Top Row (L-R): the team commando hugs the support crew for a job well done, the "Pink Team" in formation during the 13-mile parade ride, the team assembled with about 5 miles to the finish in Flagstaff, AZ and rode in together.
Middle row (L-R): Kam putting the hammer down in the desert, the team with Erika in front before the start at Oceanside Pier, our trusty pink Serotta Ti Legends in formation at the finish.
Bottom row (L-R): the entire team at the finish, Gary and Tyler hammered the downhill into Borrego Springs averaging well over 50 MPH, the entire team the day before the start. 
Monday, June 19, 2006
Team Beat Cancer -- Winners 2006 24-hr RAAM
2006 24-hr RAAM Race Summary -- Mark Abramson
This summary comes from Mark Abramson, Beast Cancer Team Member, VP of USA Cycling and Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference Director.
It's an awesome recap of our journey across the desert from San Diego to Arizona to win the 2006 24-hr RAAM to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer.
Thanks for the great summary Mark.
=================================
http://beatcancer.raceplan.com
"TEAM BEAT CANCER" is an eight-rider team that participated in the 500-mile, 24-hour Corporate Challenge event of the Race Across America (RAAM) on June 11-12, 2006. TEAM BEAT CANCER exists to raise money and awareness on behalf of Erika Barajas and her battle with breast cancer (http://www.zippis.com). You may find out more details on the team, the mission, and how to make a donation and purchase the snazzy, custom pink cycling clothing at http://beatcancer.raceplan.com.
Riders: Support Crew: Sponsors:
1. Albert Barajas 1. Dawn Metresin 1. Serotta (8 Ti Legends!)
2. Gary Vasconi 2. John Welch 2. Competitive Cyclist
3. Joshua Zlotlow 3. Steve Hom 3. Capo Forma casual wear
4. Kam Zardouzian 4. Mike Jennings 4. Bergamo clothing
5. Marc Yap 5. Victor! 5. Clif Bar
6. Mark Huffman 6. B&L Sports
7. Tyler Tremble 7. Uvex helmets
8. Mark Abramson 8. Sigma Lighting systems
9. Raceplan Coaching
10. Premier Nutrition
11. Swami's Gurus of Cycling Team
What follows is my experience of taking part in this incredible event.
RECRUITMENT
-----------
During the Boston Beanpot Cycling Classic, Kam Zardouzian (the new USA Cycling staff National Director of Collegiate Cycling) came into town to see the biggest collegiate race in the country and stayed with me. Little did I know that a friend of his was in town, and we all ended up meeting up in Central Square on Friday night. After brief introductions, (Dave C. is president of the Swami's Cycling Team) we dove right into this whole business of the 500-mile RAAM Corporate Challenge from San Diego, CA to Flagstaff, AZ. They had lined up custom Serotta bikes, custom clothing, helmets, a solid support crew and more. Why on earth would these guys do something like this? They answered the question handily.
Erika Barajas, the wife of a good friend and teammate of theirs, Albert, has been battling breast cancer. The incredible part of her battle is that she was diagnosed when pregnant with their third child. She put off all of the cancer treatments until after the baby was delivered and was given six months to live. Three years later, her battle continues but the Barajas family (and three beautiful children) are a testament to how strong human beings can be. The 8 man team served as a fundraising vehicle (with our eight bikes to be auctioned off) for the Breast Cancer Fund, with the donation made in honor of Erika's battle with Breast Cancer.
Erika has a great informative website: http://www.zippis.com/
Fast-forward until the week before the race. I was unsure if I would be able to still make it out to the West Coast for the event due to getting sick, being busy with work, and not knowing if I had enough training miles to pull my share of the team. At a training race just a few days before, I had a good race and felt strong, so I figured out how to get everything done and make it happen. Miraculously, I actually made the flight out to San Diego and started making the mental preparations for the event.
PRE-RACE
--------
Friday afternoon, we headed over to the Barajas' house where most of the (significant) pre-race preparations would take place of bikes, clothing, food and vehicles. Kam and I arrived and after brief introductions immediately got to work with the rest of the crew on the equipment. You have never seen such a gigantic stack of bikes, boxes, clothing, stickers, helmets and gear. Serotta donated eight custom-painted pink Ti Legend framesets, Uvex provided eight pink helmets, and Capo Forma created incredible (pink) custom clothing kits from Bergamo for the riders.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6039.jpg (Bergamo custom pink kits arrive)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6051.jpg (All the gear is assembled)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6055.jpg (Clif Shot energy gel)
Support crew drill-sergeant Dawn M. kept meticulous track of the gigantic laundry list of safety issues, lighting, reflective tape, clothing, stickers and other RAAM-specific requirements. John Welch and Mike Jennings also dialed in every last little bike and vehicle issue. We had to sticker up the bikes and wheels with reflective tape, make sure the vehicles were properly stickered, and make sure that each of our four vehicles was properly outfitted for Sunday's race start. After a while, Erika came out and I got to meet her in person for the first time. All the while, the Barajas kids were running around the lawn with Erika in tow (she had just gone through a round of chemotherapy and was pretty knackered).
