Yesterday is still today

yep, yesterday is still today.  cayden told me this when we were trying to figure out if it was still mary dolls birthday.  we met up with the other side of the team at five am which got us to sleep at about six am.  long night and we are on our way out to meet up with the other side again.  it seems we are going at a pretty good pace and we may get in late morning to annapolis.  woohoo. days and states seem to be running together.  cant wait to get to maryland to ride together as a team.

Strong

We are an amazing strong team. Organ Recyclers have had several injuries before we even started. But we have remained determined to bring awareness to the gift of life - organ donation. Today was no exception. We were on a roll leaving La Veta, Colorado to Ulysses,Kansas. 260 miles in 13.5 hrs, average speed 19.3 mph. This was done after the team got about 2.5 hrs sleep. The crew and riders have bonded and are getting the job done. We did have a crash believe it or not a half a mile before the end of our shift. Tom went down hard on a railroad track. He is fine, has road rash and will probably be a little sore in the morning. Remember we are tough. We will perservere and we are going to cross that finish line Annapolis, Maryland with a once in lifetime experience and giving back. Organ donation is truly the gift of life and we are racing 3,000 miles from coast to coast in our good ole USA to make sure we spread the word. Day four tomorrow. Keep following us. Send positive messages our way. We would love to hear from our followers. Elisabeth

Reality Set In! ~jen

We all new and were coached to be flexible! Friendly reminders to be kind to crew and fellow riders. This we have nailed down pretty well still on day two. So well, that our shift was ahead of schedule by over 30 miles, that crew had to wake up the alternate shift early to get moving and moving fast to transistion us out. Sorry Mac, Elizabeth, Bill & Tom for cutting your sleep time a little short.
The last two hours of our shift, we were struggling, digging deep for the energy we needed to hold out for the only safe transition area. I was soooo tired, i fell asleep in my sweaty bike kit. Thank God for Jimmy! He let me borrow his steller shorts because my duffle bag got left in the transition vehicle. So many details to cover...

second shift almost done

Today we have had lots of head winds and cross winds. We are all getting tired and are ready for our shift to be over. It seems we are doing well. We are still pedaling. All of us are still having fun. Making up nicknames, doing practical jokes on each other and laughing a lot. I hope it continues. I'm bummed I'm not riding wil my kidney sista though. Hope to along the route soon.

Awesome 1st shift

Tom, Mac, Bill &Elizabeth rocked this am. Entering Arizona the sunrise was spectacular. From Congress to Prescott we did some awesome transitioning up Yarnell Grade

feeling great

Surpased our crew chiefs expectations and came in faster than expected. Stacy is doing awesome and our crew is top notch. We are on our way to sedona AZ. There is nothing like riding for a personal cause with the wind at your back. Tough climbs in our immediate future with follow vehicles not allowed. Thank you everyone for following.

My First RAAM Breakfast ~jen

Oooooh, So HAPPY! My first RAAM breakfast, Starbucks lowfat turkey bacon (no cheese) and Grande, Non-Fat, 180 Degree, 5 Pump Chai Tea Latte...yummmm ;) Shhhhh, Eric and Stacy are sleeping. Keep the excitement down people. How rude! Hehee!
~jen

One rotation down!

OMG! What an experience...we pushed the pace so well, we were ahead of schedule. At exactly 12 hours, we hit our 3rd Time Station! Stacy, Eric, David & I averaged 21mpg! Woohooo! Fly'n. Thank you Vera, the wind was with us. Our team is Great! Crew is awesome. Kenny only burped once (that I am aware of) and us Ladies are getting really fast at using the exterier facilities between tranisition, haha! I was full of energy until the 12th hour, but had no issue sleeping like a baby once we got into the vehicle for our Off Transition. Thank you all for your wishes and prayers...so far so good! Keep it up!!! Go Mac, Bill, Tom & Elizabeth :)
Besos!
~jen

Waiting Ready To Ride

Hello, Bloggers, Friends, Family, and Supporters! This is Mac (Mackenzie Koppert), Been getting some rest but awaiting till my 12hour shift (Around 2 AM). Im here in the Organ Re-Cyclers RV with Tad, Brother Jim, and Scott. Listening to music to keep myself occupied. Let me tell you one thing, dont try to go to sleep in the back (You'll be bouncing around). Well Time for a little pasta and staying hydrated (103 in Blythe).

Wahooo Keep :)'ing

Mac

Finally!

After all the prepping we're finally off and racing! I have the privilege once again to follow Team Donate Life. Last year I was part of the media team, this year I'm part of the crew. I did bring my camera so I'll post a few pictures along the way.

Scot Benton
Studio B

Here is one pic of the team befor the race started .

