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Raceline Reports
Day
Seven 06.09.09
(Alamosa to Kim 202 miles)
State Colorado
A tough day for a number of reasons. Team A have 40 miles of
climbing out of the 70 allocated, rather than steep climbs these are
more gentle in elevation, but climbing nonetheless a total of 4,907
feet, don't forget Gary Torr has been suffering with a chest
infection for a couple of days so it would have been even tougher for
him. John (Steve Austin) must be tired of getting the short
straw on all these hill climbs, but he's a fit man and up to now
we've not managed to see him sweating. Dave Thomas stacks up 3
"Dick of the day votes" for attempting to look over his
shoulder at 40mph while unclipping a shoe, he'll not do that
again. Dave's rode well considering his appetite hasn't been up
to much for the past day or so. His meal the night before
wasn't the best and along with Gary Torr and Ian McInnes sent it
back.
Back in RV1 Team C are heading out to the hotel to start there leg a
70 mile virtual straight road to Kim, on the edge of Kansas.
Sadler has an urge for some private time, but refuses to give in and
let nature take its course, there are rumours of at least two other
"villains" taking toilet time in the RV but its hotly
denied. We leave Alan to control his discomfort.
Meanwhile Brocko' is finding every lump in the road with great
success and we name the place Bumpyville, Bumpyland for a long
straight road over flattish hillside it's anything but comfortable.
We have booked Rino's Italian Restaurant in the mining town of
Alamosa for 8.15pm and it's a good choice, the food is probably the
best we've had and a couple of the waitresses have taken the microphone
and serenaded us with songs from "Phantom of the Opera",
it's a nice touch.
Day Eight
Sunday 07.09.08 (Kim - Pratt 270 miles)
State Colorado into Kansas
It's an early start for Teams B & C as they get to there start
positions for the ride. Up and loading for 6.45am before
leaving at 7.30am. All the teams are scheduled to do 90 miles
each today across 3 legs, it's day Eight and the longest cycling day
of them all. Team A will set off from Kim 85 miles West of the
Kansas border and 3 of us want to break the 100 mile barrier.
Andrew and John from West Yorkshire Windows are the only members of
the Ride 4 Hope team not to have broken 100 miles cycling in one day
and today will be there best chance. The road continues where
it left off and it's a full 100 miles of flats, slight uphills and
downhills. We start at the road sign proclaiming that we are at 5,970
feet, by the end of the day we'll drop 800 feet into a small town
area called Johnson.
There is nothing to view, of all the uninteresting rides this has to
take the No 1 slot. It's mile after mile of field acreage,
hardly any life at all. We see a dozen or so Red Angus beef
cattle in a field and it's considered a highlight. We stop at
41 miles for a break to eat yesterdays remaining subway sandwiches
and they're soggy and tasteless, wash them down with sprite, eat a
few crisps and off we go again for another 30 mile stretch.
That's not before dozens of flies have invaded the RV and we're
hurriedly putting on insect repellent, the little buggers bite.
At points along the way we double up instead of drafting so we can at
least get some conversation going, there's a 15mph head wind.
At the 70 mile mark we're still reasonably fresh but Andrew and Sean
are complaining of sore backsides (occupational hazard) and we ask
Anthony to stop at a town called Walsh so we can take in a coffee,
Hershey Bar and have 10 minutes off the bike. Refreshed we
crack on we're 15 miles from the Kansas border and will finally leave
Colorado behind. We stop and take the photo opportunity at the
State line. Sean is feeling it a bit now and will stop at the
targeted 90 miles to get in the RV with Anthony. Graeme, John
and Andrew head off on the final 10 mile stretch.
It's over, at last we break the 100 mile barrier and there's hugs and
handshakes for a great effort, we all still feel fresh, it's been a
good, if boring run and we've been riding for 5 and a half hours at
an average of 18.2mph. Settling back into the RV, Sean has done
a sterling job getting rid of the fly infestation and preparing our
recovery drinks. Anthony though is not so upbeat the RV is
playing up, we've had a mechanic out but still have the same problems
After stopping for yet more petrol (we're only getting 7 mile to the
gallon) we finally reach our destination, yet again Sat' Nav' or
Pratt Nav' has taken us 26 miles off route, it's 11pm and everyone
else has already checked in and are away to there rooms.
