So it comes to an end....

Well, after nearly 5 years of planning and preparing we have executed RAAM. I wish i had some eloquent way to bring this to closure, but i don't. i keep telling myself if i just wait one more day i'll somehow be able with words to describe the experience myself and 7 of my closest friends and family whet through...but i can't. We went into an amazing battle together and came out the other side better people for it. RAAM has a crazy way of showing you who you really are and how you deal with "life as it happens". While this is my last RAAM as a racer, i look forward to helping others embark on their RAAM adventures as i feel it is an amazing medium for discovering yourself and what lies within you. Until we meet again somewhere down the road....bp

A Few Final Thoughts...and Images

Over the next few days i'll complete my(and crew's) picture download here: RAAM Pictures
I'm still trying to decipher exactly what we went through and what happened...but stay tuned for a recap.
Also, Tuesday July 28th, I'm going to do a "RAAM recap presentation" at Now Bikes in St. Paul. We are doing a short ride at 6pm, then beer and cheese "Sconnie style"to accompany the talk. Good pics, videos and stories are a guarantee.
Finally, I want to say that i am so grateful for all the good thoughts and support everyone sent throughout. We needed everyone of those positive thoughts and comments left here to get through. I can't tell you how many times i was ready to mentally fail...only to be saved by a well wish read to me by the crew from the website. Your support meant the world.

Home

Well, we made it home...what an epic adventure. I'll try and put some closing thoughts together, along with an online album of pics for everyone to recount the adventure. Thanks so much to Matt, my crew and all of you who helped will me across the us...not possible without the support of you all. Off to bed. ben

HE FINISHED!

Sorry for the lack of posts the last day--family obligations. But I wanted to let you know, BEN FINISHED. Solo RAAM rookie finisher, 2009.

It's an absolutely amazing accomplishment. So raise your glasses...he's done. Safely.

-Matt

Less Than 300 Miles To Go!

This will be a much welcomed sight. Annapolis, MD.

Cougar Sighting

Live from the mountains of West Va. Miller lite, Whitesnake cassettes and Marb lights were discovered at the scene. Crue snapped a pic.

Day 10

Entering Ohio at Sunrise...

Location: Blanchester, Ohio
Conditions: 78F, mostly cloudy, winds from the WNW @ 9
Miles covered: 2,458
Miles remaining: 563
Food for thought: In ancient Japan, public contests were held to see who in a town could fart the loudest and longest. Winners were awarded many prizes and received great recognition.


Long, straight Midwestern roads suck. Especially if they're poorly maintained and have lots of traffic. That was the sentiment from both rider and Crue after yesterday's jaunt through Indiana--according to TP member Peter A.

Today is Ohio. And things are looking better.

I got to talk to Peter this morning--Fairbanks was preening--and everyone is feeling the effects of limited sleep. However, the end is in sight and that's energizing Ben. Physically, his body is holding up well and there haven't been any major issues. It's just the sleep factor that's compounding. Ben is especially tired in the mornings and the Crue has to use Ninja mind tricks to un-groggy his mind and motivate him.

Ben is excited to enter the mountains of West Virginia, mostly for the varying terrain. He seems to thrive in hillier terrain versus the flat-ass plains. Right now, TP's plan is to push ahead to the W.V. foothills tonight and then bed down.

That's all for now.

-Matt

Day 9

Just a quick voicemail update from Fairbanks. The Crue is in Indiana. Following yesterday's heat, Ben got a a saline IV and hit the road again. Apparently he hasn't looked as good since day one. More of the same today: heat + Ben riding strong. That's good news after the rough patch he had a few days ago.

Less than 800 miles to go. He's almost there folks.

I hope to have more for you later.

-Matt

Days Seven and Eight

Location: Washington, Missouri
Conditions: 93F, partly cloudly, winds from NE @ 4, dew point 75F
Miles covered: 1,987
Miles remaining: 1,034
Food for thought: David Spade's baby Mama, Jillian Grace, is from Washington, Missouri, (Google at your own risk...)

