I'm Randy Mouri and this blog is about my quest to be an official finisher in the Race Across AMerica (RAAM), the toughest endurance race in the world. It's over and I became an official solo finisher in 11 days, 1 hour and 13 minutes! We continue to raise money and awareness on behalf of Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia (Habitat NoVa). If you would like to make a donation to Habitat NoVa, please visit my page on Habitat’s site. Endless thanks to our sponsors and all the folks that have made such generous contributions. Team Mouri would not have been able to travel so comfortably, which certainly may have changed the outcome of the race.


Showing posts with label Eastern Shore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eastern Shore. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2011

How the heck... Ah ha!

The Crew has been sending me some terrific pictures from the road. Unfortunately, I've not yet figured out how to include them. As soon as I do, I'll add them to the posts as appropriate or maybe just set up a Gallery section or something. Please be patient with us as we work out the kinks. Thanks.

UPDATE: Ah Ha! It's amazing what a simple web search will turn up. Posts will now contain pictures if available/safe for work (SFW) :-).

As you can see in this picture of Randy having a daybreak breakfast, it has been very wet, although I am told that the rain let up around dawn (0630 or so)

Overnight Recap

When last we heard from Team Mouri, the Great Eastern Shore Training Event was rain/traffic delayed. Randy and Crew did not get going until 0015 RT (RAAM time). Randy has been riding for the last six hours and, by the time this post is published, will have taken a nap.

Although the area the Team is working in is fairly flat, it has it's own challenges; deer, fox, and fish in flooded roads. To quote Susie "rode thru 1-2 feet of water on the roads. Saw jumping fishes, could feel the fish in the water. Red fox, deer. Amazing!"

It turns out that the planned Crew assignments got all mixed up. Earl needed practice time driving behind Randy in the dark. This is Troy's home stomping grounds, so he set and is now revising the course. Randy's brother Rich is developing a cue sheet for the other shifts on the fly. Adapting and improvising.

A note about time used from here on out. During the RAAM all time is kept in "RAAM time" which is equal to Eastern Daylight Time. The standard notation for RAAM time is to use a 24hr clock as it reduces the possibility of AM/PM confusion. So 0015 means 15 minutes after midnight RAAM time (EDT).

Friday, May 13, 2011

And they're off...sort of

This weekend is a training weekend for all the elements of Team Mouri. Randy, of course, is riding. The Crew has a number of tasks on their plate. Since the HOS 500, the Crew has reorganized a bit, moving people to different shifts, and adding a new member (Hi Earl!).

Significantly, this is the Crew's first chance to work with an RV. Using an RV identical to the one that we'll use during RAAM, the Crew is figuring out how to make best use of it. For example, what's the best way to pack it RV; how to transition from follow or support vehicle to the RV (here's where tri experience might help); how it drives; and how much lighter do they need to travel....

Thanks to traffic and wet weather, things have gotten off to a slow start. It is now well after dark, raining intermittently, and (at last report) they had not gotten to the nominal start point yet. Time to Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome (to borrow a motto).