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6053.jpg (Mike J. prepares Serotta)
Around 4:30 or so, we managed to get most of the prep done and head out for a team ride. This ride set the tone for the weekend: 8+ guys all decked out in pink clothing on painted-to-match pink Serottas riding through the promised land of cycling in San Diego.
Being from Boston, I'm used to getting honked at and yelled at by motorists, but nothing could prepare me for the honking and yelling we got on this ride. It seemed that every 30 seconds we were getting a thumbs up, supportive honk, or yells from passers-by. People would spontaneously roll down their window and start sharing their own stories of fights against breast cancer.
It was clear to everyone that this race was going to be in support of virtually everyone on the planet - millions are or have battled cancer, but almost everyone is touched by this disease. We finished to loop and headed back to the house to complete the pre-race stuff and have our own strategy meeting.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6057.jpg (strategy meeting)
The first part of the race was a neutral 13-mile "parade" via bike path to the official start outside the city limits. We decided that every rider on our team would participate in the parade to get maximum visibility for the cause. We would not have vehicle support for the first leg of the event, so we went over exactly how and where each rider and car would be positioned. We knew this would be the most logistically difficult part of the race. The general approach was to have one rider on the road at a time. It would have been possible to go faster on certain legs with multiple riders, but the exposure to the elements would have burned through the riders in short order.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6094.jpg (race vehicle is ready)
We all got together Saturday morning to caravan over to the race start in Oceanside, CA for the pre-race inspection at 11AM, RAAM rider photos and the rider/crew meeting. We laid out all of the gear for inspection and it was a sight to behold: eight matching pink Serottas with our pink helmets and pink jerseys laid out in line. After a few minor tweaks, we got approval on the checklist and packed up to head over for team photos and rider meeting. After a two-hour marathon of a rider meeting, we packed up and headed home for some sleep (Kam took one for the team and remained behind to be our representative at the post-banquet start position lottery).
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6109.jpg (Serottas/inspection)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6116.jpg (Serotta Legend Ti)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6126.jpg (Serottas/inspection)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6127.jpg (Serottas/inspection)
Sunday morning we convened again at the Barajas compound to again caravan over to the start in Oceanside. We packed up all of the bikes and gear and headed 20 minutes north. We arrived in the parking lot and got dressed and ready for the start and parade. Just before we rolled down to the rider presentations, none other than Kenny Souza drove up next to us -- driven by his neighbor since his support crew's car wouldn't start. Not the ideal kickoff to solo RAAM.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6153.jpg (the team is ready!)
THE RACE BEGINS
---------------
(Route map: http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/files/raam2006/2006_media/map1-oceanside-flagstaff.jpg)
We all lined up for the start, got called to the line and began the parade out to the official start where Kam would kick things off with an eight-mile TT effort before the first rider swap. The parade was all of the RAAM riders cruising (with hundreds of other riders behind) along a San Diego bike path, swapping tales of previous adventures. The pink train was in perfect formation the entire way. Upon arrival at the official start, we all (except Kam and his TT bike) hopped into the support vehicles and cruised ahead to the first time station. Our start position was the first team, but teams came after the solo riders at 30-second intervals, so we were about 20 minutes after the first solo rider.
All of the riders flew through the time station at a quick pace, certainly faster than they would average for the rest of the race.
We had our first team in action here, swapping on and off as they made their way to and up Palomar Mountain, the first significant climb of the race. I was in a vehicle that would meet the riders at the top of the mountain and we'd take over from there. We zipped up the climb, passing all of the favorites - Marko Baloh, Tinker Juarez, Kenny Souza, Robic, you name it. Our riders kept making up the 20 minute deficit, absolutely flying up the climb, so that there was no one left by the top! Not only were we out in front of the race, but we were already pretty far up on the second place team. However, the first team didn't leave anyone for us to catch, which was somewhat disappointing to those who had hoped to pass some of these big names of cycling.
Now, a note about the infamous RAAM penalties. The RAAM is really all about safety. Sure, it is a race for the top few riders, but when you get right down to it, it's an organized way for cyclists of questionable sanity to ride their bikes across the country as fast as they possibly can. So, there are a slew of rules about lighting, vehicles, pulling off the road, following distance, highway travel, etc. Each penalty is bigger than the one before: 15 minutes for the first, then 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes until they kick you out after six or more. Unfortunately, we received our first penalty on this climb, as the vehicle that was making the rider swap did not manage to find a place to pull completely off the road. Add 15 minutes onto our finishing time for this one.
