CLEARED TO RACE ! ! !

This morning, Friday June 17th, RAAM inspected all our vehicles, bikes, helmets, shoes, wheels, phone numbers, insurance policies. Official photos were taken of us in our Team Kit. We were cleared to race!

Our Team is getting together!

Tarzana - a northern suburb of LA. (Big trees for large gorrillas). I arrive Sunday lunchtime. So does Jim from New York. Great to meet up again. 3 Crew members - Joseph, Brendan and Tom. We unpack the bikes and wheels. There's a mountain of equiptment. Hope that there are some engines too! And then our Great Crew Chief Sandra arrives as well. We're so grateful.
And then I get a cold. I feel like death. But it's only a head cold. Better not ride tomorrow. Get better for the Race!

California - here we are!

arrived last Tuesday June 7th. Glad I gave myself a week to acclimatise. Did some rides with La Grange - hill climbs and hill repeats, and on the 3rd day a flat recovery ride. Nice bunch, they know how to ride :). Then go shopping at the bike shops. I had thought that going to a large city would make that esier - surely they have the supplies? Wrong! It transpired that there was one pair of Sidi Ergo 2 in 43 1/2 in the entire western side of the metropolis. That took some searching out! But they fit like a glove (and I've christened them by spilling coffee on them after the 2nd ride!)