Team UNR Tactics

Coming down to the wire...

We are all packing up and heading out to So Cal. Some of saying goodbye to our families for awhile. I want to take this opportunity to express how much I appreciate my wife, Aimee, for supporting my lofty amibitions in preparing for this race and also "holding the fort" while I am gone. I know that my activites have exacted a toll!
Thank you!!!

Team UNR will operate as two teams of 2 riders; team "A" will be myself and Christian, along with support crew Bruce, Karyl and Dave. We will start the race from Oceanide, and ride until 1am (maybe 1:30 for the first night since the race starts at 2pm). Team "B" will be Bill and Brian, along with support crew Ellen, Howard and Andras, who will ride from 1am to 1pm. Thus, we have two 12-hours shifts intended to divide the nighttime riding equally. Each team and support crew will try and adapt to the shift they are "working" by moving up or moving back their bedtimes in the days prior to the race.

Each rider on the team of 2 will take a 30-minute (or perhaps longer, if the conditions are favorable, i.e., tailwind, or flat road) pull. This system is designed to allow the team to carry forward high speeds, with the rider able to focus on his heart rate and perceived level of exertion for that chunk of time; I reckon that the riders will be shooting for heart rates of 150s-160s (typical "threshold" HR - where lactic acid / muscle "burning" starts to occur - would be about 175 - 180). Exchanges between riders will occur by the first rider signalling by 2-way radio piece to the crew that he is ready for that to happen. The second rider will be ferried by vehicle ahead of the first rider enough to allow the second rider to get set up and rolling; the first rider will pull even with the second, and that marks the beginning of the second rider's pull.

Anyways, that's how it happens in theory....