact of CoVID-19 will be huge.  Some of us tragically may have already experienced personal loss of family or friends, or will before this is over.  RAAM is already expensive and mustering crew and logistics for RAAM will only be much more difficult in coming years.  Perhaps it will be too much, and RAAM will have to be delayed, or recast.  Only time will tell.

From a practical standpoint, my training is still going forward.  Training is part of me, and ironically even though I have less focus now with everything going on, I actually have more time.  Just before the shutdowns, I had a string of fantastic 8-9 hour rides--although that 9 hour epic Box Canyon loop with the dirt segment was probably my last "normal" ride.  Like the rest of  the world, my training is on pause...and perhaps it's helpful to outline what I'm doing through all of this:

• The training volume is still about 18 hours/week.  Several years ago, that would have been a lot of riding.  Now its baseline.
• I've postponed the planned increase to 25-30 hours a week preparing for RAW 2020.  There is no need for this volume now, and preserving a robust immune system is important right now.  Stress is cumulative, and adjustments need to be made to account for the stress of world events.
• I've picked up the pace... my long rides are now 5 hours or so, but now over 20 mph (32 kph).  Ultra's are races after all, and this helps give me something to focus on when focus on solo long rides is hard to muster. I'm hoping in the next block to get back to 6-7 h, and maintain enough fitness to do the Hoodoo if that happens.
• I stay closer to the house, and no longer fill up water bottles at public sources.  
• I carry a buff to serve as a face mask if for some reason I need to interact with people.
• I ride in remote, unpopular areas.  Fortunately, Tucson has many such areas.  When I do pass another rider, I pass as if I have an overzealous race official following me looking for a drafting violation.    

Riding through the night in my first ultra, Hoodoo 300, 2018.

I just ordered up the "RAW 2020" jerseys--they have a mountain theme, and the back reminds me of the profile of the Chocolate Mountains heading northeast towards Blythe on RAW/RAAM First Night.  One of my greatest joys during ultras is riding through the night.  First Night is especially splendid--you are still relatively fresh and it's a time that you settle in for the long haul.  You are alone, but still encounter riders, and can see the amber lights of other crews for miles.  At RAW/RAAM, First Night is the gentle climb through the Chocolate Mountains (a range few even know have a name) and the descent down the Palo Verde Valley to Blythe CA.  At Hoodoo 500, First Night includes two major climbs, Roudup Flat and the Summit at Windy Ridge, and the nighttime descent and run into Kingston.   Each is a special memory, and a shared experience by all my fellow racers.​​

​We will be back and the epic challenge, celebration of life and the shared adventure will be even more special when the time is right.  Meanwhile, all we can do is work towards being a better athlete, and in the process become a better person. I so look forward to riding through the night again with the sounds of the night and the hum of FOLLOW's tires behind me again

The new Pearce Ultracycling kit, from owayo! Can't wait to get it.

​We will be back and the epic challenge, celebration of life and the shared adventure will be even more special when the time is right.  Meanwhile, all we can do is work towards being a better athlete, and in the process become a better person. I so look forward to riding through the night again with the sounds of the night and the hum of FOLLOW's tires behind me again.

My RAAM Story, 415 days to RAW 2021, 780 days to RAAM 2022

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Through the Imperial Dunes, First Night, RAW 2019. Photo by Adam Block.