After last minute packing the previous evening (not like me, though I did have a list to work from) and discovering a lack of space for my rucksack and trackpump, I awoke at 5.00 am to prepare for our journey to Los Angeles. Jon had been his usual generous self and not only arranged a taxi for himself, me, Tom, and Kim (Jon’s sister), but he’d also collected our bikes from Tom’s the previous evening. Anyway, after dragging my luggage up the road, and waking up most of the neighbourhood in the process, I travelled by bus: first to Tom’s; and then to Jon’s to await our cab. Our support crew of Mike, Kim, Jess, Hayley, and Alice had decided to adopt a cowboy theme for the journey so we travelled to the airport with Kim suitably disguised as Daisy Duke, complete with hotpants (woo hoo!). Check in at the airport went smoothly and I was relieved to see our bikes safely taken away to be put on our flight. After spotting the biggest collection of pink luggage you’ve ever seen we spotted Mike who, unlike Hayley and Alice, had really embraced the cowboy theme and arrived complete with war paint, Indian head dress, and inflatable tomahawk (he was crew ‘chief’ after all). Unfortunately for Mike, but amusingly for us, his tomahawk was not met with the same level of appreciation by Airport Security. After belaying fears of Mike’s potential as a hijacker, we paused for a moment to get our first team photo before travelling through security and awaiting our flight.
The journey time of 10.5 hours passed pretty quickly thanks to the large selection of movies provided by Virgin Airlines and we arrived in LA well rested. After collecting our luggage we hopped on the Hertz shuttle bus to collect our rental car (a Toyota Sienna SUV) before driving the short distance to our hotel (Travelodge). Despite the fact that it was 1.00 am in the UK, the 8 hour time difference gave us the opportunity to pop into the centre of LA to take in a few sights. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm was deflated by the fact that it was rush hour and traffic on the freeway was at a standstill. In the end our need for food took preference and we left the freeway and stopped for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. After dinner we headed to Venice Beach which, by the time we arrived was in darkness. Those in sandals went for a quick paddle and Tom nearly lost his flip flops in the tide. By 9.30 pm fatigue was well and truly setting in and we returned to our hotel from some well-earned rest.
The next day began at 7.30 am with a spot of breakfast before we headed off to pick up our Winnebago (or RV, as they are most commonly termed). The absence of sufficient seats in the SUV (particularly given the amount of luggage we had) meant that we needed two trips to the RV depot. Nevertheless, we were soon waving goodbye to LA and heading to our starting point for RAAM of Oceanside, California. On arrival, Mike and Alice headed to the first official crew meeting, while everyone else headed to the beach. Despite the fact that we felt there was plenty of time for rest and relaxation before the start of the race, the next 48 hours were pretty hectic. At around 4.00 pm we arrived at our hotel (Extended Stay Hotel) and started to reassemble our bikes in the car park. Meanwhile, the crew headed off to the nearest supermarket to stock up on supplies for our journey. It was a relief to see that the bikes were undamaged after the trip and I enjoyed riding around the car park with my bike (Giant OCR) in the best condition it had been for some time. Later that evening I spent some time applying new white tape to the handlebars and aerobars as a finishing touch. Due to the lateness of the hour when the crew returned (honestly!) we decided to dine at the adjacent Hooters restaurant. We were waited on by the lovely Audrey (or was it Ashley?) and had a pre-birthday celebration (including cake) for Hayley. Oh yea, the food wasn’t bad either, especially the milk shakes.
The next morning began with breakfast with the crew in the RV. Our hotel had a huge car park and the hotel staff didn’t seem to mind us leaving the vehicles there overnight. In fact, given all the space that’s generally available in the US, parking the RV to get some sleep was never a problem wherever we were. After breakfast we started applying all the necessary reflective strips to our bikes, while the crew worked on applying all the necessary signage etc. to the vehicles. We had an inspection scheduled for 11.00 am and the RAAM organisers had stressed that failure to comply with the precise regulations regarding bike and vehicle set-up would result in time penalties. Anyway, after finishing our set-up (a process that took longer than any of us expected) we headed to the coast for our official photoshoot and inspection. Our inspector ‘Kent’ was very nice, but he had an air of authority about him that made me quite nervous. We had to line our bikes up next to the RV with lights, helmets, and spare batteries adjacent. After inspecting our bikes, Kent moved on to the vehicles and checked out the signage and the flashing roof lights that we’d purchased the previous day. Mike did a great job of getting useful info about the race from him and also of making sure that all the necessary paperwork was completed. After receiving the nod of approval (phew!) and with another meeting scheduled for 5.00 pm, we headed off to get some lunch and the crew took some time for a dip in the Pacific. The meeting at 5.00 pm was a final briefing for the riders and it ended with all teams being called forward to stand on stage for a photo opportunity. This was the first time that we’d met our fellow competitors and we could see that there were four other mixed teams in the race. Mike got the final item on the checksheet signed off and we headed back to our hotel where, after one final visit to the supermarket to get the things we had forgotten the previous day, we dined on pizza cooked by the crew in the RV.