good luck, rob!

While you're all waiting in anticipation for my Hutchinson Crit report, why don't y'all take a moment to send some positive thoughts in the direction of Rob Lucas, as he gets his last few hours of sleep for a very long time. You see, early tomorrow morning Rob is setting off to race his bike across America. Yes, the whole thing.

You may have heard of RAAM. You get on your bike and you ride as fast as you can from California to Atlantic City. Yes, that is over three thousand miles. And no, you don't sleep. (Not much, anyway.) Don't try this at home, kids.

I don't know Rob very well. I mostly only know him through the internet, having come across his blog sometime last fall, and then there was that day at Hell Week where I rode with him for 20 miles before putting two and two together and asking "Wait a minute, are you Rob?" I then rode with him for the rest of the day. He was a pretty cool guy, very mellow yet very motivated. Yet obviously a touch insane!

Anyway, send good thoughts Rob's way, because all the RAAM racers will need them and as a first-year racer Rob could use as much positivity as he can get, whether positivity is a word or not. And as I line up at the start line tomorrow for a measly 30-minute crit, I will be sure and think about the difference between a half-hour race and a ten-day race. It ain't me who is the badass here.

Good luck, Rob!