Thanks from the Crew Chief!

We are all home now, and it is taking more time then we thought to get over the sleep deprivation. The Support crew was simply amazing and I want to thank everyone for contributing in their own special way. We had such a variety of personalities on board, and yet everything worked out well, and each team came together perfectly. Special mention goes to Martha. Her ability to prepare "jacket" potatoes, scrambled eggs, and lunch box after lunch box of sandwiches, is simply amazing. She never stopped smiling, and had such a great sense of humour on the bus, even while juggling food, and trying to stand up-right while the bus careened around mountain corners. I could not have performed my job without her! Thanks so much Martha!
Of course Ken is also to be noted, as he managed to transport each team across the 5000 km. when on rest time, and pulled a massive motor home with a trailer all the while. He had to contend with fuse problems, broken parts, no water on board, and all of us in tow. Ken was always so patient and just kept on "trucking" down the road. Thanks so much Ken!
Both team A and team B, although separated by a 12 hour shift, physically came together as one at the end of the race. The comeraderie, and connection between each crew member and the cyclists was enhanced by being able to spend time together reminiscing about the last several days. They performed their jobs with such enthusiasm, and dedication to the cyclists, and all the while surviving on barely four hours sleep a night. It is often said that a RAAM team has to have a good crew to accomplish their goal of simply finishing the race. It is a flurry of logistical tactics all along the way, not easy, and exhausting, but this crew managed to do it, and do it well. Because of this we not only finished the race, but finished in fourth place, and this was done with one rider down. You are all amazing and as crew chief I want to thank you all for making my job an easier one.
As for the cyclists, they were awesome! We lost Kirk to a bad accident on Friday the 13th. He was badly missed on the team, and is getting better each day. Brad, Mark and Mckenzie pulled so hard to keep their team of 3 up front, and we are so proud of you! Mckenzie was awarded the youngest rider ever to Race Across America. Paul, Tim, Frank and Doug were strong and steady, and pulled just as hard to keep team 602 from gaining on us. Every cyclist left it all on the road to bring in an amazing finish. I think we really surprised the competition! Thanks guys for an amazing race, you were fantastic!

Now......get some rest! Crew Chief Orders!

Update on Saturday Morning

Another email home from Tim:

We are heading to rendezvous with the team to go on shift at 5 pm to 5am (EST).The countryside has been magnificent.

We see it on the bus going to ourdaily rendezvous and we have about 5 hours of daylight during our shift.

Yesterday, we rode from Flagstaff, AZ to Cortez CO.Northern AZ is beautiful with rock and sand formations. We hit MonumentValley in the dark - I will come back another time but not on a bike.Yesterday was our second shift and we were sore and tired at the start.Four hours sleep in the motel and a few on the bus didn't do it for me.The riding before sunset was tough with a wicked cross wind.

We had lots of communication technology on board including satellitephones. Nothing worked. Then the mandatory lighting on the van thatfollows the rider failed. The support team was great. They shiftedjobs, covered each other, moved another vehicle in to follow and keptriders on the road the whole time. We were down to our road bikes andlost some time without our tt bikes, but we kept rolling.

Once we got into the dark things started to improve. The wind dropped,temperature dropped and we got into a good groove.

The pilot vehicle was out front finding transition spots for riderchanges, the follow vehicle was repaired and on station, the sprintervan was shuttling riders up for the next shift.We are out in the middle of nowhere. A 4-person Irish team wasshuttling back and forth. Lots of encouragement both ways. Then aroundmidnight an RV for the North Coast Cycling team appeared.

We knew theywere coming up. They had put out fresh riders on the road and caught usin the dark on a couple of climbs. I heard their follow vehicle in theclimb shouting encouragement through the bullhorn to the guy coming up.We held them off for another climb, but we blew a rider transition andthey were gone up the road. We were trashed, but knew we were going tobe throwing in fresh legs in a couple of hours. I hear the boys pulledthem back this morning. It looks like another battle around midnighttonight.

Let me tell you about life in the sprinter van.We spend 12 hours in it. We are riding 6 km shifts. We had to dropfrom 30 minute shifts to keep the pace up and to stay loose betweenshifts. The van certainly has the appearance of a bachelor's car.Bodies stretched out. Three changes of clothes, coolers, bikes, feedingon peanut butter sandwiches, yogurt , energy bars, bananas, and juvenilehumour.

