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What's New and Latest Happenings

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Latest Updates:

Wendy's weekend - She decided to go out and ride hard for 80 miles on Saturday and basically do a 200K on Sunday as a recovery ride. 

12 hrs of Temecula - Jan 2008, has come and gone. All was good; I had 3 persons crewing for me (Bill, Sabine and Ingo).

I came in 3rd place - Masters 40 plus. A mistake was made with one of the guy's times and he was able to get in an extra lap on me. I did 8 laps in 9hrs and at the time was told that there was no way 3rd place could pass me since he was 3 laps back. (Kudos to the guy who stuck it out to pass me and get second place!)

Since I supposedly had 2nd locked in, I decided to stop.

Oh Well - things happen

By stopping in 9hrs I missed the rain and had allot of fun. The course was a little technical because of all the rain ruts and new cut trails along with stair step rock gardens. There was also lots of climbing! 22 to 25 minute climbs and about 800 feet in about 4.7 to 5 mile of continuous climbing. ~Pete

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Here's my ride report I was doing a 300K that left out of Chula Vista Saturday Morning:

The group left at 6am and I left at 6:45am. I didn't even left my place till around 6am. Yes... As usual, I was running late. There were around 17 riders that started the 300K that had close to 13,000 ft of climbing. Another rider started at 6:45 with me by the name of Erick. This was his first 300K ever; so you got it, I worked with him and brought him along to where he wouldn't bonk. Erick did a great job; I could see that he wanted to go, but I kept him back and told him that we had time to our advantage by not starting with the main group (who went out to hard and to fast). By the time we got to the top of Harbison Canyon we caught our first rider. Soon after, we started passing by other riders. By the time we left control point 1 we were just behind the mid-pack group. We continued on and just worked low HRs and kept an even pace. I am also glad that Wendy wasn't here for this, as she would have made me work on the climbs on Hwy67. In Ramona, I left Erick and went to the bike shop to see if they had a replacement for my cleat, they didn't. So I kept riding with a broken cleat from CP1 to CP2.

At control point 2 (Santa Ysabel and the mid-way point) Erick was a little tired because we had been battling 20+ MPH head winds. We refueled and I fixed my broken cleat on my right shoe and we were off. Sabine (a lady I train/coach) met us in Lakeside after we came down hwy67 and she had some Tuna Sandwiches for us. This brought us back to life and we were off. Erick started pulling away from me (he's a strong rider and will be a force to be dealt with when he gets the endurance riding experience under his belt) but for now, I wasn't to worried as I'd been riding at just below my warm-up zone all day long. I soon caught Erick back as we came into Alpine.

Control Point 3 - This was our last Control Point; we would head out just behind the main lead group, two riders were in front of them, thou. We caught the main lead group and went by them on our way to the wall and bee farm. At the wall Erick went by me, and arrived to the bee farm a few seconds/minute ahead of me. As I made the turn, I told him thanks for waiting, but that from there on we were on our own. I knew that Erick had completed his first 300K by looking at him and seeing that determined look on his face. I pushed on my pedals and brought my HR from below my warm-up zone and into the bottom of my work zone. I dropped Erick, as I had intended to do. I wanted him to do the last 20 or so miles on his own and face the solo rider feeling you can get when out in the dark riding solo.

I passed one last rider on Otay rd made the curves of thousand trails strain to see any signs of Erick (none), smiled and mentally wished him a safe passage to the finish and continued on. As I came around Otay Lake, I felt strong and just stayed on my pace till I was about 1.5 miles from the end, at which time I started my cool down. I pulled into the parking lot at about 7:21pm and soft pedaled around till I found Tom and gave him my card. I felt great, never really feel any pressure. A few minutes later Erick arrived excited in many ways. Congrats to all of you finish or not. You all ROCK!!! George, I will get you, buddy! hahahahaaa

Many thanks to all those that volunteered their time for such a great 300K event.

results http://www.sandiegorandonneurs.com/brevets.html

Photos:
http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYln%2fcsau4hevfrwRlnRzBHt9mUdpboivhUFWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
 
Petey

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Monique Sawicki"Pua" Your friendly and open personality make you a true CHAMPION.
Congrat's on your wins.  Pete first met Monique while racing NORBA National Marathons in 2004. They would often battle back and forth and get lost trying to out ride each other; but she always won!

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Pete was invited to ride with a special person and group tomorrow.  Let's see if it pans out.....   Had the pleasure to Mt Bike ride PQ today with some of the Specialized folks and members of different bike shops from around Southern California.  Special guest today was Ned Overend. 

View group ride photos Thanks for taking the time to ride with us Ned. 

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Congratulations to the A-List Winners and to Zumwalt's Bicycle Center for coming in the "Top 5" bike shops in the 10news.com's A-List competition.

