The Toughest Race in the World

I can't believe I am doing this! To be in the parking lot at the Oceanside Pier with all of these racers ready to embark on such a journey; I have dreamed about this, imagined it (and shrunk back in abhorrence!) several times before. Only this time it is real and I am ready! Our day began with driving down to the race from my parents place in Orange County. We arrived in Oceanside, drove down to the Pier to find a lot filled with well-funded teams with buses and RVs from places as far off as Norway, the U.K., and Brazil. We pulled all the bikes down, got out all the equipment and began the process of preparing for inspection. This involved placing small strips of reflective tape all over each of the two bikes and all spare wheels we use, placement of numbers on the bikes and helmets, securing the bike lights, verifying the function of the safety lights on all 3 vehicles, placement of vehicle signage, logos, etc. My crew chief broke the news to me that my Zipp aerodynamic front wheel had been lost off of the roof of his van; so we had to get another one from Nytro Triathlon shop in Encinitas. Christian glued a new tire on for me, so my time trial bike will be good to go tomorrow. Inspection took awhile, took a few tries to pass - I can't believe how much chaos there was, with equipment strewn in the parking lot in and around the vehicles. Bruce, the crew chief, did a great job hanging with it and staying cool and organized. I met two other crew members today: Karyl (from Chelan) and Andras (from Vancouver, B.C.). We had team photos and a mandatory race meeting later. We chewed on numerous rules and regulations, and discussed the coordination of these, as a team, over both lunch and dinner.

Tomorrow, Christian and I will start the race together, and will work together as a unit for the first 21 miles. After that, crew support begins, and our vehicles will enter the highway. After another 10 miles are so, there are some substantial climbs to about 4,000-feet altitude, and we plan to attack these in "tag-team" style, each of doing hard 10-15 minute stints. We then descend what they call "the glass elevator" to go below sea level to the Salton Sea. After that, 200 flat, hot, wind-driven (hopefully) miles. Our highly aerodynamic time trial bikes will make their race debut there. I think that Christian and I could roll up 270 miles or more tomorrow, in 12 hours - and that would get us to Hope, Arizona. In any case, Bill and Brian will take over for us in Arizona tomorrow about 1:30am, if all goes well.

I am really impressed with the race organization here. There is a tradition of greatness that arises year after year in "the toughest bike race in the world." The race director, Terry Zmrhall, made a point of honoring and respecting three places we will pass through during this race: the Navajo Indian Reservation in northern Arizona (with its own law enforcement), Greensburg, KS (which was leveled to the ground 2 years ago by a tornado, and Gettysburg, VA, where thousands of Americans gave their lives in the Civil War. It is really an honor to be doing this race.