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Raceline Reports
Day Thirteen
12.09.08 (Indiana - Circleville, Ohio 212 miles)
State Illinois - Ohio
The legs for yesterday and today have been split into 4 smaller
groups to allow us more time to recover from rides and also to give
us a chance to build up some reserves for the trip into the
Appalachian mountain range around the Pennsylvania region.
Team A with John as captain are out first and there's humour all
round as the skies are grey, overcast and it's raining heavily, if
ever you fancied a day off today would be it. Within minutes we
are wet through, but the bikes won't pedal themselves and we bat on
regardless of the conditions. The area around us is flat
fortunately and we get a good pace going. Morty and I are
holding at 17-18 with the occasional downhill letting us top 23, John
(Steve Austin) however has other ideas when he hits the front and its
19-20. That might not seem much, but believe me chasing John
for a mile uphill at 20mph is not something you want to do first
thing in a morning. Morty is riding strong today and it's the
best I've seen him this tour.
Team B rattled along at a cracking pace and Richard was like a
greyhound racing off into the distance, Dave (rider of the day
yesterday),Sean and Yvonne are in hot pursuit, meanwhile Anthony is
sweating over time lost in the RV and takes a "short cut"
via the Interstate to try and catch up. According to the map we
should come off at 24 and head North on the 48, but with rubbish
signage for the roads and a race of people in the U.S who don't know
what's at the back of the nearest field never mind 3 miles away it's
not long before Team B are on the phone looking for us. They're at
Glenn cove farms, Union and munching on sample fudge while waiting in
semi wet cycle kit. We've been heading South instead of North,
despite the local refuse collectors "help" with
directions. We eventually find them and they're in to dry off
and get changed. Morty takes the opportunity to nip in to the
shop and buy some fudge for mum, (altogether Sharon and Angela
awe).
Tonight we are scheduled to be meeting up with Edgetech, an American
company handling sealed units with a unique spacer bar seal, they
have companies using the system in the UK and Andy Jones the UK M.D
has arranged donation. They are meeting us at Circleville for a
photo' opportunity and handing over a sponsorship cheque for $ 2,500
which will be a welcome boost to the charity fund.
The other teams arrive early evening and there's little time to spare
as Mike from Edgetech is meeting us at 7pm and he's driven for 200
miles just to meet up with us, he'll be having dinner with us and
driving straight back, so it's a massive effort for him and we're all
appreciative of it.
Off to dinner we go to a new local Mexican restaurant
"Cocu". The meal is anything but as a lot of the
riders would have liked, the service is average at best and the food
is not better, but we make the best of it and I'm sure Mike has
enjoyed our company, as we have his. It's another generous
gesture as Edgetech pick up the bill for the evening and it's well
received.
When 15 people get two votes each to choose "Dick of the
Day" it's a big surprise when 40 votes are actually cast.
Tonights unfortunate recipient of the title goes to Keith Aspinall
(Sandman) for allegedly constant vote rigging and team manipulation,
and it's a landslide with 19 votes. That's more than Shelly got
yesterday for the unfortunate timing of his bowel movements
Day Fourteen
13.09.08 (Circleville - Grafton 189 miles)
State Ohio - West Virginia
Team A Gary Morton © Gary Torr, Alan Sadler, Dave Thomas
Team B Andrew Glover, Mark Sheldon, Keith Aspinall, Graeme
Bailey
Team C Sean Pearce © Iain McInnes, John Olkiewicz, Richard Gyde
This is unknown territory, a fourteenth consecutive day of
riding. In 2005 the top to bottom (Jon o'groats - Lands End)
ride spanned thirteen cycling days. Though we've not cycled as far as
that ride individually yet, there have been some far tougher
days.
Sadler, Keith, Brocko and Gaz' where the last ones standing at the
bar last night with a 1.15am finish. Andrew called it a day as
did Shelly at 12.15am.
There are a few not quite with it this morning. Yvonne and
Anthony come waltzing past Keith with bags and bikes only to be
reminded that they are still on the second floor, not the ground
floor, Gary Torr has woken up at 3am, "freezing my
b******* off", " I sat on the edge of the bed, pitch dark,
didn't know where I was", "the air conditioning was
screaming". Morty walks down with Sandals and SOCKS on,
there'll be a fine for that later, then spills his cereal on
himself.
Anthony endears himself to Thommo' (Dave) by cutting him up on the
way out of the car park and that could mean more votes for Anthony
tonight to go with his earlier clanger, there's not much the lads
miss now and the voting for later on can start to get a bit tactical.
Team A set off and after only a couple of miles Gary Torr attracts a
"reinforcing screw" into the side wall of his tyre.