Anthony must be as tired as any of us he has driven for over 12 hours
today and dealt with the stresses of running the ailing RV.
We're very grateful for his efforts and hopefully he'll have a good
nights rest to catch up on before it all starts again tomorrow.
Team B set off and have Iain back in the team. He is almost
fully recovered after his Asthma problem of a couple of days ago, but
this isn't going to hold him back. Gaz' is getting stronger and
Keith and Alan are going well to. The scenery for there ride
isn't much difference to the rest of the group, open fields, occasional
low growing sunflowers and then fields of Maize. Once again the
Sat Nav' adds something else to the days ride and the 5 mile detour
gives them more uphill to do and when there is a strong head wind
it's an unwelcome addition to the day.
Gaz' and Alan attract the attention of the local canine community and
it's the fastest they've ridden all week. This area is barren
of everything and a dog bite is not what they are looking for.
Team C had the same day as the rest of us, except they collected a couple
of punctures along the way. Yvonne reports that Gary is now
riding stronger. Richard and Keith confirm the pace was strong,
but without ipods would have gone numb. Keith going through the
best part of 9 albums. Dave Thomas has the same thoughts.
Dave struggles a little toward the end of the day, he is not
naturally a big eater and sometimes you have to force food down you,
eventually it catches up with you and this will be the furthest Dave
has ridden in one day. By the end he's tired and just wants to
get to bed and who can blame him.
There is no time for "dick of the day" or "Rider of
the Day". At least word has got round that it's a late
start tomorrow 8.45am loading for a 10am set off.
Day Nine
08.09.08 ( Pratt, Kansas - Iola 200 miles)
The teams are up and it's McDonalds for breakfast, everyone looks a
lot fresher, it's been a good nights sleep. Dave Thomas Joins
us with two Egg McMuffins, Large Orange Juice and Two coffees, where
is he going to put it? We have some good news the RV driven by
Anthony is fixed, apparently the problem was caused by a faulty wire
and so the transmission and acceleration where at odds with one
another.
We're all sorting the loading out and Yvonne is taking care of some
thigh massaging, Dave has a faulty tyre and that has to be replaced,
but we're packed and ready and soon on our way.
Teams C & D are on Anthony's RV and we are checking out Fabstores
latest email. Mr Sadler decides its time to fine Richard for
unsubscribing to the Fabstore web link, and as Graeme unsubscribed 12
months ago he's fined as well that's another $ 5 each. As a
result Richard is put in charge of the fines committee and quickly
comes up with 20 reasons to fine people. We appoint Dave Thomas
in his absence as treasurer.
Fines range from :-
$ 5 for not subscribing to Fabstores charity page
$ 1 for bike maintenance
$ 1 for dirty kit
$ 1 for wearing socks with flip flops (come on you know who you are)
$ 1 for every time Yvonne makes you scream out loud when massaging
your legs
$ 1 for being late anywhere
$ 5 for not fixing your own puncture
$ 5 for No 2s in the RV and you have to clean it yourself (if you
dare to do one)
Team C set off 100 miles further East and the weather is gloomy,
dull, overcast and very blustery with a strong South Westerly wind
that will be head or side on for all 50 miles.
20 miles in and though we are making good time in poor conditions I'm
not performing as I should, just because we all rode well yesterday
doesn't mean you are going to repeat it today. If you don't
eat, you don't ride. The legs are aching and I just can't get
going properly but fortunately the wind is masking my problems.
Richard is riding strong today, he looked tired in McDonalds earlier,
but looked as if he could go a lot quicker than me or Alan today,
very impressive. Alan is as steady as ever, likes to keep with
the pace, but likes to control it so he has something to spare and
today we needed it. Alan at first has a slow puncture on one of
the many long slow climbs, but then we give up and change the inner
tube, it will set up back 10 minutes, but as we've decided not to
stop for coffee or any break at all it shouldn't affect the ride time
to much. Truth is we just want to get today's ride over with,
the traffic is much heavier than previous days, we're on a main road
and the trucks whizzing past us are huge.