Now, the first pull. We had completed the 13 mile "parade", so were somewhat warmed up in the morning. An hour or so later, though, we were not exactly ready to crank out a 300+ watt effort off the line. Gary Vasconi was the first one from our second team to take the reins. We made the swap and I was off on my first pull in the Race Across America. Needless to say, it was a brutal shock to the system. The heat was definitely rising into the 80's by this point with no shade available. Marc Yap also rotated in with our group as we took the pulls solo. While we could have probably gone faster by riding with 2+ riders at a time, the exposure to the elements and the time in the saddle was the single biggest effect on our ability to keep going for the next 23 hours. I had jumped in with Marc Yap for a two-man TT, but after each effort everyone was ready for a break. We cranked up the pace and each pull became less of a shock, but certainly no less easy.
Gary and Tyler Tremble did manage to go 2-up for one of the longest mileage pulls of the race: a 10 mile descent into Salton Sea, CA. The road was carved into the side of the mountain with smooth pavement, wide corners and steep grades. The ride down in the car was definitely a white-knuckle affair with F1 driver Dawn Metrisin at the controls. Gary reported his maximum speed at 68.5 mph (not kph - mph!). Needless to say, the rest of us were cursing their names as they tore up this 40+ mph no-brakes-required plummet down into the desert. Absolutely incredible!
http://gallery.raceacrossamerica.org/gallery/1550569/1/74877035/Original (Gary, Tyler)
By the bottom of the descent, the temperature had climbed up to over 100 degrees. We were now definitely in the desert proper.
Several of us parked ourselves in the RV to cool off for a while as the time trialist squad of Mark Huffman, Kam Zardouzian and Josh Zlotlow took off on this hot, flat tarmac. We gathered up additional food, drink and equipment and hopped into the car to zip ahead to our next session of pulling through the desert. We passed the TT team as they were absolutely tearing along the road at 30+ mph, battling the heat and wind.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/DSC06706.jpg (Mark Huffman)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/DSC06707.jpg (Kam Zardouzian)
The road pitched upward and it was on to desert section number two, this time winding through canyons with melting pavement - we expected Wily E. Coyote to have a booby trap waiting for us at any moment in these desert canyons. Each breath dried out your mouth, throat and lungs and seared your vocal chords with the heat, now over 105 degrees. Gary, Albert and Marc performed our transitions with no rider going any more than 5 minutes in the open-air desert furnace of southeastern California. Each break in the car had us all reaching for any available liquid and the occasional energy bar as we pointed all of the air conditioning vents our way. Sure enough, as we pulled off the road to do another rider transition, we got dinged with penalty number two for not pulling completely off the road.
It looked like we were pretty far off the road, but the melted pavement, gravel shoulder, and gray area in between were just a melted slag heap. A judgment call that didn't work in our favor and now we were up to 15 + 30 minutes of penalties. We knew we were ahead of the next team behind us, but were we an entire 45 minutes ahead? The penalties really made it hard to figure out exactly where we stood and we knew we had to keep the pace high to stay in the game.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6174.jpg (Marc Yap in the heat)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6180.jpg (Albert in the desert)
The next stretch was a tough one, since we were highly aware of our need to pull completely off the road and there were very few openings in the desert brush and soft, off-camber shoulders. We shot for 5 minute pulls, but these ended up being either 3 minutes or 7 minutes as the leapfrog car tried to find a place to pull in to perform the rider transition. Albert mentioned that the pulls were so short that there was no need to take a bottle. I was a little worried of getting stuck out there, so managed to bring along a half bottle of water just in case. We got the routine down after a short while and kept it close to 5 minutes.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6185.jpg (Mark A. unzipped)
Soon we approached the next challenge: I-10. That's right, the course takes you onto the interstate. There simply aren't enough (passable) roads in this neck of the woods, so the RAAM route brings you onto the highway. This is why the follow vehicle is so key with its gigantic flags, flashing yellow lights and large, bright-yellow signage. However, you're still on the highway with its rumble strips, tandem tractor trailers (and their windy wake), and more blown truck tires than you've ever seen. The highway is obviously a dangerous place to handle a rider transition, so riders go the entire distance to the next exit ramp, do the rider exchange, and then get on the highway via on-ramps.
I had what would likely be the final pull on the regular desert road before I-10. The next rider would take the first 4-5 mile pull on the highway, hit the exit ramp, and another team would take over as the highway time trial team. Unfortunately, the leapfrog vehicle didn't quite make it up to the highway entrance in time and was not ready with the next rider. At the end of my five minute effort, I was completely spent and ready for a break. No one was ready to ride, though, so I hopped on the interstate and kept going all the way to the first exit. I tried to keep my speed up as the heat blazed down from the sun above and the pavement below.
