PedalFreek

And if he’d been training I believe it would’ve helped with the saddle sores. Also Tim didn’t put anything on the sores until after one had opened up. I was putting cream on my butt from the minute it felt a little sore. Yes Tim had moved, changed jobs and was working 60 hrs a week. But he made a commitment to be my teammate. I invested time, money and made a mental investment in RAAM. Tim owed it to me let me know if he wasn’t ready to race. It was the moral thing to do. Yes he told me and announced to the crew he would give me $500 towards an entry next year. Hoo rah. I spent thousands on this years RAAM. I’m so disappointed that we didn’t finish. It’s embarrassing. We could’ve, should have finished.

I know riders get dehydrated but he was admonished by the crew to drink. I also know saddle sores can be show stoppers. But the thing that bothers me is he wasn’t training.  He wasn’t ready to race. He was riding 2 new bikes. He knew 1 didn’t fit at the April 6 RAAM Challenge but I don’t think he resolved the fit issue. The 2nd new bike looked like the saddle was too high. If he had been training he could’ve worked out fit issues. Continued in the next post.

RAAM credited PKG PedalFreeks with 1474 miles. My bike computer shows I rode 960 miles which means my “teammate” rode 514 miles. Yes he was dehydrated before Sedona but Ann (crew) said he would get off the bike and just sleep.  He wouldn’t drink or eat. Then in Sedona he told Ann “I think Wades made at me. Maybe we should just make a vacation out of it”. At a transition in Durango, CO Tim rode next to me and asked if we should “pull the plug”. Then in Ulysses, Kansas he went to the hospital with saddle sores and hemorrhoids and never rode again. Continued in the next post.

Disappointment is beginning to turn to bitterness. I feel like my team mate stole from me.

The Sarto Cima Coppi is an amazing climbing bike. It felt so easy to get and stay on top of the gear. Just like there’s no chain. 13.5 lbs with head and taillight. Laterally stiff yet vertically compliant. It rode very good. Full custom geometry, hand made by Sarto in Italy. I’m very pleased with the bike. Thanks Sarto for a great frame.

The Yarnell grade wasn’t bad nor was the climb to Jerome. Although I remember getting tired towards the summit. The climb to Sedona and on to Flagstaff made me suffer.

The downhill into Jerome, Az was a blast! The kind of descent where you can let it all go. Brake hard going into the curves and then pedal out hard.

The Colorado thunderstorms with pea sized hail was fun to ride through 🙂 At one point it looked like 2 inches of water on the road.

I won’t soon forget the false flats in Arizona. The gradients were less than 1% but they went for miles. After awhile they began to take a toll on the legs

On the first day of RAAM I lost my cell in the rider van. We could hear it ring but couldn’t find it. On the 2nd day after crew rotation we had Louie in the rider van. Louie said he could find my cell. He called it, listened and sure enough he found it. The kicker is Louie’s been blind since birth. He was our navigator and we never missed a turn. Louie has a great attitude and wonder personality. Thanks Louie for being there.