training

Raising the Giant

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:22:30 +0100

The finish

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:19:42 +0100

Stage 11 (27th June): Mount Airy (MD) to Annapolis (MD)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:16:17 +0100

I awoke around midday having had a good 4 hours sleep and feeling much better than I did at the end of the previous stage. We were heading towards TS51 in Mount Airy (MD) where all crews were required to stop and check if they’d received any time penalties during the race. If they had, they had to wait there and serve the penalty before continuing to the finish. We’d had reports that Jon and Coz were making good progress, particularly given the lumpy terrain and the two large peaks that they had to negotiate. We estimated their arrival time at TS51 as 2:00 pm, which, with 50 miles to go, left Tom and I with 3 hours for us to complete the race in under 7 days. Before we started the race I was just hoping to finish within the 9 day time limit, so the prospect of finishing in less than 7 days was well beyond even Jon and Tom’s wildest speculations, and served to add an extra spice and more than a little tension to the stage. First however, we had to hope that we hadn’t received any time penalties. Mike came back with the news that we were in the clear so it was all systems go to ready ourselves for our challenge. Tom and I discussed tactics and came to the conclusion that it would be best to break the stage down into four 20 km legs. I then set about digging out my aero helmet and tightest fitting jersey to give myself as much aerodynamic advantage as possible. However, the main thing we had to do was to avoid any wrong turns. The first two miles of the stage had four turns in it so, as we had some time to spare, I asked Mike to drive us along the start of the route so that wouldn’t have any surprises. As we were heading towards the coast, the general trend of the stage was downhill. However, there were a few lumps to negotiate en route.

We returned to TS51 for a quick toilet break in the adjacent bike shop followed by a quick spruce up of the bikes including oiling the chain and inflating the tyres to optimal pressures. I took a couple of ‘pro-plus’ caffeine tablets to keep me alert (Tom’s nervous tension getting to me a little by now) and headed out to the roadside as the incoming crew arrived. At around 2:00 pm Jon appeared and I readied myself for the changeover. Unfortunately, everyone else was looking through the fence at the rear of the car park trying to spot Jon’s arrival ahead of time, and somehow missed his arrival. No matter, as Jon arrived I headed about 100 yards down the road before making the sharp right hand turn to set me on my way. The climb around the corner was a little steeper than I thought and my desire to maintain a good speed left me gasping for some air (Mike’s wise words of ‘don’t set off too quickly’ ringing in my ears). Nevertheless, I crested the rise and dropped into my aero position for the next few miles. The crew, (Mike, Tom, Jon, and Coz) caught up with me in the SUV after about 5 miles just as I reached the first proper climb of the leg. Despite my efforts, I remember wishing that they’d caught up with me a few minutes earlier when I was making much better progress. I was sure they were cursing my slow progress at that point (in hindsight, I’m sure they weren’t), such was the pressure to finish ahead of schedule. The next 7 miles or so were much better and I finally got into the SUV at the end of that first leg feeling like I’d done a good job. I could do with that kind of motivation for triathlons.

Tom continued to make good progress in the next leg, though his ability to control his enthusiasm was evidently worse than mine. Indeed, after a particularly sharp rise just after 20 miles of the stage, he gesticulated that he’d nothing left to give. We managed to persuade him to continue on for another couple of hundred yards so that we could make an effective change and I took over once again. Whilst Tom proceeded to lose his lunch by the roadside, I proceeded to enjoy a lovely section of the route on nice roads and with a gradual downward profile. The efforts of my first leg seemed to have both warmed me up and calmed me down, and I was able to enjoy the speed afforded by this section of the route. As we approached the outskirts of Annapolis, the surroundings changed from a rural to a more urban setting and the roads got much more congested. I kept glancing at the GPS to make sure I was on course as it was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the honks of the SUV from those of other vehicles. At one point, panic apparently set in with the crew as they felt I should have taken a right turn. Oblivious to this, I pressed on, relying on the GPS to guide me as the crew had got caught up in traffic. A few minutes later they caught up with me at a red light and Mike informed me that because they thought I’d gone wrong, they’d sent Jon out on what they felt was the correct route. Having now realised their error, they were going back for him. ‘Just keep following your GPS’ Mike called out as I continued on my way.

