Welcome to the Race Across the West

Greer Peed starts the team off on Wednesday morning. Photos: Kevin Mackinnon

You’ve likely heard of the Race Across America (RAAM), but there’s a good chance you’re not familiar with another event that runs in conjunction with that challenging race, the Race Across the West (RAW). (There’s also a Race Across the East, too, but more on that later.)

I’m starting this race report at a Love’s truck stop in Westmoreland, California. As we got out of the RV the support crew who were here last year as part of the Slowtwitch Goodlife Racing Team (they did RAAM last year) all mumbled “it’s way cooler than last year.” That’s hard to believe, since the temperature is hovering around 104 Fahrenheit. We’re waiting for our first glimpse of our racers – through the first 100 miles or so Eli Cullison, Jordan Reed and Greer Peed, three of the four-man team, have been tagging off, riding for roughly an hour each. Shane Peed (Greer’s dad), is waiting in one of the two RVs we’re in for the gang to make it through the first seven or eight hours of racing, at which point he’ll take his first “pull” of the race – the plan is he’ll go for a few hours to give the other three a break. The elder Peed took part in last year’s RAAM effort and decided to take on the shorter RAW course so 13-year-old Greer could participate. Needless to say, Greer is the youngest competitor in this year’s events.

Greer Peed finishes up his day on Tuesday.

RAW and RAAM Get Started

The start line next to the Oceanside Pier.

RAW is taking place for the 17th time this year, while RAAM is celebrating its 43rd anniversary. Both events begin in Oceanside, California and follow the same route to Durango, Colorado. After that 841-mile trek the folks competing in RAW get to call it a race. The folks doing RAAM get to keep going until they complete their 3,041-mile journey across the country. One of the competitors in RAW is going to scoot across the country to compete in the Race Across the East – that event includes the last 628 miles of the RAAM.

The Slowtwitch Goodlife Racing Team has lots of support on hand including Slowtwitch’s Eric Wynn (and, I guess, myself, although my official job is to “be a fly on the wall”), Terry Wilson, Vincent Wieser, Nick Munger and Chef Zach Midgett, who is hands down the most popular group member. (Midgett is the executive chef at the spectacular Casa Bovina restaurant after having worked as a Sous Chef at the prestigious French Laundry in California.)

The First 27 Hours

The team got started at 12:02 pm and, while the first eight hours went along pretty well, the team wasn’t hitting the same pace they had enjoyed last year – the temperature might have been a bit cooler, but last year’s stiff tailwind wasn’t to be seen. And, with one of young Greer’s legs through Barrego Springs seeing the thermometer hit 113 degrees, it was certainly hot enough.

The elder Peed and Cullison would finish out the night’s riding, making it past the spectacular sand dunes in Blythe to a hotel in the city by about 1:30 am.

Shane Peed gets his RAW started with the first pull in the dark.

Yes, that’s the moon. No scenic shots with the riders going past the dunes near Blythe this year – it was too dark.

Setting up to get some sleep.

Eric Wynn and Greer Peed at the end of a long day.

After a few hours sleep it was time for Greer Peed and Reed to get things started, with the 13-year-old taking the first leg out of Blythe in the cooler temperature as the sun was just coming up. It’s mandatory for the riders to be trailed by a vehicle between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am, and I was able to jump in the support van to get more photos of the crew this morning.

Reed “rests his eyes” before he starts to ride.

Enjoying the cooler temperature, the younger Peed blasts past some of the RAAM competitors.

If yesterday was a bit cooler, today’s riding made up for it as the riders entered Arizona. It was 97 degrees by 9, 100 at 9:39, 105 at 9:58 and hit 108 by 10:51.

Things were getting hotter as Reed finished up his first pull for the day …

And were downright scorching by the time Shane Peed got rolling.

Time for another trade as the younger Peed gets started on his last pull of the day – in the centre is Terry Wilson.

Greer Peed’s last pull was the beginning of the big climbing ahead of the group …

Which is where Cullison (above) and Reed stepped in to take the early afternoon’s climbing.

The day will finish out with over 15,000 feet of climbing and a few hours rest in Flagstaff, Arizona, which is where we’ll be starting from tomorrow morning. Stay tuned for more from RAW.

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