Jim Rieher gets his face in the RAAM website wearing his aero cheddarhead. How cool for all the world to see.

Too bad we had a van flat; it cost us two hours, and we lost another hour getting lost somewhere in Arizona. The good news is all of our team are feeling good -- no illness, no injures and bikes are in function junction. The climbs are shared mile for mile. After all, we may be the oldest 8 person team on the road. I know I win on our team at almost 71.

Projections based on our time so… Continue

My wife Kine and I visited Mackinac Island last weekend for a meeting of
The Nature Conservancy, and it proved to be a good spot for sprints. The
island is 7 1/2 miles in circumference -- blacktop and no cars -- just right for a fast interval.
I did so many laps I felt like a gerbil. Now it's taper-down time. One
more long ride tonight, and then just easy rides. I have many people
wishing our team well.

And donations have been pouring in. We hit a good note -- old timers who
drew the long suits… Continue

The main purpose of our visit to Maine was 1. lobster, 2. steamers (clams), 3. mussels, 4. see my son and daughter-in-law, 5. bike in the coastal "mountains of Maine. In descending order, the lobster was scrumptious; the steamers were great and I got them all, because then other wimps turned up their noses at the crustacean protein; the mussels were to die for; my kids were happy and let us do our things; and Cadillac mountain at 1530 feet was doable, but boring. I hate the granny gear, but god… Continue

Before you get envious, let me tell you how the garage frame looked. Not a pretty sight. It's all Paula's fault for having a team meeting at her house. Kine drove over so I could fight the wind all the way and show how tough I was. I was so tough that I punched the car into the garage until I heard the crunch. My Serotta riding on top was toast. So, long story short, we snagged Kine's son Tom to help with the search for a new frameset that would fit. Shipped from Connecticut, it arrived in two d… Continue

Phil and I rode last Saturday anyway when everyone else bagged out. It wasn't much fun, but we did it. Kine drove us west to Horicon, prepared a couple of routes for us and we flew home with except for the north-south jogs where cross wind gusts were so stiff (35mh) they almost brought us to a standstill. Dressed right, temps were no problem. Lots more fun to ride with the wind than my ride yesterday to Paula's house for our meeting. Headwinds all the way. But we can't select the weather on our… Continue