Overdue pictures from startline

Our ladies perpared to hand in canned food as part of sign-in rule (to know whether we actually read the rules.) The food will be donated to food bank.

Start line:

The Organic Pastures had a booth at the startline. They originally were one of the sponsors for Cat's RAAM (solo) in 2005 and wanted to be chief sponsors this time. Cat is the center of attention! (Mark from Organic Pastures on left and some guy with a camera who wanted to take pictures of Cat.)

The Raw Milk Cats lining up for the first part of RAAM as a team. Of course, after they lined up, the person in white shirt hugged each one of them--he knows all four. Cat then will ride the first part for 21 miles.



(Sorry, no pictures from first day when everybody is closer together partly because the cameraperson had to sleep during her 4 PM to midnight shift!)

RAAM Meeting, June 17th at 5 PM

The teams are introduced and one team was the talk of the night: The original 2-person "Ride for your Lives" mixed team changed to 8-person team less a week before RAAM. Katie, who was planning to ride RAAM with Sam as a teammate, broke her pelvis two weeks ago. Instead of withdrawing, she showed up on clutches and will still ride RAAM with her arms (handpedal). I understand that some of her crew became members of the 8-person team. Talk about crazy people…but again, this one is actually sane. At 22 years old, Katie already rowed solo across the Atlantic. So, it made sense why she would still do RAAM with her arms with help of six more people.

I am sure there were other interesting teams to learn about, but I wasn’t able to hear their stories at the meeting. Ah well, I can at least say that the atmosphere was energetic! Wishing the best of endurance luck to everybody (and to the soloists already out on road.)

Here is a picture of River Riders, Raw Milk Cats, and Team Ride Red! These three are all of the 4-women RAAM teams this year. The other two are in the under 50 age group, but we want to race them despite being over 50! I understand there was a bit of trash talking going on already. ;) (Of course, that was in all good fun!)

One tired crew before start of RAAM

I found Leslie totally fast asleep like this at 3:45 PM yesterday. She wasn't the only one!

Other three sponsors's cycling kits

In addition to Organic Pastures (Raw Milk), we have three other sponsors we are wearing kits for. My personal note: I think they look so sharp and beautiful in their uniforms! I almost couldn't stop taking pictures of them modeling the uniforms yesterday.

Alltech LifeSciences: Founded by Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech is a global animal health and nutrition company with 31 years’ experience in developing natural products that are scientifically proven to enhance animal health and performance. With more than 2300 employees in 128 countries, the company has developed a strong regional presence in Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle-East, Africa and Asia. Alltech Life Sciences is a new division within Alltech and officially began operations on January 1, 2011.

Alltech LifeSciences's kit is best seen from the left side as Jeanine and Cat showed below:



BioMass Capital: BMC believes the use of “high end cellulosic biomass” is the lowest cost and most effective way for the world to address the climate change challenge.

Hammer Nutrition

Team picture!

The four strong ladies by the startline in Oceanside, CA!
Isabelle, Jeanine, Lori, Cat.



Raw Milk Cats team (minus Bill, who we will pick up in Flagstaff.) Back row: Lee, William, Leslie, Rich, Doug, Al, Ron, Willy, Joe. Riders: Lori, Jeanine, Cat, Isabelle. Kneeled: Mavis, Anne.



This is the butt sign people will see as they drive pass the riders across USA:


EDIT: Organic Pastures booth will be the place to go today (Saturday, June 18th) from 10:00 AM on! Free chocolate milk available. One can't pass that up because Raw Milk is the best! Come on down to the Oceanside Pier. We will start racing at 2:00 PM.

First day of preparation

Yesterday, we passed the inspection, had our pictures taken by RAAM, and went over the rules and navigator’s duties. Lee wasted no time telling the crew what to do! (I am not sure what order he was saying in the picture below:)



Today, it will be doing laundry, practicing bicycle exchanges, then going to the 5 PM mandatory meeting. (If one of us doesn’t show up, our team will get one hour time penalty!)

Back to original crew roster

Sadly, Bob Kash, who would take Bill Phillip's place on the crew, had to bow out.

After much discussion between Lee and Bill the past week, Bill is back on support crew. (They must be enjoying each other's company!) Bill however have to do a little compromising with his lovely wife and family. He will be joining us in Flagstaff, Arizona.

This mean we will be slightly understaffed the first 24 hours. Thus, Mavis will be working as a California BikeVan driver and navigator with Lee and sleep with him during the 8 AM to 4 PM sleep shift the first day. Once Bill is picked up, Mavis will return to her original shift and duties.

Message from team's media director

Dear fans,

RAAM will start less a week from today! You can get news from our team by going to our website (http://4rawmilkcats.com/). Our website has the links to blog, facebook, and twitter. (What I post to facebook will be automatically posted to twitter too.) All of these buttons can be found at the bottom of our website's homepage. The "news" button at top of our website homepage is another way to go to our blog.

