Enjoy the view... if you can

RAAM is full of beautiful scenery, and I know there’s lots of competition up ahead, but for now I’m thinking the stretch of road between time stations 7 and 9 in Arizona might just be the prettiest place we’re going to see. It covers Prescott through Flagstaff and includes the amazing Mingus Mountain descent, the little town of Jerome perched right on the edge of a cliff, and of course the pink canyon walls of Sedona.

Of course all this scenery is great if you’re a film crew and you can just stop on the side of the road, set up a shot, and soak it all in while you wait for a rider to come through. But do the guys and gals on the bikes actually get to enjoy it? It depends. When you’re riding on zero sleep and you’ve still got 2500 miles to go, it’s a little hard to ooh and ahh over every mountain that comes by.

But now and then the riders really do get a chance to look around and appreciate where they are. We came across soloist Ron Skelton the other day in a canyon just north of Sedona and he was really enjoying the surroundings. Skelton came all the way from New Zealand for RAAM and had never been to the area before. The proud Kiwi was riding his own race, not overly concerned with the standings, just chugging along strongly and soaking up those famous Sedona vibes. In a race that’s all about cranking through mile after mile after mile, it was nice to meet a rider who was gaining energy from the endless road, rather than losing it.

-Andy

The race blurs on

Wow, it's been a long two days since I last posted. Or is it three? Time tends to get a little hazy when you're out on RAAM. minutes turn into hours, then hours turn into days, and then suddenly your mind turns into a grapefruit, and you wonder why a grapefruit is standing around a parking lot in Brawley.

And now a couple of the images that are swirling around in my head from the last couple days. Whether they actually happened or I just hallucinated them we may never know.

-A time station deep in the Arizona desert, populated by a strange group of people who call themselves the Bullshifters. They carry around cowbells and cantaloupes, and somehow conjure up an inflatable pool from the desert sand.

-A campground somewhere near Blythe, full of beleaguered media members sleeping on picnic tables. "Fire ants," someone warns. Seriously? But why would they come near us? Have they no sense of smell?

-A town called Jerome that seems to hang on the edge of a cliff, taunting the valley floor while it basks in the glorious sunset.

-A man blogging from a bathroom in Flagstaff, his eyes completely bloodshot, his back aching, his whiskers growing at an astonishing, almost visible rate. Tomorrow he will drive back to Oceanside to cover the team start on Saturday, then head out on the very same route again and end up reliving everything he thought he just imagined in the last two days. And his mind will turn back into a grapefruit, and he'll be fine with that, because that's just what happens during RAAM.


-Andy