Monday Afternoon - Durango and RAAM!

After our morning exploring Mesa Verde, we decided to check out the Western town of Durango. As we headed up the mountain we began seeing racers from teams racing across America in RAAM, arguably the most difficult bike race in the world. Talk about living big - these athletes are living HUGE! RAAM is not a ride across the USA, but a race, where racers start in Oceanside, CA and race nonstop to Annapolis, MD. It is a huge production, as they race on open roads, and so racers are accompanied by crews and caravans.

As we drove up the mountain road, my mom in the passenger seat would be the first to see a racer or crew vehicle, and she would shout - “racer!” We would then strain our eyes to make out what team they were from, sighting their team number and then looking on the RAAM site on my iPhone. We took photos and then I would put my arm out the window to give them a huge thumbs up. (You can’t yell at a cyclist who is 2 days into exhaustion - that would potentially be disturbing if you surprised them.) Cars would honk back. Seeing this race was so cool. It gets even better, though.

You see, we had been following online a local 4-person team from Cleveland, Team Hope. I first raced with Sara, one of their riders, in the Tour of the Valley last summer, and she and her team came and joined us at the Steel City Showdown bike race this past April. These people are awesome, and hailing from eastern Ohio makes them neighbors, and the bike racing community connection is a strong one, so knowing that, you can imagine how when you actually know someone in the race, RAAM gets even more exciting.

So anyway, in Durango my folks and I had lunch, browsed, and then I casually checked my iPhone for a RAAM update (the website tells you the times racers pass through checkpoints, and also their estimated times at the next time stations). We had been following them every few hours, and were shocked when we saw that Team Hope had blasted through Cortez ahead of the estimated arrival time, and were now on their way through Mancos to Durango. So we ran and made a poster, then headed down the mountain to see Sara Harper and her team.

When we found them, we raced ahead in the route, got on the side of the road on a hill, and waited for their approach. We waved our sign, clapped and cheered, and were so pumped to see them coming. Little did we know we were right where they'd be making a rider exchange, and we actually got to talk to the team and Sara briefly and cheer Sara on before she took off on her cool new Cervelo. My folks and I were so psyched to see them, and to be honest, totally inspired. Like I said, these people are living huge - doing RAAM is something that very few people even consider much less attempt. You must realize that this required many months of planning, fundraising (they are riding for Blue Planet Network, raising money to provide clean water to a village in Uganda), and training. Miles upon hours upon miles upon months of training, no matter the weather, how sore or tired they were, and even balancing with work, and now they will ride across the entire country. They rode through the desert at night, they are on their way over the Rockies, they will cross the Mississippi, and in a little over one week, God willing, they will dip their bike tires in the Atlantic Ocean. I get it. Even my folks who aren’t cyclists get it. What these racers are doing is truly special and inspires all of us. We wish them the best on the rest of their race. Ride fast, race safe, and have fun!

And can I just say after seeing Team Hope and the RAAM racers, just how much I want to get on my bike when I get home?!?