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ROBIC
ROCKS RAAM
TREVINO RACES FOR FIRST
 Now
past time station 11 in Show Low, Arizona, some things
are very apparent. Robic is here to win. Trevino is here
to stop that from happening. As far as we know (riders
and crews like to keep secrets), neither has slept yet in
their individual campaigns in which both have ridden
over 590 miles.
On the first night our media van pulled up beside both
riders. Trevino looked like he was out for a stroll in
the park. Robic acted as if he was on a search and
destroy mission. We didn't get the chance to talk with
him.
The first day and night brought both exciting and
worrisome news. Favorite Fasching, was back in the
middle of the pack and at time station 5, he was in 11th place. But
by time station 9 he had ridden back into 3rd.
Similarly, Rob Kish, who was 15th at time station 2 was
4th by time station 8.
Other riders have done fantastic; David Hasse has been
trading places with Kish and Valsesia. He has never
reached a time station lower than 7th overall and has
been as high as 4th. Valsesia likewise has placed 3rd at
time station 4 and never finished lower than 7th. 52 year old German rider, Peter Holy, has
climbed to 8th. Andy Lapkass, who at 46 is riding with
two partially amputated feet, has also placed 8th a 2
time stations. It goes on and on. Robic is not the only
rocker in this year's RAAM.
From
inside the Media Van
(Blythe, CA) At 18:35 hours, I, along with Danny Chew, and
Robert Walker sat on the side of the road next to an
overly active Mobil station. Outside our Ford Van, the
heat acting as a strangulating dry glue that sticks to
you and weighs you down, slows your heart rate and makes
you wish you followed your parents dreams and became a
dentist. At least then you wouldn’t be in this heat
hole on a Sunday night watching others live out their
dreams.
In 11 hours, 15 minutes, Jure Robic has just completed his 229th
mile of RAAM 2004.
A look down the long road indicates his followers are
not very near. In fact, we passed his posse some time
earlier and estimated he had an approximate 17 mile lead
over RAAM rookie and ultra marathon runner, Mike Trevino, of
San Diego, California. Behind him with a strong start, is
Italy’s Dino Valsesia, and then Austria’s Wolfgang
Fasching.
The sky is devoid of clouds, south of our vehicle runs
the main highway, heavily populated by transport trucks
and passenger cars. On this hot lonely piece of tarmac,
one can feel the approach of the riders. They are coming
- they will not be denied, nor deterred. Robic has
stretched an early lead to approximately one hour, which
percentage wise is significant. But it is far too early
to start singing the Slovenia National Anthem. A lot is
bound to happen in the 3,000 mile long Insight Race
Across America. In fact, it’s guaranteed.
Technology is designed to make the trip more efficient,
but you can’t always get what you want. Glitches have
hampered my every move. Computers that won’t compute,
software and hardware that won’t install or load. People
repeating the same thought over and over, people
repeating my statement over and over. Well, I guess it
can be fun, once I figure out how to slice it.
I asked Danny to go into my back-pack and pull out my
head-mounting LED light. He in turn asks me if it runs
on batteries. I tell him it does. He asks, “What kind?”
I tell him, “Double A’s.” He voices his opinion that he
does not want me to use the light as it will burn out
the batteries. I explain that they are LED lights and
the batteries will last a few hundred hours. He doesn’t
believe me. I don’t really care, what is his issue with
batteries? He never gets me the light.
Later we stop for fuel, and I immediately make a mental
note to invest in service stations as it is the fuel
stop from hell; busier than a hole cutter in a doughnut
factory. I wait and wait and wait and finally park near
a pump. I am instructed to go in and pay first. Another
line-up. Good God, do they not know I am following a
race – the greatest race. I pump in the fuel, wash the
windows and dig out my LED light. I place it on my
skull and turn it on. Danny asks me if it is the LED
light. I explain it is the battery burning torch.
He phones Brian, a techno guru who is set up to solve
our problems. I ask him not once, but four times to ask
Brian his location. Danny hangs up, he does not know
where Brian is. I turn on the radio, it scans and stops
at, if you can believe it, a polka song. Ain’t we got
fun?
Robert, is a film guy, a cameraman. He has been embedded
in our crew to follow the race, learn from Danny’s
unparallel knowledge of RAAM, and be entertained by
contributions I presume. He wants to stop for “a meal in
a nice place, where a person takes my order and brings
my food,” he wants roast beef he says. Somehow I think
it is unlikely to occur. He tells me he will settle for
Burger King if I tell him he is pretty. He goes in and
gets his own burgers and is dismayed when neither I, nor
Danny, tell him he is pretty. Next he wants to sleep in a
bed, the kind that has the bedspread turned down and a Godiva chocolate on the pillow. I don’t think that he
“gets RAAM”. I trade him in for Peter, another film guy.
