While we're waiting for our racers to catch up with us - Michael Patterson and Dave Burnett are out on the road now, as Don Metz & Dur Higgins snooze in our air-conditioned "Racer RV" - I thought I'd give a little sense of the life of the race away from the race course.
First, calling this a "camp" is definitely a misnomer. This caravan is so itinerant, never sitting still for more than 3-4 hours, it would give a gypsy vertigo. But it's the closest we have to "home base" for our entire team of 4 racers and 15 crew. The most important function "camp" fills is to provide a place for off-duty racers and crew to sleep and recharge before jumping back on duty. Every 8 hours, or so, two racers will come off the course, get showered, massaged and fed then popped into bed in our "Racer RV." At the same time, two of the on-course support crew - one from the "Racer Vehicle" and one from the "Follow Vehicle" rotate out of their vehicles and into a flat (hopefully soft) spot in the "Crew RV" for a few hours of sleep. The rest of the crew catches a nap whenever time and space permit. In addition to being our traveling hotel, the crew camp also provides food, supplies, equipment and all other support needed to sustain four bicycle racers in continuous motion for a solid week.
Each time the race moves on from "camp", the RVs pack up and move down the road to "stage" for the next team exchange, usually 150 miles +/- further along. We've staged in abandoned gas stations (coveted for their shade-offering canopies), gravelly desert washes and the parking lots of Wal-Mart, unofficial supply HQ for all RAAM teams:
Here's a brief travelog from our most recent stopover in Pritchett, a windswept wide spot in the road on the eastern plains of Colorado.
2:30 AM - The Racer RV rolls into town last ... we're usually last, because (aside from the fact that Michael Scholl and I drive like little old ladies on the way to church ... an attribute our occupants, at least, seem to appreciate) we wait for the racers who have just come off the course to get showered, fed and settled into bed before we roll. This morning, Michael Patterson and Dave Burnett are already asleep in the back, as is Lydia Brewster, our soigneur nonpareil, so Michael Scholl & I just lean our seats back, pull down our baseball caps and try to catch a few Zs before the action resumes.
5:15 AM - We get the call from the "Follow Vehicle" that the racers on the road are "an hour out" ... the factory whistle for sleeping crew and racers in both vehicles. Manny Casillas, our nutritionist, chef and general scold, cranks his kitchen into action to whip up breakfast for the racers -- incoming and outgoing. Manny is usually assisted by Janice Smolowitz, who, as team nurse, has thankfully had few calls for her professional skills since Sunday's topsy turvy day. Here's Manny, showing off his kitchen:
As Michael & Dave start pulling on their cycling kits, Nate Keck -- former pro racer, current cycling coach and exercise physiologist, who happens to be the "Racer Vehicle" crew member who was most recently off duty -- helps them to ready their "boxes" for transport to the Racer Vehicle. The boxes will contain everything personal they'll need for the next 8 hours ... extra clothes, an extra pair of shoes, two helmets (one time-trial helmet and one regular helmet), plus whatever assortment of energy powders, gels, electrolyte solutions, etc. their particular racing regimens require.
Someone else (typically me) will unlock and get off the rack all four of Michael & Dave's bikes -- one TT bike and one road bike each -- and ready them for the day ... check & fill tires; check to ensure headlights and taillights (all mandated by RAAM rules) are attached & functional, etc. One bike will go out on the road immediately with Michael, as he's to be the first to ride today. The other three will be mounted on the Racer Vehicle rack as soon as it pulls in and the bikes belonging to Don & Dur are removed from it.
Lydia readies her massage table, primarily to give the incoming racers a good rub down but often to loosen up stiff muscles for the guys getting ready to go out, too (and occasionally, if there's enough time and no immediate demand for her services, a special treat for one of the other crew members!).
Other members of the crew check fluids in the vehicles and ready them for another leg on the road, clean up around "camp" and perform other duties as assigned, readying for "the transition." If we're ready to roll and there's time before the incoming racers and support vehicles arrive, we sit.