I hope I will get enough internet connection during RAAM to update our team's blog and facebook. (I have to use wireless internet service and we will be traveling along backroads, which meant internet should work equally well as cell phones.) The videos will hopefully be uploaded to YouTube and I plan on posting them to blog and/or facebook. I also will be posting some pictures when I can. I will likely be taking hundreds, but I plan on posting the best ones from time to time because we don't want to overwhelm our fans during RAAM. I however plan on making free CDs of the whole sets for those who wants them.

Of course, I will make a movie from the videos of our adventure and I hope I will finish the editting project by end of this year. If you want a free DVD copy, let me know and I will add you (and your address) to the list!

If you have any questions or comments, you can post them on our blog or facebook. Or you can send the messages to our team's e-mail address: 4RawMilkCats@gmail.com (I am very good at answering e-mails.)

Cheers,
Mavis Irwin
RawMilkCat Media Director

Alltech LifeSciences

Alltech Lifesciences

Alltech’s pioneering science of nutrigenomics allows the company to study nutrition at the most basic level – the genetic level. In analyzing the genetic profile of any species, Alltech is exploring new strategies for using natural nutrition for maximum health and performance.

Founded by Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech is a global animal health and nutrition company with 31 years’ experience in developing natural products that are scientifically proven to enhance animal health and performance. With more than 2300 employees in 128 countries, the company has developed a strong regional presence in Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle-East, Africa and Asia. Alltech Life Sciences is a new division within Alltech and officially began operations on January 1, 2011.

Cat Berge looks great in the Alltech LifeSciences Kit!

Alltech - Animal Nutrition, Animal Feed Supplements, Animal Health

Lori Cherry and Jeanine Spence!

Look at the lush pasture at our sponsors farm in Fresno. Get Raw Milk at Organic Pastures!

Raw Milk Cats at Organic Pastures Farm

Mark McAfee, Lori Cherry and Jeanine Spence at Organic Pastures in Fresno.

Mark McAfee, CEO, Managing Member
Founder of Organic Pastures Dairy, Mark is internationally recognized as an expert in raw milk production, and has spoken in over fifteen states and three countries on the subject. He invented the first -dietary supplements- made from fresh raw colostrum, and secured their certification from the FDA and DHS. Mark created and published the first international raw milk safety standards at www.rawusa.org. In addition, he has worked for sixteen years as an EMS paramedic, and served as marketing director and operations manager for a $30 million dollar EMS company. He is pre-med trained, and is an experienced medical educator. Mark is a licensed private pilot.

Steve Born's Pearls of Wisdom

Steve Born from Hammer Nutrition gave us his pearls of wisdom plus fueling suggestions:

1) Do not, Do Not, DO NOT waste one second of time. This is very important in the solo race but it is CRUCIAL in the team race. You simply do not have the luxury of wasting one single second. Remember, you are ALWAYS in "race mode" until the finish line.

2) This will be true for riders and crew, and Lee knows this better than anyone and I'm sure will drive this point home: Respect each other's space and stay out of each other's face! You will be all be going at high intensities - physically, emotionally, and mentally - for a week. The mood always has to be positive and each person - rider and crew - has to respect everyone else's privacy and space in order for positive results to occur.

3) Be supportive of each other, never forgetting that you are a team. And if a mistake has been made there is no reason to dwell on it because no benefits will be derived in doing so. In RAAM, lots of crazy things can happen; a former winner once told me that RAAM is creative problem solving several times a day for several days. I'm inclined to agree with that. And if/when a problem occurs or a mistake has been made you simply have to fix/resolve it and move forward in a positive fashion. No one, rider or crew member, has the time or energy to play the "blame game."

4) Lee didn't invent the saying (or maybe he did), but he did perfect it and I'm sure will pass this on to each and every member of your crew: "The crew can't win the race for the rider (or team) but they can lose it." Each and every crew member needs to leave their personal needs and issues at the starting line because once the race starts they are basically subservient to you riders until you finish. Crewing is the most thankless job there is (I know, having crewed on 8 RAAMs) but there is a great deal of satisfaction knowing that you gave your all to help a rider (or group of riders) realize their dream.

5) Supplementation and Fueling suggestions -- If I were doing anywhere from a 45-90 minute pull I would take 1 serving of Hammer Gel about 5-10 minutes prior to the start + some Endurolytes (the amount dependent on the weather). I would then use a bottle or two of HEED on the bike as doing so will cover all your fluid, calorie, and electrolyte needs in one container (no messing around with pill bottles or flasks). When you get off the bike I would suggest using a light mixture of Perpetuem or Sustained Energy, perhaps 1/2 - 1 scoop to provide some calories and protein. I would also take 1-2 Anti-Fatigue Caps at that time. Then repeat.

Once the first two riders are completely done with their shifts and are now taking a long break, that's when you hit the Recoverite... a 2-4-scoop bottle nursed over the course of an hour. At that time I would also take 1-2 Race Caps Supreme, 1-2 Mito Caps, 2 Endurance Amino, 1 Super Antioxidant, and 1 AO Booster. That would be a killer recovery fuel/supplement plan that would definitely accelerate recovery and help prep you for your next rotation of riding.

Steve Born
Fueling Expert
Event Sponsorship Coordinator
www.hammernutrition.com