Team B by this time about 8 miles further on heading for their drop
off point have to turn round and go back to do some running repairs.
We have the spares on the RV so Shelly and Andrew jump to it and Gary
is back on the road after 15 minute delay.
We had no idea what sort of a day we where in for, but as it turned
out it was one of the toughest days we've had. The temperature
must have started in the late 70s, but the humidity made it difficult
to get your breath, some of the lads have had a late night and now
they're feeling it. Our first port of call is Athens (home of
the rock band R.E.M). We miss our turning and ride straight through
a student meeting at the local park. Turning round and heading
back out of town toward Highway 50 East we encounter dishevelled
cobbled roads and hang on to the handlebars while trying to keep an
eye on the RV as it disappears ahead of us. There's confusion ahead
as we find our way towards the main highway, but there is a sign
stating "No bicycles or Motor cycles under 5 BHP".
We're stuck and Brocko' is nowhere to be seen. We're not sure
what to do next and so wait on the carriageway, it's 30 minutes
before we find out what's going on. Brocko' eventually locates
us and and we quickly throw the bikes on board. The atmosphere
is a bit tense on the RV, made worse by a lack of food in the fridge
and the RV not having any water on board. There's a few harsh
words and we have to stop to clear the air.
So far on this trip Brocko has covered over 4,000 miles and Anthony
will have a similar figure. It's not lost on us that this is
also some sort of achievement, how many people do you know who have
driven an RV from one side of America to another, they too
should be rightly proud of there achievement in completing the trip
and ensuring our safety along the way, there is much to thank them
for.
Finally we are heading up another energy sapping climb and me and Shelly
start to see movement at the top. We think we're hallucinating
and seeing trees moving closer to each other, but as we get nearer it
Brocko', Morty, Gaz and Dave and there's applause all round as we get
to the top, it's a welcome site, we're worn out and quickly get in
the RV for air conditioning and a cool drink. Everyone is
fussing round us as we strip, cool down and dry off.
Setting off it's now nearly 5.30pm and Morty heads us in the
direction of a nearby McDonalds, it's the usual fast food fayre, but
this time it's welcome, our legs are shaking from tiredness and
hunger and we must still be dehydrated, so we get some liquid in and
settle down for a rest. Even better news filters through that
Liverpool have beaten Man' UTD 2 - 1, Wigan haven't lost and West
Brom have sneaked a 3 - 2 win over West Ham (apologies to Gary Meyer
of Wegoma, one of our sponsors for recording that detail).
We'll give Dick of the Day and Rider of the day a miss tonight and
pick up tomorrow night instead. It's been a long day for
different reasons and it'll be nice to get an early night.
Day Fifteen
14.09.08 (Grafton - Waynesboro, Pennsylvania 200
miles)
State West Virginia
The Rockies and the Appalachians were always seen as the biggest
obstacle to us completing this event. The best climbers in the
group and the fittest people those being Iain, John & Yvonne have
all played a fantastic part in dealing with the more difficult
aspects of the ride an we rightly applaud them for there
efforts.
What I have written in the next few paragraphs is no exaggeration, in
90deg heat and 85% humidity 3 middle aged men and Sean set off on a
four mile climb into the northern reaches of the Appalachian mountain
range, it's always hard starting off on your ride as the legs need to
get going, the next 10 miles or so we're averaging a fair speed
indeed we complete the first 20 miles of this ride in under an
hour. It will take us another 2hours 52mins to complete the
remaining 36 miles. The climbs are bad enough, the heat is overwhelming,
we are going through drink like it's going out of fashion. In
nearly 3 hours we've drank over 12 bottles (6 litres) and had a litre
and a half of Mountain mist lemonade and never needed a toilet break,
none of us. The first group out with the better climbers had
the worst terrain, so god only knows what they've gone through.
We've completed 4 separate climbs along the way, each between 800 and
1,000 feet. As we come around one corner after barely
completing the last climb, Gaz' shouts out " good god, look at
that mother in front of us" and it's an other mammoth
ascent. Without question there are thoughts going through my
mind that it's probably going to be the first time in the ride when
we'll have to get off and walk.
The RV has arrived behind us and we stock up with yet more water, at
this point Gaz' is seriously considering getting in the RV, how Gaz'
has climbed as well as he has in this heat on a double chain set is
nothing short of sensational. Sean questions whether he has two
more days in him and Keith is just spinning the pedals, it's hard to
describe.
There is only one way up this last ascent, it's called teamwork and
Sean takes off with Gary and they're spinning ahead. Graeme
rides on with Keith and we're all spinning at 5-6mph for the next two
miles, if there had been a camera crew filming then most of the
watching public would have been close to tears seeing the road ahead
and looking back to what we are leaving behind.