It was hard to maintain a straight line and avoid all of the truck tires and car parts strewn in the shoulder. After what seemed like an eternity, I pulled up the exit ramp to a cheering team and fresh rider transition. The RV was a welcome sight and I climbed in for a period of rest so that I would be ready for some serious night riding.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6189.jpg (Gary relaxes in the RV)
In the meantime, the TT team was flying along the lengthy stretch of interstate. Both Josh and Kam were faced with long distance legs between exits and were punished by the heat, distance, and truck tire avoidance. After a length ride in the back of the RV next to a snoring teammate who shall remain nameless, we arrived at the next time station towards the end of the travel on I-10. I am not sure what else happened along this stretch, trusting in my team to haul ass while I was napping. Awakening to several riders coming in and needing relief, I drove one of the leapfrog vehicles ahead to the next time station about 60 miles away. This route took us about as far in the middle of nowhere as you could be. Why people choose to live out here was beyond anyone on the team.
We could understand getting away from it all, but this was so far away from it all it must be hard to regularly find the basics.
Riding our bikes from San Diego through here is a perfectly normal endeavor, of course. One at the next time station, I reclined the seat and grabbed some more shuteye to face certain efforts in the middle of the night.
Sure enough, the crew arrived and I was told to get ready for action. Scurrying around the RV and support vehicles, we managed to find all of the equipment that would get us through the night (except warm clothing, which would be strategically missing later on).
By this point I had a huge headache and was a little groggy from the quick sleep/wake cycles. A couple of cups of Mike's crude-oil coffee got things going and the headache faded as I strapped the lighting system to my Serotta.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6194.jpg (Mike helps Josh and Kam)
I hopped in a shuttle car with Josh piloted by John Welch and we cruised on up to meet the team ahead. We caught the other team as they were pulled over, stopped, with one of the RAAM officials (justifiably) reading the group the riot act. From what I could gather, one of the riders did the exchange but continued ahead without the follow car. It being about midnight, this was a big nighttime no-no. Thus, we graciously earned our third time penalty in the amount of a painful 45 minutes and got the message that riding at night without the protection of the follow vehicle is dangerous. We zipped ahead to the turn-off from the road that the current group was eating up and readied ourselves for the exchange of riders.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6199.jpg (Tyler *really* likes night riding)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6206.jpg (Mark A. night riding)
It was now sometime around 10:30PM? Now it was Josh, Tyler and Mark riding with Kam as our vehicle pilot. Somehow Dawn and Steve kept themselves alert in the follow vehicle, as they had for many, many hours. Fueled by a bunch of Clif Bar products and caffeine, we were all flying along the desert in the company of hundreds of rabbits and the occasional coyote. Not to mention the gigantic full moon that had stationed itself low in the sky. After what seemed like an endless number of pulls, we came upon the next time station in Congress, AZ. I was taking a turn at the time and someone motioned for me to pull into the station. Seeing that the next rider was far from ready, I uttered some profanity and kept on rolling (the crew just needs to call in that you're passing a time station). I kept up a solid pace until the next climbing crew took over the reins and began the brutal miles-long climb before Prescott, AZ.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6210.jpg (Reflective Josh)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6216.jpg (Albert stands at night)
The climbing team of Albert, Gary, and Zap (Marc Yap's newly-assigned moniker) flew up the climb with its many switchbacks. We drove the climb and wondered at the incredible elevation gain until we finally hit the "Elevation 6100" sign near the top. There ended up being three false summits to the climb, and these took their toll on the climbing team that thought they were almost to their goal. To punish them even further, they were expecting a replacement team at the bottom of the Prescott descent when in fact we were waiting for them at the next time station, a tricky-to-navigate 5 miles away (hey, we had to get all of our cold-weather riding gear set up). The rumor spread at this point that while we were clearly in the lead over the second team, we might be able to beat the course record set last year by the star-studded Team Clif Bar.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6217.jpg (Elevation 6100)
From the latest time station, Kam, Marc Yap and I took over with Tyler now as driver. The temperature went from high 50's to the high 30's and back every quarter mile or so. Truly bizarre - it was like we were cycling through the desert equivalent of swimming at the town beach. Most of us put on our cushy long-sleeve (pink) team jersey and were fine through most of the temperature swings.
The road was constantly rolling up and down with a number of stair step climbs. After each rider swap, I couldn't wait for my next turn. Mike knows how to brew some coffee! Plus we were downing energy gels and electrolyte drink between each turn. We kept ticking off the miles and searching for places to safely pull completely off the road and not get the car stuck. Kam was absolutely flying on these sections, too, as the smooth pavement and gradual up and down grades would beckon even the most reluctant time trialist. Zap took pull after pull, but he would fall asleep between turns and began muttering in a foreign language, we decided it must have been Portuguese. After this new pattern of behavior developed, we let him skip a couple of turns.
