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
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.
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
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.
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.
