Well, 1997 RAAM turned out being my hardest race yet. I was plagued with physical problems from almost the beginning of the race. One problem led to another and I found myself off the bike making seat adjustments constantly. The pain I faced every day made it really hard to concentrate on "racing". Trying to whittle away Seana's lead was not even in my mind after a couple days. I was more concerned about simply making forward progress, than what Seana was doing up ahead of me.
I'm rather abivalent about the outcome of this year's RAAM. I'm very proud of myself for toughing it out and maintaining fifth place overall(behind only past or current RAAM winners) thereby beating a lot of excellent riders. However, I did't have a very good race as compared with how I'd done against Seana in the past. I also knew that I was going to make this my last RAAM and I wanted to go out with my best effort. Life doesn't always turn out the way you want it to, but don't get me wrong, I had a good race and I wouldn't ever consider quitting no matter how badly I hurt.
John Hughes helped me prepare for this years RAAM and I know that I was in the best shape ever going into RAAM. He helped me train the right way for RAAM, putting in lots of variety in the intensity, instead of simply putting in a lot of mediocre miles. He also helped with the mental and practical sides of RAAM. In hindsight, I should have spent more time in mental preparation, thinking about what it's really going to feel like at night, or preparing for the monotony of Texas, or the brutal headwinds in Oklahoma. In 1993, and 1995 I seemed to float through the races and never had a problem with the mental part. I figured 1997 would be the same. It wasn't . Maybe I was more aware of every mile this year because I never felt sleepy ( 3 hours per night of sleep). Could it be that I operate better when I'm out of it? Anyway, John was a great inspiration to me and helped me more than I can say!
My crew must be commended for their efforts. I had seven guys on my crew and they worked hard for their food money!! I couldn't have asked for a more caring and hardworking crew. Thanks Guys!!! Steve Born, my boyfriend and crew chief, said I was extremely "high-maintainence" this year. I hadn't been so in the past. Steve ran a tight ship and made sure everything got done. I think Steve only slept about 2 hours total in the last four days and was operating on coffee, M and M's and Diet Pepsi to stay awake. Roger Mankus, my mechanic, was put to the test this year. Before we even got to Cortez, I'd changed bikes over 10 times, padded handlebars, unpadded handlebars, cut holes in my "hammock seat", cut holes in my shorts, padded my "hammock seat", fixed broken spokes when my headlight fell into my front wheel, raised the seat, lowered the seat, etc. Each crew member worked above and beyond what they were expecting and got me to the finish line so I could do my 10 pushups on top of them!!!
The race started well for me. I rode one of my new Titanflex bikes with Spinergy wheels and Sus 21 forks and a REGULAR SADDLE. I rode conservatively and didn't concern myself with the race going on up ahead. By the time I hit I-10 going into Vegas, I was getting crotch sores so I switched to my special "hammock seat" which I used until just past Aneth. I didn't sleep the first night because I was too wired and excited to do so. All went well through Nevada, Utah, and Arizona except the crotch pain was getting worse and solutions were getting fewer. Finally, I succombed to my last ditch solution, the pillow bike. This was a custom built Otis Guy Titanium Softride with a pillow covered "Easy Seat" on it. It solved the crotch problem but created other problems- sore knees, no balance on the bike, hard to eat or drink on the bike, heavy. But it got me to Savannah- a little worse for wear and tear.
I always liked the Rockies because I could switch to my climbing bike and ride basically from Cortez to Trinidad on it and stand up most the way. And that's what I did. I rode Wolf Creek Pass very well alternating 30 standing/ 20 sitting strokes all the way up. Cindi Staiger was trying to interview me but my voice was gone from the dry air and it remained at bay until we entered Georgia. I had to whisper to my crew for 6 days!
Sorry Nick, but I hate Texas!!! Not long after crossing into Texas, the shouldering winds picked up. I thought they'd go away after a few hours but I was wrong. They continued for 4 days and picked up velocity along the way. In Altus, Oklahoma, I got so angry at the winds and at the fact that I could only muster 9 mph, that I punched one of my crew members quite hard in the arm, then kicked the wall, threw my helmet at it and swore more than I have in years. I blamed Texas, I blamed Nick for living in Texas. Texas started it!! Steve quietly told me to put on my headphones, crank up the music, take off my computer and ride into the wind like everyone else. It worked.