After several hours of cruising through the night, the sun finally started to peek over the hills in the distance. It was instantly 20 degrees warmer now as we headed back towards the highway (I-40). Zap has checked into the hotel located in the back seat of our vehicle while Kam and I plod away in a somewhat delirious state towards the highway. The next group of riders awaits us there, but Kam takes things onto I-40 anyway. The final few stretches take the route up and over the Arizona Continental Divide somewhere over 7,000 feet of elevation. The stretches are pretty long here, all slightly uphill, and a headwind is picking up. Tyler takes a particularly nasty stretch complete with long rollers and mile after mile of grinding along the highway. Albert also signs himself onto a nasty long stretch before he can come off the highway at the next rest stop. The final 7+ mile leg on I-40 saw some nasty fireworks last year when the team had to go out on a rescue mission for a bonked rider. Everyone on the team wanted to dodge the bullet since most everyone was shot. Albert was willing to take the stretch, but had just pulled one of the toughest stretches of the race. I felt surprisingly fresh (???) and told him "Put me in coach!"
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/files/raam2005/timestations/mapsandprofiles/ts09.jpg
Never being particularly gifted at the time trial discipline, I just wanted to ride this section as fast as I could knowing that it was a long 7 mile slog uphill. Perhaps because the end was near, or perhaps because I didn't want to disappoint the team, I absolutely attacked this stretch. My teeth were gritted, gnashing, as the effort of cranking 30 mph uphill tore at every pedal stroke. After just a few meters, the effort melted away. It was strange, really. I didn't seem to feel the pain or the effort.
Nothing could slow me down as I kept searching for a stiffer gear, one after the other. Never before have I experienced such a complete sense of being able to go as fast as I wanted. The mile markers came almost too quickly as I sped towards exit 191, that final exit before we would ride together to finish as a team over the last four miles. Heading up the final pitch of the highway, I kept cranking the pedals over with absolutely no pain in my legs. And then came the sign: "ARIZONA DIVIDE - ELEVATION 7,335 FEET."
With my fist pumped in the air, it was a flat spinning-out-the-53-12 burn down to the exit from the highway.
All of the team cars and the RV passed me, honking the entire way by. Then I realized that the ease of the riding that last stretch had nothing to do with me or my fitness. It had everything to do with riding together with a team of incredible individuals who came together to support one person in particular; all of the people in each of our lives touched by cancer; and millions of others who are racing through their own battles with cancer every day. It was the most powerful fuel you could ever put to the pedals.
I successfully negotiated the exit and met up with the other 7 riders as we took off in pursuit of the final four miles together.
Our follow vehicle shouted out the turns from behind and we cruised into the finish line shoulder to shoulder. It was clearly the longest 24 hours in our cycling history and we had come together to finish first, over two hours ahead of the next placed team and setting a new course record by over 15 minutes.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/DSC06727.jpg (Riding into the finish)
We immediately stacked up the eight custom painted Serottas and took a deep breath before exploding in celebration of winning the 24-hour Corporate Challenge. Everyone joined in - our stellar support crew of Mike, Steve, Victor, John and Dawn. The eight riders of Albert, Kam, Gary, Josh, Tyler, Marc, Mark, and Mark. We all were overcome by the prospect that it was all over with. A number of interviews and photos later, we all de-chamois'd and started relaxing in the shade of the RV. Gary and I made the requisite refreshing BEvERage run almost immediately (although we were still in our pink kits, much to the amusement of the staff at the Quicky Mart).
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6231.jpg (Riders stand at finish)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6232.jpg (Entire TEAM at finish)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/DSC06728.jpg (Mobbing the support crew)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/410F6220.jpg (Serottas get a rest)
The team spent the better part of four hours in the shade of the RV, unpacking the (completely trashed) vehicles, sipping recovery drinks and relaxing. And then began the nonstop roll of hanging out, swapping stories and heckling everyone else on the team. The Swami's team rolled in for second place and most of them came over to share their stories from the road. Unfortunately, they were not exempt from the heckling and everyone had some serious belly aches from all of the laughing. After what seemed like enough time hanging out in a mostly deserted parking lot, we packed up and headed for the hotel.
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/DSC06769.jpg (Marc and Mark)
http://www.forwardthought.com/raam/DSC06778.jpg (RV lounging)
Virtually everyone agreed that RAAM is a crucible. You put everyone in and turn up the heat. The stress, physical exertion, sheer heat of the desert and long hours of night bring out the best and the worst in everyone. Add on top of that incredible logistical challenges, unknown roads that lay ahead, plenty of pain and suffering, and fear that you may not reach the next goal fast enough.
What better way to judge someone's character?
In this way, RAAM is like a 24-hour window into the life of someone battling cancer. I've been close to so many battles, and every 24-hour day brings new challenges that are no less of a feat to overcome than RAAM (which has a distinct end). So many treatments, so much left unknown, and miraculous happenings at every step of the way. Everyone has (or will have) someone close to them who will battle breast cancer (or so many other types of cancer).
ERIKA: http://www.zippis.com
DONATE: http://www.active.com/donate/beat_cancer
CLOTHING: http://www.raceplan.com/beatcancer/docs/kit.html
BREAST CANCER FUND: http://www.breastcancerfund.org
Rookie screams to win in second stage of Nature Valley Grand Prix
Rookie screams to win in second stage of Nature Valley Grand Prix
This report filed June 15, 2006
The second stage of Great River Energy's Nature Valley Grand Prix ended as expected, with some of the most talented and most experienced female riders in the world in a mad sprint for the finish.
;) |
| Miller nails it |
| photo: Casey B. Gibson |
Palo Alto Bicycle Works/TIBCO's Brooke Miller seized the moment to capture the 58.6-mile Cannon Falls Road Race, ahead of Jazz Apple Cycling's Sarah Ulmer and local women's legend and Flanders/MBRC racer Teresa Moriarty.
An overjoyed Miller was at a loss after the race. She screamed after crossing the finish line and came back to the line to hug her coach and teammates.
"I'm speechless, this is amazing. To be a first year rider and to win a race of this magnitude is amazing," Miller said. "Especially going against women like Tina Pic, who showed me that it is never too old to get started in the sport."
The 29 year-old Miller, was also quick to praise her teammates and mentor.
"Linda Jackson and the whole TIBCO team are amazing, I couldn't have won this without them," she said.
Moriarty, a dominating force on the local women's racing scene and also known to race and beat the men in some of their races, was a bit more subdued with her third place finish.
"It truly is a pleasure to race in world class event like this, right in here in Minnesota," said the 5th grade school teacher from Plymouth.
While Pic's name was mentioned at the end, it was the only presence she had at the finish with the leader's group as she and other sprinters and GC hopefuls were left behind because of crashes and strong crosswinds. A major crash less than 10 miles into the event cut off several strong racers, including Alison Powers who entered the day third overall.
Among 17 riders in the lead group were race leader TEAm Lipton's Kristin Armstrong and teammate Kori Seehafer, and defending Nature Valley Grand Prix Champion Christine Thorburn of Webcor/Platinum Builders. The lead group's advantage over the rest of the field eventually ballooned from 20 seconds to well over 3 minutes.
Thursday's action earned Seehofer the SportsPro Most Aggressive Rider Jeresy, while Webcor/Platinum's Erinne Willock retained her BMC Best Young Rider Jersey and moved into third overall, behind Armstrong and Thorburn.
The Great River Energy Bike Festival's Nature Valley Grand Prix continues Friday with the Minneapolis Downtown Classic.
Results
1. Brooke Miller PABW Powered by TIBCO 2:38:03
2. Sarah Ulmer Jazz Apple Cycling Team 3. Teresa Moriarty Flanders/MBRC 4. Kristin Armstrong TEAm Lipton, at 0:01
5. Rebecca Larson * Aaron's Pro Women's Cycling ...
6. Sue Palmer-Komar Colavita/ Cooking Light Cycling Team ...
7. Christine Thorburn Webcor-Platinum Women's Cycling Team ...
8. Anne Samplonius Team Biovail Pro Cycling, at 0:02
9. Alex Wrubleski * Team Biovail Pro Cycling ...
10. Carmen Small TRIA, at 0:03
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National Director of Collegiate Cycling
USA Cycling
719.201.1004
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Founder
Del Mar Criterium Series
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Come Race with us at the RAAM
Friday, June 16, 2006
celebration dance, 2006 RAAM
Then, there was all the dancing
Gary Vasconi (Sconi's) infamous chicken dance
Various 2006 RAAM team pictures
Group hug at the finish. This is where it hit us that we had just won and we centered around Mike Jennings, who selflessly gave everything he had to make sure we were comfortable and taken care of in his sweet mobile home. I think Mike put out more energy than all the riders combined!!! Thanking our support staff and aknowledging their super human effort is very important. A good crew can make or breat you.
The whole team at the finish
Rolling up to the finish line in Flagstaff. I personally had goose bumps here.
We rode the last 3 miles or so as a team. We had a huge lead so we took our time....and even went the wrong way at one point. Towards the end, Albert rolled off to ride in solo and we followed him as a sign that this effort was for Erika, his wife.
2006 RAAM
Kam putting the TT hammer down through the desert...average speed through the all desert sections was just shy of 28mph, one section was 38mph helped by a generous cross wind. Average temprature was about 106 degrees.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The 2006 24-hr RAAM Winning Team
Top row, left to right: Marc Yap, Joshua Zlotlow, Mark Abramson, Gary Vasconi, Kam Zardouzian, Mark Huffman, Tyler Tremble, Albert Barajas
Bottom row, left to right: Mike Jennings, Steve Hom, Dawn Metrisin, Victor and John Welch.
Post WIN group hug...
Sweaty hug to thank your fantastic crew for supporting our winning effort. Our crew included Mike Jennings, Dawn Metrisin, John Welch, Steve Hom and The Victor! Without them, we couldn't have achieved and they too are a part of the winning team.
from VeloNews
The 24-hour teams pedaled their way into Flagstaff, Arizona, fast and furiously. Team Beat Cancer, a team that could not be missed in their pink team kits in honor of breast cancer, slew the field with a total time of 24:24, 90 minutes of which was not riding time but penalties incurred. The Swami's Team and Pam Reed's Badwater Crew fought hard for second place and arrived in that order with 40 minutes difference. Team Illumina, made up of colleagues from the biotech firm of that name, came in around 90 minutes later, just before Robic.
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National Director of Collegiate Cycling
USA Cycling
719.201.1004
=================
Founder
Del Mar Criterium Series
=================
Come Race with us at the RAAM
From CyclingNews.com
short but sweet coverage:
Team Beat Cancer, a 24-hour team had a 35-minute lead on the Enduro field at Time Station 3 and early 'speed watch' has them near or better than the pace of 24-Hour record-holder team, Clif Bar (RAAM 2005).
Results24 Hour Corporate Challenge 1 Team Beat Cancer 488.9 1.00.24 (20.04mph) 2 The Swami's Team 488.9 1.02.26 (18.50mph) 3 Pam Reed's Badwater Crew 488.9 1.02.36 (18.38mph) 4 Team Illumina 488.9 1.04.28 (17.17mph) |
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National Director of Collegiate Cycling
USA Cycling
719.201.1004
=================
Founder
Del Mar Criterium Series
=================
Come Race with us at the RAAM
Day one: and we're off
Looking back on Sunday, start day of the RAAM, things started out smoothly but hurriedly just like the days leading up to the start.
5:30am wake up call, last minute packing and final shower and we were off to meet the team at the rendezvous point at a teammates house to pack everything up and head down to the start.
Fortunately everything went smoothly and despite our pre-race jitters we got to Oceanside in plenty of time and were out on the Oceanside Pier dressed to the gill in our pink clothes, pink helmets and everything else pink that we could find. We were definitely a sight....
After the introductions, all riders and everyone else who wanted to ride with the racers headed out for a 13-mile parade through the San Luis Rey bike path. I was surprised at the large contingency of recreational and support riders who followed us through the parade...my guess is there were at least a couple of hundred riders who just wanted to ride with us. That was cool. Until the race pack decided to make a bathroom break towards the end of the parade and we ended up peeing in front of 200 people!!! That was not cool...but when mother nature calls, you've got to answer the door.
The previous day we had drawn numbers for the send off order and as luck would have it, I drew #1. After the solo riders were announced and sent off, it was my turn to execute on our plan to administer as much of a lead early on and maintain our lead from there. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and I was off in my full time trial set up. My goal was to average over 30MPH for the 8-mile "prolog"...an effort I knew I could maintain...but unfortunately I was still blocked up despite the 13mile puts of a warm up. Mix in a couple of full stop signs and one traffic light and I cam in at about 20 minutes and managed to pass about 7 riders who started in front of us.
I passed off to our climbing team and headed straight out to Borrego Springs along with Josh (rider) and Victor (support). We had to take the back way to Borrego because race organizers didn't want too many cars on the tight course. We got to Borrego Springs with about 20 minutes or so before our climbing team finished.
The temperature was about 108, which is plenty hot, but not as hot at 115 the year prior. I took advantage of my affinity for heat and got back into my TT set up and started hammering the course. Our average times show the prowess of our time trial team. Our average speed climbed from just about 20mph through the first time section, which is incredible because it included some major climbs, to just under 25MPH through the second time station. This average continued to grow as we drove our average speed up to just under 27MPH through the desert. On a couple of sections, I personally average over 38MPH with the help of a strong side/tail wind.
I focused on keeping it smooth, steady and on the white line as much as possible and only if safe. I kept my power to about 90% of my LT (or about 270 watts) and just kept rolling through the miles.
It felt great to open it up and lay it down. I was riding angry and motivated....had a lot of emotional stuff to work through and I just let my legs do the talking. On my last section, what we thought was going to be about a 20min effort, ended up being 50min and I blew up. My speed slowly dropped from over 30MPH to just over 26MPH and I limped home sore, exhausted and severely dehydrated. But I had no choice, there were no other riders behind me and it was up to me to make it to the next time station.
Loads of fluids and a quick shower in our mobile home palace and I was ready to contribute again as the sun started to sink....
