Every year there is a bicycle race from coast-to-coast called the Race Across AMerica (RAAM). For 26 years ultra-cyclists have been pitting themselves against the clock in this extraordinary race. In 2008 RAAM has added a new event, named Race Across the West (RAW). RAW will be a 1036 mile event that must be completed in 92 hours to qualify as an official finisher. This is the first time that a 1000+ mile race has been held in the US.

In 2008 I will take the challenge of participating in RAW. Currently my time is spent working, eating, training, and sleeping. View the Race Roster from the Race Across America Web site.

I know that your first thought is skepticism. Trust me when I tell you that I've thought through this long and hard before committing. I've hired a professional coach from Wenzel Coaching to assist in developing my monthly training schedule, to assist in nutritional planning, and other strength building exercise.

You are also very curious as to why a 34 year old male, who sits at a desk all day working, could even think about sitting on a bike for 18+ hours a day for 4 days straight while covering a distance of over 1000 miles! The answer is simply this: to raise awareness about mental illness. People with mental illness are often stigmatized because people simply don't understand it. People with mental illness are your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, even your idols. Great strides have been made in the past few years to bring mental illness out of the darkness. It's my turn to help shine additional light on these diseases.

As an individual who lives daily with bipolar disorder, I want people to see that individuals with mental illness are just like them. We have jobs, we are fathers, we are experts in our fields, we are athletes, we have goals and dreams, and we make a difference.

Training for this event will challenge me to balance the effects of bipolar with training for such a large event. Bipolar can reduce the necessary sleep that one needs, it can make you more determined to complete something while neglecting other important things, and it can bring about depression. A fairly rigid schedule for eating, sleeping and training will all help alleviate the chances of any of these symptoms becoming a problem during the next 5 months of training.

There are numerous logistical concerns as well for this undertaking. I'm putting together my support crew, looking for sponsorship to help cover the costs of equipment, travel and support crew, getting the word out about my undertaking so that people can learn more about mental illness.

My Support Crew

I'm very fortunate to have two close friends that are participating as part of my support crew. First is a good friend from New Mexico, Carl, who is serving as Crew Chief and EMT.

Carl is a self-employed IT consultant in New Mexico.  He is also an EMT with a rural Ambulance Service, and an EMT/Firefighter with the county fire department.  Carl prefers downhill mountain biking on his Kona Dawg and can be found in Moab a couple of times a year, merely testing the boundaries of reality.  Carl has known CW for over 8 years and supports him in his efforts with RAW, raising awareness and lowering the stigma of Mental Illness.  Carl will be found assisting CW on his race by providing medical, communications and logistic support.

My Chief Mechanic and Route Director is Bob, from Colorado. Bob is employed as an Imagery Analyst putting together cool web-based maps. When not working, and sometimes when working, he's dreaming about his next bike or what mods to make on his four bikes. After a potentially tragic bike crash in Utah in 2006, Bob has bounced back from a broken neck and is back in the saddle recently adding a Felt Z35 to his arsenal of bikes.

Race Across the West rules require a minimum crew of three people. I am still talking to a couple of individuals about joining my crew. If you are interested and have a desire to spend 4 days traveling from California to New Mexico on very little sleep then please contact me using the contact information.

The Route