Thank You! Grand Departure Oceanside Invitiation

Just a special invitation from myself and the "on the road" team to join the race festivities for the official start on Wednesday, June 17 at noon. We'll be getting spun up at 11am and invite you to join us at the Pier for the festivities. We'll also have some nice schwag to give out to show off our home town colors.. I sincerely invite you to attend and to bring as many friends as possible!

Here are the official details:

Oceanside Pier - Oceanside, CA
2009 is the year you want to be at the RAAM Start Line. Not just because there will be one of the most awesome line up of racers ever to embark the race, but because everyone’s racing it from a governor to a rock star. RAAM will have a new look to it this year, one like you have never seen before. The Strand will be closed to traffic, and the bicycles will rule as the anticipation of the RAAM start builds. Families and every type of bicycle enthusiast will be there. Come out to enjoy all the activity and excitement surrounding the start line of the Worlds Toughest Endurance Bicycle Race, this year. Below is a schedule of the RAAM starts and activities:

Wednesday, June 17 12:00pm (PDT) - Start for the RAAM men solo racers and the RAW racers.
11:30 am: US Navy SEALS the Leaping Frogs will be parachuting into the start line
12:00 pm: Bob Babbitt, editor of Competitor Magazine will be sending off the World’s Toughest Bicycle Racers with a new style of a start.

See you soon,
Mike

All Systems (a real big) Go

Just a quick note to all the people coming out of the woodwork to encourage and support our RAW team this year. Thank you SO MUCH!

I've been a bit hesitant to post my training regime on the blog. Call it "too competitive" or just plain too busy. Lets just say that I personally spend more than a few minutes studying my competitors blogs and social media pages - keeping tabs on their training plans. So.. why would I give away the intensity we're bringing to the race?

That said, we're about forty days from the start line. I can honestly report the beatings, intensity and (pretty much) planned cruelty & sleep deprivation are going absolutely to plan. In plain speak, this seasons' ramp up has brought me to the month of May stronger than ever before. I look forward to two more double centuries (Davis and Eastern Sierra), plus pre-on course training rides and a week long hell camp (in the Lone Pine area) to fine tune my fitness & endurance.

Again, thank you so much for your support in every way. We couldn't do this without friends, our amazing charity partner and our sponsors. If you haven't taken the chance to check out our Active Giving page, I encourage you to do so today. 100% of the donations go directly to Forward Motion for San Diego. Our jerseys will make an appearance soon (too).
all the very best,
Mike
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill