Race Day!
Today we took the entire organization down to near the race start for a "meet-n-greet" for the local chapter of the American Diabetes Assn. We spend a few hours hanging out visiting with quite a few people, not only from the ADA, but also from local medical practices, and friends who live nearby.
Starting the race today was myself and Peter Cowley. Pete and I would have to ride the first 28 miles unsupported. The first 13 miles was a "parade" through bike paths out to "the Bridge" where the official timed start of the race begins. The parade rolled along at an easy 16 - 18 mph.
Once at "The Bridge" we lined up in order of team number for the official start in time trail fashion. It was surreal to line up next to my teammate at the beginning of a 3000 mile race! 3, 2, 1... We were off! Pete sprinted out in front of me, and I grabbed his wheel, as we had discussed prior. At the end of the bridge was a very narrow section of path which prevented side by side riding anyway.
Pete and I rode hard keeping our speed over 20MPH for most of the way to where the climbs began. Here we slowed a bit for short time, then Pete told me to go on ahead on the climbs. Which I did. Climbing at near sea level was sure different than climbing at elevation here in Colorado.
I'm happy to say we made pretty good time passing several other teams on the run through the unsupported zone of the race. Just before the last turn on our pull, I spotted a BikeJournal.com jersey on the side of the road and gave a shout out, but kept pushing. Everything is a blur, so I'm sorry, but I do not recall his name or bikejournal handle.
We made the exchange, and Larry Cleveland (I think it was Larry) was off and hammering down the road. Team Type 2's inaugural entry in Race Across America was underway!
In the team meeting the night prior the race start, Dave Eldridge, RAAM Master for Team Type1 and Team Type 2, mentioned the "Glass Elevator" which was a big 2800' descent off the costal range into the desert floor. Dave expressed concern over the danger of this big descent. At the top, Team Type 2 had climbed just over 2700' from sea level. From the top of the "Glass Elevator" we would give back over 2800' of elevation to the gods of pain by the time we hit the desert floor.
Of my 4 person squad, I was the only one who had considerable mountain experience on the bike. So, I took the pull on the "Glass Elevator." The descent was steep'ish, but not to bad. It would wind back and forth down the mountain. But again, was not worse than anything I had faced in 3 years of riding in the mountains of Colorado. This would have actually been a fun descent if not for the Gale Force Winds! After the first mile or so, the wind would begin pushing me from fog line to fog line! The wind seemingly came from every direction. Pushing. Buffeting. Swerving. Bike control at 50MPH became unpredictable and unsafe. I slowed to around 30MPH. Still tricky, but manageable for the most part. After slowing a female rider of the 2 person mixed team passed me. As she did she yelled, "I've never been this scared on the bike before!" I had to agree as I swallowed my pride. My manhood. And my competitive attitude telling myself that crashing out to save face would be a selfish move. There were to many people invested in Team Type 2's efforts for me to blow it on day one because my ego wouldn't let a girl pass me on a dangerous descent. Did I mention that my front brake lever was open when I started this descent? The first corner was a bit tricky.
The roads of the mountain straightened out and I came off the last few miles into the rider exchange at near 60MPH with a howling tailwind! We made the exchange where Peter took back over. Slightly down hill, and that awesome tailwind! For the next several hours, deep into the night, we would hammer through the desert of southern California. We were dedicated to giving Mark Thul's squad a good base to launch their first shift of RAAM09!