Apart from the annoyance of having to stop for red lights, I was making really good progress and even paused my bike computer at 20 km so that I had a record of my speed over that section of the stage. As the crew still hadn’t returned I continued to press on, feeling really elated with my progress and thanking ‘the Giant’ for getting me this far. I know it’s crazy, but I’ve had so many adventures on it that I’ve grown attached to it. Anyway, I’d have happily continued on to the end, but the crew (Jon now back on board) finally caught up with me with after I’d made a small faux pas at yet another freeway exit ramp, and we were able to make the changeover. Jon and Tom shared the final 12 miles of the stage and we arrived at the ‘Shell’ gas station in Annapolis at 4:10 pm. With three hours lost through passing through the various time zones across America, this gave us an overall time for the 3017.3 mile journey of 6 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes: BRILLIANT!!!

We hugged one another and enjoyed smoothies from the gas station while we waited for our official escort to the finish line in Annapolis. We also, put on our official team racing jerseys so we’d look smart for the photo’s. The parade into Annapolis was brilliant as we rode behind an official car complete with flashing roof lights to the seafront. Mike followed behind in the SUV, honking his horn in celebration of our achievement. As we arrived at the finish, the rest of the crew were there to greet us along with our friend ‘Peary’ from work and my friends Gavin and Julie. We got up on stage and were interviewed about our adventure, though at the time, I struggled for anything particularly poignant to say. We were also given our medals which were extremely nice, and we posed for countless photographs, including one of us lifting our bikes over our heads which prompted the usual strongman comments from the team regarding my trusty steed. Afterwards we had to hurry to the post-race banquet which, though lovely, was over far too quickly. Mike and I decided that we’d treat ourselves to a bit of luxury and booked a hotel for the night. Before then though, we all headed out of town to a large ‘Walmart’ (on reflection, I’m not sure why?) to begin packing so that those who were heading back a couple of days later could get an early start and make the most of the time left to visit New York.

Please note, if you ever take part in RAAM I recommend the following on completion of the race: First, book a nice restaurant and hotel for the evening. Next, when in the said restaurant, make sure you wear your medals (you won’t do again otherwise), order several bottles of champagne and BLOODY WELL CELEBRATE!!

After Mike had acted as a taxi driver to ferry me and my luggage to our hotel before heading back for the rest of the crew, I wandered around the finish area in Annapolis eating a lovely big ice cream and reflecting on our adventure. It was a great trip and one I’ll never forget. What’s more I’d been able to share it with a group of friends and despite all the stress associated with fatigue and the lack of food and sleep, we’d managed it all with great comradeship. Maybe we should do it again in 10 years time…

Stage 10 (27th June): Gormania (WV) to Hancock (MD)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:34:22 +0100

I awoke at around 11.00 pm feeling very tired and a little disorientated having only managed around 4 hours sleep. The lateness of the hour combined with the desolation of our location (Gas n Go station at TS46) and the minimal amount of external lighting made all of us a bit subdued. We busied ourselves getting everything ready and then Jon and the crew appeared; Jon riding Cozza’s bike as his had punctured within minutes of our rendezvous. The first 15 miles of my first leg were very lumpy as we were now extremely close to the steep climbs of the Appalacians. However, the last 5 miles of that first leg were great as I was rewarded with a lovely descent down a 9% gradient. As I handed over to Tom, our crew (Jess and Hayley) were getting extremely worried about the fuel situation in the SUV. I did my best to reassure them that we would be OK (I was feeling quite philosophical by this point), but the situation wasn’t helped by the fact that it was around 1:00 am and the first few gas stations that we passed were all closed. In the end, as we entered the town of Keyser (WV) our luck changed and we paused briefly to refuel. As is often the case, in the next few miles we passed several gas stations, all of which were open.