It had to happen...a rough patch. Every RAAM rider goes through it. When you're doing a race as long as RAAM, it's going to happen many, many times.

Ben's first big rough patch was yesterday. Following on the heels of his 32-hour pull and rest, he got up yesterday, not quit right. That, combined with the 100-degree heat and humidity, made for a tough-ass day.

The Crue was icing him down every five minutes, feeding him fluids, trying to keep his spirits up, but it was challenging...

However, last night, after a hotel-bed rest, an IV and massage, Ben woke up like a new man. Fairbanks said that today, despite the heat, he's "riding like a champ," and his spirits are up.

In other RAAM excitement, the follow van had a flat tire yesterday. The RV had one today. At least no one on the Crue has butt implants, otherwise one of those would likely go flat too and need a changeout.

Next stop, the Mississippi River and less than 1,000 miles to go!

-Matt

It's Not You, It's Me...

...in that I haven't been able to connect with Fairbanks over the last day (it's that damn work thing getting in the way of my RAAM reporting and the fact that the Crue is very busy).

So I'm not ignoring the updates, I'm just waiting for more info. In the meantime follow Larry's updates via Twitter. And Ben's progress on the RAAM leaderboard.

As soon as I talk with the Crue, I'll post more.

--Matt

Road Construction

No daily update from the Crue yet, but Larry did post this to his Twitter account



Looks like Ben ran into a bit of summer road construction. Or it's a scene from a modern day Village People album cover...

-Matt

Quick Day Six Follow-Up

According to Fairbanks, Ben has been on the bike for 32 hours--his longest pull yet--great tailwinds. The team is about 20 miles or so from Pratt, Kansas--the halfway point in the race. When they reach Pratt, it's nap time for both rider and Crue.

-Matt

Day Six -- Long, Hot & Straight

Location: Plains, Kansas
Conditions: 86F, sunny, winds from the WSW @ 14, Gusting to 19, Dew Point 67F
Miles covered: 1,398
Miles remaining: 1,627
Food for thought: The fastest time to pluck a turkey is 1 min. 30 seconds, by Vincent Pilkington

It's hot out there. Eastern Kansas is under a heat advisory today with temps expected to reach 99F--that's right where Ben's saddle-chapped booty is headed...

Fairbanks called me last night for the weather forecast. Given that Ben had favorable winds and the temps were still moderate, they made the decision to have him ride through the night. Smart choice given the forecast for today. Ben well likely sleep during the hottest part of the day, giving him a well-needed break from the unrelenting sun.

After he makes his way--on straight, flat roads--through Kansas, he'll enter Missouri and then Illinois. Not a lot of updates for now, other than rider and crew remain in good spirits. The van hasn't gotten stuck again. And aside from some minor aches and pains, Ben remains in good health.

TP is almost at the half-way point, which has got to be a huge motivator.

Still, no sightings of the elusive wild cougar though....



-Matt

Stuck Van

Here's a photo of the stuck van from Crue member Larry.

-Matt

Day Five--Abbreviated

Just a quick update for now. I talked to Fairbanks for about 30 seconds before he had to hang up for a Crue change out--so I didn't get much. Team Popp just finished climbing Bobcat pass in New Mexico. It's the biggest vertical climb in RAAM. Now with the big mountains behind, Ben is on some welcomed flat terrain.

In other news the follow van got stuck. In mud I presume... A nice local helped tow them out. Hopefully I'll talk to Fairbanks later in the day and get some more info. Stay tuned...

-Matt

Live Video of Ben

Thanks to Dan. Mucho Danke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfmMWKbWVdg

Notice the Pirate EYE PATCH!

Matt >---Danger--->

Tech Tidbit

Here's a little fun tech tidbit from HED Cycling's Dino Edin. In addition to riding a HED frame on the flat stages, Ben is exclusively riding HED wheels.

