I have to admit, I was a little nervous about our 12-hour training session this past weekend. Our last night ride ended with a pretty scary crash, and I definitely had some reservations about trying again—for even longer this time, and with both crew and riders tired after working all day Friday. 

We all sat down earlier in the week to talk about our plan for the ride and—most importantly—how to be as safe as possible. There are some things, like 55mph wind gusts and herds of deer running out into the road (which Phil as the rider and Paul driving the chase car handled very well, by the way—even at 3am or whatever it was at that point) that we can’t control, either in practice or during RAAM. However, we as a team (and especially the crew) owe it to ourselves, and especially to the riders, to be as prepared as possible. 

So we headed out Friday night armed with “Caution-- Bike” signs, flashing lights, and some serious determination. While I don’t think anyone would call the simulation “flawless,” it definitely assuaged many of my fears. The riders all looked so great (watching Andrea climb a really tough ascent in the middle of the night was totally inspiring—especially since I’m still intimidated by Capitol Hill!) and despite minimal sleep, everyone was really upbeat and worked well together. I don’t know about other people, but the 12-hour simulation definitely gave me more confidence going into the 24-hour ride this coming weekend.

In other Xtreme news, we’re holding a fundraiser tomorrow (6-9pm) at Hawk ‘n Dove—happy hour plus a VERY exciting date auction. For those of you in DC, come join us for a celebratory cocktail, and the chance to bid on fun dates (baseball game, dinner, theater, etc) with Phil, Paul, Kip, Erik, Laurel, or me. We’re at about 50% of our fundraising goal for the race, which is fantastic (and wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of so many of you), but we still have a long way to go, so if you’ve been thinking about contributing but haven’t done so yet, this is a great opportunity to come support Xtreme4.