He doesn’t want roast beef or more importantly, to hear
that he is pretty.
Robic’s pace car is rumored to be nearly out of fuel. It
can happen, even to soldiers with no Jerry cans on their
roof. One of Fasching’s van rolls by. It is a bit of an
enigma as he was way back in the back, 8th or
so, and only the top two have made it to Hope, AZ. I wonder,
"Has Fasching recovered that quickly?" It seems hard to
believe, but so is Fasching. The quiet Austrian is an
exercise in unexplained things.
(22:10 hours, Hope, AZ) Robic is a ghost, long gone
in the night, but Trevino rolls by. He is the picture of
all American fitness, it is hard to describe his energy
as he rides by, the small crowd cheer him on. I snap a
picture and Peter rolls film. Danny is sitting at a
picnic table, happier than a person should be, crunching
numbers creating spreadsheets. His glasses, which are
larger than life, reflect slivers of headlight created
lights and give him an image that makes me think of Star
Wars. Spooky really.
I have the engine running as it charges our batteries
and cools my air. Outside my cocoon the night is
windless and starry. Even in the quietest moments, RAAM
screams out. A single flickering light is coming towards
us. Behind it, a pace car. Who will it be? Has Dino
maintained his pace? Time will tell but light carries so
far on such a straight stretch.
(23:50 hours, Hope, AZ) The rider emerges, it is Pious
Ackerman; he immediately heads into his motor home for a
sleep. Moments later, David Haase rolls in. He is
extremely keen, focused and determined. His crew has
laid out a tarp on the pavement and he lies down on his
stomach. Two men rub his legs and bring him a peanut
butter and honey sandwich. Good food I guess?
Trevino and truck blown away in his wake.
The Stats
Time Station 1
1 Jure Robic193
2 Michael Trevino187
3 Pius Achermann188
4 Peter Holy195
5 Dino Nico Valsesia185
6 Andrew Lapkass179
7 David Haase191
8 Wolfgang Fasching199
9 Russ Goodwin189
10 Tracy McKay182
11 Enrico De Angeli198
12 Scott Dakus184
13 Randy Van Zee183
14 James Rosar186
15 Rob Kish180
16 Andrew Otto196
17 Guus Moonen192
18 Robert Rich197
19 Alessandro Colo' 194
Time Station 3
1 Jure Robic193
2 Michael Trevino195
3 Dino Nico Valsesia187
4 Pius Achermann191
5 Wolfgang Fasching179
6 David Haase198
7 Scott Dakus180
8 Andrew Otto181
9 Andrew Lapkass199
10 Russ Goodwin182
11 Enrico De Angeli188
12 Peter Holy186
13 Rob Kish183
14 James Rosar196
15 Guus Moonen184
16 Randy Van Zee197
17 Alessandro Colo'192
18 Robert Rich189
19 Tracy McKay
Time Station 5
1 Jure Robic193
2 Michael Trevino195
3 Dino Nico Valsesia
4 Pius Achermann179
5 David Haase186
6 Rob Kish198
7 Scott Dakus181
8 Andrew Lapkass196
9 Guus Moonen188
10 Peter Holy191
11 Wolfgang Fasching180
12 Andrew Otto183
13 James Rosar199
14 Russ Goodwin197
15 Alessandro Colo'184
16 Randy Van Zee182
17 Enrico De Angeli189
18 Tracy McKay192
19 Robert Rich
Time Station 7
1 Jure Robic193
2 Michael Trevino195
3 Dino Nico Valsesia186
4 Rob Kish187
5 Pius Achermann179
6 David Haase191
7 Wolfgang Fasching188
8 Peter Holy181
9 Andrew Lapkass196
10 Guus Moonen184
11 Randy Van Zee180
12 Andrew Otto198
13 Scott Dakus199
14 Russ Goodwin183
15 James Rosar182 -
16 Enrico De Angeli197
17 Alessandro Colo
Time Station 9 ( so far)
1 Jure Robic193
2 Michael Trevino191
3 Wolfgang Fasching179
4 David Haase186
5 Rob Kish187
6 Pius Achermann195
7 Dino Nico Valsesia
All RAAM Teams
left San Diego today. Team Action Sports
led Team Vail Go-Fast by 5 minutes at the second time
station, El Centro, CA, 124 miles into the race. All
details tomorrow.
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