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Date: 21 Jun 2007 22:04:00
From: Crescentius Vespasianus
Subject: The Oatley Report
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stars and Stripes
June 21, 2007 - 13:12 - Perry Stone
Jeff Oatley, the first American Solo Male to cross the line in Atlantic City
talked to Danny Chew about his first RAAM, the problems he encountered and
the road he traveled. Like most RAAM riders, Oatley had to overcome problems
specific to himself and then those ailments, obstacles, pains and
difficulties that almost all rider's encounter. For a rookie or a veteran
Oatley did his state of Alaska and his country proud.
From his blog; http://jeffoatley.blogspot.com/ we learn that Jeff might have
been riding his bike, but at times his mind had gone fishing:
"Mentally however he was struggling and couldn't seem to understand why we
were pushing him to ride his bike and kept stopping to ask why we were doing
this. Every time we reminded him that he was in a bike race he would nod and
say something like, "Yeah, that sounds familiar, you need to keep reminding
me about that so I don't get confused." That happened about 10 times this
morning".
A classic example of an ailment I like to call, "rider's brain".
His calories consumption also was also erratic at times, the first 2-3 days
he had a daily intake of 8,000 -9,000 calories but his body was beginning to
refuse it or in the least slow its processing, so he backed off to a 'super
model on speed' level of 3,000 calories per day (um, that would be if a
super-model rode RAAM) and once his body made the adjustment Jeff went back
up to around 7,000 calories a day.
The desert heat blasted him and he took time to recover from that. This is
certainly nothing new to RAAM riders but while RAAM was blessed with cooler
than normal temperatures as they climbed away from the California Coast, it
was still an inferno for the usual frost-bitten existence of the Alaskan
super-cyclist. I recall reading somewhere that Oatley stated; "we have two
types of road conditions, snow/ice covered or under construction".
An unfamiliar ailment that Jeff was forced to deal with was "hot seat",
many/most riders suffer hot feet but Oatley's troubles surfaced elsewhere.
In 15 minutes his crew changed his saddle 3 times until they found a fix. He
used that saddle until the boardwalk.
Supported on his crew by his wife Heather and his friend and RAAM finisher,
Ben Courtier, Oatley slept 22 hours in almost 11 days but spent a whooping
60 hours off bike in total. Reminds me of a blond bombshell from Lubbock,
Texas, oh boy.
Referring to his desire to ride his own pace Oatley stated that; "It didn't
matter if a rider was 100 yards or 100 miles in front, if you can't keep his
pace you can't catch him". Congratulations go out to Jeff and his team for a
spectacular effort that clearly demonstrated that the Alaskan spirit of
adventure is alive and well!
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Date: 22 Jun 2007 00:35:06
From: bjw@mambo.ucolick.org
Subject: Re: The Oatley Report
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On Jun 21, 3:04 pm, "Crescentius Vespasianus" <jazzyb...@hotmail.com >
wrote:
> From his blog;http://jeffoatley.blogspot.com/we learn that Jeff might have
> been riding his bike, but at times his mind had gone fishing:
>
> "Mentally however he was struggling and couldn't seem to understand why we
> were pushing him to ride his bike and kept stopping to ask why we were doing
> this. Every time we reminded him that he was in a bike race he would nod and
> say something like, "Yeah, that sounds familiar, you need to keep reminding
> me about that so I don't get confused." That happened about 10 times this
> morning".
>
> A classic example of an ailment I like to call, "rider's brain".
That's hardly an appropriate name, since when the
person on a bicycle has become so confused that he
doesn't know what he is doing, he isn't consciously
a rider and his brain isn't quite active.
This proves, if nothing else, that with enough practice
you don't need conscious effort to balance and ride
a bike. But this level of disconnection is dangerous.
This is his brain (or his central nervous system,
since his brain seems to have shut down) telling him
to stop. I no longer wonder why people have gotten
killed doing RAAM.
Even Tommy Simpson was able to articulate "Put me
back on my bike." RAAM isn't a joke any longer.
RAAM, in its present form, must be stopped.
Ben
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Date: 22 Jun 2007 10:39:05
From: RonSonic
Subject: Re: The Oatley Report
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On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:35:06 -0700, "bjw@mambo.ucolick.org"
<bjw@mambo.ucolick.org > wrote:
>On Jun 21, 3:04 pm, "Crescentius Vespasianus" <jazzyb...@hotmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>> From his blog;http://jeffoatley.blogspot.com/we learn that Jeff might have
>> been riding his bike, but at times his mind had gone fishing:
>>
>> "Mentally however he was struggling and couldn't seem to understand why we
>> were pushing him to ride his bike and kept stopping to ask why we were doing
>> this. Every time we reminded him that he was in a bike race he would nod and
>> say something like, "Yeah, that sounds familiar, you need to keep reminding
>> me about that so I don't get confused." That happened about 10 times this
>> morning".
>>
>> A classic example of an ailment I like to call, "rider's brain".
>
>That's hardly an appropriate name, since when the
>person on a bicycle has become so confused that he
>doesn't know what he is doing, he isn't consciously
>a rider and his brain isn't quite active.
>
>This proves, if nothing else, that with enough practice
>you don't need conscious effort to balance and ride
>a bike. But this level of disconnection is dangerous.
>This is his brain (or his central nervous system,
>since his brain seems to have shut down) telling him
>to stop. I no longer wonder why people have gotten
>killed doing RAAM.
>
>Even Tommy Simpson was able to articulate "Put me
>back on my bike." RAAM isn't a joke any longer.
>RAAM, in its present form, must be stopped.
Dig it, Ben. Rider's brain is "get me back on the bike." The guy standing next
to a bike in the middle of an empty road wondering what the hell he's doing
there needs to sleep and try to recover.
This would all be noble and brave if he were delivering messages for his
premechanized army or rescuing his fellows. But even then, with the lives of
others on the line you would tell this man to stand down, get some rest and come
back after some sleep.
Crescent Wrench just does not get this.
Ron
Ron
Effect pedal demo's up at http://www.soundclick.com/ronsonicpedalry
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Date: 21 Jun 2007 20:37:36
From: RonSonic
Subject: Re: The Oatley Report
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On Thu, 21 Jun 2007 22:04:00 GMT, "Crescentius Vespasianus"
<jazzyboss@hotmail.com > wrote:
>stars and Stripes
>June 21, 2007 - 13:12 - Perry Stone
>
>Jeff Oatley, the first American Solo Male to cross the line in Atlantic City
>talked to Danny Chew about his first RAAM, the problems he encountered and
>the road he traveled. Like most RAAM riders, Oatley had to overcome problems
>specific to himself and then those ailments, obstacles, pains and
>difficulties that almost all rider's encounter. For a rookie or a veteran
>Oatley did his state of Alaska and his country proud.
>
>From his blog; http://jeffoatley.blogspot.com/ we learn that Jeff might have
>been riding his bike, but at times his mind had gone fishing:
>
>"Mentally however he was struggling and couldn't seem to understand why we
>were pushing him to ride his bike and kept stopping to ask why we were doing
>this. Every time we reminded him that he was in a bike race he would nod and
>say something like, "Yeah, that sounds familiar, you need to keep reminding
>me about that so I don't get confused." That happened about 10 times this
>morning".
This is actually stupider than the recent UCI news.
If a guy is so damaged that he no longer knows he is in a race, then he isn't
in a race.
Teenage punks playing chicken with a lit a cigarette between their thumbs is
less stupid than this. It's over sooner and the damage heals faster. Oh, and it
costs a lot less.
Ron
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