36 Bottles of Perpetuem on the Wall

With just two weeks to go, I am having an internal debate about how hard the RAAM is going to be. On one hand, 120 mile a day for six days, seems daunting. On the other hand, I consulted with Hammer Nutrition to determine how much Perpetuem powder I am going to need for the race. Only 36 six bottles to go across country! No problem.

Medical Update

Hello all,

Sorry for the extra drama. First I knocked up a crew member then I go breaking myself up.

Just wanted to let everyone know how things were going. I got my clavicle plated yesterday (Sunday) morning and everything went great. I literally pulled my Ortho Doc buddy straight off the golf course to come fix me up (I owe him a T time for sure). He said all the screws went in very solid and all the bones went back into place with no problems. I feel a lot better after the surgery and can already move my arm around and don't have to keep it in a sling.

For the next 5-7 days the major concern is not to sweat so the incision does not get infected then I can start riding again (Road bike only). It actually will take 5 - 8 weeks for the bones to actually heal up but I should have full mobility with the plate until then. I just have to be careful not to pick up to much weight until the bone is fully healed because only the screws are holding things together before hand.

I have another buddy who is working me into rehab this week as well. The way I feel so far and the way things have progressed I don't see any reason why I would have any problems. Having raced motorcycles for years riding with injuries is just part of it. I guess my upper body pain may just be constant with the lower body pain during the race.

My ortho doc buddy is going to come up to my house today and remove the bandages. He road his mountain bike by yesterday but I was hiking down in a canyon on my property and missed him. I will let you all know how things are going. Sounds like I may be the only one truly tapering off the training before the race.

Just wanted to let everyone know my thoughts. I know that surgery and broken bones seem like they would be a race ending injury but out of all the bones to break this scenario with a plate will keep me in the race and I am fully committed to riding 100% of my part.

Also, I will order the racks this week and Kiv and I can get the CBs as well. Radio Shack in Cortez has everything in stock including the 3-way plug splitters for the vehicle cigarette lighters. Shawn

P.S. I will email x-ray showing carnage when I get it scanned in.

sam's pics in Germany

Letter from Sam

Hey Kiv,
Things here are going well, Ive had my share of sick detox days already but Im still pushing! I had last week off and I was very sick, I had major nausea and I didnt eat for about 3 days...:( I started treatment on monday and I did great they cranked the machine up to 25% and I took it without pain or anything, Tuesday was harder, because I went so hard on monday I was already sick going into the clinic, they could only run the machine at 15% but the also gave me a few new drugs, some selenium...sp?? and lukine.... Over all though Im doing great, dad gets here in 5 days and Im soo excited I miss him like crazy! Ill try to attach some picks to this email if it doesnt work write me back and Ill try again

Talk to you soon

Sam

Christmas and Tapering

Thanks so much to all our sponsors. As the race is approaching, we're getting some of the equipment generously donated to us. It's a little like Christmas...

We were told to back way down on our training. "Sleep 10 hours a night, take frequent naps, eat, rest and meditate," to be exact. While my kids and employer aren't exactally buying into this, I am taking care of the eating part.
I'm also happily following the advice of Coach Kelley on interval training : "rest, repeat, rest, repeat..."

New Sponsor

today ZEAL OPTICS sponsored slipstream eyewear for team VMG's RAAM journey. Welcome to the team! Check out their outstanding lineup of eyewear brought to life here in the four corners (Moab) at zealoptics.com

coal bank ride

Recap of ride last sunday. Shawn and I set out to ride durango to silverton and back, but got turned around at coal bank pass (10,600 ft) d/t a down pour. Met a guy coming back from Molas pass that said he ran into snow up there. We turned around and began the big decent to safer ground below. On the way down my bike began to shake out of control. I was wondering if a wheel got lose or I was sliding on the wet pavement while braking. I stopped and checked out the bike. Nothing wrong. Got back on the bike, and it started again. I couldn't figure it out until I hit a warm patch of air and the shaking stopped. Turned out that I was shivvering so hard that I could barely control my bike. It took 20 minutes for my hands to thaw out when we got to the valley floor. -Got to remember the camera.

Team RED BULL