Team ViaSat will be starting on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. My shift with Ryan and Larry will start at midnight Sunday AM in Blythe California. 

You can follow live feed here  http://www.viasat.com/raam

And our good friends at AmateurEndurance.com will have some coverage as well.

When I am able to get onto the internet I will also be posting things here on my blog.

Oakley Jawbone

The performance piece by Oakley, the Jawbone is finally in stock. The same glasses worn by the majority of Oakley sponsored cyclists. A review will follow shortly.

Lynskey 29'er

Here is a Lynskey Ridgeline 29'er. Really nice build, Fox, Formula, Crank Bros, Race Face, FSA, Ti, Ti,Ti........really nice riding bike. I have no doubt my customer will be happy.

TOR

TOR by now needs no introduction.  He is our loyal pitbull who has absolutely won my heart. I was skeptical of dog ownership as we have two very dear cats and I wasn't sure how the domestic scene would change. But, as with any well behaved dog TOR has been very good to the cats...............I just wish I could say the same about our cats to TOR, the poor guy ends up on the losing end of the claws on regular occasion.

RAAM Prep

As the 20th of June creeps closer the two athletes of Team ViaSat that I will be helping across the country, Ryan Denner and Larry Bice, decided it was time for all of us to get familiar with what the rider exchanges will look like.  Larry has done RAAM a couple of times as a rider and a couple of times as crew his insight is much appreciated. 

ViaSat will be a team of eight riders which will be split up into shifts of two.  This concept is logistically challenging as you have 4 sets of riders leap frogging across the country, thank goodness ViaSat is a satellite communications company, as I am sure there will be moment where we have no idea where the others are. Anyhow, each set of athlete will ride a certain time/distance and then when that is complete they will do an "exchange".  This is what Ryan, Larry and I practiced a bit this past Sunday, and basically it is a series of short leapfrogs within the big one.  It was a little challenging as the redlights, stop signs, traffic, and the general disregard for cyclists on the road led to some close calls and many on the fly improvisations.  I can't wait to see how a week of this unfolds.  I've attached a few photos of the day.

 

Ryan getting ready to roll but not until we stopped his wheel from rubbing his frame. Too bad Ryna relaized this only after 3 hours of our 4 hour ride.

Larry getting ready to take us back to ViaSat for the finale of the practice ride.

An "exchange" happening. Larry's wheel needs to pass Ryan's wheel in order for the RAAM approved exchange to take place. This is what they were practicing and it worked pretty well. 

Wish us all luck Team ViaSat has a very good chance of doing very well.

Dunkin Donuts Coffee

Barely moving this morning I put on a pot of water and opened my bag of hazlenut coffee from Dunkin' Donuts and the smell alone is enough to get you going. This coffee is some of the best coffee around!  Some coffee drinkers may disagree, but when compared to the crap they serve at Starbucks a pot of Dunkin Donuts brew is absolutely amazing.  I cannot wait to have this in my belly.

Doubt if you may, but I think this stuff is some of the best.  

RAAM Here I come!

Soon I will be on a 15 mph adventure across the country with Team ViaSat.  The 2009 RAAM starts here in Oceanside on the 20th of June and according to the team they should be finished by noon on the 26th and that is in Annapolis Maryland.

When 2009 rolled around I was initially supposed to be crewing for Navy SEAL and Endurance maniac David Goggins but an unfortunate heart surgery required he postpone his RAAM plans until next year. So when, Ryan Denner, a member of the Team needed a crew member I was happy to fill the space. 

This Sunday, we plan on meeting up for a long ride to practice the exchanges that will take place as the riders leap frog their way across the country. This will be interesting to see and I am really excited to take part. Plus, I need to get an idea of what will be happening out on the roads of America.

This race will be full of surprises I am sure and from what I've heard the combination of sleep deprivation and the effort will bring out the best and worst of everybody, I just hope I don't see little elves crossing the road, apparently the riders will. Great.

It will be exciting and I hope to be able to update my blog while on the road. Stay tuned.

Below is the link to the RAAM website. For those interested you can track the various participants as they ride across to Annapolis.

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/home.php?N_webcat_id=1