6:00 AM - We get the call that Dur is on the bike and 15 minutes out. Within a few minutes, the Racer Vehicle pulls in bearing Don, the three bikes that aren't in use at the moment, and Don & Dur's boxes and other gear. As Lydia (and, usually, one other crew member) attends to Don, other crew members fall to executing more-or-less preassigned tasks -- removing Don & Dur's gear from the vehicle and replacing it with Michael & Dave's gear; restocking general supplies of water, energy bars, fruit and other foods in the vehicle; removing the three bikes not in use from the vehicle and replacing them with Michael and Dave's bikes. One or two other crew members walk Michael and his bike to the edge of the road to await Dur's arrival and the transition to a new racer team for the next shift.
6:15 AM - Dur rolls in on his TT bike. Because it's before 7:00 AM and still considered "night" under RAAM rules (even though the sun is already well above the horizon), Dur must pass Michael and come to a complete stop before Michael can roll out (during daylight hours, the racers execute rolling transitions to minimize loss of time). Also, because racers cannot ride at "night" without a "Follow Vehicle" immediately behind, Michael must wait for the go ahead from the Follow Vehicle, which is rapidly changing out crew and supplies at the same time, before he can roll out. As seconds are precious, even in a race expected to take a week, this can be a stressful time.
Once the first racer is on the road with the Follow Vehicle behind, we have a few minutes of breathing room to get Dave settled in the Racer Vehicle, then check to make sure all the gear has been swapped and the remaining bikes are on the rack and ready to go, before the Racer Vehicle pulls out and heads up the road to leapfrog over Michael and get Dave ready to replace him, probably 20-30 minutes after Michael originally departed.
With the fresh racers and crew back on the road, the incoming racers fed, bathed and massaged, and all gear packed up and readied to move to the next staging area, we head out for another 3-4 hours of driving, maybe interrupted by stops to resupply along the way, then begin the cycle all over again. And on that note, I just got the call from the follow vehicle that Michael and Dave are an hour out, so here we go!
First, calling this a "camp" is definitely a misnomer. This caravan is so itinerant, never sitting still for more than 3-4 hours, it would give a gypsy vertigo. But it's the closest we have to "home base" for our entire team of 4 racers and 15 crew. The most important function "camp" fills is to provide a place for off-duty racers and crew to sleep and recharge before jumping back on duty. Every 8 hours, or so, two racers will come off the course, get showered, massaged and fed then popped into bed in our "Racer RV." At the same time, two of the on-course support crew - one from the "Racer Vehicle" and one from the "Follow Vehicle" rotate out of their vehicles and into a flat (hopefully soft) spot in the "Crew RV" for a few hours of sleep. The rest of the crew catches a nap whenever time and space permit. In addition to being our traveling hotel, the crew camp also provides food, supplies, equipment and all other support needed to sustain four bicycle racers in continuous motion for a solid week.
Each time the race moves on from "camp", the RVs pack up and move down the road to "stage" for the next team exchange, usually 150 miles +/- further along. We've staged in abandoned gas stations (coveted for their shade-offering canopies), gravelly desert washes and the parking lots of Wal-Mart, unofficial supply HQ for all RAAM teams:
Here's a brief travelog from our most recent stopover in Pritchett, a windswept wide spot in the road on the eastern plains of Colorado.
2:30 AM - The Racer RV rolls into town last ... we're usually last, because (aside from the fact that Michael Scholl and I drive like little old ladies on the way to church ... an attribute our occupants, at least, seem to appreciate) we wait for the racers who have just come off the course to get showered, fed and settled into bed before we roll. This morning, Michael Patterson and Dave Burnett are already asleep in the back, as is Lydia Brewster, our soigneur nonpareil, so Michael Scholl & I just lean our seats back, pull down our baseball caps and try to catch a few Zs before the action resumes.