What's cool is that Ben has HED's new Stinger 4 wheels. These haven't been released to the public yet. In fact, the only other people riding these are Team Columbia-Highroad which includes the likes of George Hincapie.

For those of you who aren't familiar, HED Cycling Products designs and manufactures 16 different models of composite, aerodynamic wheels (as well as aerobars), exported worldwide and used in events from the Tour de France and the Hawaiian Ironman(r).

-Matt

Day Four

Location: Chama, New Mexico
Conditions: 57F, mostly cloudy, calm (though it did pour rain for about six hours earlier)
Miles covered: 934
Miles remaining: 2,087
Food for thought: In May 2007 a local auto mechanic bought a PowerBall ticket at a Chama gas station and won $68 million, perhaps TP should make a stop...

Lots of barn burning updates today. But first, check out the view outside of Chama...

Not bad, eh? It's mountain-ey. And according to Fairbanks, Ben really likes the mountains and has been riding like a rockstar anytime the road turns up or down. Yesterday alone, he climbed around 30,000 feet--that's the height of Mt. Everest. In fact, the Crue has had to rein his climbing enthusiasm in a bit, making sure he's saving enough energy for East of the Mississippi.

What makes this all the more interesting, is that Ben scratched his eye yesterday. So for the past 24 hours he's been riding looking like this:

Yep, with an eye patch...descending roads like this (at night to boot).

Gulp. Not my cup of tea.

Today, Ben will breifly re-enter Colordao and climb La Manga pass--the highest point in RAAM at nearly 11,000 feet--before jogging South to Taos, New Mexico. That's tonight's rest stop and the plan is for him to bed down for a three hour nap.

According to Fairbanks, both rider and Crue remain in good spirits. Ben's having fun and so are his loyal minions. However, sleep is rare and people are starting to get tired. This is what is trying for everyone involved in the race.

Healthwise Ben is faring very well. Aches and pains are popping up (achilles, patella), but they've got 2.5 doctors in the Crue plus a masssage therapist--so it's kind of like a roving HMO. Besides, after riding 1,000, a bit of soreness is to be expected.

That's all for now. I have some interesting tech tidbits from HED Cyling's Chris "Dino" Edin that I'll post in a bit.

Ciao,

-Matt

P.S. Certain readers have been clamoring for more Cougar updates. I promise that those will be coming.

Start Pics

Here are some pictures from the RAAM starting line (courtesy of Greg Rhodes).

-Matt

Live from the Road

Crue member Larry Foss is twittering and posting pics. Follow him at https://twitter.com/TheFixStudio

-Matt

Day Three

Location: Mexican Hat, Utah
Conditions: 82F, sunny, winds calm
Miles covered: 679
Miles remaining: 2,341
Food for thought: Mexican Hat draws its name from this rock outcropping which resembles this

Hola Amigos. I'm back with the latest updates.

According to TP Crue member Fairbanks Hanley, Ben left Flagstaff early this morning at about 2:00 a.m., following a two- to three-hour rest. From there he rode northeast through Monument Valley National Park and up into Utah.

Fairbanks said that Ben continues to ride strong. He's steadily worked his way up through the field and currently sits in 7th place. While he's focused on the task at hand, he's still joking around and having fun--as evidenced by his keen spotting of a chalk phallus etched on the pavement which he insisted the Crue call me about.

There's been a conscious effort to feed Ben solid "real" foods, versus just simple sugars which can lead to sweetness overload and gut rot. Another thing working in Ben's favor is the fact that temps in the desert have been about 10-15 degrees below average which makes it easier to eat--even still, it has been warm.

The plan going forward is for Ben to ride about 300 miles per day and sleep approximately two hours. Additionally, the Crue is now on their seven-hour rotations (seven in the follow vehicle, followed by seven in the RV). So, hopefully all have settled into somewhat of a "routine".

Next up, the Colorado Rockies. Big climbs. Long descents. And more chalk art adorning the mountain passes.

That's all for now. Adios and El paseo ayuna.