I would like you to meet some people on the team. Most are sleeping onthe bus right now.

Noelle is Mother Superior - she has made all arrangements, keeps the buson schedule. Good humour, no sleep. Totally committed. She has sonMackenzie and husband Mark on the other squad.

Mike Carter is our squad's Crew Chief. He has to work with thenavigator, ensure we have all we need. Last night he had to find somehydro workers to help repair the Follow Vehicle.

We start in 1.5 hours. 12 hours in the Colorado mountains coming up.We will go to quick changes - hot, sunny and dry.Friday the 13th. Keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks again for all of your support. You can follow our progress onthe website at http://raceforsickkids.ywd.ca/

Thanks for reading.

Tim

A Quick Update

We're on the third shift of the race and flying through the time stations. The riders and crew are feeling tired but exhilarated.

We are somewhere in Colorado with team A on the road and team B on the bus. Between 4 hours of sleep and always moving on we haven't had time to update the blog. Here's Tim's note from yesterday - it gives you the story:

The race is on.We finished our first 12 hour shift at 4:00 a.m. (EST) and have had four hours of sleep. Now it is on to the bus for hopefully a few more hours of sleep. We will move ahead to Cortez, NM to take over at 5:00 p.m. (EST). The first day was chaotic with lots of riders and Following Vehicles compressed into a small area. After the parade, we quickly climbed the coastal hills and reached the first major descent before sunset. The descent was 14 miles long and was technical so we were lucky to hit it in daylight because the riders could open it up and leave the cars behind. Once off the descent, we were on the floor of the Salton Sea. This is an old sea bed below sea level and it was hot even though it was around 8:00 p.m.The temperatures across the desert dropped from about 35 degrees to 29 degrees for most of the night. They dropped down to 20 degrees just before we handed off to our team mates. It was a beautiful night in the desert - bright moon, lots of stars and a nice riding temperature. Luckily there were no beady eyes or wild life on the road.Our team mates have been out for 5 hours now and it is getting hot. The 12 hour shift is long and today will be a day of desert and climbing for us. 90% of everything went right yesterday, but there was the water jug we overturned in the desert, the inter-state that we almost entered, the wrong choice of bikes for the terrain. However, it looks like we got through our shift with no time penalties for rule violation and today should be an interesting day. RAAM lore is that the second night is the worst night, so it will be good to get the second night over. Steve Bauer has sent a message to the Team, "You have to focus on your goal and believe in your success. You can go deep if you have to but have a blast the rest of the time."Our coach, Dennis Mizerski wants the satellite phone in our rider van. Apparently, he is concerned we have started too quickly (my legs would agree). You can follow our progress on the website at http://raceforsickkids.ywd.ca/ <http://raceforsickkids.ywd.ca/> Thanks for reading.

Sunny California, here we come!!!

Seven members of the

RacerSportif/Mattamy

Homes team left this

morning for Oceanside,

California. They

plan to arrive on

Sunday afternoon,just in time to meet the rest of the team who fly out on Sunday morning. Thanks to (from left to right) Jillian, Lindsay, Jay, Will, Andrew, Ken, and Kim for driving all of our supplies,bikes and gear to California. See you at the beach!

Our Team Leader, Racer Sportif's Finest!!!

Our team Leader, Dennis, is always taking care of the riders. He has been the biggest supporter of us all, always making sure the bikes are set up properly and we have all the necessary gear. Dennis has put the guys on a strict routine of diet and exercise and his specific training has resulted in a mean, lean team!! thanks Dennis for all that you have done for your team!

The Team Prepares for months beforehand....

The guys have been training for months both inside and outside to get ready for the big day. The weather never seemed to let up as rain and cold winds blew, and rarely was there a warm sunny day. Training for RAAM requires hundreds of hours of training, hundreds of miles on the road, hundreds of minutes on a spin bike, eating properly, getting up early every weekend, riding late at night on dark roads, missing time with your family and friends, getting used to the pain on the bike, and so much more.....................the guys have really worked hard to get to this point, and they look great together. Let's hear it for team Racer sportif/Mattamy Homes all the way to the podium!!

Crew Chief with Husband and Son

Here I am with my husband, Mark, and my son Mckenzie. While we all ride, they are two of the riders this year for RacerSportif/Mattamy Homes team.