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The following photos tell our story as we bike across America to show our support and dedication to M.D. Anderson
and their continued fight to find a cure for Neurofribramatosis.
Team, Crew, and Parker family
Oceanside, California rolled out a beautiful welcome for Cheniere’s Team Making Cancer History, with perfect weather for three
days of race preparation. Thank you to Via Viente, one of our sponsors, for a delicious team dinner on Sunday night.
Monday was a day of vehicle equipment, signs, ration stocking, and inspections.
Spirits are high as the team pulls together to embark on this incredible journey to spread awareness for Neurofibromatosis
across 3,052 miles of the United States.
Cheniere’s Team – doing something we love to help someone you love.
Chris Shaw and Kirk Gentle w. Emily Parker, 2006 pedal partner
The race started at exactly 2:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, which is 5:00 PM Race Time (all race times are recorded on Eastern Time).
Chris shaw will ride the first 21 miles and then rendezvous with Kirk. The support vehicles will meet the riders after
about 90 miles. We have a great video of the start.
The crew left the riders at the start and pursued the race required alternative route over the hills and into the Anza Borrego Desert.
We rejoined the cyclists in Borrego Springs after a round of Borrego Burgers at the local Carlees restaurant. Chris came riding in
with a smile on his face, having ridden downhill for 10 miles with a nice tail wind. The nice tailwind turned into a blustering
crosswind when the sun started to set, and we had a sobering hour when the wind swept one cyclist from the four man Team Nor'easter
off the road in a severe crash. A gust blew his bike from beneath him and he hit the pavement before he knew what happened.
Cheniere’s RN, Leslie Christison, from M. D. Anderson, administered first response medical care while we waited for an ambulance
to take Kenneth Walker to the hospital.
Prayers for safe travel are needed as we remind ourselves that this is not only a test of physical strength and mental commitment,
but also a treacherous trek through hot, cold, wind, rain, dehydration, humidity, snow, sleet, hail, and other motorists.
Team Cheniere passed through the Arizona border at about 6:00 am EST. During the night, they switched off every hour
and a half to two hours. They each got about two hours sleep total. As the day went by, they made their way through the brutal
dessert heat, sometimes 100 degrees. Kirk hit a wall about 10 miles south of Prescott and was diagnosed with altitude sickness.
His van went ahead to get him into the valley and he took an hour long IV and peanut butter sandwiches, Ensure, nuts, and bananas.
The Gatorade started making him sick to his stomach. He said, "I've never felt like that. I couldn't turn over the crank or even
lift my arms from the handle bars. I even had a tailwind but it felt like going through mud." The team discussed taking Chris off the
road to get both cyclists refueled, but, with a new cold, wet, blue bandana around his neck, Chris proceeded forth, climbing for over
an hour to the top of the Hieroglyphic Mountains. Another 30 minutes through the town of Prescott and Time Station 7 and Kirk was ready
to give it another try. Chris, like a rock of strength with a big smile, sat down in the RV with his mother, Nancy, and brother, Dave,
for a free hamburger from the Prescott McDonalds, some chocolate milk, and his own IV and sighed a sigh of relief. "Oh, so good."
Continuing on toward Utah to catch Team Race for Wishes . . .
Thank you to the Holiday Inn in Williams, Arizona for a hot shower for the crew and a dip in the pool for Sam in the middle of the day.
The blistering sun began its descent as the team headed north through Arizona and the brown hills and cactus gave way to piney trees, giving a
little bit of shade as the temperature dropped below 80 degrees. Kirk and Chris got back into their leap frogging rhythm, switching off every
30 minutes. Just south of Flagstaff, we hit a snafu - the course was blocked because of a fire.
Click here for the story.
We sat on the side of the road
waiting for the officials to allow us to use an alternate route, losing 30 precious minutes. As the sun set over Little Colorado River Gorge,
Kirk donned his arm warmers, an ironic sign after a morning of heat exhaustion. This message is written from Tuba City, Arizona, the site of the Navajo
Nation Tuba Trading Post since the 1870s.
Chris southwest of Flagstaff, Arizona
Kirk and Chris each did a 3-hour pull early Thursday morning, got some rest and nursed some injuries.
Chris's turn for an upset stomach came, which took him a few hours to work through. The team rode
through Monument Valley until the red, wind worn buttes slowly turned into the green valleys and
peaks of southern Colorado. We started to anticipate the climb over Wolf Creek Pass, which we thought
would be below freezing. The solo riders who dropped from the race from pneumonia suffered from the hot
afternoon air and cold night air as they crossed the mountains. Warm clothes were critical. Arm warmers,
jackets, head warmers, face masks, tights, and even shoe covers -- one by one went on. Kirk and Chris
exchanged every mile. We summited the pass at 12:40 am Friday -- and only 45 degrees.
The team is neck in neck with Team Race For Wishes, Number 204.
Go to the RAAM Website
to see the results by division and watch them through each time station!!
View from Wolf Creek Pass at 12:40 am
As of 6:30 PM Race Time, the team had gone almost 1,200 miles. Day 4 was a day of highs and flats. The team
had three major climbs within 12 hours. Wolf Creek Pass - climbed 3,800 ft to 10,857 ft, La Veta pass - climbed approximately
2,000 ft to 9,413 ft, and Cucharas Pass - climbed 3,000 ft to 9,941 ft. Cucharas Pass was the most difficult,
but the most beautiful, lush with green meadows and rivers and the altitude telltale aspen trees. We borrowed a
man's driveway in Cuchara and he and his neighbors came out to find out about the race. He asked, "Why do they want to do that?"