-Matt

RAAM Documentary

There's a RAAM documentary playing this Saturday in Uptown (Minneapolis). It's a film called Bicycle Dreams by Stephen Auerbach. Here's the official description:

"They are seekers, madmen, and angels hell-bent on riding across America on a bicycle in less than ten days. But what begins as the adventure of a lifetime is transformed in an instant when tragedy strikes the race. These voyagers discover what is truly at stake as they pedal on, praying for the deliverance only the finish line can bring. By journey's end, some are saved, others are lost, but all learn that the fuel that takes a soul toward its own true destiny is desire."

The screening is part of the Solstice film festival. Details are here. Check it out.

-Matt

Day Two

Location: Prescott, Ariz.
Conditions: 71F, partly cloudy, winds from the SW @ 1 mph
Miles covered: 350-ish
Miles remaining: 2,600-ish
Food for thought: The Captain and Tennille live in Prescott, Ariz.

I just got off the phone with Ben’s crew and Day One is in the books. According to Owen “Fairbanks” Hanley and “Patient” Megan (Ben’s wife), things couldn’t have gone any better than they did. Favorable winds helped Ben keep up his average speed. He’s still in good spirits (i.e. not too tired yet). And while he had some minor stomach complaints from all the simple sugars (nothing to worry about and totally normal), he kept up his calorie and fluid intake. Most important, he’s riding well, looking good and staying positive.

In the next few hours Team Popp (TP) will stop at a motel in either Cottonwood or Flagstaff, Ariz., and “put Ben down” for his first sleep since starting the race. At that point the crew will formulate a plan for the coming day(s). Let’s hope it includes better sightseeing observations/commentary… All I’ve gotten from Owen thus far is “it’s neat to see all the ecosystems…” I told him Ben’s readers deserve more (like a wild cougar sighting).

One last note, if you’re following Ben on Twitter, you’ll notice that he fired off a few tweets last night. Fear not, he’s not texting while riding, it’s just Owen sending updates from Ben's phone.

Stay tuned for more and send your positive juju Ben’s way.

-Matt

Track His Progress

It's not time for my daily update yet, but I wanted to share an easy way for you to track Ben's progress (where he is, miles ridden, etc.). Click here to visit his "racer report" on RAAM's site.

Additionally, you can view the overall race standings here. Note that RAAM's Web site has been inundated with traffic and is operating really slow--and sometimes not at all.

More later...

-Matt

He's Off

Location: Oceanside, Calif.
Conditions: 70F, cloudy, winds from the SW @ 7 mph
Miles covered: 0
Miles remaining: 3,021.3
Food for thought: This is the best Ben’s arse will feel in a long, long time…

It’s official, folks, he’s off. A few minutes ago, Ben started the 2009 Race Across AMerica (RAAM). The route is more than 3,000 miles, touching 14 states and climbing more than 100,000 feet. Solo racers typically finish in nine to 12 days, averaging 250 to 350 miles per day. This is a 24x7 endeavor for both rider and crew.

Solo racers have the challenge of balancing a few hours of sleep each night against race deadlines. According to Outside magazine, there is no tougher individual endurance event in the world. Crews have to keep the roving melee moving along despite weather, broken vehicles, filled-to-the-rim RV potties and at times, fraying nerves (imagine crossing the country at 10-15 miles-an-hour in a tin box with your closest family and friends).

The plan for Team Popp (TP for short) is to ride the next 36 hours straight without a break. Why? This allows Ben to ride through the hottest section of the course (California and Arizona deserts) at night. For reference, it’s about 100F during the day right now…not ideal riding conditions. After about 36 hours, Ben should be near Flagstaff, Ariz., where he’ll bed down for a 3-hour rest, butt airing and tasty snack.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s TP Update.

-Matt

P.S. Feel free to submit any questions you might have in the comments section.

Two Days Away

It's less than two days until Ben embarks on his 2009 solo RAAM quest. I'll be posting regular updates, adding a little color commentary (I've twice been a RAAM crew member) and soliciting questions from readers--which I'll in turn relay to this year's crew.

