2007 Team Diary

Day 7: Monday, June 18
Time to try something new – we decide to put the whole team together to alternate cyclists every 3 miles. 4 cyclists in each van. Vans leap-frogging each other. Note to teams – don't try something new on Day 7. Pennsylvania was congested with traffic in the middle of the day. It was hard to get the vans around the cyclists on the two lane, winding roads. We started having dangerous rider exchanges, with high risk for penalties as vans struggled to remain in the transition area for one minute. Our sub-teams had different habits. We finally abandoned ship before we had a disaster.

We approached the last time station – timestation 55 to the finish – 39 minutes ahead of ViaSat. Did we really do it? One last time trial and we'll know for sure – we put out a pace line determined to hang on.

Cheniere's Team Making Cancer History finished 2007 RAAM on Monday, June 18 th at 22:37. 10:37 PM. Plus 15 minute penalty. 10:52 PM.

ViaSat finishes at 11:11. 19 minutes difference. After 3,000 miles, we only have a 19 minute difference from the 4 th place team.

What an incredible race. Thank you to ViaSat who pushed us beyond what we thought possible and made 2007 RAAM truly a RACE Across America.

We stand on the finish podium, looking out at our crew and our families with happy hearts, tears in our eyes, tell posterity what an incredible experience we all had, and remember why we did the whole thing – because we can and so many others cannot – and we thank our sponsors and contributors for the almost $200,000 of donations which will fund cancer research at MD Anderson's Children's Cancer Hospital.

TO MAKE A DONATION , click here (its not too late!!)>>

Day 6: Sunday, June 17
The rest of Indiana and Ohio – finally we start closing the gap on ViaSat. From Indianapolis to Troy, Ohio, they have about 15 minutes on us (keep in mind we have a 15 minutes penalty and they have no penalty, which means we have to beat them by more than 15 minutes to take 3 rd place). About 20 miles from London , Ohio , Kirk finishes his pull and closes the gap to 2 minutes. Meg is barely ready to make the rider exchange because we see ViaSat go by and think we have about 10 minutes to get ready. Meg and Oswaldo ride and close the gap by another 30 seconds. Now Daniel. We race ahead in the van and park in someone's driveway. The family is outside in their yard, gathering after Father's Day brunch. We stand under their tree as it started to rain and hope to see Daniel before ViaSat – and sure enough, he comes riding up the hill. Happy, Joy, Dance, yippee!!! We knew he could do it!!! By London, we were 6 minutes ahead of ViaSat, now officially in third place. Now we have to put 10 more minutes on them to win.

We have a few more flatish sections in Ohio and then cross into West Virginia , where the saw tooth climbs start, on narrow roads with short switchbacks and few places to make rider exchanges. Between Athens and Parkersburg , we get off course twice and Via Sat passes!!! The team fights to recover. Brian goes out on the bike and tells us “I am not coming off the bike until we pass them.” He comes up behind the ViaSat rider. We are on the edge of our seats, get the video camera out – get this on film – he passess – we cheer!! It is the highlight of the trip. We had highs, we had lows, but now we are back on track!!

We do the rest of West Virginia in the dark. The stars are incredible. Every night the sky has been so clear, the milky way brilliantly twinkling through the quiet night, working with only a sliver of a moon to light our way. The up the hills were a killer, the downhills not long enough. Pockets of cold float across the bike. We stop by an abandoned white house, the same exact place we stopped last year. A stream trickles nearby, it smells like home for Meg, who went to college in the Blue Ridge Mountains and camped in these very woods many times. Dawn creeps up on us and Daniel comes in off a long climb and has finally reached a breaking point. We need some rest.

After a bit of confusion and yelling at each other, we leave Tall Team to do the hardest stage of RAAM, timestation 50 – 51, La Vale to Hancock , Maryland . ViaSat is 8 minutes behind us. We put IV bags in Daniel, Kirk, and Oswaldo and regroup for some rest and strategizing. We only have a few stages left until the end and we need 8 more minutes at least to clinch third place.

Day 5: Saturday, June 16
The flat plains of Kansas melted into the hilly, winding farm roads in Missouri , and we were happy for the break in landscape. In Missouri we stopped and were greeted by a farmer and his grandson whose son and daughter work for energy companies in Houston – the world feels very small – and we learned that those low to the ground crops interspersed between the corn fields are soy beans. Over the Mississippi River and into Illinois and into nightfall. Here marks the true start of the race in Race Across America –the other side of the Mississippi – congested streets, steep Appalachian Mountains , tired legs and spirits, and teams battling for the podium.

Short Team stops for a good steak, leaving Illinois and Indiana to Tall Team. We fill all the vehicles with gas and extend special appreciation and thank you to Shell and Citgo for providing $4,000 of gas cards (Shell - $3,000; Citgo - $1,000) to fuel our trip across America – just as they fuel Americans every day. Our team will use more than 4,200 gallons of gasoline to complete our race. The fuel is a significant component of our expense. Eliminating the expense with the gas cards allows us to spend more of our donated funds directly on cancer research.