Shortly after starting my second leg of the stage the crew misdirected me onto the interstate (I 68). It was an easy mistake to make and I felt it reflected the general fatigue in the team by this point. After about 10 minutes of riding, they signalled me to pull over and we drove back to the point of our transgression. Even then, it took a few minutes to reorient ourselves. All in all, the error cost us about 30 minutes. The next few miles, apart from one more very minor misdirection, passed by pretty uneventfully, but all that was about to change as we had four Appalacian peaks up ahead. Tom took care of the first one over ‘Rocky Gap’ just as daylight was starting to break. I took over at the foot of the descent and firstly climbed ‘Polish Mountain’ followed shortly after by ‘Town Hill’. The altitudes in the Appalacians were much lower than those of the Rockies; however the climbs were generally steeper. Nevertheless, I’d climbed steeper and longer climbs in France and despite being the weakest climber in the team, by now, we all felt that we could tackle anything put in front of us. I remember the climb of ‘Town Hill’ very vividly for the misleading climb that occurred before it. I remember thinking, as I started to descend, ‘that wasn’t as bad as I’d anticipated’ just as the road turned right and rose up in front of me again.

I was switching my climbing style from a few minutes in the saddle to a few ‘dancing on the pedals’, trying to maintain a good tempo and avoiding having to use my smallest (granny) gear ring. However, in the last few hundred yards of the climb the gradient increased to a point where I was glad of that extra gear. The satisfaction of overcoming my last big climb of the race was made even more special by the sight of the sunrise which was directly in front of me as I crested the summit. It would have made a terrific photo.

As I got to the top of ‘Town Hill’ Tom asked if I wanted to enjoy the fruits of my labour and do the descent. I declined his kind offer as I’d ridden hard expecting to make the change at the summit. I remember watching Tom as he tackled the descent and then started to climb ‘Sideling Hill’, but then, for the first time in the race, I fell asleep in the back of the SUV. Indeed, the next thing I remember was waking with a start as Hayley asked if I was ready for the next changeover. ‘Yes’ I replied, as I tried to gather my thoughts and get all my gear together. Fortunately, we didn’t have much further to go and so we broke the final section into two half-hour stints. We rendezvoused with the rest of the team at around 7:30 am, just before entering Pennsylvania for the second time. We wished Jon and Coz good luck for their final stint of the race (we were now only about 170 miles from the finish) and we quickly put the bikes in the RV. I remember going straight to bed and hearing Mike say ‘come on, let’s get going’. However, as I lay there waiting to hear the engine start, nothing happened. Next, I heard Mike talking to someone outside, telling them that our battery was dead. It seems that Mike had inadvertently left the lights on all night; another sign of the fatigue within the team. I was more than a little worried, particularly as our next stage was to be the final one of the race. However, I was too tired to get involved (sorry Mike), trusting that Mike would somehow resolve the situation. In the end, Mike, after flagging down several passing motorists, all of whom tried their best to help, managed to find one guy who had a portable ‘jump start’ device and we were finally on our way again (phew!).

More fun on the road

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:39 +0100

Fun on the road

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:27:07 +0100

Stage 9 (26th June): New Vienna (OH) to Murphytown (WV)