So stay tuned and send positive thoughts and well wishes Ben's way...it's going to be a long, hard journey.

Things get underway at 12:00 noon (PDT) on Wednesday. In the meantime, visit www.raceacrossamerica.org for general race updates, coverage and rider profiles.

-Matt

Go Time

Well, Ben signing off for now. I'm heading to San Diego tomorrow and the anxiety is beginning to build, but all and all i'm still quite calm. This is going to be a violent effort, but we have the team assembled to make it happen. My crew will be calling my buddy Matt Sullivan back in the cities each day and he will script updates - look for them each day late morning, early afternoon.
Send good karma...I'll be back in no time. ben

In the media

The St. Paul/Minneapolis media have done a few nice pieces on the adventure...check them out:
T-minus 13 days!
Pioneer press article: http://www.enduranceathlete.com/images/stories/images/pioneerpressarticle.pdf

WCCO TV story: http://wcco.com/sports/ride.across.america.2.1030446.html

This is what i looked like after just 30 hours of riding...imagine day 8!?!?!

Getting Closer...Getting Nervous

Well, not much to report on the training end, but plenty of goings on in the organization front. Vans, hotels, gear, 40 cases of Ensure....you get the picture. We decided to get away, and headed to my parents for the Memorial Day weekend. It was great to get away and forget RAAM for a few days. It was great weather in northern Wisconsin and the kids got to help Grandpa raise Great-Grandpa's flag on Memorial Day.
Into final preparations now and less training is getting me anxious. Probably not to many more posts here until i get to San Diego (3 weeks) and give the "final report" before send off. Once the race starts, a buddy (who we will be calling daily) will be posting a report here with how the day has gone. Standby and get prepared to send good karma, the more the better.

Racing, Breathing, Rolling 24 ...Bring it on!!!

Wow, what a week of training and RAAM prep. Where do i begin? I finally got over a little cold i had brewing the previous week and was feeling pretty good. I've started an intensity phase, and so along with the group from Synergy i coach on Tuesday nights, we headed out to the TT Steve Thatcher runs, the Ride-n-Glide TT out near Withrow MN. Great turnout for the race- it filled!! It felt really good to get out and go hard...hurt, but was good baseline going into this intensity block. By the numbers: 24.5mph, 261 wts, 189hr.
Wednesday i had an appt with Dr. Tom Helm a skier i work with who specializes in breathing issues, asthma etc. I've been having a real problem druing my long workouts and really antime i go hard. I went up to his clinic and performed a PFT so we would have some baseline numbers. He and his exercise physiology partner from the U of MN, Ed Corazalla, agreed to come out and retest me 10hrs into my long ride Saturday. Long story short, we met at Now Bikes, they retested me, then gave me a neb. After, my Mid-flow was up over 75%!!!!!!! This is totally telling and i think correcting it will make a huge difference over the long haul.
As for the 24 hour ride, it was good. The first 12 around here was a bit "soft", but I met me crew in Stillwater at 8pm and we rode to Chetek Wi and back through the night. Crappy rain and 40 degrees kind of sucked, but it was good practice to be out, working with the crew, staying up all night and i love hte route (great riding if you are ever looking for a peaceful place to lose yourself on the bike). You would think it would be getting easier to be up all night...nope, still sucks and is hard. I was totally motivated though as i know the other racers are racing the Race Around Slovenia this weekend, 730 miles. Jure won, but 4-5 other RAAM contenders were there and they rocked it. M. Baloh was 4th, and a young guy(26) from Austria (C. Strausser) who finished 2nd last year in the race was there- he is racing RAAM and i predict will win it some day. Going this well this young, look out.
Anyway, time for a short rest and final prep is here....wow! Lanners took a bunch of pics from the ride..I'll put them up when i get them... a bunch of shots of my butt while riding?!?!?!