5:15 AM - We get the call from the "Follow Vehicle" that the racers on the road are "an hour out" ... the factory whistle for sleeping crew and racers in both vehicles. Manny Casillas, our nutritionist, chef and general scold, cranks his kitchen into action to whip up breakfast for the racers -- incoming and outgoing. Manny is usually assisted by Janice Smolowitz, who, as team nurse, has thankfully had few calls for her professional skills since Sunday's topsy turvy day. Here's Manny, showing off his kitchen:
As Michael & Dave start pulling on their cycling kits, Nate Keck -- former pro racer, current cycling coach and exercise physiologist, who happens to be the "Racer Vehicle" crew member who was most recently off duty -- helps them to ready their "boxes" for transport to the Racer Vehicle. The boxes will contain everything personal they'll need for the next 8 hours ... extra clothes, an extra pair of shoes, two helmets (one time-trial helmet and one regular helmet), plus whatever assortment of energy powders, gels, electrolyte solutions, etc. their particular racing regimens require.
Someone else (typically me) will unlock and get off the rack all four of Michael & Dave's bikes -- one TT bike and one road bike each -- and ready them for the day ... check & fill tires; check to ensure headlights and taillights (all mandated by RAAM rules) are attached & functional, etc. One bike will go out on the road immediately with Michael, as he's to be the first to ride today. The other three will be mounted on the Racer Vehicle rack as soon as it pulls in and the bikes belonging to Don & Dur are removed from it.
Lydia readies her massage table, primarily to give the incoming racers a good rub down but often to loosen up stiff muscles for the guys getting ready to go out, too (and occasionally, if there's enough time and no immediate demand for her services, a special treat for one of the other crew members!).
Other members of the crew check fluids in the vehicles and ready them for another leg on the road, clean up around "camp" and perform other duties as assigned, readying for "the transition." If we're ready to roll and there's time before the incoming racers and support vehicles arrive, we sit.
6:00 AM - We get the call that Dur is on the bike and 15 minutes out. Within a few minutes, the Racer Vehicle pulls in bearing Don, the three bikes that aren't in use at the moment, and Don & Dur's boxes and other gear. As Lydia (and, usually, one other crew member) attends to Don, other crew members fall to executing more-or-less preassigned tasks -- removing Don & Dur's gear from the vehicle and replacing it with Michael & Dave's gear; restocking general supplies of water, energy bars, fruit and other foods in the vehicle; removing the three bikes not in use from the vehicle and replacing them with Michael and Dave's bikes. One or two other crew members walk Michael and his bike to the edge of the road to await Dur's arrival and the transition to a new racer team for the next shift.
6:15 AM - Dur rolls in on his TT bike. Because it's before 7:00 AM and still considered "night" under RAAM rules (even though the sun is already well above the horizon), Dur must pass Michael and come to a complete stop before Michael can roll out (during daylight hours, the racers execute rolling transitions to minimize loss of time). Also, because racers cannot ride at "night" without a "Follow Vehicle" immediately behind, Michael must wait for the go ahead from the Follow Vehicle, which is rapidly changing out crew and supplies at the same time, before he can roll out. As seconds are precious, even in a race expected to take a week, this can be a stressful time.
Once the first racer is on the road with the Follow Vehicle behind, we have a few minutes of breathing room to get Dave settled in the Racer Vehicle, then check to make sure all the gear has been swapped and the remaining bikes are on the rack and ready to go, before the Racer Vehicle pulls out and heads up the road to leapfrog over Michael and get Dave ready to replace him, probably 20-30 minutes after Michael originally departed.
With the fresh racers and crew back on the road, the incoming racers fed, bathed and massaged, and all gear packed up and readied to move to the next staging area, we head out for another 3-4 hours of driving, maybe interrupted by stops to resupply along the way, then begin the cycle all over again. And on that note, I just got the call from the follow vehicle that Michael and Dave are an hour out, so here we go!
No comments:
Post a Comment