Looks like Team C have had a similar day to us, Keith turns in
saying that's the coldest he's ever been on a bike, Sean has
turned in a good performance, but Morty has struggled in the strong
winds, it's no slight of character as I wrote earlier, this has been
one of the hardest days. I look across at Gary Torr and he's
clearly weary, Shelly looks reasonably fresh and Dave Thomas ambles
by to check in. After a long riding day yesterday today should
have given us a bit of light relief but it hasn't there are a few
tired limbs out there.
At least the teams on Brocko's RV have been well fed, stories of
bowls of fresh Chilli. Dave (Brocko) didn't have a room at the
Days Inn in Pratt, so he found himself one down the road.
Whilst taking his laundry in he got talking to some of the locals who
obviously took pity on him and then went away to create some home
made chilli for him. They made so much he had plenty left over
for the next day and ever the improviser Dave called off at the local
Wall-Mart bought a cooked chicken for $ 5 and carved it up to go with
the meal for the lads. Ten out of Ten from the team and an
assurance of no Dick of the day votes. We're not having a go at
Anthony here, it seems Brocko' is on a roll and enjoying the culinary
side of the support trip. Anthony carries on regardless and
there are no complaints from his RV after all we did get a coffee.
Team A had a more eventful run or rather Dave Thomas did.
Heading down a cobbled road, Gary Torr and Dave decided to take the
easier route, or so they thought. Riding along the embankment Gary
took a little detour around a paving slab that was raised in the air
and Dave duly followed. Unfortunately for Dave his back wheel caught
the raised slab. He tried to correct the bike and his right leg came
out of the pedal and he was flung against a wire fence, which saved
his fall. Shelly waited long enough for Dave to give the thumbs
up he was ok before setting of in fits of laughter with Gary,
teamwork eh! You can't beat it.
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Dear Friends and Supporters
Well I thought the double glazing industry was full of
wind but Kansas takes the biscuit !
Peddling your ass of only to be battered by a 20mph +
head wind really hurts but we crack on.
We have added a facebook page so you can see more on our
adventures in photo's and video's and why not leave us a message on
the wall.
Get your friends to become a fan
and help us reach a bigger audience.
I'm off now to re-apply my Savlon (nice)
www.gmfundraising.co.uk
www.hopehouse.org.uk
Thanks for your interest and the donate button is just
up on the left.
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12 Hairy Bikers +
1 Olympic Athelete
It was always
going to be an interesting combination, the sole woman amongst a
group of 12 men I barely knew. I had also glibly agreed to be
masseur for the trip before even meeting the group and had never
been to Hope House - the No.1 reason for this extreme challenge.
However, the first training weekend based around Hope House in
Oswestry showed me I had made the right decision. They are a great
bunch of guys, who immediately made me feel very welcome. It
hasn't taken them long to give me the nickname "Thumbs
McGregor" and there is now a healthy collection of fines for
swearing and shouting out during my massages!!
 On a more
serious note, the guys have proved incredibly motivated not only to
getting fit for this trip of a lifetime but in pulling together in
the face of adversity when conditions were extremely tough at the
beginning of the journey. They have stuck to the task with good
humour and excellent teamwork and support. Dave Thomas summed
it all up a couple of days ago on a 93mile stint. "That
is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life". He suffered
big time but would not give up and was pulled through by the
others.
So whilst it has been a major challenge for each individual, both
physically and mentally, and believe me there have been some really
tough days experienced by all, we all realise it pales into
insignificance with the daily challenges and suffering faced by each
child and their families who attend Hope House. Unlike us
they will never have a finish line to look forward to crossing.
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Rider Profile Mark Sheldon
Mark
"Shelly" Sheldon is Managing Director at ABI Facilities Engineering
Ltd and is married to Julie, they have a 13 year old daughter
Rachel and a 7 year old son Matthew.
 I asked Mark why he was doing the ride he said
"I am doing it for the experience and
achievement, whilst knowing it is helping someone less
fortunate. To use a cliché' "having the chance to put
something back." Shelly said his only fears was getting over
the Rockies without collapsing!
I rode with him that day and he flew over with no problems. When
asked about
his cycling experience he said "Very little, as a child
many years ago with
stabilisers, in fact I may just need to get them out of the garage!
Shelly is a firm member of the dark side and has been accused of
vote rigging in Dick of the Day, this may be true but due to the
events of the last couple of days the attention has focused on him
and I am sure we will see the shirt on his back soon.