Confusion in Indianapolis mounts tensions with urban congestion, construction, confusing RAAM detours, and the anticipation of meeting the RV in a construction zone. We are learning the next big lesson of RAAM – the no sleep finally hits the wall and the riders and crew alike are asleep before head hits pillow – or not pillow – or dashboard – or hard RV mattress w. no sheet – or RV table – or sweaty wet van bench with drenched pillow from the last teammate who lied down. But it is still sleep and an hour or two later something makes awake happen, heart beats fast, where are we supposed to be? Am I late for meeting the team? We never got that hotel room . . . the RV generator is off, I am sweating to death. . . who is this I am sleeping next to? Who is that snoring? Can anyone brush their teeth? How long have I been wearing these same bike shorts? Where did I put my cleats? How strong can the coffee get?

Day 4: Friday, June 15
Fortunately, Kansas is flat to downhill with a tailwind . . . oops, no tailwind this year, make that flat to downhill with headwind, which basically makes it feel like uphill. We decided to put two cyclists on the road at a time in a pace line to give each other some relief without having to do a rider exchange every few miles. Instead, we rested behind each other, switching off every 30 – 60 seconds. We were simply thankful that we had no rain and no tornados. The rainy weather was passing to the south of us. We expect some rain on Sunday, around Indianapolis or Ohio . The weather for 2007 RAAM has been very kind to the race. ViaSat continues its half hour lead, which we occasionally narrow or widen. Northcoast stays a half hour or more behind.

Day 3: Thursday, June 14
The excitement is high as we approach the Rockies . Team Northcoast is about 30 minutes behind us, we are gaining time on them. ViaSat is gaining, however, only 9 minutes back. We have three mountain passes in front of us, with steady, 6% grades. None of us are sure how we'll respond to the altitude. We are planning to switch cyclists every mile. Short team waits at the base of Wolf Creek Pass for Tall Team to finish their shift. The day couldn't be more perfect, the air crisp, the clouds billowy, the fresh smell of the waterfall crashing down nearby. We parked near a trailhead, and had some interested hikers who noticed our vans and our bikes. When we told them about the race and about M D Anderson, they gave us a cash donation on the spot – Thank you so much!!! – we passed out some of team t-shirts and they cheered us on when we made our rider exchange – and began the ascent.

As we approached the peak of Wolf Creek Pass, the RAAM media crew stopped with us for a few minutes. There was a thick snow pack drippily melting. The Solo riders who rode through the pass only days before did so in the snow. We counted our blessings as we struggled up in shorts and sleeveless shirts. Meg crested the peak and began the ascent, joined by Daniel. With speeds of over 50 miles per hour, sailing over the grate in the road at the mouth of the snow shed begins life flashing by – one small slip could be the death of the cyclist at those speeds. The 7.5 mile descent rattles the bike frame and makes the cyclist weary of simply hanging on. The follow vans struggle to stay behind the cyclist, as the road curves and safe speeds drop to under 30 miles per hour. The race goes on . . .

The Teams exchange again at the summit of La Veta pass and Tall Team takes on Cucharas Pass – the shortest, but most difficult summit in the Rockies – and begins their 8 hour shift into the night.

In RAAM we have found that communication is half the race – and in the middle of the night in the middle of the west in the middle of the race – there is virtually no way to communicate. No cell phone service, no open gas stations, no working pay phones, and even our CB radios started to have trouble. In RAAM it is critical that the team call in their location as they pass through each time station (thereby giving you the best coverage of the race!!) so officials can monitor progress, identify problems, control cheating, etc. The rule is that the team must call in their location within 30 minutes after passing the time station. Cell phone service is not an excuse, as each time station has an identified pay phone. Failure to call in could result in a disqualification. For two time stations, we were unable to call in. First, because RAAM headquarters had phone difficulties, and second, because the payphone was out of order. We felt panicked, but eventually worked it out without a penalty. Phew! The CB cord in one of our vans was completely cut, as it inadvertently was stuck in the driver's side door. Each time the door opened and closed, it wore away at the cord. Now the vans had no communication w. each other. We took the CB with the RV, cutting the RV off from the team. We had no way to make our team exchange without simply finding each other on the course. And we began writing messages to each other on brown paper lunch bags in the RV – here is where you meet us next – and hoping for the best.

Finally, Tall Team, passed exhaustion, got their break. Short team started with hearts beating fast, knowing it had to catch Via Sat, now 25 minutes ahead, and hold Northcoast at bay, still only 30 minutes behind. Dawn came with a thick fog so wet, it was almost like riding in the rain. Even glasses with clear lenses were not helpful, as moisture beaded up on the lenses and blurred vision. The coyotes howled in the distance. Gosh, what happens if a pack of wolves attacks a cyclist in the middle of the night? Does that happen? Long sleeve shirts, gloves, hats, bandanas covering ears, long tights, shoe covers, and even ski pants (meg didn't want to buy heavy biking pants) went on – COLD!!