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12 Hours Temecula - (From Pete)
I was scheduled to go to Tucson and do the Tour De Tucson with my friends.  I didn't get out of work till late on Friday and decided it was to long of a drive; since I might have to work the weekend anyway.  So Late Friday, I decided to head to Temecula for the 3rd race of the 12 hr endurance Mt Bike Race Series. I finished 2nd place Masters and won the 2007 Series Championship.  See Awards Photos Here

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Tour De Fort 
On Oct 20th Wendy and I had a great race!  I was the 1st overall Traditional Bike finisher and 2nd overall and Wendy was 5th overall and she finished 2nd place behind Julie who set a new women's' lap record.  Doyce was on his enclosed recumbent and he too set a new men's lap record and winning a $300.00 purse which he donated to Kevin Kaiser for his 2008 RAAM race.

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2007 Cuyamaca Poker Ride
It was great meeting lots of you! Sorry I went slow, but like I said, I have pneumonia and am trying to recover before my 12 hr solo road race next saturday in GA. I am almost done with my antibiotics only have 3 more days of them. My lungs still have crap in them, but oh well.

Getting back to the Poker Ride.... Man, it was sooo fun! Lots of great people out there. A special thanks to Ron, Billy and Bill for helping me when I broke my chain. And everyone else willing to help!

As for my Poker Hand, had a good hand, but not good enough to win. 3 Q's or a Straight as I had an 8, Joker,10, J, Q, Q (Extra card for the exrta loop). I did win two raffle drawing prizes which included some Hydrolite, Bike Blanket and Tires, $35 gift cert.

The food was also outstanding, but like any athlete would do, we stopped at the bread basket for a second lunch on the way home.

Hope to see most of you out there again!

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Furnace Creek 508

I'd been sick for the last couple weeks before the FC508 race. I thought I had knocked it down, well I was wrong and I DNF-ed FC508. I stopped around mile 400 - 25 or 26 hrs into the race when I basically had a total system shutdown. When I got home, went to the Dr's and found out I was racing with pneumonia.

I've been in bed ridden for the last 48 hrs and feeling a little better today.

I do plan on riding the Cuyamaca Poker Ride this weekend, I'll be running my Kenda, Polar and Rudy Project items so come and say Hi. Also, if you have your Kenda jersey, Rudy and Polar items wear it and show your support.  Here's the info on it: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Mountain Bike Poker Ride 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007, 8:00 - 9:30 A.M Start Times
Cuyamaca School Camp's Cedar Grove behind the Park's Headquarters off Highway 79.

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Pete has been picking up his training intensity and Wendy still doing the long mountain miles.  If we can talk Chris Kostman into letting up take part in Furnace Creek 508, them we'll be there either as a Team or Solo. Other upcoming projects include 10 Gaps, 6 Gaps, Tour De Fort, Tour De Tucson and Sebring 2008.

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Wendy and I rode the Chattooga Ride Saturday -
Here's what Wendy Posted on the http://ATLBIKE.ORG website:

Hi everyone,

I got lucky and got a loaner bike for the ride after finding out that a headset is somewhat important on a bike, and mine had nearly disintegrated! Thanks, Liz!

Pete and I really enjoyed the 125-mile ride and the tremendous sag support. The event organizers did a first-class job making sure everyone had enough food, fluids and a ride, if needed.

I should've known it was going to be a better-than-average ride when they were handing out Payday candy bars at the start.

This was the first time we had ridden this ride, and I was expecting something more difficult in the climbing than was actually there. So most of the ride I'm telling Pete that we're not at the climb yet. And before we knew it, we were back at the finish!

Thank goodness for the shade on the course. And I don't remember any other organized ride with this much beautiful scenery with no traffic!

We usually don't stop much at the sag stops, but I'm glad we did! The Gatorade snow cones and the ice were nice! And I was pleasantly surprised by the volunteers handing out cold water from the sag vehicles!

And how awesome to have showers available at the finish!

With the day's temperatures being so threatening, many people started early and did the shorter distances. So for most of the day, it was just the two of us riding, unlike other events where there's always someone around. Other than that, the event was awesome!

Pete took some pictures that he has posted on our website. You can view them at www.peteandwendycycling.com/chattooga

Kitten

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Not much happening these days, just riding and getting over RAAM. 
Wendy rides in Georgia, check out http://atlbike.org and look for "Kitten" to find her where bouts; or in the North GA mountains!

Pete rides in San Diego or where ever time finds him. He recently did the Death Ride in Markleeville, CA (129 miles and 15,000 climbing).  He still rides with his Tuesday/Thursday Coffee group and with the Ramona Fun Riders on Friday's and will even show up at an occasional www.cyclo-vets.org ride.

Guess we'll see what the future brings.......

View some of our RAAM 2007 Photos
Race Across AMerica (RAAM) is just around the corner! 
We are in the final stage of our preparations! Everything is looking good!

