patrickautissier.org

SPONSORS 2005

Boston, Thursday, June 30th,

 

Hello,

 

 

As you may know now, I decided to drop out of the RAAM 2005 at the Time Station 29, located in Yates Center, KS, after 1634 miles ridden. It was a very tough decision to make, because lots of people, the sponsors, my crew have always supported and helped me in this project. Today, I want to give you my reasons as to why I made this heartbreaking decision.

 

When I started to prepare for RAAM, I called many RAAM veterans in order to get as much information as possible about how tough RAAM was. They all told me that this race is like a giant Roller-Coaster, not only on the physical aspect, but also the mental aspect. And the highs and lows were more pronounced for the rookies. But obviously, despite all those info,  nothing really can prepare you for RAAM.

 

Since we were in San Diego, everything was perfect. Vehicles were all set, my crew worked like pros, all the others teams thought we were RAAM veterans. On Sunday morning, I finally found myself at the starting line I was dreaming about since more than 4 years, and furthermore I was in between 2 RAAM legends: Rob Kish, 19 participations to this unique race, and Bob Breedlove. I knew Bob a little bit, because we did the same sleep seminar with Claudio Stampi. We discussed briefly before the final countdown and the official start of the race. When I saw Bob, he was like a kid, full of energy, ready to go, and clearly he wanted to be here.

 

The first day of the race went well, despite a temperature over 100F in the desert. The evening, feeling dizzy, Rob took my blood pressure which was at 90/60. He put me an I.V. fluid, in order to recover quickly. It didn't bother me at all, because that's pretty usual the first day of the race with an extreme heat. But I realized that this time, that was it, I was in the middle of the action, and that the roller coaster was about to increase his speed.

 

The second day of the race, things started to get bad. The heat was still oppressive and started to have a devastating effect on my body. As I told you before, I couldn't train for the heat because we had a miserable winter like weather until June in Boston. At this time of the race, already 2 people had dropped out: Dave Kees and my friend John Delia : I saw him stopped in the middle of the longest straight route of the RAAM: 22 miles without any shadow, under heat like hell. He was obviously exhausted, and I felt bad for him, for his wife and his 11 years old daughter who were part of his crew. And I also started to ask myself questions on my abilities to survive to this brutal race. In the afternoon, I had my first big "low". A 6 miles of 6% gradual climbing under the heat left me totally exhausted at the end, and he took Herve all his strength and energy to helping me manage to get to the top. After a quick stop during the evening and another I.V perfusion, I started again riding my bike at night. I didn't know yet but Tuesday would be magical for me and my crew. I was able to get some strength, probably because of a less brutal heat on the road and a strong tail wind. We crossed Arizona, and had planned to take a break at Kayenta, AZ in the evening. However, I found myself riding my bike like Lance on this stretch of the route where the landscape was so impressive. Upon my arrival to Kayenta, Olivier asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to continue riding. The entire team was very happy because we would ride across Monument Valley at the sunset. The following hours were, without any doubt, the most memorable moments on RAAM for all of us. Steve, our video cameraman, always plugged on 100,000 Volts, was ecstatic, and shot some very good plans. We all knew that moments like that on RAAM are very rare, and we were enjoying every second of it. 

 

When we arrived to Colorado, always under the heat, physical problems started to appear: saddle sores and sleep deprivation. I knew it would happen sooner or later, and so I was taking great care of my butt, knowing that if the problem would worsen, I would probably have to drop out. However, overtime this strategy put me in a difficult situation to make the second cut off at Mount Vernon, KS. I needed to ride longer. On Friday morning, I was riding on a flat road at 25 mph with a strong tailwind, and I was literally falling asleep on my bike. At one time, I went to the left side of the road, and a car was coming in front of me. Jerome in the van had to honk to "wake" me up and so I went back on the right side of the road. There, I realized the danger of this race. That same Friday, Olivier told me I needed to ride really longer to hope making the cut off on Saturday morning. During this stressful day, Rob had to put an I.V perfusion at a break in a service station, because I was so exhausted. It helped me a lot, and after ½ hour I started again. During the evening, I was feeling really strong and I logged lots of miles. In the early hours on Saturday, I started again riding my bike for the last 90 miles before the cut off. I knew I could do it, but again I felt extremely tired, and  fought for three hours just to stay on the bike and not falling asleep. I was totally exhausted but in the end, the cut off was made, the first half of the race was done and I was ready to continue the race, after a good long sleep.

