Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Crewing for Janet - sent to prospective crew members last month

Thank you all for your interested in Team Osprey 2009 - Annapolis or Bust!!

There is much to do in preparation before the June 16th start date and one of our priorities is gathering, organizing, and educating the crew members. This weeks conference call was encouraging with so many interested in becoming crew members all with cycling experience, some with crewing experience and a number of others with some very useful skills. Our road crew will consist of a lean mean crew of six and at least two alternates in case a crew member cannot make the start line, or for an emergency while we are on the road.

For those of you new to crewing RAAM, let me start by saying crewing RAAM is like no other crewing experience you may have had. There will be high points and low points along the way. You will get to see some of the most amazing scenery and some of the most boring mundane
repetitive scenery (you actually get excited to see a grain silo in the distance) along the way. Before I crewed RAAM (which I have crewed twice) I had ridden many double centuries, rode Furnace Creek 508 as a two person team, and crewed Furnace Creek 508 two or three times
(can't recall how many it was before I crewed RAAM). Even with all those experiences the 508 seemed like a stroll through the park compared to crewing for RAAM. This is not meant to scare anyone off, but I want to ensure everyone understands the rigors of crewing a non-stop race that will take us approximately 11 to 12 days to complete. Now this is not to say that we won't have a whole lot of fun on our crossing!

While there are a number of specialty duties that crew members will be performing there is a huge array of tasks we will all be doing keeping us amazingly busy for sitting in a vehicle for so many hours. The key to crewing RAAM is to stay flexible, always be prepared, sleep when you
can, stay positive, remember that the rider comes first, keep things organized, and have fun. If you have no or limited experience crewing a non-stop race (heck, even if you are crew member extraordinaire) I recommend that you read this brief article by Lee "Fuzzy" Mitchel: http://www.ultracycling.com/events/crew_tips.html.

As you listen-in on our conference calls you may hear us talk about various positions/duties. Keep in mind that you will perform all the duties (and then some) during our crossing. We will be using thee vehicles: the primary follow van (cargo van), secondary follow vehicle/chore
transport(mini-van or similar), and a small car for the sleeping crew. Our crews will be setup with two people per vehicle running eight hour shifts. This provides us with three eight hour periods which will be broken into: follow, chores/driving to catch up, and sleeping.

Crewing for RAAM rider is a major commitment and I want to ensure that everyone is aware of the adventure ahead...

I look forward to getting to know some of you better and crewing with some of the others for a second time. I have to say that Janet assembled the best RAAM crew last year and we are well on our way this year.

Bill Osborn - Team Osprey Crew Chief

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