RAAM is near

Saturday I got to preview about 45 tough miles of the RAAM start.
Gary and I rode up and past Lake Henshaw (the first time station on
RAAM). After climbing to about 4,000 feet, we descended the Glass
Elevator into the desert. The descent was a very challenging and
scary 11 miles. I hit 50mph without any effort, but then got hit with
some serious cross winds that forced me to slow down to 30mph.
Because I'm a light guy, the unexpected wind gusts had me working
almost as hard going down as I was going up. When we finally reached
the bottom the desert temperatures were probably about 15-20 degrees
higher than up top. I'm going to have to find a way to survive 300
miles of these desert temps. Blythe is predicted to reach 105 degrees
on Wednesday.

David Bundrick and Mike Miller arrived yesterday. We went
through registration, got our vehicles ready for inspection, and did
some easy riding. I think I'd be pretty excited right now if I didn't
have such a big ride ahead of me. I have some confidence that I can
do well if I can just get through day two without incident.

Today Chuck Garwood has arrived, and I believe that Phil Cohen
and Troy are here as well. They'll meet us at the rider's meeting in
a couple hours. I'll be a little out of place on the same stage
tonight with riders like Robic, Baloh, and Gulewicz.

We've got the rental vehicles set to go and we'll do a grocery
and laundry run soon. Tomorrow we have inspections and photos, and
the women will depart at noon. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see a
few of them again before the race ends.

In my down time before the race, I've been tracking the progress
of riders on the Shenandoah 1200k. Gator Cochran picked a tough ride
for his first 1200k, but it looks like he and Ian have finished
successfully. Congratulations!

Kevin