Monday, April 28, 2008

RAWROD 08
















About 45 of us did the White Rim in a day on Sat. 100 miles of dirt. Most of us drove down on Friday night, camped out on the Rim, and ate brats until the late hours of the night. Others arrived in the morning. We rolled out at about 7am. The weather was perfect. Mid to high 60's. I kept my vest and arm warmers on for most of the ride. The cool temps kept me from cramping and allowed me to do the ride with bottles instead of a Camelbak.

I wasn't super social. I wanted to ride this at my own pace and get some base miles in for Leadville. But here are some of my thoughts:

  • Kenny, Brad, and Adam - Share the Alpha Male award. They did the ride twice. Friday was a TT around the loop and then they rode w/ the group on Sat. Kenny and Brad posted a 7:39 and did this on rigid single speeds.
  • Kenny- maintains his spot in my book as the World's nicest guy. He organized the ride, cooked the brats, made homemade bread, and made sure everyone made it out alive.
  • Brad K. - wins the cheerleader award. He hung around at the top of the Mineral Bottom climb and yelled at everyone as they made their way up the switchbacks.
  • Dug- Needs to quit his job and become a full-time sheppard. Not a single lamb would ever get lost. He's also like a crack dealer but with mountain biking. He has introduced more people to cycling than anyone I know and manages to keep them hooked.
  • Elden- Was available for photos for all who were interested and intimidated everyone with the Leadville 100 jacket.
  • Eric (Sleepy) - Gets the MVP award. With minimal saddle time so far this year, the guy threw his leg over a borrowed rigid SS and knocked out a 100 mile ride.
  • Jon- Seemed like he could have kept riding for another 1o0 miles. After the ride, polished off a burger from Ray's Tavern in Green Valley and managed to stay awake and drive my tired body home.
  • Dan (Botched)- Needs his own survival reality show. He slept out in the cold desert night with nothing but a plastic tarp (wrapped up like a tortilla) and pushed himself to the limit on the ride. On the way home, after spending some time face down in a ditch on the side of the road throwing up (more than once), was able to regain his strength and continues to live.
  • Chris H- Cleaned the Murphy Hogback climb on his SS. Probably the most impressive move of the day.

If you haven't done RAWROD, you are missing out. Hope to see you there next year.

10 comments:

Grizzly Adam said...

What a great weekend! It was fun spinning the miles with you and so many other good people.

I think in addition to getting people hooked on cycling, dug is also getting folks hooked on remote temperature controlled bedays.

KanyonKris said...

Rick, good recap of a fantastic ride. You made it look waaay too easy on your SS bike.

Anonymous said...

rick, were you there? i don't think i saw you. what were you wearing?

adam, you think the bidet came in handy this weekend, after turning my backside to hamburger on white rim? you bet it did.

Anonymous said...

Rick, nice writeup--I think you captured all the high points. I am still in awe of the three alpha males.

Anonymous said...

Talk about survival, I only ate a handfull of pringles at Hardscrabble and I didn't eat anything until Sunday at about 11:00am. Then I started eating and my wife and children got scared and ran for cover.

It was great riding with you for those 5 seconds.

Botched

Rick Sunderlage said...

Adam- i hope you take some time to recover. that was a big weekend for you. Nice riding with you.

KK- I'm sticking with Brad and Dug on this...the SS is easier than the gears.

Dug- Did you get the package I left you at the top of Murphys? It was pretty big.

Mark- I'm glad we finally got out and did something together.

Botched- You gave us all a good scare. Glad to pulled it together.

andy said...

sweet! was that an official invite? cuz if so, i'm there!

Jonnie J said...

Rick - Good times this weekend. Thanks for having me along and thanks for trying your darndest to think of random subjects to talk about at 1 oclock in the morning so I wouldn't fall asleep and drive us both into the ditch!

Eric Gaoiran said...

At first I thought it would be a one time shot, but after riding it I am hooked and can't wait until next year to do it again.

Anonymous said...

That was a stellar weekend. I think you're all ready for KTR now.