Day 2: Wednesday, June 13
It looks like our competition is Northcoast and ViaSat. We are riding within 15 minutes of each other. At Montezuma Creek, we took a wrong turn and Northcoast gained on us and passed us. We held on and passed them back on the climb to Cortez and we pushed hard to put time on them. Will we battle with them again? There is a welcome camaraderie between the teams. We see each other at our rider exchanges, often parking our vans in the same pull-off locations. Our crews pass each other and we cheer for each other's cyclists. We study each other's equipment and rider exchanges and intervals. We wonder about each other's strategies and the strength of our respective cyclists and crew. We are thankful for our crew, our support, our smooth and fast rolling transitions . . . we are only as fast as our crew moves. We are lucky in that respect – our crew is very strong.

Day 1: Tuesday, June 12
The tall team's string of bad luck continued when it got its third flat after only 8 hrs into day one. Chris Frost was speeding downhill on interstate I10, when his front wheel went psssst. Fortunately, the mechanic (Justin) in the support vehicle that was following was able to quickly exchange the front tire and he was on the road about a minute later. About an hour later Steve finished a strong 10 mile pull on I10 and showed up at the next exchange with broken aero bars. Evidently, they broke when he was going over those warning bumps on the side of the road. Again, Justin came to the rescue and was able to quickly do the repair for Steve, who later had the privilage of riding across the boarder into our first new state, Arizona, at about 1:30am Wednesday.

Inspections: Monday, June 11
Today (monday) we passed inspections on our two vans and RV. They are race ready as are all the riders and crew. We've divided into two racing shifts: The tall team - Brian, David, Chris and Steve (riders) and Porter Bill, Mindy, Leslie and Justin (crew) and the short team - Meg, Kirk, Oswald and Daniel (riders) and Michael, Johnny, Zach and Charles (crew). Each team will take 4 hour shifts for the first 24 hours. Race starts tomorrow at 2pm california time. Brian will ride the first leg, with the rest of tall team taking turns for the first 4 hours. Our goal is Flagstaff Arizona in 24 hours. Thanks to Societe Generale for being one our corporate sponsors (Societe Generale employee Chris Frost is one of riders). See picture of Meg and Chris. More tomorrow...

May 5, 2007: Farm Training Weekend
There is a little piece of heaven in La Grange, Texas, where the rolling hills are luscious green from the March rains and the Bluebonnets, Indian Paint Brushes, and Black-eyed Susans, create floral blankets of blue, red, and yellow. The cows give a curious look at the passing cyclist and the cowboys give a wide berth as they are passing. Stop-over point for the largest MS150 fundraising ride in the nation. The towns in Fayette County have been burgeoning with cyclists all winter. This is where we get pieces of the team together for training weekends. For some, the riding starts on Friday with a 100 mile cruise from Houston to the farmhouse. Saturday morning up again. May 5, Kirk's 51 birthday, could scarcely have been more blustery of a day, 30 miles per hour winds coming in off the Gulf of Mexico. The air was sticky. We stuck together to pull each other through the gusts. A new appreciation for the crew hit us as we walked in the door to the smell of fresh pancakes and bacon – a feast. Saturday evening we practiced our transitions and all of the embedded rules – cyclists must cross wheels, vehicles all the way to the right of the yellow line, only one vehicle moving at a time.

Sunday morning up again and out into the wind. Thankful for warm air and no rain, we pushed our muscles to loosen up and our rear ends to get readjusted to that little seat. So if we were on RAAM, we'd still have about 4 days left!!

Four more weeks of training and then we will be posting chronicles of the race! Stay with us. We'll need your prayers, thoughts, and well wishes to help us across America !

Training
We are each training on our own schedule. With 8 of us on the team this year, we are relatively scattered and each of us faces a demanding schedule balancing family, jobs and the rest of life. Daniel Rudge, an engineer with Shell Exploration & Production Company, rides his bike to work each morning, rides a spin class at the gym, and then rides home each afternoon. Kirk and Meg, finally doing RAAM together after 2 false starts in 2002 and 2005, trade off time on the lifecycle upstairs, in the gym and out on the road, one always at home playing with their 4 year old, Sam (youngest crew member, 2006 RAAM).

Oswaldo Henriquez does spin classes in the Houston Tunnel below the Pennzoil Building during his lunch hour and then rides on a trainer in his house at night. In fact, Meg and Kirk can see him through the window in his third story dormer window, because he is their neighbor! Brian Jones is a well known Houston racing cyclist, racing weekly in the crits.

David Wyninger and Steve Baker both live in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, where roads are flat, the air is humid, the pavement is rough, and the motorist are not very accepting of cyclists. Christ Frost is an interest rate derivatives trader for one of our corporate sponsors, Societe Generale, a French bank. He lives in New York City, on Manhattan Island, and we think we are in a city! In the big apple, Chris starts his mornings on his bike through Central Park – and that wasn't really warm enough until April.