Been pretty busy with the WWP and other projects lately hence the lack of posts. I am looking forward to hitting some snow on the phat tire bike this year.
RAAM was awesome, I am so glad I decided to race it instead of crewing.
Me and 7 other wounded vets set off in Oceanside for Annapolis, a 3100 mile sprint. the team was comprised of two hand cycles some amuptees, a heart transplant recip and a myriad of other injuries and enough medications to fill a uhaul.
I used my speciallized TT pro for more than 80 percent of the time since the terrain was mostly flat. I got really good on the aero bars at speeds over 45mph but had a few high speed wobbles. learned to pop the front wheel up (like a wheelie) to get out of it without touching the brakes.
In all we had 6 vehicles in order to make the whole thing work. we basically split into two 4 man teams and worked 12 hour cycles. the transitions (depending on terrain) would average out to 15-20 miles of sprints. we would operate out of a converted 15 pac van as a transition vehicle. I would sleep everytime I was off the bike.
during our off shift we would sleep and eat in rockstar coaches, the race chefs would have hot chow waiting for us with massages and we would try and sleep as the coaches motored down the road to the next transition spot
during the hills and climbs I would use my tarmac and we would shorten the transitions during the climbing stages in order to catch or pass the other teams
we all had race radios with a remote PTT button and earbud so the follow vehicle could relay directions before hand and upcoming racers with pace and other influential motivations along the way.
our follow vehicles were equipped with loudspeakers that were a redundant comms device incase rider radios failed but were mostly utilized for blaring out motivational music. it was probably one of the bet uses of tech during the race. nothing gets you climbing faster through the rockies or smashing the kansas flats better than metal.
of course no story of mine is valid unless there was a trip to the ER
of course the doping allegations began
in all we finished in 7 days 2 hours
we not only beat the other veteran/wounded teams from across the globe but.....
we beat 6 pro teams including brazil and got a standing ovation at the awards dinner
by far one of the coolest things I have done in my life! even if it did take a whole year of gnarly training.
I may have posted this vid already but it captures the RAAM experience pretty well
right after RAAM I went on a massive junk food binge, lots of cocktails and tons of mountain riding to shake off the stank of roadie bibs and shaved legs.
grabbed the kiddo and hit the road for some hunting and general fun
we loaded up the truck and did a hunting and fishing road trip with the truck top tent and bikes
we ended up fishing 16 rivers in two weeks
landed some impressive fish, this was a metoulious trout
busted out the carbon tallboy lt for some trails in the northwest
did some long range hunts in montana
busted a hog in northern cali with my tactical 30-30
built a night vision rig for busting coyotes
showed up early to yellowstone and fished before volunteering to rebuild corrals
the crew this year rebuilt all of the lake distric corralls in less than a week
this year I actually had the tools and equipment to build some nice stuff
its seems I get invited every year because of my trademark arches and timber framing skills so I have to up the nate every year.
the yellowstone staff and rangers were very happy with the final product
of Course I had my moments
had to polish up and sport a tux at the waldorf in NYC for the WWP (me with bob costas)
then headed to nashville
had my image plastered over the grove in Anaheim, the public is till complaining about that.
I am on the left as well as my image on the building. it was the carry forward awards right after the emmys
then had to go to portland, crashed with jimmydean and had to rep safeway for veterans day. met chris duncan former portland trailblazer
thats about it. got a good girlfriend who is a on air disc jock at the local radio station, got my new snowmobiles ready for winter and trying to figure out my next major goal.
RAAM was awesome, I am so glad I decided to race it instead of crewing.
Me and 7 other wounded vets set off in Oceanside for Annapolis, a 3100 mile sprint. the team was comprised of two hand cycles some amuptees, a heart transplant recip and a myriad of other injuries and enough medications to fill a uhaul.
I used my speciallized TT pro for more than 80 percent of the time since the terrain was mostly flat. I got really good on the aero bars at speeds over 45mph but had a few high speed wobbles. learned to pop the front wheel up (like a wheelie) to get out of it without touching the brakes.
In all we had 6 vehicles in order to make the whole thing work. we basically split into two 4 man teams and worked 12 hour cycles. the transitions (depending on terrain) would average out to 15-20 miles of sprints. we would operate out of a converted 15 pac van as a transition vehicle. I would sleep everytime I was off the bike.
during our off shift we would sleep and eat in rockstar coaches, the race chefs would have hot chow waiting for us with massages and we would try and sleep as the coaches motored down the road to the next transition spot
during the hills and climbs I would use my tarmac and we would shorten the transitions during the climbing stages in order to catch or pass the other teams
we all had race radios with a remote PTT button and earbud so the follow vehicle could relay directions before hand and upcoming racers with pace and other influential motivations along the way.
our follow vehicles were equipped with loudspeakers that were a redundant comms device incase rider radios failed but were mostly utilized for blaring out motivational music. it was probably one of the bet uses of tech during the race. nothing gets you climbing faster through the rockies or smashing the kansas flats better than metal.
of course no story of mine is valid unless there was a trip to the ER
of course the doping allegations began
in all we finished in 7 days 2 hours
we not only beat the other veteran/wounded teams from across the globe but.....
we beat 6 pro teams including brazil and got a standing ovation at the awards dinner
by far one of the coolest things I have done in my life! even if it did take a whole year of gnarly training.
I may have posted this vid already but it captures the RAAM experience pretty well
right after RAAM I went on a massive junk food binge, lots of cocktails and tons of mountain riding to shake off the stank of roadie bibs and shaved legs.
grabbed the kiddo and hit the road for some hunting and general fun
we loaded up the truck and did a hunting and fishing road trip with the truck top tent and bikes
we ended up fishing 16 rivers in two weeks
landed some impressive fish, this was a metoulious trout
busted out the carbon tallboy lt for some trails in the northwest
did some long range hunts in montana
busted a hog in northern cali with my tactical 30-30
built a night vision rig for busting coyotes
showed up early to yellowstone and fished before volunteering to rebuild corrals
the crew this year rebuilt all of the lake distric corralls in less than a week
this year I actually had the tools and equipment to build some nice stuff
its seems I get invited every year because of my trademark arches and timber framing skills so I have to up the nate every year.
the yellowstone staff and rangers were very happy with the final product
of Course I had my moments
had to polish up and sport a tux at the waldorf in NYC for the WWP (me with bob costas)
then headed to nashville
had my image plastered over the grove in Anaheim, the public is till complaining about that.
I am on the left as well as my image on the building. it was the carry forward awards right after the emmys
then had to go to portland, crashed with jimmydean and had to rep safeway for veterans day. met chris duncan former portland trailblazer
thats about it. got a good girlfriend who is a on air disc jock at the local radio station, got my new snowmobiles ready for winter and trying to figure out my next major goal.
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