Saturday, June 20, 2009

Saturday Morning

Joe arrived in Cortez, Colorado at 3:30 a.m. mountain time. A rider can get in the vehicle to go to a hotel as long as the crew calls the RAAM Headquarters. Joe was 18 miles before Cortez when they decided to head for the hotel for sleep. Eric and Chris were living on 5-hour energy, Red Bull and Mountain Dew. Caleb and I slept for 6 hours. At 6:30 a.m. we headed back to the point where Joe got in the van and called Headquarters to let them know Joe was back on route. He was in extreme pain and the road surface was bad so it made it impossible for him to sit on his saddle. We stopped and made him a PB&J sandwich that he had requested and ate that. He said there was no way he could continue. We tried to motivate him to keep going but it is painful to the crew to try to motivate someone who is in severe pain. It hurts to watch him! Joe got back on his bike and as we came in to Cortez, he asked for a ham, egg and cheese croissanwich from Burger King and he would meet us at Time Station #13. When we stopped at the time station, Joe made the decision to pull out of the race. It was hard for me to call in to RAAM Headquarters and let them know of this decision. Talked to Barb, the manager and she was very encouraging and said that Joe has all of there respect and that it is tough just to get to the start line. With all of this said and posted, we have moved everything we had in the rental vehicle to our vehicle (complete re-packing). We are getting ready to head to TAOS, via our van. Eric is heading out to meet his wife and son in Denver. Joe did a fabulous job and we are all VERY proud of him. The crew did outstanding!!! More later. Thanks for reading the blog and for all of your support!
Connie for Team Mann Powered

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Sorry, Joe. But we are proud either way. Go, Joe!
Bruce M.

Laura Lee ~ Himalayan Salt Lamp Seller said...

Wow! What an accomplishment, no matter how you look at it you did an AWESOME Job! You had an Awesome Crew! I can't imagine the pain you went through! I am still sooo VERY Proud of you!!! Great Job Team!
See you back home!

sheepmann said...

Hi Son. We are really proud of you and your family. Our love and respect for your accomplishment. Grandpa Mann would have been thrilled. Love you guys & GAL!
Dad, Allison & Grandma Mann

RedBull73 said...

joe,
I hope you got some much needed rest. I got emotional all over again reading the posts and recalling all you went through. You certainly earned the right to own the phrase "suck it up." Thanks again for a great trip. It was an honor to crew for you.

Eric

Autdesign said...

Joe,

The result may not be what you had hoped for, but you should be proud of the accomplishment. It has been great to follow you online. Congratulations to you and the crew.

Tim Lucas

Unknown said...

Hi Joe,

You have achieved much in your epic RAW adventure. There is much to be proud of and, from the posts, this was an unbelievable journey for the whole family and there is much to take from that.

Best wishes, Paul.

kdelliot said...

Joe & Crew

Thank you for allowing us to follow your RAW ride. The admiration we have for you, for enduring what you did kind of goes beyond words. We look forward to hearing about it from you & the crew after your vacation.
Get some rest & eat something besides jolt gum & jelly sandwiches.

We applaud you,
Deb & Keith

6Hawkeyes said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
6Hawkeyes said...

...to the rest of us, what you accomplished was nothing short of amazing! Way to go Joe.
The Hirschs

Dallas said...

Joe, you were the 'Mann of the day'. Your efforts and hard work are what made Race Across the West, a real Race for me. After that, it was Ride Across the West. Outstanding job, I was devastated to hear you had to pull out.

Congratulations for being 1 of 5 who started in our Category!.
It was a pleasure to meet you and your crew.

... now take care and rest up! Dani Wyss has just beat Jure Robic.

...tip, I had doubled up my shorts, switched 2-3 saddles, and lowered tire pressure to help deal with the rough road surface. But yes, it was the biggest challange.

Dan Fallon said...

Joe, I saw you race in the Balltown Classic and realized that your talent, organization and intense commitment would come to the fore in RAW. I personally know the debilitating pain you experienced on the saddle. And I'm in even greater awe of your ability to accomplish what you did and make the smart call for another day. Congrats to you and your incredible crew.

Dan F.