RAAM has officially begun...

...and we are on the road! It's been a fun day - 40 relay teams started off in 1 minute intervals at 2pm. I had a great view of the proceedings - I was sitting on the stage and the start line was right in front of me. By 3:00pm we were on the road chasing them down, taking photos, and interviewing riders on the side of the road as they waited for their teams to come by.

It is now dusk and we are in the desert about a 100 miles from Oceanside. We are heading for the Imperial Sand Dunes but won't see them. Riders are required to have a follow vehicle at night so we are coming up on these little groups of car/rider clusters.

Not sure how far we are going to drive tonight. Rafiel and I are taking turns driving since we lost our driver (long story). I hope we stop and eat soon. I'm hungry!!


I talked to Leary on the phone just a little while ago. It was great to hear his voice and hear about his day. I had to cut the call short because Ryan and Rafiel were done shooting photos and video and ready to go chase down the riders again. I already submitted my write up for the afternoon so I have a little time off before submitting another write up.

On a side note - I met with a woman named Lucy who's husband is racing as part of an 8 man relay team. He has stage 4 lung cancer and only one lung. This is a photo of me interviewing her (Rafiel took the photo). We'll be rooting for her and her husband along the way!



More later!

Fun & Interesting Sights

Relay team race start is tomorrow (Saturday) at 2pm PST. Normally I would be finishing up with my usual Satuday "Fred Ride" bike ride. But something tells me this is going to be a little more interesting (no offense Fred ;-)

We head out right after the last relay team hits the road and we chase them for 3,000 miles - playing leap frog as we document who's doing what. And I never grow tired of seeing bikes and spandex, I've come across a few fun and interesting sights these past few days...


#1 - Wounded Warrior relay team member showing off his carbon fiber!

#2 - Spanish team having fun with their team photo.

#3 - Rafael, media van #3 photographer, running alongside a rider to take a picture.

#4 - The only hungarian cyclist at RAAM, Ferenc Szonyi, age 45.

#5 - I am not sure about this one. The only thing I can think of is that the tennis ball provides wind protection from the ear piece so the rider can hear?

Words, Words, Words

I am thoroughly enjoying my new career as a writer and this experience at RAAM has been icing on the literary cake. My job as "media van #3 writer" is to provide 2 summary articles (2-3 paragraphs each) - one by 9:00am and the other by 9:00pm. Truthfully I don't think I can contain myself to a mere 4-6 paragraphs within a 24 hour period at an epic event like Race Across America. Remember, I once wrote a 13 page race report on a 6 hr race. I can have a lot to say!

So I have found a few other writing outlets such as this blog and quick updates on my Facebook page. I've even written a bunch of notes and sent them to my RAAM relay teammates -- things we should and should not do while planning for our own RAAM in 2011. But somehow it's not quite enough. I could write volumes on the teams I've met, funny behind the scenes things I've seen, or pre-race proceedings that are leading up to Saturday's big relay team send-off. And I've already taken a ton of pictures and I'm not even a media team photographer. I can't help it. It's like I want to take it all in and grab every possible sight, sound, comment, smell, and action.

But alas I will attempt to save some of my writing enthusiasm for when I need it. You know...pace myself. Just a little. And perhaps by the time I get to Kansas and it's 3:47am and I am trying to sleep on a picnic table in the middle of who know's where, my passion for writing will be replaced by my overwhelming desire to sleep. But when I wake up, I'll want to write about a strange bicycle dream.

(Photo courtesy of Jake North, RAAM media crew photographer and good friend.)

Finding My Rhythm

When I was little, my brother Trent used to "mess up my room neatly". He would sneak into my room and arbitrarily move things ever so slightly -- pull my music box a little more forward, set a pencil on the floor near my desk, push my nightstand lamp to the wall. I would then walk into my room and to the untrained eye, nothing appeared out of place. But I could tell. Even if I couldn't see what was misplaced, I could sense it. He did it to drive me crazy and it always worked.

I have always been very sensitive to my surroundings and I know where everything is, down to the exact placement within a milimeter. So it should come as no surprise that during the past few days my surroundings have been a bit chaotic. But tonight...ah tonight...I finally feel like I have all my papers (notepads, route books, maps, race lists), gadgets(cell phone, camera, batteries, cords, cables, computers, USB devices) and gear (clothes, sleeping bag, blanket, waterbottles, snacks) in place -- maybe not down to the milimeter but I know where stuff is in a general sense.

Despite my amazing organizational skills (my husband Leary also refers to it as my "neurosis"), I am looking forward to traveling across country with all my above mentioned "stuff" in a van along with three other peoples' "stuff". I should warn my van-mates however that if anyone tries to mess up my stuff neatly, well...let's not go there :-)

Race Team Preparations for Sat Start

I'll be heading down to Oceanside in a little bit to watch the teams get ready to race on Saturday at 2pm. Right now teams are getting ready and this includes: last minute gear prep, safety check by officials (cars, signage, lights, etc.), and general "holy crap we hope we have everything" chaos. It's nice to be an outsider looking at the chaos but I can't help but wonder how we, Team Galaxy, will be come this time next year when it's us running around in "holy crap" mode.

Photo of Team NUBS (no upper body strength).

RAAM Media Crew #3

Here we are - RAAM Media Crew 3
Pictured left to right: me (writer), Rafael Chiat(photographer), Chris Abbadini (driver), Ryan Van Duzer (videographer).

How to get to know a group of people really fast? Put them in a van and travel across country! We leave on Saturday.

Eating Challenge

I am a twigs and berries gal - love veggies, fruits, grains (OK - and the occasional box of chocolates). If yesterday is any indication of how meals will be when we hit the road, I'm in trouble.

Mid way through watching the men's solo teams at the first part of the race, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at Jilbertos' - a little family owned mexican restaurant. I'm pretty sure the refried beans were NOT vegan. It was good...a little too good. And the hibiscus tea went well with my veggie burrito (with cheese and sour cream).



We spent the afternoon chasing the men's teams and then made our way back to Oceanside. We were back at the Best Western (Marty's Valley Inn) by 7:30pm and there was no place within walking distance to eat dinner. Papa John's pizza anyone? I had a veggie pizza delivered (more cheese). For some reason a large pizza was cheaper than a small pizza.

I got on Skype to talk to my husband Leary while eating my pizza. I ate half the pizza and as I looked at the remaining pizza slices I wished he was here. I miss him already. Plus its his job to eat the other half of the pizza like we do at home.

As I chewed on a Fiber Choice tablet before bed, I thought about my food options for the trip. My plan: to hang on to my bag of granola for dear life!

Welcome to RAAM!

Just 6 hours ago I was in Austin and now I find myself at the start line for RAAM. The men's solo teams started today at noon pacific time.

I'll post more later. We're en route to find a Subway for lunch and then will catch up to the racers farther up the road. We are heading towards "The Glass Elevator".