Final Build Cycle..last long rides

Well, into the final volume cycle which will have 200, 300 and 24hr rides in it...so this weekend called for 200. I decided to look for some riding partners....started with family, but they decided they wanted to head home at the end of the block.... so, i thought I'd check with some other buds......called my bud Dino who is working with Highroad at LBL this weekend...but evidently the fellas didn't want to ride 200 miles with me, but rather watch Andy Schleck kick some ass...and Basso was too busy to ride....
so i hit the rural roads of western Wisconsin by myself...heaven.

RAAM Gear 101

What is it??

Train on

Not a ton of new news on the training front. Lots of strength, volume is actually coming down a bit now and the intensity will begin to ramp. After a short rest this week, i plan 3 final longer rides, with the last being 24 hrs. Man inside 9 weeks now....coming fast. When you are getting ready for your next event and are talking the talk, remember...

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." (Juma Ikangaa, NYC marathon winner)

RAAM Recon

Well, even the best laid plans sometimes change. The plan was to recon to Durango, the first 825 miles of the race course....but due to a few "circumstances", we didn't make it...but the trip was far from a failure. We (Bob Mackie was driving support) left San Diego Saturday at 10am with a huge tail wind and headed down the RAAM route towards Durango. After a good start we hit an unusually hot desert for this time of year - 91...good practice. The first 12-14 hrs went well. Man, i can't even describe the dunes in the western part of the Mojavi desert...a whole different world! Lets just say you need a 4-wheeler to fit in. After a run in with the border patrol (ask me sometime) and their dogs, we continued moving right along...but starting out tired (my family was with this trip), and Bob having no help, by 2am we were struggling. My nutrition wasn't great and by the climb out of the desert in Congress, i was KO'ed. After a short 10minute break though, i was back on the bike and climbing..slow, but moving. By the second big climb of the TS up to Prescott, i was feeling better and with day break, things were looking up. We arrived in Prescott around noon and the winds were howling....i mean howling...guts as high as 60mph! After almost getting blown off the bike, and not wanting to risk injury, we called it a day one TS short of the goal, Flagstaff, in Cottonwood AZ....live to fight another day. We awoke to 22 degrees and sun Monday morning and hit the road to Flagstaff, 7,000 feet up! The climb through Sedoan (amazing place, for sure my next vacation destination) went well, but on the descent out of Flagstaff we ran into BIG snow squals which turned us back towards Flagstaff. The goal to get to Durango was ended. I rode out the rest of the hours i was shooting for climbing the mountains around Flagstaff, we packed the car and headed back to San diego...i would ride my last day in there in 70 degree weather instead of fighting snow and ice for 200 miles into Durango. I wouldn't get to see the course, but safer training trumped the situation, so home we went. The final 10hr ride today was good, i'm totally cooked and looking forward to a rest. I tried out some new things and really learned a bunch of stuff that will help this summer. Mission accomplished-- 4 days, 800 miles, a 30+ hr ride to start, 90+ degrees, snow, 40,000 ft of up. Back to Minnesota, 40 degrees and rain.

Maple Syrup 101

Before heading to California, i had to head to my parents...and March in northern Wisconsin means collecting sap to make maple syrup. The boys and i had a great time tromping through the woods filling 5 gallon buckets with sap and loading them into a 50 gallon container pulled behind a 4-wheeler. I have a whole new respect for the effort that goes into such a tasty morning treat. Tomorrow, back to the business of riding my bike across the country. Stay tuned, a full report to follow the epic 800 mile, 2.5 day training ride from San Diego to Durango.

24 Trainer Hrs....

Well, heading to San Diego on Thursday to ride the first 800 miles of the course...and do the first 36 hrs non-stop to get a feel for how the beginning of the race will go. Training has been good, but just not conducive to long od rides with the weather so cold here in Minnesota. So, yesterday i did a 24 hr ride...inside on the trainer. It was as much of a mental test as physical. Learned a bit, made the muscles sore and am ready for Cali next week.