THE RACE IS ON

The race has finally started. Im so glade that all my races and crew have come together to make this whole race happen. So now here I site back in the RV in the Parking lot waiting for four of our racers to come into the RV and then we head off to Blyth Ca. Where we will make our frist team transition around 4 am. For our first team of 4 racers and 5 crew will have a long day ahead of them . As we are by the ocean now but in not to long they will be in the desert where it will be around 30 deg hotter then it has been by the ocean. Ihave to go now, but I hope you will all stay tuned to US.

P.S Sorry i have not got the video to work on the blog yet I will keep trying.

Tad

The reason...

So. Here it is. Race day. At 2PM we will leave oceanside to trek across the country by bike, car, and motor home with the mission of spreading awareness of the practice of organ donation. Whether it is a choice after passing away or making a living donation. Our team is demonstrating how high someone who has received and donated can function. We are also bring three others with us. I am carrying a picture of Donovan Creason on my bike. While still an infant Donovan left his loving parents too early as a result of kidney failure. This shows us that even the most precious ones are not immune to health issues. His parents have founded the Donovan Creason memorial. Second is Luca. Stacy is carrying his picture on her bike. Luca went int liver failure and my no less than a miracle received a liver transplant. Without it they most likely would have lost him within days. Finally Tom is carrying a picture of Crystal. She was an avid cyclist who was critically injured in a cycling crash. Crystal's family ensured her organs were donated to several others. There are many parallels in Tom and Crystals famil which it even more personal. So as we make this gruelling struggle across country, Donovan, Luca and Crystal will be on our bikes and in our hearts.

Long Day

Had a long day again today but at the end of it we have got 17 vans all ready to going with the flashing lights and slow moving signs. Off to go to bed to start a hole new day tomorrow installing all the sponsor decals and the CB's in the cars. After that fun day is over, I still need to pack and get ready to go on thruday morning.

Can't wait for Thursday

All spring the race seemed so far away -- now it's only one more day until we leave to go down to Oceanside. Already we are working well together as a team and it will feel really good to finally hit the road. I think we're all nervous but anxious to get going. Everyone seems to be focusing on their job and doing their best. I can't believe how quickly the time is passing now. Let's go!

Time ticks away

5 days and counting till we start the race! So much to do and so little time.

This year RAAM has a whole new twist for me. In 2009 I was a rider in the race and now in 2011 I am a crew chief for the most amazing team I have ever been around. I can not wait to help lead them across America. This team has put there heart and soul into this race and for our cause. So please stay tuned as I will be taking small video clips and uploading to this blog to try and show you all just a little bit what it's like to be a part of RAAM. I will tell you that ALL VIDEO will be uncut and uncensored so don't be surpised when you look at it. I hope that over the next week and a half Organ Re-cyclers Blog is part of your every day routine to check in on us. Be sure to blog back to us to help keep us motivated and fuel us across america with inspiration and stories you may have!

LET'S GO

Ok, so yesterday I rode to work and then did the trainer when I got there. That was my last ride that I am going to enter into the training log. We pack up and leave for Oceanside, CA Thursday at 0600 from It's a Grind (right after some coffee and treats). I am sure I speak for my team mates when I say "Let's go already!"

Patience

Since my crash on May 19 where the cement happened to break my fall and clavicle! I have learned a little bit more about patience. Believe me there is nothing more that I want than to be out there with my other fellow Organ Recyclers racing across America here in the coming weeks. I watched 28 riders and several crew members work towards one goal on Friday. Getting across the finish line safely, but there was one little mishap. In my 27 years of life on this on this planet Earth I have learned that things happen, we may not know why but they do. I am the type of person thats flies by the seat of my pants and if it sounds good than it must be good. I have toned that down a lot in the last few years. When this RAAM and TDL thing came up it was a unequivocal YES. I have been known to put other people first no matter what and I will be repaid later. In this instance I said yes. I wanted something that challenged me through and through. In this time I have met some of the best people ever. The Baade's, Kelly's, Doll's and Guevara's. So I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for the awesome gratitude and pure awesomeness. Thank you for believing in me until I had to say no, even though you all still believe in me. Believe me if I could, I would out there riding with all of you everyday day or night, rain or shine! This time I get to gnaw my arm off as i'm navigating or driving and helping with making lunch or honking the horn to go left or right. I am glad that I still get to help out. I wouldn't have it any other way. Every person that has helped me out or given me words of wisdom, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. All of you have helped me in tremendous ways. Its amazing the extended family Rachelle and I have through TDL. I will never forget this. I will do RAAM if not next year than the following year.

Eric, I am glad that you are okay and still on the team. When I saw that it was you in the ditch with your eyes closed, a lot of four letter words came to my head. When I walked over and saw that you were talking I said thats a good thing. I said a little prayer in my head that you would be okay. You were and all you want to do now is get back on the bike. That. Is. Awesome. We all know it could have been worse, but it wasn't and thats all that matters. Eric you're the man!