1993 was my first experience hallucinating. I didn't hallucinate in '95 but they came back with a vengeance in '97. On the way to Palo Duro Canyon late at night, I started seeing things. This year I saw hours of flea market paraphenalia like tables, chairs, place settings, pedestals, headboards, clothes, trinkets, and thousands of pairs of white sandals lined up against the road. My crew watched me looking at all the stuff for hours.When I stopped, everything disappeared. I was totally aware I was hallucinating, but I couldn't turn it off. I felt safe next to the car talking with the crew, but up in front of the headlights-it was weird. I didn't hallucinate much the rest of the race except occassional shoe line ups in Oklahoma.
Night riding always caused problems for me. I got upset that I was riding so slow even though I felt like I was riding really fast. The miles went by as slow as molasses and there was nothing to look at. Riding with headphones at night and disassociating seemed to help. I didn't seem to have this problem if I took a sleep break then rode in the dark.
Once I accepted the headwinds in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and parts of Tennessee, I was okay in that department. Also, I'd gotten used to the pillow bike and learned to drink and eat without tipping over.Speaking of eating, I ate 60% liquid and 40% solid. After trying my first Ensure at the pre-race meeting, I decided to bring the case along. Good thing,too. I ended up drinking nearly all my calories in the form of Ensure - chocolate, coffee, and strawberry. I also drank a Met-Rx/Energy Surge combination as well as Orange PR Fuel. Turkey sandwiches and fruit were my other big eats along with Honey Buns, PR Bars and Think Bars. I averaged 8,800 calories a day. I lost very little weight and never felt depleted. In the desert, I drank primarily XL-1, Emergen-C and water. V-8 juice also provided necessary sodium in the heat.
All through the midwest and beyond, the race up ahead of me was happening. Fasching, Chew, Kish and Hogan were battling for the lead. I'd let a gap open up between Seana and I and I really didn't care. I was constantly in so much pain, I only thought about making it to the next time station, not about trying to win the race. My crew kept reminding me that Kaname Sakurai was still 30 miles back and riding in a full neck brace. If Kaname could keep going so could I. He was an inspiration.
I slept in motels most nights with 2 nights in Betty (the Roadtrek motorhome). Three hours of sleep was the norm except the last two nights were cut down to two. Usually the whole sleep break took 3 and 1/2 hours including a shower, teeth brushing, etc. Massage was done right when I laid down to sleep and continued through at least half of the sleep break.
Finally, we reached Georgia and I was relieved to know we were closing in on the finish. Too bad I started thinking about the finish when we crossed into Oklahoma. That's the "kiss of death"!!Another strange phomenon that happened to me this year was my mind's selective memory. I vividly remembered all the exciting parts of Tennessee and Georgia- Monteagle, the Monteagle downhill, the bridge before the Georgia line, BeBo's BBQ, the Chattanooga turns, Burnt Mountain climb, Pooler- but I forgot about all the miles in between to get to those places. It drove me nuts!
With 100 miles to go, I heard that Peter Pop wanted fifth place and he was working hard to dethrone me. Steve got in my face and said," Are you going to let Malibu Barbie take away what you've worked so hard to get? Are you going to let him pass you? Now let's see what you are really made of!" (Peter Pop lives in Malibu and we simply used Malibu Barbie as inspiration!) About that same time, Peter's crew was having a Super Soaker war with my crew who only had Ensure Plus as ammo! I put my head down and rode hard for 60 miles until I knew Peter was no longer a threat.I made up almost an hour on Peter during our "race within a race". Thanks Peter for the incentive!
Finally, Pooler was the next time station. I was struggling. My butt was sore and I was mad. At one point I stopped and added a large jacket to my two pillows already mounted on the Easy Seat. I could barely reach the pedals but I was 2% more comfortable. I saw a sign that said "Pooler 6 miles". I stopped, hung my head and exclaimed, "Six miles!! I'm never going to make six miles!". At this point, my crew rolled up the windows and shook their heads in wonder.
The finish line couldn't have come soon enough. It was just past midnight. I figured there would be no one there. How wrong I was. There seemed to be hundreds of people cheering as I rolled through the ribbon. The cheering increased as the crowd counted out the ten pushups I did on top of my crew. What a race! There's nothing like it.
Big thanks to all my crew-Steve Born, Eric Bensen, Roger Mankus, Gene McLaughlin, Charlie Lisky, Terry Zmrhal, Jeff "Bubba" Stephens, Laura and Danny Thomas. Also The Arnold and Sam Kinneson added to the fun!!
Muffy Ritz
muffyr@sunvalley.net