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Shellyvision
1 Deadly Sin
As can be reasonably expected, when a group of
individuals get together for any trip abroad there is normally
behaviour bordering on wrong. However this is no ordinary trip abroad,
this is 12 males cycling to raise money for charity (cyclists may
be too strong a term for most!), 1 female cyclist (and an Olympic
medallist at that!) and 2 drivers/support crew. This should not
really be too much of a problem spread between 2 large Winnebago's,
but when half way through the first day one of the Winnebago's
breaks down you can imagine things get a little cramped.
Obviously there have to be some ground rules, and one of the first
was that there were to be no no 2's deposited in the on board
ablution unless absolutely necessary . . . and even no 1's were
best done elsewhere if at all possible! This rule is for obvious
reasons, 15 people sharing 1 motor home in temperatures climbing
above 100 deg Fahrenheit speaks for itself, not for the tickled
stomached among us.
You would think then that if such a crime were to be committed in
an emergency the guilty party would simply announce it so the
necessary cleaning or emptying could take place and there would be
no problem. Step forward 'Raceline', a very likeable, mild mannered
friendly chap who just gets on with things in his own way,
including what comes naturally when answering the call of nature.
Now no-one really knows how absolutely necessary this action was on
the morning of day 3 but at approximately 3pm as the scales topped
108 deg F it became apparent all was not quite right within the
confines of the motorhome, yes the Generator had broken down which
meant that the Air Conditioning was not working correctly, and the
fresh water tank was empty, but these were minor details compared
with the pungent aroma emanating from the base of the vehicle and
filling it like some sort of poisonous cloud.
 Given the choice of sitting in the 'caravan' as it
had been christened by a certain northern gentleman that resembles
the cartoon character 'Shrek', or baling out into temperatures not
encountered by most of us before, the latter became the much
preferred option and as we pulled into a fuelling station in the
aptly named town of Hope in Arizona, it was alarming how many
volunteers we suddenly had to fuel the vehicle, fill the water
tank, fix the generator and do the shopping etc! Anything to escape
the clutches of the curious cloud.
Had we run over something and maybe the dead body was stuck to the
bottom of the van? Had a previous hirer left rotting food under the
seats? All we knew was that the smell was unbearable, and trust me
108 deg F is hot . . . . very hot, and it was cooking whatever was
causing the smell.
Shrek had just finished his shift on the bike and had got changed
minutes earlier, as he entered the shop there was a curious waft.
The 'cloud' had followed him and something obviously had to be
done. He had simply left his change of clothes in the shower area
and the nature of the pungentness had crept into them. He was
actually seen naked in the shop lavatory washing his clothes such
was the seriousness of the situation. And that I can tell you is
definitely not a sight for the faint hearted!! It was about this
time that 'Raceline' calmly admitted that he had used the
facilities earlier in the morning! By this time it must have been
bubbling quite nicely in the heat and to say that when the grey and
black tanks were emptied approx 5 minutes later, there were grown
men running in all directions trying to figure out which way the
warm gentle desert breeze would carry the cloud away I am not
exaggerating, it could be seen, let alone smelt!
We commended Raceline on having the decency to own up, but the
action cost him a run away victory in the 'Jerk of the day' vote
that evening with approx 98% of the votes. I could not even repeat
the less disparaging votes, his team mates have changed their attitude
toward him now and he is known as DB instead of GB.
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Rider Profile Keith Aspinall
Keith
"Master of Mischief" Aspinall is Operations Director at Business Micros and is
married to Sharon with 2 children - Ben and Lauren.
Keith is a veteran of the charity rides completing
the Top2Bottom and the Tower2Tower rides before tackling the USA.
Keith sad " My main objective is to support the charity and to
test my own mental strength, not letting my team members down is
also high on my priority list.
Keith is also known as Sandman after riding into a sand pile at
speed during training in Majorca but Master of Mischief is more
fitting, he is a complete vote rigger and he puts whispered
messages into committee members ears and sets the new boys up on a
daily basis.