I laughed and said, "Because they can . . . and so many cannot." We arrived in Trinidad, Colorado with two very wiped out
cyclists and we realiized we are not getting them to eat and drink enough. The weariness is starting to show in the crew,
but they are hanging together tightly and working so hard to cross America quickly and smoothly. Outside of Trinidad we
passed through the Comanche National Grasslands, where the landscape changed to a yellowy flatness as far as the eye
can see and relief for Kirk and Chris came in 120 miles of downhill with a tailwind. At an exchange, Kirk patted Chris on the back
and said, "It doesn't get better than this."
Chris begins the Cucharas Pass descent.
Sometime after midnight on Saturday morning Kirk rode over some railroad tracks and wobbled, twisting his knee
ever so slightly. By his next pull, he had sharp pains in the knee and had to stop. Chris and his van circled
back but decided that both riders should sleep, which they did for about two and a half hours. The team was at a standstill.
In the morning, Kirk considered whether to go to the hospital in Dodge City, Kansas, but decided to give it one last try.
He put on a knee brace and started peddling. We all let out our breath - it seemed to be holding together.
We stopped at a park to inhale some pancakes for breakfast and there was Team Nor'easter and Kenneth, the man from
the accident in Borego Springs. He spent three days in the hospital, broke 4 ribs and his collar bone. He had to have
stitches at the back of his head. He was still a bit lightheaded from the concussion, but smiling and thanking Leslie
for her help at the accident scene.
The team returned to its half hour exchanges and rolled past one Kansas grain elevator after another. By late afternoon
we reached the halfway point on the northwest side of Wichita, 1,521.4 miles. It had been just over 4, 24-hour periods
since we left San Diego. By nightfall on Saturday we were to Eureka, Kansas, but paused to let a severe thunderstorm
and tornado get in front of us. The rest of the night was fairly dry and Chris and Kirk fell into a nice rhythm. So far
on Sunday we have had no incidents. We have made it to Missouri. We are passing the solo riders with awe. A two man team
is only half of what they are doing.
On Sunday morning Chris's sister, neice and nephew drove down from South Dakota to cheer the team on.
Signing off from the capitol at Jefferson City, Missouri for a nap . . .
Thankfully today there is not very much to write about. The guys did some long pulls through Illinois
and Indiana. We skirted around the southern neighborhoods of Indianapolis in the afternoon. We had some severe thundershowers
which stopped progress twice, but it was mostly sunny and a bit hot. Only 747 miles to go!! Only 400 miles until the brutal
Appalacian Mountains. The crew is in great spirits and starting to see the gold at the end of the rainbow.
Note the knee brace on the left knee...
We traversed Ohio overnight and crossed into West Virginia on Tuesday morning. The night shifts are lonely,
still and very quiet. The sound of clapping seems deafening. The teeth of the crank grabbing the chain as Kirk and Chris pedal
by even sounds loud. We made an exchange next to a field of lightning bugs, so many that their twinkling looked like Christmas
tree lights laying in the tall grass. The team is excited. The frazzled feeling is starting to fade away as the finished feeling
creeps in. As of noon, we know, that the hardest part has just started. 500 miles of steep Appalacian climbs. We still have 48
hours to go before we start to smell the salty air. The thick forested mountains glowing in the June sunlight are beautifully
taunting. The peaks are only 1,500 ft, a mere fraction of the altitude in the Rockies, but the inclines are 9% grade or more
in contrast to the steady 6% grades in the west.
Massage therapist Catherine Elder works on Kirk in the back of his van in the hour he has off to eat
and rest before the next mountainous pull.
Catherine is a neuro-muscular therapist specializing in deep tissue and Swedish massage. She can be reached at:
We're Cuttin' Up Salon
3637 W. Alabama, Suite 200
Houston, TX. 77027
(713)379-6885
cthrneld@yahoo.com
Three of our sponsors generously loaned us vehicles: McRee Ford Subaru, Peacock Cadillac Nissan, and Via Viente,
which is a company which makes a specialized health drink. (www.viaviente.com)
We made it through Cumberland at about 7:30 am and crested the summit in the sunrise. The rolling hills
continued until almost the finish, but the coniferous switchback opened to reveal the grassy knolls of well manicured Pennsylvania farms.
We are cruising into New Jersey and expect to hit the boardwalk around midnight.
WE JUST PASSED TEAM RACE FOR WISHES! They have no penalties. We have one for 15 minutes.
More after the finish . . .
Cheniere's Team Making Cancer History finished the 3,042 mile journey across the United States at 1:15 AM EDT
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Chris Shaw and Kirk Gentle in front of the motor home – TEAM 201
Crew Chief Doug Keathley passes the RAAM inspectors careful checklist that puts rider
safety above all else.
Sam Gentle, youngest crew member, makes sure the magnetic signs are on straight.
Thank you to our Via Viente sponsor for all their support at the start!!
Chris getting IV
Nancy Shaw, Dave Shaw and Doug Keathley
Kirk and Des southwest of Flagstaff, Arizona
Kirk descends on Durango, Colorado
Climbing Wolf Creek Pass
M. D. Anderson Photographer, Shawn Green
Jorge and Shawn await Kirk.
Go Dad! Sam and Kirk Gentle
Doug in the luxury hotel (the van)
Chris with his Emily Bear. Our Pedal Partner, Emily Parker, gave Kirk and
Chris each a goodluck bear like one that she has. They have the bears with them in their vans, reminding them
that their are children suffering far worse illnesses for a lifetime than they are enduring for these few days.
Kirk and Chris at a Rider Exchange on US 50 just east of Parkersburg, WV.
Thank you to the man outside of Parkersburg who let us put a Hummer, 2 vans and an RV in his driveway!
Loaner vehicle
Loaner vehicle
Sunrise at Cumberland Pass - Town Hill.
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