We want to acknowledge some folks who are offering support for our RAW effort.

First - Adventures' Edge is a great local bike and outdoor shop. They stock a good supply of bike paraphernalia - enough that it's an occasional lunchtime destination for me, just to make sure that I'm not missing something. They also stock Skratch nutrition, stroopwafels, Yakima racks, and have a great service department. AE gives a lot back to the community in general. They are a major sponsor of the Tour of the Unknown Coast - arguably the toughest century on the planet - and Humboldt Tri-kids. And lots of other stuff. Jennifer Johnson - owner of the shop - has even volunteered to be on our crew. How many bike shop owners are willing to take a week off in June to help out a couple of locals who are tackling a big race?

Second - Sports fans, we've got us a GRANOLA SPONSOR! Not just any ol' granola sponsor, though - an ARCATA granola sponsor. Arcata is hippie heaven, and if you're going to put yourself out as making amazing granola in Arcata, with a recipe that was handed down to you by a folk singer, no less, it'd better be good. It's actually not just good - it's RAEL good.  Oooh- did I spell that wrong? Nope. Dennis Rael is the owner of Los Bagels - another Arcata fixture. He's providing granola and treats for the adventure. He just rode up to us on a sunny Sunday morning ride and asked what he could do to help with our RAW.  Bam - just like that, we're hooked up.
BTW, if you ever get a chance to try some of daughter Trula's truffles, they're RAEL good, too.

This is what I love about Arcata - there's an amazing, vibrant community of folks who keep track of each other and help out.

The good news: the North Coast is finally getting some much-needed rain. The bad news: it's showing up just when we need to be putting out some concerted training effort....
What else to do but to haul out the stationary trainers and go for it? Since our friend and trusty crew member Jim Kern was doing a 24-hour race in Sebring, Florida (where I hear the weather was pretty danged nice, by the way!), we decided to ride for 24 hours in solidarity. (Oh - how did Jim do at the race? NOT BAD!
Solidarity, sure - just not so much solidarity that we'd committed to start at the exact same time (getting up to start pedalling at 6:30 AM East Coast time was an option, but not that GREAT of an option). We went for a more leisurely 8AM PST start, which left us plenty of time for a tasty waffle breakfast. 
Then - we traded hours for the next day. One hour on, one hour off. We will probably vary the pulls more than that during the actual race, but we figured that an hour was a good starting point.  The routine was...hop on the bike, ride hard for an hour, grab something to eat, try to get some minor around-the-house chores done, then back at it. At night, we tried to simulate a sleep "shift" - a quick bite to eat, strip off soggy clothes (our living room is considerably more humid than the Arizona desert...) and snooze for 30-40 minutes before starting over again. 
By the end of the 24 hours, we were really glad that we'd put mats down under the bikes to contain the swamp of our own making. Cog was giving us curious looks, as though we'd really, truly, finally cracked this time (or perhaps just really messed with his sleep). And I was craving bacon like mad, so while Bill did the last pull, I headed out to Wildberries and got some. We had a big ole' farmhouse breakfast before turning in for a quick nap. 

So...why didn't we just ride 12 hours straight? Wouldn't that have been harder? Yes, and no. It might have felt harder, but the point is to keep the actual speed up, not the perceived effort. And like it or not, the longer you go, the harder it gets, the more the muscles protest, and you start to slow. And after you've been off the bike, getting back, up to speed FAST is an acquired skill that we need to practice. 
And - more importantly - why did we trade off riding rather than each ride the same hour on/hour off pattern? Wouldn't it be more fun to have some company while you're suffering? Well, this is not a matter of fun. Bill and I train together ALL THE TIME, because - let's face it - we really like being together. Being a 2-person relay team means that we will NEVER be together during the race. So we have to shift our thinking a little bit. We are racing together, but - not together. When I'm on the bike, not only is Bill not on the bike, but I am racing for him. So I'd better be racing up to my full potential, 'cause I know that that's exactly what he's going to be doing for me: 

I had the fastest commute EVER Tuesday night. It started out well - the last bit of a sunny day. Stopped at the light before the Samoa Bridge, I saw a speck heading over it in the distance - another rider, for sure. I wondered if I could catch up....
Yep. And when I did, we were both a little surprised. Me: nondescript-looking lady on a (sadly) filthy flat bar road bike, decked out with panniers and pretty-in-pink fenders. Him: Velo Orange Man - 20-30-something, facial piercings, immaculately clean uber-Rando-chic Velo Orange road bike. Gorgeous burgundy paint, long-reach cantis, Brooks saddle and matching handlebar bag, the whole nine yards..You could've eaten sushi off of his drivetrain, and from the looks of things quite honestly it wouldn't surprise me if that's exactly what he was riding to Arcata to do. 
If I had had time to think ANYTHING, what would've passed through my head is, "Thank god I came down here in 2010 and got established - if this guy's here,  the rest of Portland can't be that far behind...." 
Clearly, I had caught him napping, and I wasn't going to be able to make this one stick, but - what the hell. Once you pass someone, you are committed to at least make it look like you meant it. Sure enough, top of the last "climb" on the bridge, he passed me back. But...not...by...much - and we were just at the top. I tucked in behind him, made a stunning (to me, anyway....) move coming through the corner, and passed him back. I figured either he was in, or he wasn't. He was. 
OK....I can handle the "over threshold" pace for about a half mile, then I ease up. As he comes around, he makes some noises about "the headwind" and takes over. That's fine with me. Half a mile later, I'm coming back around. 
We kept it up on 1/2 mile intervals all the way to town.... 1/2 mile of blowing up, 1/2 mile of not blowing up. Over the tracks without incident - he was in front at that point and I was a little worried about getting back on, though it turned out to be a non-issue. 
I SERIOUSLY considered jumping off early, at Jackson Ranch, and pretending that was my normal ride home. But on a certain level, that would've been cheating, so I stuck it out. My payoff was the satisfaction of knowing that we BOTH slowed down  when I let him know that I did have to get off at V Street.  I thanked him and coasted home....
Long story short (or short story long, depending on how you look at it), I took 10 minutes off of my 9 mile commute just by working hard (and smart, by working with someone else). And it was FUN! But I was really not that sorry to not run into Velo Orange Man on Wednesday. You should only do intervals a a couple times a week....