He cannot be blamed because he was tempted to the
Dark Side years ago when Darth said to him
"I AM YOUR FATHER KEITH"
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The Route
day 7 - 9
Day seven starts
at 6 am for the first team cycling for 33 miles from Alamosa until the
next change. Alamosa hosts a sunshine summerfest as part of the Rio
festival which takes place in June. There are a total of five team
changes before reaching the final destination of Kim in Trinidad
Day eight begins leaving Kim behind with the team setting off
towards Pratt, a distance of 271 miles away. There is a joke among
locals in Pratt who say there are two water towers in the town, one
labelled hot and one labelled cold.
Day nine consists of 5 changes to the team, with a total of 199
miles covered before reaching Iola then final destination of the
day. Iola is famous for its very large courthouse square and
has an average temperature of 28 °C.
See maps and profiles here
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Rider Profile Gary Torr
Gary
"Shrek" Torr is Managing Director at Dekko Window Systems
and is married to Sheila with sons James & Alistair, also 2
grandchildren, Sienna & Jayden.
 I asked Gary why he
was doing it he said " For the families less fortunate than
me, I have been blessed with a wounderful family and could not
imagine how the families who benefit from Hope House cope, in
addition to this I enjoy the achievement and the camaraderie."
Gary also completed the John O'Groats to Lands End and part of the
Tower 2 Tower ride and is a regular on the fundraising scene.
He is not all roses though, he loves a wind up and can be found
doing his favourite hobby "Winding Up Mort" for which he
is the current world champion.
Because gary looks
like the Disney character Shrek has done well in local
fundraising with holiday makers asking to have their photograph's
taken with him.
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 Local Heroes
By Dave
Broxton
Let me say at the
outset that America is and always has been, one of my favourite
countries. The USA really does have everything. Mountains, deserts,
beaches, lakes most of which we appear to have ridden through in
the last week. In fact because The US is a microcosm of the planet,
I think that is why most Americans don't vacation abroad. We Brits
tend to look down on our colonial cousins as evidenced on my first
piece about being abandoned at the Casino in Pula but I think I
should set the record straight and put the case for real America
and real Americans, rather than the cartoon version we get served
up on TV.
We rode into Pratt, Kansas at about 9pm and decided to forego the
usual team meal and do our own thing. This was largely down to the
local byelaw forbidding the sale and consumption of alcohol on a
Sunday but to be honest we were pretty worn out. Having run out of
clean team kit, I opted to visit a Laundromat for the first time in
my life. There I bumped into the Haste's, a lovely couple who gave
me washing soap and showed me the intricacies of the washing
machine (Hope the wife doesn't read this).
I have discovered that Laundromats are like social networking
websites without the danger of corresponding with a pervert. I enjoyed
good old fashioned conversation with Mr.& Mrs. Average
American. He hauls hogs and beef in their incredible custom truck
and rather than wash his work clothes at home they spend Sunday
nights at the Laundromat. She is raising five great kids and working
too. I discovered that this marvellous couple share our hopes,
dreams and aspirations. I discovered that they share our fears too
and in particular what the future holds for our children. Sadly I
didn't discover their Christian names because we were too busy
putting the world to rights.
Whilst my smalls were drying, Mrs. Haste returned home and bought
back Pie & Ice Cream for me plus a huge container of Haste
special chilli. She bought their two sons, good looking boys, smart
and with impeccable manners. What drives someone to befriend a
stranger and perform a spontaneous act of kindness like that,
especially in America, supposedly the home of gun violence, drugs
and the homicide capital of the World? Well the Haste's made a big
impression on me and the R4H team too because the riders ate every
last bit of their chilli over the next two days and declared it the
best they had ever tasted.
A unique event? Well no actually. The next day I pulled up the RV
to wait for the arrival of the first team of cyclists. No fewer
than three vehicles stopped to offer assistance thinking I had a
flat or had broken down (Again!). That same night we were welcomed
in Olio, Kansas like conquering heroes with drinks on the house and
locals giving unqualified support and encouragement to the riders.
The following night whilst walking back to the hotel, Gary Torr and
I were given a lift by a total stranger not because Jefferson City
was dangerous but because he had room in his pick up. Once again a
simple kindness and reflected in all our contacts with people in
stores, gas stations and hotels.
The Ride 4 Hope team may be strangers in a strange land, in a
country and from a country divided by the English language and yet
there is a sense that we are among friends. Think on that the next
time you walk down the average UK High Street at 11pm and don't
always believe what you read and see about America because the
reality is somewhat different.
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