I am writing this post on June 14, 2010 at 10:30 PM. Rob is riding through Kansas and looking strong.
I have no idea how, when or if Rob will make it to the finish line. I hope he does, and I think he will, but if he doesn't, so what.
He has already accomplished so much in the preparation and execution of this race. The miles he's ridden in a handful of days are more than most people will ride in a lifetime.
He has raised more than a thousand dollars for a good cause.
He managed to convince 12 smart and busy people with lives and careers and families to drop everything and sit in a van for more than a week and follow him across the country, getting little sleep and eating bad food.
He must be a pretty decent fellow.
This was an important RAAM for Rob and he has acquitted himself well. I'll stack up Rob's character, courage and convictions to do well and do good against most professional athletes in the world today.
Regardless of when you are reading this - June 15, 16, 17 - or soon after Rob crossed the finish line in Annapolis, I'll say again (as I did after the 2008 race) how proud I am to tell - no brag - to anyone who will listen:
"Let me tell you about my best friend and what he did one week in June 2010. It was quite something."
----------
***June 20, 2010 - 9:30 PM UPDATE***
Of course, since I drafted (but did not publish) that post nearly a week ago, Rob did what he does and finished 7th today - moving up the leader board by one position over his RAAM finishes in '96 and '00.
It was awe-inspiring watching him cross the finish line this afternoon. He bitched about how bad he felt for the last 100 miles (and I am sure he did, in fact, feel awful), but he looked fantastic the whole day.
(And that $1,000+ figure for money raised for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is now $2,815. Who knows - we may yet push it over $3,000!)
This evening, a few of us brought Wendy's take-out back to the room and Rob feasted with abandon - a post-race tradition for him.
If past is prelude, tonight will be a rough night, as his metabolism is still operating as if he were on the bike burning 12,000 calories per day. He will want to sleep, but will wake up every hour or two with crazy hunger pains as his body continues to crave energy.
Keep checking back on this blog every now and then for the next week or two. We'll post more videos, photos and a final post race Q&A with Rob so you can hear out of his own mouth how he felt about the race.
Thanks for reading and following Rob on his journey and helping him across the finish line.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Many kudos to you, Mr. Baker, for keeping us up-to-date on not only Rob's progress but for giving us a unique behind-the-scenes view of RAAM. Your writing was exceptional and often very moving. Great job!
We here at WOW Oral Care would like to congratulate you! Amazing job. We loved keeping up with your blog. A big praise and congrats to the team as well. You guys were all amazing to have done this and to follow online! From all of us here at WOW Oral Care CONGRATS!!
A few days late - but I want to express my admiration and amazement for the accomplishment of riding transcontinental (again).
I rode along behind/ahead for just a few miles (TS 52 Mt Airy - to the turn at Brighton Dam Rd/MD 650) on the final day. My short 40 miles (only 16 on the route) ride that very warm day pales in comparison to Rob's awesome accomplishment. Congratulations!
Post a Comment