Were you waiting to hear the results?

I'm so sorry for not blogging our results sooner. The final two days of the race were a complete blur and we were all exhausted. WE BEAT OUR 7 DAY GOAL!!! The guys rode across the country in 6 days, 17 hrs and 7 minutes. The weather was perfect in Annapolis when we arrived and we continued to have great weather for the next two days. The trip was a lot of fun but we were all very happy to arrive in MD! :)

Thanks for keeping in touch with the team and traveling with us across the country!

Amy, Crew

PS- attached is a few photo's from our final race day. One picture is of the guys riding the last 4 miles together and the other was taken during the medal ceremony.

Video of an exchange in Graysville, IN

This is just a fun video taken in a small town in Indianapolis. At the end of the day we get a little silly. Hope you enjoy our fun too.

Amy, Crew

oops- those pics

Pictures of today in Illinois

Just going through my pictures of today and thought I would share a few. I have one last video to get out and then we are headed to bed. :) As you can see we had a beautiful day today and hardly a cloud in the sky. Only 789 miles left!!

Amy, Crew

The floods in Missouri

Here's a short video of the floods we passed in Missouri. Taken from the crew van front seat... Amy, Crew

Weather is much better

Team Delta made it through the weather challenges yesterday. When we exchanged squads we heard a few stories to share. Lighting struck right next to Mark Luke when he was riding! The girls in the follow vehicle (Dawn, Diane & Sharon) along with Shaw (rider) got off the road and into a ditch fearing a tornado. The winds were fierce but they made it through just fine. We hope for much better weather this afternoon for Delta.

As for squad Bravo, we are out of the rain for now. Traveled across Missouri today and into Illinois. We will be in Indiana within the hour. It's amazing that ittle towns like Robinson, IL have broadband access! After a solid 4-5 hrs rest last night, we are ready to win this race. We still stand in 7th place with about 55 minutes between us and the team in 6th (United Eight).

I will try and send more pics this afternoon.

Amy, Crew

RAIN and a FUNNEL CLOUD! Oh no!

Well friends, we've been lucky up until this point. We made it to Missouri and down came the rain. Steve managed to catch this video on his cell phone just as we were passing our other squad (Delta). About an hour after this video was taken the skies got really dark and team Bravo went to sleep. Lonnie stayed up to make sandwiches and talk with the drivers when... a funnel cloud formed and cities emergency alert horns went off. We quickly called team Delta and asked them to seek cover. After 45minutes Amy called to get an update from Greg and squad Bravo was fine and making their way through wind, hail and rain. Wow what a change in the weather! Still making good time and staying safe Enjoy this two minute video but it may take some time to load. Thanks for your support. Amy, Crew

free McDonalds + at midnight we're half way!

Just a quick note... fun pictures of our free McDonalds in Pratt, KS. Marvin, the manager here gives away free McDonalds to all RAAM staff, riders and crew (~800 people!). Fantastic! Now we are off to bed and preparing for a 12:30amCT exchange with team Delta.

Thanks for your support.

Amy, Crew

Video of an exchange...

Here’s a quick video of Steve waiting on Ed to finish up his segment . This type of exchange happens about every 30 minutes for 12 hours straight. Its crazy! Just following Ed was us in the follow vehicle… Look like fun? Are you ready to crew next year?

Amy, Crew

Pictures from last post

sorry guys... these didn't make the blog post last time- a slow connection...

Amy, Crew

Over the rockies and life on the bus! :)

Hello! Sorry for not writing yesterday… no internet access and time was a bit limited. Over the past two days we traveled through Durango, CO and Taos, NM. The views of the Rockies were amazing and we’ve seen lots of wildlife. Two deer crossed in front of Paolo, a barking “Benji” dog chased Brian for a tenth of a mile, and a silly rabbit hopped in front of Ed after a 48mph downhill! There’s been a few close calls but we’re all safe. Now we're just leaving Boise City Idaho and on to Pratt, KS. Take a look at Lonnie flagging us down for a rider exchange. When the guys are doing 25-30mph those exchanges come up quick.

Life on the bus is crowded and we’re all sleep deprived but that hasn’t stopped the fun. Mike Riley & Frank Lawson, our bus drivers have told numerous stories about driving buses for musician concert tours and the crazy lives of rock stars. Chef Lonnie has kept us well fed and we’ve managed to get to a grocery store for fresh food each day. Uncle Tom makes great breakfast sandwiches which get the guys moving in the morning. I've enclosed a picture of me blogging on the bus and Lonnie makin sandwiches...

Check out how we are doing by going to

http://stats.raceacrossamerica.org/2008/reports/overview.html

And… I will send a video next.
Amy, Crew

a rider exchange

We are serious about racing- have fun watching this rider exchange from Paolo to Brian which was completed close to Prescott, AZ. (see blog below to view the video)

Amy, crew

Finished with Day 1!

Greetings from Prescott, AZ!

We are currently in 6th place and both (4) racer squads have been faster than planned. Team Bravo got an early morning start at about 1:15am. Team Delta hopped on the bus and found a campground to shower. I've enclosed a picture of us getting Ed ready for the ride in the middle of the night. Watching the sun come up this morning was amazing and we managed to get a picture of Steve while driving behind him. We continue to head east and will share more as the day goes by.

Having a great time!

Amy, crew

Video taken at the race start...

Hi Again.
Just about to get some sleep before our "shift"... thought you might enjoy these videos. If you can't view them please go to the blog website at the end of this email.

Amy, Crew

The race is on!

At 2:00pm (PDT), the eight riders of team SBGP rode together for a few blocks of the start parade. Saying goodbye to Oceanside, Squad Delta (riders Don, George, Shaw and Mark) are currently racing toward Brawley, CA. Meanwhile, squad Bravo (riders Brian, Ed, Steve and Paolo) have set off in the bus toward El Centro for a early dinner.

Pictures might be few but here's just a couple taken at the start... one of the team and one of the Knowles family. Enjoy!

As for the weather, we have lots of warm weather ahead with temperatures as high at 105 degrees.

QUICK UPDATE- we made it through our first time station! Average speed of 15.27 mph and we stand in the middle of the 8 man teams.

Amy, Crew

Tomorrow we RACE!

(above) Shaw and Lonnie express their excitement after the team passes bike/car inspections!

See yet more race prep pics at the following link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=yczgaqp.bas6bh5&x=0&y=gziv8l&localeid=en_US
Included are a couple of pics of our mighty tour bus which just arrived yesterday. Looks like we'll be traveling like rockstars for the next week! We also had some official RAAM photos taken of the team and crew. Enjoy!

-Steve, rider

Team pics in Oceanside, CA!

To view more pics, go here and click on Brian or "View Slideshow."

-Steve, rider

Race prep means sticker application!

The team is currently in Oceanside, CA preparing for its journey across the country! The race starts this wednesday and spirits are high. All this prep means many stickers have to be applied to the vehicles...



Sticker application is a team effort!



Please see the blog at http://www.santabarbaragreenpower.com/blog.html for a video and picture in this post! More updates are to come...

-Steve, rider

Just 10 more days!

The countdown is on and the blog is up and running. More from me as the days pass... And now, for a quick message from DR. Steve.

Amy, crew member

28 days till the race!

One month from now, SBGP will be burning up the road en route to Annapolis! I can't believe how fast the race is coming up. It seems like just yesterday it was January- when I was spending cold mornings on the bike.

News info will be posted here before and during the race...please stay tuned!

-Steve