What a weekend!

These passed few days have been a whirlwind, physically, emotionally and mentally. As Eric wrote in his previous post we just attended Team Donate Life’s spring training camp. The first day of camp was supposed to be a 60 mile ride. By the time we all met up at Bicycles Plus there was lightening, hail, and heavy rain. We cut the ride short, but still got pelted with lots of hail and rain. If it wasn’t the first day of camp, I would have just gone home and got on the trainer or better yet, changed into my jammies.

The second day was a 100 mile ride with 11,000 feet of climbing. That’s a tough ride! Everyone did great! That evening riders, crew and family met up at Bicycles Plus for a yummy dinner and to catch up with some old TDL friends and to meet new ones.

The third day was a RAAM simulation. All the riders were split into teams of two with three crew members following in a vehicle. It was a chance for the crew to learn how to help the riders with transitions, to navigate, to drive, and take care of the riders. It was pretty crazy because there were so many teams and so many cars on the road. But it was fun! I was teamed up with Bob, who was crew chief last year and has raced RAAM before. Things were going great and the crew was learning a lot. We had just been following Bob down a fast descent down Salmon Falls Rd and the crew was looking for a safe spot to make a transition. When we were getting ready to round a corner we saw another crew member waving a big orange flag. Then I saw Jen, a rider, near him signaling cars to slow down. I immediately knew something was wrong when I saw a rider out of the car and off her bike. We all then saw the other side of the road were a bunch of TDL people hovering over a rider who crashed. I was looking for Eric and I couldn’t find him and I knew he was somewhere in front of our team. I jumped out of the truck before it was stopped. I immediately started running up to the road, but decided to walk, because have you ever tried running in bike shoes? You really can’t! I asked the first two people I saw with TDL who crashed and they didn’t know. The next three people I asked didn’t know either. Then I saw Cayden across the street near the crash site and she waved for me to come there. Crap, it was Eric.

I knelt beside him and grabbed his hand. He was surrounded by Dr. Ray Thomason, Dr. Bodily, and Chris Biesinger, a nurse. He was so lucky to have them there to help him. They were asking Eric simple questions, which he wasn’t answering correctly. Eric couldn’t even remember crashing. We were all patiently waiting for an ambulance. He looked good, no broken bones, not too much blood, but he just wasn’t getting the damn year right when they asked him. The medics arrived and loaded him up in the ambulance. It was determined that they would get the helicopter to transport him to the hospital since he had a head injury and they didn’t know the extent of the injury. As we rode to the site where the helicopter would land, Eric started to talk more and remember the crash. And then he would finally correct himself when he got the year wrong.

I looked up from the ambulance and saw two TDL crew members, Tad Rogers and Virginia Nunez, waiting to take me to the hospital to meet Eric. I was so relieved to see two of my TDL family. Once the medics took Eric to the helicopter and I headed up to meet Tad and Virginia, I finally shed some tears. My son Tucker, and I have had multiple hospital visits, some life threatening. Thank God, we survived, but through those I have learned to remain calm and wait to hear news from the doctor before I react. But seeing Eric leave for the hospital in a helicopter for unknown head injuries and seeing him worried and scared, it finally hit me. We watched the helicopter leave and then drove to the hospital.

The doctor had the results of the CAT scan fast and said there wasn’t anything wrong. The tech bandaged up Eric’s finger that had a bad cut on it. Other than a big bump on his head, his cut on his finger and lots of scratches on his back, he was fine. So they discharged Eric within less than two hours. He walked out of there with just a bandaged finger.

I can’t even begin to express my gratitude to everyone with TDL. They were all concerned and quick to help with whatever we needed. We are so lucky to have such a huge extended family. And of course a huge thanks to our friends, family and our Folsom PD family who were also there to help in a heartbeat.

Once Eric’s head is a little less cloudy he will blog about his version of the crash. God was truly watching over him that day. His crash could have been much worse if he had crashed on the asphalt instead of the dirt. I can’t even begin to imagine it.

Training Camp

Training camp starts today! More than just the ride it is the team that I am excited about. 8 people have sacrificed their own time to train, put themselves on emotional roller coasters to involve themselves with others who are in need, or lost loved ones or have been affected by organ donation. Now is the time that all of us come together to become the team we will be to cross our country. I am looking forward to ride with each of them as we are all so completely different in not only backgrounds but riding abilities. This makes our team so unique because of that. We aren't a well oiled machine that no matter who is on the road at the moment you always know what to expect. We are people not robots. The crew will know our strengths and weaknesses and will always have to plan and look ahead to get the most out of us. This is going to be an adventure we will have forever.

And I am going to change the number to 9 riders. Kenny is still part of this team, and even though it might be from a passenger seat, he will still be taking his pulls too.