One Hundred Seventy-Eight

RAAM and the UMCA

To my extreme delight, Race Across America and the Ultramarathon Cycling Association had a booth at Interbike. On Wednesday, I got to chat with "Nubs" and saw Jonathan Boyer. Jon seemed intently focused. A couple of guys came over to the booth and I heard them talking about a "Bikes for Rwanda" program. It sounded important.

On Thursday, I almost didn't come back to the expo center. Boy, am I glad I did. I had the best conversation with Tinker Juarez, another member of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. We talked about various RAAM topics - riding without aero bars, hand problems, the day before the race - and Tinker's ambitions to do Race Across Oregon someday. Of course, I offered to help in any way I could, and he genuinely seemed interested in taking me up on the offer, possibly as a crew member.

I also had a great time talking with Fred Boethling and his son Rick. Rick gave me some camera tips and Fred and I discussed the merits and pleasures of riding fixed gear bicycles. Fred says he rides a different bike every day of the week. Sounds fun!