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:56:54 +0100

The day started (around 7.00 am) in an eventful way as, after getting ready to start our next stage, we soon discovered that we were off the official route and therefore in the wrong place to meet Jon and Coz. We quickly put the bikes back in the RV and tried to remedy the problem. After a couple of wrong turns, some panic, and several miles in the wrong direction, we finally managed to locate the gang, thanks to our on-bike GPS systems. Jon and Coz had done a great job of riding through the storm apart from one mishap. Somehow, in the midst of one of the changeovers Jon as usual had removed his front wheel (to enable his enormous bike to fit in the SUV) and then managed to depart in the SUV with the wheel still in the road. On realisation of their error (around 40 minutes later, as a result of Corrine getting a puncture), the crew (including Jon and Coz) returned as quickly as possible, only to find that the wheel had been crushed by a passing (possibly several) vehicle. Amidst all the shenanigans, we were once again passed by our German rivals. Anyway, back to the stage: after a moment of confusion with the GPS at the start of my first leg (lots of confusing turns), I pressed on along a quiet ‘English countryside-like’ road to the first changeover in Greenfield (OH). After taking a few minutes to swap over drivers, we set off after Tom only to discover that we’d lost him. We’d only made one turn since the changeover and presumed that Tom had failed to make the same. Fortunately, as we retraced our route, Tom, having realised his error, appeared on the road in front of us. The incident highlighted the need for better (or at least some) means of communication. In effect, despite the walkie-talkies that we’d brought and the mobile phones which we’d bought, neither were proving effective as a means of communication.

Shortly after the next changeover in Chillicothe (OH) (just before TS42) there was a strange junction which I very nearly got wrong. I knew, from looking at the route before this leg, that we were following the US 50, and there was a sign for that road pointing right. However, as soon as I made the turn as spotted the error on my GPS and quickly corrected my mistake. Not much of an incident really, but I was so pleased that I’d taken the correct route when, about 10 minutes later, I passed a race marshal parked at the side of the road. I wondered how many others would be caught out at this point of the route. The same marshal was to pass us several times in the next few miles, at one point to witness Jess, Alice, and Tom doing ‘the robot’ at the side of the road. I also passed the leading female solo rider during this leg.

Tom’s second leg involved a steady 300 ft climb and descent and we only just caught up with him in time after being held up for around 10 minutes at some road works. Jess and Alice were having a great time competing to see who could get the most trucks to sound their horns as they passed. Due to the lack of a better changeover point, we made my next change just behind the marshal’s car. I wasn’t worried as I felt confident that our changeovers were slick and ‘by the book’. However, I learned afterwards that the crew set off after me with the boot of the SUV open (oops!). Although my leg started with a climb, most of it was rolling terrain and I was making good progress until I had another GPS-related incident. While the route map clearly stated ‘follow sign to US 33 East. Do not bear right onto the freeway ramp’, I didn’t realise until it was too late. What’s worse was that we were due to make a changeover and in my attempt to recover the situation I’d somehow missed the crew. Presuming that they were still ahead of me, I continued on feeling really pleased with my speed and with the fact that I managed to subsequently negotiate the considerable road works in the busy city of Athens (OH). However, after another 20 minutes or so of riding, and with no sign of the crew, I got progressively more worried. In the end, since I felt that they must be behind me, and that riding on would most likely exacerbate the problem, I pulled over and sat by the side of the road. In the meantime, the crew, who had at first retraced their route thinking that I must have punctured, finally turned around and caught up with me. It was great to see them again, but we’d lost about 25 minutes as a result of the incident.

Whilst waiting for Tom during his next leg I devoured a big bag of ‘Cheetos’ (my appetite now well and truly restored) and the route continued to be pretty lumpy and quite busy as we neared the start of the Appalacians. My final leg, in particular, involved cycling along a number of major roads and negotiating several slip road entrances and exits. We finally rendezvoused with the rest of the team in Murphytown (WV) just after crossing the state border. It had certainly been an eventful stage. Instead of heading straight to bed as usual, I offered to buy everyone pizza as a treat. Unfortunately, we drove for over an hour before we found a suitable venue. Moreover, we had to wait for 20 minutes before our order was ready. Although the pizza, garlic bread and coke was great, it meant that I lost about 2 hours of sleep time, an issue I was to regret by the end of the next stage.

