Garrison Hillia
After days of lonely riding, a team challenges Corvallis duo
By Jeff Welsch Mid-Valley Sports editor
ATHENS, Ohio _ After 2,300 miles, most spent in stark
isolation, the bicycle Race Across America became just that
for Terri Gooch and George Thomas on an unseasonably mild
Sunday in the Midwest.
A race.
With one two-man team too far ahead to give fair chase and
three too far behind to pose a threat, Gooch and Thomas
were joined on an otherwise nondescript afternoon for a
friendly tet-a-tet with the race's spunky over-70 four-man
relay team.
The result: A 2,958-mile marathon from San Diego to
Atlantic City,
N.J., suddenly became a spirited sprint on the rolling
farmlands of central Ohio, between the weary mixed-
relay team from Corvallis and the re-energized Grand
Pac Masters.
"I did NOT want to get passed by the Pac Masters," Gooch
said adamantly as she iced throbbing Achilles tendons and
aching knees during a time-station break after fending off
repeated attacks with surges of welcome adrenaline.
Said Thomas: "I enjoy being in an actual race even though I
don't feel quite so good."
A race it was, a rare treat for an event that typically
scatters riders over miles of countryside.
For several hours, crew vans played leapfrog with the
riders, who were like yo-yos. Second support vehicles for
both teams _ the ones not following their respective riders
_ occasionally spied and also paced the opposition to
monitor speed, which was over 20 mph for both.
Adding spice to the mini-race between Richmond, Ind., and
Troy, Ohio, was friendship.
The man most responsible for the Pac Masters' rally, 68-year-
old Lee Mitchell of Woodland, Calif., crewed for Thomas and
Katie Lindquist when they rode tandem in 2000. Their crew
chief, Rick Anderson of Woodside, Calif., did the same for
Thomas and Lindquist four years ago.
Thus, it was with both exhilaration and guilt that the over-
70 team, which shuttled in two riders for several hours
while the other two rested, closed from two hours down, to
45 minutes, to 20 minutes and, finally, to precious seconds.
"There's four of them and they get long consistent sleep
breaks," Anderson consoled Gooch as both anticipated the
inevitable while waiting at a mini-mart in London, Ohio, a
weathered red-brick community west of Columbus. "Nobody
believes me, but there's nothing tougher than doing a two-
person relay."
Certainly neither Thomas nor Gooch were arguing after
watching the Pac Masters finally pass them, most likely for
good, in the picturesque Hocking Hills of southern Ohio,
scant miles from her alma mater, Ohio University, in Athens.
Thus, with the Canadian two-man team just hours from
finishing Sunday night, and the three other two-person teams
out of sight, RAAM has again become the familiar battle
against the elements, the terrain and the self.
"I'm having a day where I'm not feeling good or in the
groove, and then I think I'm the reason they're catching
us," said Gooch, conceding she was on the verge of
"crashing" Sunday. "They're double-teaming me, and I know
there's four of them, but I'm thinking, ‘Don't pass
me. It'll demoralize me. I'm very fragile.' "
By Sunday night, on a road snaking through the thick
hardwood forests of southern Ohio, the Pac Masters had moved
on, and Gooch and Thomas were trying to re-focus their
energies on the 350 miles of climbing among the remaining
581 to Atlantic City.
"Rick (Anderson) thinks we'll break eight (days)," Thomas
said with some resignation. "I don't know."
Thomas' neck was fine, but masseuse Sue Morris of Corvallis
called a specialist via cell phone for solutions to the
Achilles problems both are experiencing. Thomas also is
bloated from water retention, and Morris planned to spend
about 45 minutes releasing toxins from his liver.
Both are moving gingerly and Gooch wore a glazed look as she
sat in the cool of her support van.
"Your head must be 60 percent here," crew member Dave
Brunkow said, offering comfort. "The edges are real soft."
Yes, they are, but that's RAAM. So is getting back on the
bicycle, no matter how much it hurts, even with perhaps the
most grueling terrain, in West Virginia, on the docket today
before they finish Tuesday.
"Like anything in life, it's better when you feel good,"
Gooch said. "I keep thinking, ‘Come on, it's a race.
