Towards the RAAM...

Through planning, preparation, and execution, we can take what at first seems outrageous, recognize it is merely audacious, then make it straight forward.  Discovering this path has been the most rewarding part of cycling, and of RAW.
How I found my way to competing in the Race Across the West in 2019, getting through 342 miles in the incredible heat, regrouping for Hoodoo 500 in August 2019, looking forward to a CoVID19 delayed RAW (now delayed again!), and then RAAM 2023 is a story that begins at least 35 years ago when I first started riding my bicycle...

​I remember before I started bike racing seeing the Race Across America on the afternoon sports anthology series Wide World of Sports. The thought of riding all the way across the country always fascinated me. In the 1980s, the RAAM on WWS was one of the few bits of televised bicycle racing in the US. I would visualize myself riding through Atlantic City in the evening, heading towards the Boardwalk in Atlantic City with my crew vehicle following behind. I thought perhaps someday I would at least tour across the country, perhaps taking 30-45 days in the crossing--but even that seemed unachievable.

​In the late 1986s, I did start to bike race. I love the sport. It's an incredible combination of endurance, speed, fitness, skill, and tactics that appealed to me. Ultimately, I became pretty good at it, winning local races, and placing on the podium twice at the US National Masters Championships. 2020 will be my 35th consecutive year racing as a licensed racer. Over those 35 years, I’ve seen the sport grow, then fade, and now local races are canceled for lack of participation, and many athletes are looking for other opportunities such as Gravel Grinders, Grand Fondos, or just dropping out of sport altogether.
I discovered the Ultra.

​I started with Dirty Kanza (DK) in 2014. 200+ miles on gravel across the Flint Hills of Kansas. I finished, but it was a challenge. Over 110 miles of managing my effort to control cramping that started inexplicably early in the race. My youngest son Jack, and a professional crew from CTS supported me. That trip, as well as the road trip from Boston to Kansas was one of the most coveted memories of those years. The crew kept me going, got me back out on the bike, and to the finish before sunset. The contrasts in DK are amazing... early miles are marked by long lines of bikes, four abreast, charging across the wide gravel roads with a huge comet tail of dust and small rocks behind. Later there was the classic stream crossing, and the stark loneliness of the later miles where miles could pass without seeing another cyclist. I thought it was awesome.
It would be another four years before my interest would return to the Ultra with the Hoodoo 300. Hoodoo is a challenging loop across southern Utah, with both a 300 or 500 mile option. Unlike DK, I purposefully prepared for Hoodoo, with many long 6+ hour rides through the Tucson summer. I studied the route, made detailed plans, and trained. We tricked out the Honda Pilot with lights and signs. My goal was to complete the 309 mile route in under 20 h. Hoodoo had its challenges, difficulties, and epic moments and on race day I finished in 19 h 4 m. My crew was spectacular, leap frog supporting me for 13 hours and following me for another 6 hours from Cedar City UT to the finish.
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Hoodoo was not without its difficulties, but with the preparation, it honestly felt rather straightforward. One of my crew even remarked at the 2 am finish “Maybe you should have done 500?” Most everything went well. Nutritional errors were recognized early and corrected. The last hours flew by, rolling through rural Utah in the moonlight. My thoughts returned to RAAM... with a new confidence and interest. I had developed a plan that Hoodoo 300 would be followed by a systematic progression: Hoodoo 500 in 2019, RAW in 2020, then, perhaps, maybe RAAM in 2021.
"Fortes fortuna adiuvat."
Without the crews, none of this would be possible.  I am deeply appreciative of all the help they have given me, in racing and in life.  It's a team effort.
RAW crosses 930 miles and four states. Part of the route revisits familiar roads, like Lake Mary Road, south of Flagstaff and the Blue Key Biathlon in 1986-a race that Cathy and I raced together as a relay team. Other parts of the route are new epic stretches of American highway down Montezuma Grade and across the desert, across Monument Valley and past Forrest Gump Point. RAW 2019 introduced a new set of challenges and was my first venture into the athletics and nutrition of multi day endurance events. RAW 2019 was also be our first venture into the logistics of multi day racing, mustering and organizing a support crew, vehicles, sponsors, and other supporters. 
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RAW 2019 did not go as well as hoped, although it was an epic experience, and will prove to be valuable going forward.  The extreme heat, even before the desert in the Coast Range took its toll, and we were forced to DNF in Salome AZ at 341 miles. Sometimes preparation, performance, and execution will all align under optimal conditions and things go your way.  Other times, nature raises the bar, and even the best of preparation and planning will not be enough. RAW 2019 did offer a window into our inner selves that would not otherwise be exposed in our everyday lives.  If also contributed valuable lessons for myself and my crew as we prepare for RAAM.

Coming off the DNF at RAW 2019, plans were adjusted.  We aimed at the Hoodoo 500--also a RAAM qualifier, in August 2019.  Hoodoo 500 was also not without significant challenges.  It was 400 or so wonderful miles in a 512 mile race.  The balance, somewhat unexpectedly not at the end, but in the middle was a journey of self-doubt and self-discovery.  We finished, 512 miles in 42 hours.  That middle 100 miles took all day.  Without my crew, I would not have finished.  We all learned a lot.  My crew learned how to keep me moving forward.  I learned that I could push myself well beyond my previous expectations.  We are purposefully reviewing what went wrong, so we can  prevent what happened, and recovery quicker if it does.  Perhaps Hoodoo 500 2019 will always be special, not for the wonderful 400 miles, but for overcoming the challenging 100 miles that did not go so well.
Picture
Looking down The Strand at the start of RAAM in Oceanside CA. The right turn at the rotary leads to Annapolis MD, 3073 miles away.
Returning to RAW 2022 is not so much unfinished business, but a waypoint on a continuing journey that has not yet been visited. 
​Now, we plan to return to Oceanside with more experience and fitness for RAW 2022, and try to do better and go farther.  Of course, lots of things have changed.  A worldwide pandemic has delayed our return for three years, but it has also complicated our preparation.  I was expecting to gain the experience of several more 500-mile events, but now that too is at risk with CoVID19.  In 2021, we hope to double up on the 500s with starts at both Hoodoo 500 and the Silver State 508.  Depending on what happens in 2021 with CoVID19, RAW 2022 could be our first major race back and the experience base going into RAAM 2023 may be thinner than hoped.  Nonetheless, returning to RAW 2022 is not so much unfinished business, but a waypoint on a continuing journey that has not yet been visited.  Longer term, this path should leave us in 2023, 62 years old, at the starting line for RAAM, with the experience of two RAWs, three Hoodoo's, Silver State, and hopefully a "sprint" 24-hour event at Pace Bend.  

The thought of continuing to pursue the dream of racing 3000 miles across this country is humbling.  The idea of being qualified to proceed is exciting and stirs emotions that I cannot describe and don't fully understand.  However, being qualified for RAAM, and being ready to line up in Oceanside for 12 days and 3000 miles are two different things.  The real work towards being ready to credibly roll down The Strand and make that right turn onto Surfrider Way towards Annapolis Maryland is still ahead.  I invite you to follow along.