We have setup our RAAM BLOG, It is in test mode and will be active once we start RAAM.  Will will also continue to update our website and we go across the USA. View RAAM BLOG Here and on the RAAM website view Pete And Wendy's standing's here.

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We would like to welcome Suzuki as our SPONSOR for the 2007 Race Across AMerica!

We THANK YOU for helping us out!

We would like to recognize AVIS Rental Car in San Diego, CA.  They really worked extremely hard trying to put us in vehicles to accomplish our Race Mission!

We would like to welcome Howard Johnson Inn San Diego State University Area as our SPONSOR for the 2007 Race Across AMerica!   Thank You Jay!

Howard Johnson Inn San Diego State University Area
6440 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Phone: 619-286-2040
Fax: 619-286-2517

E-Mail: howardjohnsonsd@aol.com

June 2nd Saturday (8am-1pm)  we hosted a Bike Clinic outside of Zumwalt's Bicycle Center.  G R Catering provided food and Ernie is provided Hydralyte drinks and packages of mix to us, Eric from Zumwalt's was on hand to help out should anyone need anything. See Pictures Here

I have personal sad news - My dad passed away May 24th at 1:38am Central Time. He lives in Mexico and my sister was there with him along with his wife. My sister will have him cremated and bring him home to Northern California.

I am grateful that both my parents have had the opportunity to see my accomplishments with the World Record and my dad told me he knows I will finish RAAM. Wendy and I will race RAAM in my parents honor. - Please say a little prayer for them. ~ Thanks Pete And Wendy

Wendy crashed last night at the Bellyache. :o( Hit a rounded piece of a bump of concrete (that blended into the pavement) and lost control and went sliding on E. Paces (or W. Paces...not sure which) just past the Woodland Brook intersection. Didn't hit anybody else or any cars, fortunately. I only ended up with minor road rash on my left hip & left elbow, and holes in my new jersey.
 

Our friend, Mark Johnson, made the newspaper during the 12/6 hour Mt bike race at Fort Yargo, GA.  This is from his email: 
The first weekend of this month I participated in a 12/6 hour race at a state park a little north of Atlanta. I was in the 6 hour single speed class. For those that don't know, that means I had only one gear and no option to shift. If you could start your last lap by 5:59:00 and finish it in under an hour, you were allowed to go back out. So I did 6 laps in just over 6 hour and 50 minutes and finished fourth. With a lap distance of 12 miles, that amounted to 72 miles. I was beat!

The end of last week, I got the attached article in the mail from the promoter of the race with a thank you note for my participation. That was cool!!! I think the article came from the local paper in the town of Winder where the park is located.
 

Wendy had a nice off the bike weekend and did family and friend visits in B-ham.  I on the other hand killed myself with an early morning ride with Sabine before work, then a 12hour shift at work followed by an all night ride and it was cold in the mountains.  Thanks to Brandon Drouillard, Jason Schmidt and Azalea for being my pace crew for the night.  Took a 30 minute nap and did a road ride with Ingo after a great breakfast at the Neumann's.  After the ride worked on Ingo's bike, did some emailing, showered. All in all, I went about 48 hours on 1.5 hours sleep. While at Ingo and Sabine's place I finally crashed and burned and slept for 4 hours, when I woke up Ingo had BBQ-ed, another great Neumann meal (Dinner). 

We have been training and working on getting the extra funds/  Thank you to those of you who have stepped up and made donations.  See Our Support Team

We would like to welcome  E cycling Store and Elan Powell to our lists of sponsors.  They have provided us with products for many years. www.ecyclingstore.com

Sunday (May 6th) was a recovery day, did my usual Alpine loop, stopped for coffee, chatted with Dana and his partner, as I let Floyd showed up, we talked a little about the Viejas Browns road closure and not the whole Reservation, then I left to go toward South Grade, then Harbasine Cyn and at the Dehesa corner, I went back up Dehesa and turned around at the top.  Got home switched bikes and set off to do a mt bike ride with Brandon and Lisa, two of the Zumwalt's Bike race teams members.  

Saturday (May 5th) rode what I call the 94 loop with my friend Sabine. I saw the SD Century Riders at the Potreo Country Store, so I decide to pull in and say Hi.  I came to a sliding  stop as my front tire washed out, want a cheesy entrance!  We talked for a while and the SD Century Riders left, Sabine and I followed soon after.  I just want everyone to know, how proud of Sabine I am... I told her that this loop wasn't much more than 3,000 feet of climbing, well I was so wrong.  All the times I rode it, it never seemed like allot of climbing.  None-the-less, the climbs was more than double of what I told her, she wasn't a happy camper - but to her credit she continued on! ~ Sorry Sabine

Thursday May 3rd, I toured the east county on my bike stopping and visiting with great friendly folks.  And as everyone knows... You can't go to Descanso, CA and not stop at Descanso Junction Restaurant for some awesome food! Thanks Tammy! 

