What a Ride!

I'm at the Baltimore airport and will be boarding my flight back to Austin in 30 minutes. I am sitting here thinking, "What just happened in the past two weeks?" (Photo: Day 1 of RAAM, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, aka "the glass elevator").

What a great experience and as will all great events, it gives me pause to reflect on the things and the people in my life. It is going to take me a few days to decompress - a perfect time to head to Minnesota to spend the fourth of July week with family.

RAAM Media Winding Down

Media Crew #3 is at the finish line covering the remaining riders (solo and team). We will continue to post stories, videos, and photos on the RAAM website. But for now, we say "thank you" to everyone following us across the USA. We had a blast!

I will continue to post content here as RAAM 2010 winds down and Team Galaxy starts to ramp up.

Smiles Across America - The Lighter Side of RAAM (video)

This video pretty much says it all. I will add - it is VERY difficult to find Grey Poupon mustard at a Value Mart in ANY small town :-)

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

Credits - RAAM Media Van #3
Enthusiastic Interviewer: Ryan Van Duzer
Awesome Camera Man: Rafiel Chiat
Nervous Driver: Susan Farago

HELLO Annapolis!!

We made it! It's 11:00pm local time and we are in Annapolis. We are heading to the finish line right now (yes I'm in the van blogging!) Can't wait to see the riders coming in throughout the night and all day tomorrow. All the excitement and emotion is going to be amazing!

Lunch with Danny from West Virginia

We took a right off of race route US 50E just past the sign for Belgium, down the narrow paved road to Danny Harbert's house. He was expecting us. We were greeted with smiles, hanshakes, and hugs as he welcomed us into his home. He had 'supper' prepared and waiting (it was 12:30pm).

Ryan met Danny during Ryan's bike trek across country last year and they have been in touch ever since. When we entered West Virginia, Ryan gave Danny a call.

We heard stories of Danny working in the West Virginia coal mines and looked at the nature photos he takes (amazing photos of bald and golden eagles)-- and of course ther was much laughter the entire time. With our belly's completely full, we reluctantly left Danny's house. It was hard to leave as he made us all feel so welcome. Danny said he had two rules for guests, feed them well and give them something to take with them when they leave. He made and gave Rafiel and I necklaces similar to the one he had given Ryan a year ago (Ryan hasn't taken it off since). Back to RAAM work. But what a wonderful and unexpected surprise. I won't forget it.

Tree Tower in Decatur County Courthouse

Decatur County Court House near Greensburg, Indiana.

Locals say that this is not the original tree, it is the third offspring of the original tree (which was cut down). When officials were talking about removing the tree as part of the court house restoration, the kids in town petitioned against it and got enough signatures to save the tree.

When asked how the tree got there to begin with, one local responded, "If you’re a far right Christian you believe that God put it there."

Big Timing Board at Time Station #39

Time stations vary in RAAM. Some are fully stocked with people, food, and festivities. While others are next to a cornfield on the edge of a small town. The purpose of the time stations, which are every 30-70 miles, is so that RAAM officials can track the pace of the riders. This particular time station (photo) was at time station #39 in Bloomington, IN. Times are posted for all to see...quite literally! Crew must call in to RAAM race headquarters in Tucson, AZ to let them know the exact time a rider passes a time station. In the case where the time stations are "personned", the RAAM volunteers will mark the rider time but the rider still has to check in.

There are a total of 55 time stations from west coast to east coast. We are currently at time station 44 in Athens, Ohio. 446 miles to Annapolis!