The final group are out on their ride, forget Arizona and the desert,
Eastern U.S.A has provided the sting in the tail, there where riders
out there on the edge of exhaustion and dehydration and today they've
pushed the boundaries of endurance beyond that expected. If you
think this has been a holiday, think again.
We're still thinking of both teams that have been out today.
Team A led by Iain have had to do 74 miles in this heat, it was bad
enough for us at 59 miles, just think what these lads have gone
through. Even the most experienced rider Iain (macca) went past
his maximum heart rate and John was pushing 150. There has to
be an extra special mention for Richard and Andrew who have shown
extraordinary resilience to come through this most gruelling of days,
it will without doubt be seen as the hardest day of the ride. A
comment from Iain regarding Brocko's assistance was that
"without his constant support throughout the morning, being
there when they needed him for water, they could have been
dead".
Team C, the last team out and headed by Alan will be having an
equally tough time. Though their route looks flatter than the
rest there are still one or two peaks to get over and they'll be
seriously hot like the rest of us.
It's about 7pm now and neither Team A or C are back yet. We nip
over the road to the local pub "Pappy's bar" for a well
earned lager. It's what you might imagine a typical bar is in
the U.S, pool table, 2 dart boards, Budweiser, Miller lite and other
beers. There are only about half a dozen people in the place
and it's a Sunday night so we're surprised it's open. The
locals are once again very friendly and take an interest in what we
are doing. One lady at the bar drops us dollar toward the
charity and the bar tender brings us some cheese, baloney & wafer
biscuits as a snack. They also agree to stay open later than
the 8.30pm closing time so that all the returning riders and support
can get in for a cool beer. When they arrive back it's about
8.20pm and they look tired, nowone wants to consider going for a restaurant
meal and the owner allows us to order Pizzas in.
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Dear Friends and Supporters
Only 2 more days to go and our ride ends, its been a
tough ride today and will be again tomorrow through the Appalachian
Mountains, its the humidity that hurts, imagine exercising hard for
Hours before you can stop then when you take a break its like
breathing air from a hair dryer.
Enjoy the newsletter and if you have not donated
please give a little.
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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Thank You
Edgetech
Now it may be
strange in the U.K., to think that a guy would drive 200 miles,
give you a cheque for $2,500.00, take you out for dinner, pay for
it and then drive 200 miles home. And all this on a Friday night
too !!!
Well Mike Hovene, Top man at Edgetech in the USA did
exactly that. Instigated by the UK Managing Director, Andy Jones,
Mike took upon himself to do the honours and a big thank you goes
to him, Edgetech and Andy for the magnificent gesture.
The team had been through a tough day, so to have someone go completely
out of his way as Mike did was just the lift we needed.
A big, big thank you to Edgetech and Mike.
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Support Crew Profile Anthony Taylor
Anthony "Sat
Nav" Taylor is a Director at Northwich Glass and has 4 four Daughters
Fiona, Helen, Esme & Jessica and one Grandaughter Isobel.
Anthony is really a
runner and is competing in this year's Great North run for the
Christie Hospital in Manchester. He does have some cycling
experience including a leg of the Top2Bottom ride but was a little
saddle sore at the end.
So I asked Antony what was his motivation to get involved he said
"I have been to Hope House during to Top2Bottom ride and found
it a very moving experience and this was a good opportunity to help
the team deliver the ride4hope"
The support crew are 1st up in the morning and last to finish
have to look after the riders and cope with ego's and get no
rest in between,
Anthony has been
great on this trip and has never complained about his heavy daily schedule,
Top Man !!
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Meals on
Wheels
Over Two and Half weeks on the road, naively I assumed
that we would experience some fine dining (3 out of 4 times if we
were lucky).
After all being on the road in the early day for up to 15 hours in
not the most comfortable surroundings you very much look forward to
doing some "chilling out" over a beer or a glass of wine
whichever is your preferred choice accompanied by some decent cuisine
discussing the exploits of the day.
Alas, this was not meant to be. Travelling the states from
Coast to Coast a country so big (around 3,000 miles West to East)
you need to get there as fast as you can.
If you are on the road then you need to use the Interstate highways
(large A roads, dual carriageways threading through the odd town
that pops up on route. Some of these towns we are using as
stop off points along the way with various standards of hotels and
hopefully some fine dining.
The hotels and dining outlets are mostly found on the edge of town
and we used a number of hotels such as The Holiday Inn Express,
Quality Inns, Best Western, to name a few. These would form
the backdrop of what we thought would be an excellent dining
experience.