The faster you pedal, the faster it's over.' "
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/06/28/sports/comm-
unity/comm2.txt
By Jeff Welsch Mid-Valley Sports editor
ATHENS, Ohio _ After 2,300 miles, most spent in stark
isolation, the bicycle Race Across America became just that
for Terri Gooch and George Thomas on an unseasonably mild
Sunday in the Midwest.
A race.
With one two-man team too far ahead to give fair chase and
three too far behind to pose a threat, Gooch and Thomas
were joined on an otherwise nondescript afternoon for a
friendly tet-a-tet with the race's spunky over-70 four-man
relay team.
The result: A 2,958-mile marathon from San Diego to
Atlantic City,
N.J., suddenly became a spirited sprint on the rolling
farmlands of central Ohio, between the weary mixed-
relay team from Corvallis and the re-energized Grand
Pac Masters.
"I did NOT want to get passed by the Pac Masters," Gooch
said adamantly as she iced throbbing Achilles tendons and
aching knees during a time-station break after fending off
repeated attacks with surges of welcome adrenaline.
Said Thomas: "I enjoy being in an actual race even though I
don't feel quite so good."
A race it was, a rare treat for an event that typically
scatters riders over miles of countryside.
For several hours, crew vans played leapfrog with the
riders, who were like yo-yos. Second support vehicles for
both teams _ the ones not following their respective riders
_ occasionally spied and also paced the opposition to
monitor speed, which was over 20 mph for both.
Adding spice to the mini-race between Richmond, Ind., and
Troy, Ohio, was friendship.
The man most responsible for the Pac Masters' rally, 68-year-
old Lee Mitchell of Woodland, Calif., crewed for Thomas and
Katie Lindquist when they rode tandem in 2000. Their crew
chief, Rick Anderson of Woodside, Calif., did the same for
Thomas and Lindquist four years ago.
Thus, it was with both exhilaration and guilt that the over-
70 team, which shuttled in two riders for several hours
while the other two rested, closed from two hours down, to
45 minutes, to 20 minutes and, finally, to precious seconds.
"There's four of them and they get long consistent sleep
breaks," Anderson consoled Gooch as both anticipated the
inevitable while waiting at a mini-mart in London, Ohio, a
weathered red-brick community west of Columbus. "Nobody
believes me, but there's nothing tougher than doing a two-
person relay."
Certainly neither Thomas nor Gooch were arguing after
watching the Pac Masters finally pass them, most likely for
good, in the picturesque Hocking Hills of southern Ohio,
scant miles from her alma mater, Ohio University, in Athens.
Thus, with the Canadian two-man team just hours from
finishing Sunday night, and the three other two-person teams
out of sight, RAAM has again become the familiar battle
against the elements, the terrain and the self.
"I'm having a day where I'm not feeling good or in the
groove, and then I think I'm the reason they're catching
us," said Gooch, conceding she was on the verge of
"crashing" Sunday. "They're double-teaming me, and I know
there's four of them, but I'm thinking, ‘Don't pass
me. It'll demoralize me. I'm very fragile.' "
By Sunday night, on a road snaking through the thick
hardwood forests of southern Ohio, the Pac Masters had moved
on, and Gooch and Thomas were trying to re-focus their
energies on the 350 miles of climbing among the remaining
581 to Atlantic City.
"Rick (Anderson) thinks we'll break eight (days)," Thomas
said with some resignation. "I don't know."
Thomas' neck was fine, but masseuse Sue Morris of Corvallis
called a specialist via cell phone for solutions to the
Achilles problems both are experiencing. Thomas also is
bloated from water retention, and Morris planned to spend
about 45 minutes releasing toxins from his liver.
Both are moving gingerly and Gooch wore a glazed look as she
sat in the cool of her support van.
"Your head must be 60 percent here," crew member Dave
Brunkow said, offering comfort. "The edges are real soft."
Yes, they are, but that's RAAM. So is getting back on the
bicycle, no matter how much it hurts, even with perhaps the
most grueling terrain, in West Virginia, on the docket today
before they finish Tuesday.
"Like anything in life, it's better when you feel good,"
Gooch said. "I keep thinking, ‘Come on, it's a race.
The faster you pedal, the faster it's over.' "
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/06/28/sports/comm-
unity/comm2.txt
