Team Surfing USA Holds Second Place, Hauling Through New Mexico
by Don King, Team USA Crew Manager
Monday, 4:15 PM PST

The guys are all going strong; Laird looks especially strong. Even Don who’s 76-years-old is totally pulling his share. Nobody is getting an extra break. They’re taking three hour breaks now.
 
To make things difficult one of our support busses broke down, and had to scramble this morning and get a van to pile food and supplies to catch up with us. The nutritional aspects are very intense. Ron Jones, our fitness consultant/expert and former RAAM champion is coaching these guys, making sure they get the right amount of rest to recover. It’s a balance of not resting too much - so the other guys don’t have to work for too long, and resting just enough to put in a solid shift.”
 
“It’s been really beautiful terrain. Everything is really green here, with aspens and pines and meadows. We’re on smaller country roads, and we’ll be that way the whole trip. We’re only going on the interstate for about 50 miles total.
 
Last night passing through Monument Valley, you make out the outline of the buttes and valleys with the stars all out; it was pretty special. At night they’re riding right in front of the vehicle with the lights leading the way and they’ve got speakers on the truck cranking the tunes out and they’re just chugging along. It’s remarkable to me that humans are capable doing what they are. They’re super hardcore. A lot of people would freak out – even just crew wise they’d freak out.
 
Laird is very clear and focused and sharp; actually, I’m surprised at how clear they all are. The athletes are getting a little bit of sleep and some the crew is staying up 24 hours straight, and we’ve only got one bike mechanic so he has to be ready to rock at all times.
 
Another thing is just the reality of using the toilet. If you find a toilet that you can sit down on then that’s amazing.
 
Right now they’re in second place by probably about 20 minutes or so. I’m not sure. It’s all within striking distance, because it’s such a long race. If one guy doesn’t eat enough and crashes and starts to slow…it’s over for them, and we’ll be ready to go.