 

Unfortunately, I slept only 1 hour. I didn't feel ready to ride again, so I asked to read my emails. And I read an email from a friend at my lab, saying that he was very sad for what happened to Dr Bob Breedlove. I called Rob, and he told me that Bob Breedlove hit a car, probably after collapsing on his bike, and was pronounced dead on the scene 2 days ago. I was totally devastated. While I was trying to prepare myself to start again, Rob set up a meeting with the rest of the team, and told them that from now on, my safety was the first priority, and not the last cut off next Tuesday. I started again, but clearly the envy was not there anymore. I rode the entire afternoon thinking of Bob, of his wife and his 4 children. I saw again myself falling asleep on my bike. And of course, I thought to my wife and my children.  Was RAAM, unique and fascinating bike race, worth all the risk taken? Jim Pitre, the organizer, told us at the banquet, that the number one priority was the safety. And despite that him and his team do amazing efforts to minimize risks, the nature of the race itself, 3,000 miles of bike race on open roads, is very dangerous, especially for cyclists who push their physical limits.

 

When I arrived at the next Time Station, I have already decided to drop out of the race. I asked to call my wife. In the mean time, my crew were chocked to see the race stopped like that, because they thought I was still capable to finish the race. However, this race requires also a very strong mental, and it was clear that I was devastated by the news of Bob's death, and that something was broken. I was simply scared on my bike for the first time of my life. When we were in Monument Valley, just 4 days ago, I rode downhill a small road at more than 50 mph, and I felt great, not thinking at any time of accident. And now, I was riding downhill almost with my brakes on.

 

Anne-Cecile, my wife, convinced me to continue until the next Time Station, to try to go through this tough moment. And she told me that if I was not feeling better, I should stop. This 5 hours of biking were a nightmare emotionally speaking. I knew that if I wanted to make the last cut off Tuesday morning, I should ride for a very long time with again maximum risk taken. And I was not ready to take this risk anymore, for me, for my wife and for my kids. The game was not worth it. I've been working for 20 years in France in a Reeducation Center for para and tetraplegics, and I saw at first hand consequences of bikes accidents. When I arrived at Yates Center, KS around midnight, I told my crew that I was done. They all accepted my decision. Rob called RAAM headquarters, and told them that I dropped out.

 

RAAM 2005 is over. I'm very sad to not finish the race, to maybe disappoint sponsors, my crew, people who helped me and supported me during those past months, hoping that I will cross the finish line in Atlantic City, and closing this wonderful project in the best possible way. But at the same time, I was relieved that it was over. We're Thursday, we're in Boston after a quick stop to Atlantic City, and I don't regret my decision, knowing that it was the only good decision to take for me.  

 

To conclude, I' like to thank you all for your constant support. When someone from the crew was reading your emails, usually at night, I can tell you that I was feeling great and it was a magical moment that I was looking for all the time. I'd like also to thank the sponsors, because without them, nothing would have been possible. My crew were truly incredible of determination, enthusiasm, along those 7 days of race. They did an awesome job to motivate myself, fix the problems when they came, keep you update of my progression, and all of this with good humor and spirit, despite very few sleep for them too ; I will never thank them enough for their motivation.

 

Although the race is over for me, and I didn't ride until Atlantic City, I'm proud of this project. I went as far I could go on the race, try to raise money and awareness for HIV Vaccine Research. This project is however not done yet. Rob and Olivier will analyze hours of physiologic data recorded during the race. Jerome has planned at least 1 or 2 articles about the project, and maybe a book. I'm going to get thirty hours of video footage filmed by our Mr. Excited, The Steve, with maybe the idea of doing a DVD. Finally, I'll try to set up a cocktail to put a final end to the project, probably in September, and thank all the people who were involved in the success of this project, because I'm sure that this is a success. At this time, I'll show at least a diaporama, with the best photos taken by Jerome (2,000 photos).

 

I'd like tonight to have a thought for Bob Breedlove's family, and his friends. RAAM was clearly his passion, and if I can attenuate your sorrow, I can tell you that at the starting line in San Diego, he was as happy as a kid during Christmas receiving his gift.

 

 

Patrick

 

Ps : Thank you Judy for your email. It helped me a lot to take this very tough decision