We were wrong. The choices turned out to be :-
- McDonalds
- Pizza
Hut
- Taco
Bell
- KFC
- Wendy's
- Arbys
- Subway
Plus a number of Mexican type diners which are
memorable for the wrong reasons.
Lunches were primarily centred around the massive
Subway chain (never want to see one again), although the driver did
try and offer alternatives whenever possible by shopping around at
Wall-Mart for fruit and salad with the odd finely cooked chicken
etc
So often after a long day in the saddle, there wasn't really a lot
to look forward to, this was the fast food experience at it's best,
the facilities are clearly there for the travelling person.
It certainly does not cater for Athletes like ourselves.
This is not a calorie controlled experience and often 2 to 3 times
a day dining on this you start to detest the thought of eating
out. America is a big country and there are certainly some
very big Americans, big guys, big gals', big clothes, big
everything, big million calorie meals every night.
In saying that, there are not a lot of alternatives, there are
little or no quaint villages where you find some nice pub
grub. There are no pubs, in some states you couldn't even get
a beer on certain days. It's either fast food or No food.
We are now in day 15 and up to date we have had 3 excursions away
from the fast food experience and I'd term them as rubbish.
The best two dining experiences we have had were at Italian
Restaurants in Trinidad and Indianapolis.
In saying all that, we are here to raise money for Hope House
Hospices, not to self indulge in a fine wining and dining
experience. From the beginning of it's conception this trip was
never going to be easy or designed to be wholly comfortable, but
the camaraderie has made up for everything.
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Rider Profile Yvonne McGregor MBE
After winning Olympic Bronze and Commonwealth Gold medals plus
holding world records and representing the UK in many international
events you would think there is nothing left to test a super
athlete.
But the challenge
of riding 3050 miles with a bunch on middle aged blokes across
America obviously got Yvonne McGregor exited enough to get
involved.
Yvonne deserves a
gold medal for just coping with 14 men over the last few weeks, she
has been professional and committed in everything she has been
involved with and has made the task even more enjoyable.
There is some talk
of her doing the Race Across America solo !! well she will have 14
support crew if she needs them, she is a super Star in every
sense of the word.
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The Route
day 13 - 15
Day thirteen and the
pace continues with a total of 212 miles needing to be covered. The
route sees the team surpass the town of Springfield, home to the
Simpson family. The day ends in Circleville which hosts the
Circleville Pumpkin Show every October, which draws over 400,000
visitors each year.
Day fourteen sets off from Circleville heading 192 miles towards
Grafton, West Virginia. Grafton is near Tygart Lake State Park,
which is a local tourist attraction boasting lakeside cabins, golf
and waterskiing.
Day fifteen allows a slight drop in mileage for the team to cover,
with only 184 miles needing to be covered by the end of the day.
The final destination for the day is Waynesboro, which was chiefly
an industrial town in the early years of the 20th Century. It was
known for the manufacture of engines, boilers, grinders, threshers,
boring machines, bolt cutters, wood and iron workers' vises, nut
facers, etc.
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Spannertime
Typically, most
cyclists who set off for a single day ride will take a spare inner
tube, tyre levers and a mini tool. Yet for the Ride 4 Hope we've had
to take considerably more tools to ensure whatever could go wrong
(and often does) we are in a position to repair it or least to make
some sort of botch job!
So far Gary Morton has excelled himself with 8 punctures; Gary Torr
has had his rear wheel re-built twice and there have been a number
of other minor mechanicals. We've also lost a few sets of bike
lights which have bounced down the freeway due to potholes and
general road conditions. On board there are spare chains, cables,
tyres, front/rear changer, spare wheels, two full toolkits, bike
stand and over 40 inner tubes. Daily tasks include inflating tyres
to 115psi and the administration of lubricant, the chain type I
hasten to add.
Bike cleaning has been minimal due to the favourable weather, though
as I write this leaving Indianapolis, the heavens have
opened. Yet it must be noted that Mssrs Olkeiwicz and Gyde
have been guilty of over bike attentiveness, which is of some
concern!
Fingers crossed, our beloved bikes will reach Atlantic City with little
further mechanical attention.
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Rider
Profile Alan Sadler
Alan "The
Exaggerator" Sadler is Managing Director at Fabstore and The Profix Group, he is
married to Wendy and has 3 children Louise, Jake and Alex.
" I love this charity, as a parent you could not
imagine what these families endure when they realise one of their
children will not live a full life. While we can never fix this,
by contributing to Hope House with GM Fundraising I can at least
help provide the best care and support for these families"
Done a bit of cycling Top2Bottom but mainly mountain biking,
Lance calls me regular to see if I will pace him in the Tour
but I say "Lance No !, I will be in America with Morty
and the team "
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