The crew as a whole did a fantastic job supporting Rick and I. They were a green crew and they learned lots of things on the fly. I commend them on a job well done.

Furthermore, I wish to acknowledge Brandy for being my primary support person. She kept up on my nutrition, my supplements and provided care to my hemoroids–not exactly a task anyone would want to sign up for. She was there to console me during my lows and very painful times (bowel movements) and shared in my heights when my riding was back to normal. I would not have been able to get through it without her personal support. She was gold and I would have her on my crew again. Thank you Brandy.

I also remember coming in from cold and rainy pulls and someone handing me a cup of soup. This activity was repeated over and over again. I remember Reggie, Herman and Shari everyone chipping in to comfort me after a pull with a soup or a sandwich or a cup of Ensure. Thank you Reggie, Herman and Shari.

To everyone who washed bottles, made bottles, prepped my bike, aired up my tires, ran around looking for headlights and tailights that worked at every night pull you guys/gals were great. Thank you.

To the drivers and navigators who kept me safe and on course. I want to say thank you for protecting as we entered Interstate Hwys and metro areas. I felt a level of comfort and safety knowing that you were there shielding me from the crazy road rage drivers. By and large people were supporting me as they drove by with thumbs up but it took nerves of steel to flare out wide enough to protect me from 18 wheelers that were bearing down on me at 4x my speed. Many of you did your duty while sleep deprived and yet I wasn’t ever lost or run off the road. Many crew reports talk about that very thing and that didn’t happen to us. Thank you I am home safely because of you.

It goes without saying that this massive undertaking, racing across America, could not be done without the support and dedication of the crew. I can’t imagine why they would volunteer for what always ends up being a thankless job. Their dedication of support to complete strangers was amazing. I am so glad there are selfless people out there because without them Rick and I would not have finished. Thank you crew!!

It had been pre-arranged that the crew chief would fly back because she is a single mom to the three children. Unlike many of the crew the crew chief has three children: Marcellus age 4, Avery age 6 and Gavin age 8. All three of the children are out of school for the summer so they need a lot of attention. She had arranged child care until the Thursday June 21st.

We began to run behind schedule and that caused a lot of stress on her and her home life. The father is non-existent he comes around once a week and only for a couple of hours. Many of the crew are not married, no children and quite a few are college students off for the summer months. Many of them if not all are unemployed, retired, semi -retired, laid off or between jobs. There is a huge difference between the crew chief’s responsiblities at home than the rest of the crew.

The children were being watched, reluctantly, by the children’s grandmother, who was displaced from her home in Arizona and more than anxious to get home. The sooner the crew chief could get home the better for the children, the grandmother (that didn’t want to be there) and issues between the father and her would be.

We appreciate the financial support from zamcharles and for allowing me an opportunity to explain the crew chief’s restrictions.

From the 360cycling.com website this morning…

“The photos are a bit lopsided with George right now due to the fact the crew chief was with George all the time and was the only one that had access to upload.”

Just another clarification post here.

1. I was George’s primary support person during RAAM. It was no secret to anyone that I was going to fulfill this role, so the fact that I was “with George all the time” shouldn’t be a surprise.

2. There are pictures on flickr that were uploaded the very first day of RAAM, when we had speedy internet access and a chunk of time on my hands. Until yesterday, those were the only photos on the site.

3. I am home now and will be uploading more pictures throughout the day. Yes, they are mostly of George because he was the one that I was following primarily. I can imagine that if Rick had the same primary support person throughout the race, that their pictures would represent that as well.

4. I was not the only one with access to upload. Flickr uploader was on several of the team computers, but all of us were faced with slow internet speeds throughout the race. Our main photographer James takes amazing photos, but the high resolution originals are large files that take a long time to upload even at home, let alone on the road when what we were worrying about more was taking care of these riders. At one time we tried to get him to a Wi-Fi location in La Veta, but the library was just closing when we arrived.

5. I am doing what the blog readers have asked and getting pictures up here now that I have a fast connection at home. I apologize that Rick is not well represented at this time, but the amount of pictures that I took is very minimal in comparison to the others and those will be posted as soon as it is possible.

When I said it would have been easier to do Solo RAAM what I meant was the following:

1. By no means do I believe that I had trained enough to do the full 3000 miles alone. That goal is still years away. I was grateful to have Rick and his help. We both knew going into this that I had the Ultra experience and Rick could provide the intensity and speed that I lacked.

2. I was referring to the logistics involved.

3. The amount of crew involved–much less needed for Solo

4. The irregular sleep patterns that a two person team has to adopt–on this event I couldn’t get any sleep for the first four days. I believe if I ride 18-20 hours I would be tired enough to sleep when I would put my head down.

5. The lack of pressure to perform as part of a team–in other words when I wasn’t feeling well and during the time I was sleep deprived— if I was riding solo I would just have myself to blame for a slow average speed. In this case, I always felt the pressure that I was slowing Rick down because I couldn’t get sleep and he was busting his ass to get me some.

6. When riding solo you ride when you want you stop when you want.

7. Solo RAAM is also easier on the crew because when the rider decides to stop EVERYTHING stops the crew, the vehicles, the rider everyone shuts down and sleeps and then they resume again. With a relay the crew is constantly “on”. There is always a rider on the road and the wheels are always rolling.

8. No need for rolling exchanges and/or coordinating multiple vehicles and crew members.

9. The lack of cell phone communication through many states also wouldn’t be an issue — one rider one follow vehicle …simple. The lack of communication and accurate information created very hectic and disorganized rider exchanges and crew exchanges for that matter.

10. I think many of you are misreading and misinterperting what I posted. Please don’t read into it. It is not a “slap in anyone’s face”. I am a solo rider. I train alone, race alone and eventually will do Solo RAAM.

The first batch of pictures are posted. They are for the last 248 miles where George had to go solo. As the crew makes there way back to California from Atlantic City we should have more and more pics.

George here

I want to tell you how much I apprecitated all your comments and well wishes. I of course did not have the time to post or read the blog. I was too busy riding or trying to sleep. Doing a two person relay is a very demanding way to compete in RAAM. I didn’t know what to expect but I know now that I think it would be easier to do Solo RAAM. I will have a full race report to post here and on my website http://www.epictrain.com or blog. But for now I will be attending the banquet tonight with my head held high because tonight I am an Official Finisher of RAAM “the world’s toughest endurance bicycle race”

official time 9 days 18 hours and 55 minutes.

BTW they posted this article on us.

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/team-beat-cancer-www-coastalsportsmedicine-com

George is still rolling, putting in a lot of effort out here. You can tell from looking at him that he is just exhausted. He is asking for Coke, Go Girl Energy Drinks and Red Star Energy right now, just trying to make it to the next TS and then to the finish.

He’s bringing it home for the team and I can’t wait to see both him and Rick cross that finish line in Atlantic City!

We’re in and we’re out! George has been hauling ass. He switched to the P3 after the hilly start of the last section and he’s flying. He looks great out there, he said he’s moving on straight adrenaline. I’m so proud of him!!!!!! He’s still in great spirits, our navigator is shouting one liners out the window to him as he speeds down the 40 toward Atlantic City and he’s responding via nods and shaking his booty for us. 🙂

Keep the team in your thoughts…we’re 60 miles away. 60 miles…it’s just a club ride from here!!!

for all of the super high end wool clothing! George is looking resplendent in his Vitadello jersey and his wool baselayers are keeping him warm on this chilly night. Pictures coming soon of George on Wolf Creek Pass where he proudly wore his wool!

http://www.vintagevelos.com/clothing1.html