More on the next Blog
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National Director of Collegiate Cycling
USA Cycling
719.201.1004
=================
Founder
Del Mar Criterium Series
=================
Come Race with us at the RAAM
Looking back
Wow, how do you summarize 24hrs of riding into a few paragraphs?
Unfortunately, technology did not cooperate and we were not able to post our updates on the site.
I will try and remember as much as I can and post them in a summary format that should be much easier to digest.
I will say that response to our efforts and eventual win has been tremendously positive. Honestly, I had no idea what has happened was going to transpire. This is an amazing feeling and although I am absolutely broken physically and emotionally from the effort, I don't think my feet have yet hit the ground.
Thank you all for reading and for your support.
On behalf of the 2006 Beat Cancer 24hr Race Across America Winning Team.
Kam
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=================
National Director of Collegiate Cycling
USA Cycling
719.201.1004
=================
Founder
Del Mar Criterium Series
=================
Come Race with us at the RAAM
FW: RAAM Time Station Info
Accord to this, the total actual ride time was 22:54.
| Time Station | Miles into the Race | Miles to the Finish | Arrival Date | Arrival Time | Race Time Days HH:MM | Total Time From Start | Avg Speed from start | Avg Speed this station | |
| 0 | Oceanside, CA | 0.0 | 3042.8 | 06/11 | 12:22 | 0 days 00:00 | 0:00:00 | ||
| 1 | Lake Henshaw, CA | 54.7 | 2988.1 | 06/11 | 15:12 | 0 days 02:50 | 2:50:00 | 19.31 | 19.31 |
| 2 | Salton City, CA | 113.6 | 2929.2 | 06/11 | 17:34 | 0 days 05:12 | 5:12:00 | 21.85 | 24.89 |
| 3 | Chiriaco Summit, CA | 161.2 | 2881.6 | 06/11 | 19:43 | 0 days 07:21 | 7:21:00 | 21.93 | 22.14 |
| 4 | Blythe, CA | 228.4 | 2814.4 | 06/11 | 22:14 | 0 days 09:52 | 9:52:00 | 23.15 | 26.70 |
| 5 | Hope, AZ | 281.7 | 2761.1 | 06/12 | 00:47 | 0 days 12:25 | 12:25:00 | 22.69 | 20.90 |
| 6 | Congress, AZ | 341.6 | 2701.2 | 06/12 | 03:43 | 0 days 15:21 | 15:21:00 | 22.25 | 20.42 |
| 7 | Prescott, AZ | 389.9 | 2652.9 | 06/12 | 06:29 | 0 days 18:07 | 18:07:00 | 21.52 | 17.46 |
| 8 | Williams, AZ | 452.8 | 2590.0 | 06/12 | 09:40 | 0 days 21:18 | 21:18:00 | 21.26 | 19.76 |
| 9 | Flagstaff, AZ | 488.9 | 2553.9 | 06/12 | 11:16 | 0 days 22:54 | 22:54:00 | 21.35 | 22.56 |
| Finish | 24-Hour Finish | 488.9 | 0.0 | 06/12 | 12:46 | 1 day 00:24 | 24:24:00 | 20.04 | |
Saturday, June 10, 2006
waiting to race
I am trying really hard not to start each update with "man, it's late, I'm tired and need sleep, etc." but this time it's totally true. It's past 10 pm, I've been at the RAAM headquarters since early this morning and I'm just cooked. I had forgotten how much the logistics of the days leading up to the RAAM really hurt. We spent loads of energy going through everything and it's going to hurt tomorrow.
Between the automobile checks, bike checks, clothing checks, photo shoots, rider meetings and waiting around for them...it was a day to forget.
But, I am motivated! I will be leading the team off at the end of the parade zone; a 13 mile neutral stretch along the San Luis Ray bike path designed for media and companionship before the seriousness starts. We'll be finishing the parade at the corner of College Ave., then we picked random numbers for the send off order, much like a time trial race.
We are team #1 because I just happen to pick the first number! I will be doing the first 8 mile section in my full time trial get up....TT bike, aero helmet, disk, etc. My goal is to average just about 30 miles per hour for the 8 miles... I'll be happy with anything under 17 minutes.
This ought to give us a minute or so on the other teams, which will be a good start to us winning the race.
All of that aside, I will carry with me the thoughts of Erika and every person who's touched by cancer.
Oh, by the way, the results of my blood test came back last week and my white blood counts are low and the doc wants to see me. I actually had two lumps removed from my left breast in March 2000. Given that history, the doc wants to run me through the tests again. It's nothing serious, but it'll be good to be cautious.
Okay, off to bed I go. We will email updates from the road and I'm hoping they will get posted automatically. I never know about technology!!!
Thanks for reading,
Kam
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=================
National Director of Collegiate Cycling
USA Cycling
719.201.1004
=================
Founder
Del Mar Criterium Series
=================
Come Race with us at the RAAM
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