Mark and Tom making a changeover

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:39:14 +0100

Stage 8 (25th June): Dieterick (IL) to Nashville (IN)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:36:29 +0100

I awoke later that same day in Dieterick (Illinois) to prepare for the next stage. It was nice to be cycling in daylight once again. Indeed, this was my favourite time to start, as the weather got cooler as the stage progressed, plus you finished in a normal time for sleeping. It was, yet again, extremely hot but my first leg went really well despite having to negotiate several turns. The crew met me about 5 minutes earlier than scheduled and I remember feeling a little frustrated when Mike congratulated me on achieving 19 miles an hour. I wanted to say ‘no, it was just over 20 mph, but you picked me up early’ but instead I just said thanks and got in the SUV. It’s funny how driven we all are to feel like we’re pulling our weight and not letting the team down.

My second leg took us along a winding road by a lake where I was joined by a lady in a car. I say joined, but despite my consistent speed the lady’s ability to stay alongside me was hopeless. As she moved past me I heard her call ‘are you doing RAAM?’. ‘Yes’ I replied, hoping that my aero tuck position would limit any further questioning. As she eased off the accelerator to a more parallel position she informed me that she was originally from Holland and that she loved cycling. To be honest, it was a nice little distraction and I was happy to engage her questions. The crew had witnessed the incident from up ahead and were curious about what was happening. I think they thought she was asking for directions. We made the next change at TS37 where I visited the gas station for what turned out to be a disappointing ice cream. We were starting to catch the solo riders by this point (RAAM starts the solo event 3 days before the team one, so they have 12 days to complete the event. Even so, only around half of the field manage to complete the event), but much to my surprise, shortly after Tom had departed, the German crew appeared. It seems that Jon and Coz had passed them during the night, though I appeared to be the only one who was oblivious to this fact. The British Army crew were also not too far away, though they were still ahead of us.

My third leg, just after entering Indiana, was relatively flat for the first few miles, but then climbed around 400 ft and got considerably more lumpy for the rest of the leg. I remember watching my average speed tumble as I hit the first climb. At least by this point all the training was paying off and hills were just something that slowed us down a little.

My final leg of the stage was one of the most eventful ones. First, the organisers had taken the route past the Indiana University Football Stadium which, although I’m sure was impressive (I didn’t notice as I was too busy trying not to get lost), involved a few tricky turns. Next, I accidentally took the exit road off the SR 46. It was one of those occasions where the main road and the exit road ran parallel for a few hundred yards, making the error difficult to detect on the GPS (an issue which would come back to haunt us the next day). Fortunately, it was after 8.00 pm and the crew were right behind me so we were able to remedy the situation before the German crew caught us. My final transgression on this stage involved the tricky negotiation of a strip-mall at TS38 in Bloomington (IN). As I approached the mall, I noticed that the GPS (still enough daylight to read it) indicated a series of right turns (three in total) resulting in the net effect of a left turn (If you get my drift). It looked a bit like going all the way around a roundabout just to take the first exit. Now, the RAAM organisers go to such great pains to state that you must follow the exact route that, times like this (particularly with the German team close behind) can make you fairly anxious. Anyway, just before the mall, and shortly after chatting with a British solo competitor at a red light, I was signalled to pull over by the time station marshals. I heard the crew shouting ‘no, straight on!’, but I pulled in anyway. At this point, my brain ceased to function and, thinking that the GPS map was indicating that I needed to cross the mall car park, I proceeded to cycle between several parked cars. As the crew were supposed to be following me, this left them completely bemused and several car honks and cries of ‘stop’ were required before I came to my senses. We laughed about it later, and fortunately the whole debacle only cost us a couple of minutes.

Tom’s final stint took him over a sharp 300 ft climb at which point we heard rumbles of thunder for the first time during the trip. I awoke fairly early in the evening to the subsequent storm. It was so bad that I got out of bed to speak to Mike about the speed he was driving the RV at, only to discover that we were only doing 40 mph (it felt much faster in the back of the RV). I wondered how Jon and Coz were coping with the conditions as I drifted off to sleep again.

Jon and Coz in Keyes (OK)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:23:22 +0100