RAAM Post 9

I just the crux of the Yarnell climb just past the congres TS (TS 6).  The yarnell climb is a total of1800 feet over about 6 miles.  It was 108 degrees despite us being up to 4000 feet of altitude.  Stats:

19:24
2.49
227 watts
7.7 mph
66 rpm
326 calories
145 bpm/150 max

I piut it in diesel mode and just tried to stay steady and sub-threshold.  I felt pretty good.

We are doing fairly well competitively but two teams are way out climbing us--the Sacremento Police Department repassed us and we find ourselves in 6th place at this point.  All good--we are about 25 miles from TS7 and the end of our shift.

RAAM Post 8: It's a dry heat!

I did my 7th pull in 101 degrees--and I started it before 8am!  And we have now climbed to 2350 feet mon our way to 7000.  We have a couple of big climbs in  front of.  The road is a very annoying chip seal thatg rattles your inards.  We are doing well and ab out 20 miles out from TS6 at Congress, AZ--where we hear they have an amazing party--including fried eggs and bacon sandwiches and pulled pork sandwiches--I am so all over that!

Stats from pull 7:

25:03

7.5 miles

RAAM Post 7--Beyond Hope

We are now officially beyond Hope--Hope, Arizona that is!

I just finished my 6th pull of the race and took the team through TS5--We are still in 5th but the 6th place folks are sneaking up on us.  This pull was only modestly uphill but we have a persistent wind from the east--we are hoping that this changes soon!

Stats for the pull:
28:06
9.6 miles
20.3 mph
225 watts
83 rpm

By the way, my Tagg locator needs to be recharged--you can click on Roger if you find mine down as he is the guy who brought them and his is always charged (we have limited chargers).

OK--sitting here in the back of the van airing things out dressed in my towel and what God gave me.

We also saw a rattle snake--a couple of minutes ago...

RAAM Post 6

3:20 AM Parker, Arizona...TS4....Our 2nd team really rocked last night.  I didn't sleep much, if any, but it was a good thing because I checked the internet around midnight and I ended up getting the team up a good 90 minutes before our planned wake-up...would not have been good for us to sleep through it!

Sargent Major Self took us out this morning.  We are climbing pretty much for the next 8 hours as we leave the low desert and climb towards Flagstaff.  Our first four pulls this morning are under a beautiful star filled sky.  There is little traffic and the temp is a perfect 72 degrees.

We have moved into 5th place and our average speed has climbed to just under 19.8 mph.  We are pass 300 miles--over 10% done!

Here is the data for my 5th pull:

25:58
7.93 miles
233 watts
18.2 mph
82 rpm
144 bpm
421 calories.

RAART Post 4

We just finished our first full shift at TS2.  We dropped back to 10th but it's still tightly bunched.  We'll see how the other sub team does out through TS4 to get a better read on where we stack up but it's safe to say we'll be middle of the packers....

My last shift was on the flats near the Salton Sea just after sunset.  i got my first taste of night time riding and it was mesmerizing.  I felt great blasting across the dessert some 200 feet below sea level.   I really had to focus to avoid the shredded semi-tractor tire tread and the odd 2X4 that seemed to litter the ground.  I also rode throw huge swarms of bugs--fortunately I brought my phototropic glasses so the clear lenses protected my eyes (but not my teeth!)

We are still stopped at TS2 in the big bus.  I rented a hotel room for 1 hour for $30 and treated the team to showers which felt amazing after the heat of today and sitting in our sweaty bike clothes all day!

My fourth and last shift of the day was fun and pretty fast--here are the stats:

22:44
8.5 miles
246 avg watts
88 rpm
22.3 mph
143 bpm avg HR/155 max
350 cal

Goping to try to get a few hours sleep.  We are back on--probably around 4:45 at TS 4.

Until then, sleep tight!

RAAM Post 3

Pulled a relatively flat shift but into the wind.  My 3rd shift started at the bottom of the Glass Elevator and was through the Anza Borrego Dessert.  Even though it's 7pm it's 97 degrees.  The dessert road is filled with cracks so it's a bit bone-rattling!

We learned that through TS1 we were in 5th of the 18 8 person teams.  We also had a 1.5 mile mistake on the first  (un-suportted) pull.  Since we were just two minutes out of 4rd, we are hopeful of moving into 4th on this leg.  However we have 5-6 teams just a few minutes behind us.  It's a long race so all of this is probably irrelevant.

Here is the data from my 3rd shift:

32:09
9.77 miles
231 watts
18.2 mph
80 rpm
549 calories
146 avg HR and 161 max

I had planned on trying to average around 200 watts so you can see I may be pushing it to hard.  I do feel pretty good however, and my HR seems very resaonable.  I may back off just a tad for the 4th pull.

RAAM Post 2

We are on our way!  We went through TS1 at 4:19 EST.  We have passed a number of teams who starteed in front of us and have not made any serious mistakes yet.  We had to go searching for diesel gas so two of us have done 3 shifts and two just 2.  I am in the midst of a double shift.  My first shift was two serious climbs.

My stats from shift 1

32:04

6.87 miles

238 average watts

12.8 mph

73 rpm

393 calories

144 bpm HR

Shift 2 was straight up a climb--close to 800 feet.  here is the data:

37:55

7.14 miles

235 watts

11.2 mph

80 rpm

571 calories

148 avg HR/161 max

We are doing well and getting along well!