Had a great time at the Alpine Challenge yesterday which the Proceeds benefit the Rady Children's Hospital San Diego and the Alpine Challenge Scholarship Fund.  The event is a class act and way fun!

Pete spoke with Jagger and Kristi of Magic 92.5 (http://Magic 925.com) this  Morning (Friday Apr 27th).
We'll get the clip and post it here as soon as we get it. So check back!
Here's the clip of our first conversation Wednesday Apr 4th: 04.03.07PeteandWendyCycling.mp3. 

*** New ***  Photos added -  Jason L Schmidt's Event Photos 4/04/2007 - 4/08/2007 (619 884-3451)

Next time you go by Zumwalt's Bicycle Center ask then to give you directions to Cafe Zia for some great wraps and food!

Become part of Pete And Wendy's RAAM Team - Sponsor one of the 57 Time Stations and we'll add you and/or your business to our Time Station List.

Race Across AMerica is an exciting race.  We believe that the only way will will win is through TEAM WORK! The Team will put to the test every minute of the race.  Those tests can be mental, physical, emotional, medical and even financial.  Our goal is to minimize all possible tests before they happen. The racers have been training hard to minimize physical and medical issues. The crew is being educated on the stressful mental, physical, emotional environments.  Become part of our team and help us get the financial test eliminated before we start RAAM. 

Become part of our team by sponsoring one of the 57 Time Stations we'll race by for as little as $100.  Or become a Gas Sponsor for any amount of donation.

We would like to welcome our newest of sponsors!  We hope to make you proud!

Childs Mascari Warner Architectural Firm

Brandon Drouillard and Debra Kuhn at Medical Center Acupuncture Clinic

Marty at G R Catering Inc

Aide Alhambra CEO of  Strictlybizness

A million Thank You-s:

Pete And Wendy rode stationary bikes and broke the Stationary Bike World Record of 85 hours by pedaling for 96 hours 4 minutes and 8 seconds, while raising funds and awareness to San Diego Burn Institute, Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation and for their RAAM race.  They will continue to raise additional funds and awareness as they Race the Race Across AMerica (RAAM).  
Helping One Dollar At A Time.

Media - for helping Wendy and me get the word out about word about our Charities:
San Diego Burn Institute and Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation

Richard and Eric at Zumwalt's Bicycle Center

Jack at NiteRider

Russ at Russ Denny Bicycles

Jackie at Peloton Sports, We hope you have a fast recovery!

Jim at Kenda

Jeff at Polar

Brandon Drouillard and Debra Kuhn at Medical Center Acupuncture Clinic

Marty at G R Catering Inc

San Diego Track Club http://www.sdtc.com - We proudly thank your club for the use of the Race Clock. It's awesome when we can cross sports to accomplish a goal together!

The use of your clock made it possible for passer by and us to know how far we were into our trek.

Jimena Florit doing our Laundry and signing autographs on our request-She does outstanding coaching. Wendy and I have used allot of her tips, which have attributed to our successes!

Jay Patel at Howard Johnson Univ Inn - Thanks for opening up the showers and all your help. Phone 619 286-2040

San Diego Police Department - your officers made us feel safe all the time.  Thanks for stopping by!

All of you whom came by, called, honked and waved!

Attempt to break Guinness World Record

On April 4th, we will start our attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest time on a stationary bicycle. The previous record is 85 hours; our goal is 96 hours. Our world record attempt will occur at Zumwalt's Bicycle Center, 6425 El Cajon Blvd San Diego, Ca. 92115; starting on April 4 at 8 a.m. and ending on April 8th at 8 a.m.; where we'll ride 24 hours a day for 4 days (with the exception of brief breaks as outline in Guinness World Record rules). We will eat on the bike as well as add/remove appropriate clothing while riding for weather conditions.  To make things interesting, we'll be riding outside and using powerful night-riding bicycle lights (provided by Nite Rider) on the stationary bikes (as if we were really out riding), and wearing appropriate "weather" cycling apparel.

200K Brevet in Georgia Saturday March 30, 2007

Zumwalt's Bicycle Center on Stationary Bike, Monday - Saturday

Mayor’s Ride to the Capitol—Atlanta—Tuesday March 6, 2007

24-Hour RAAM Challenge at Gold's Gym—Acworth, GA—Tuesday and Wednesday, March 6th and 7th

For a small fee Wendy will create a DVD of your favorite pictures and music.  You can email or mail her the photos and music.  We are doing this to help raise the money we need to race RAAM.
Email Wendy  at wgardiner@peteandwendycycling.com

Download the Adventures Of Pete And Wendy.wmv as an example
(This is a 25MB video - Just right click and save as on your computer)