Have Legs Will Travel

By

Mark Patten

I'm not sure what is the common denominator, the Midwest or Aaron Rumple, but adventure always comes with both. One doesn't really happen without the other and when I do an Ultra race in the Midwest I usually stay with Aaron from St. Louis. I've done BAM twice and the UMCA 24-Hour World Cycling Championships twice, Aaron was involved with them all, and they all have been major adventures. I've written about Aaron and I doing BAM on his tandem, you can read about that on my web page also, this story is about the adventures of Iowa.

Aaron and I share so much in common that it is scary! Aaron is a Yale graduate and while I barely made it out of High School with a "Please leave school" pass, we enjoy doing some of the same things. Aaron is a clean-cut Midwest all-American nice guy; I'm not too clean cut, live in California and I am known to be "not such a nice guy". Aaron goes out of his way to help others etc. (more on this later); "please don't bother calling me for help". He has a house that is half torn apart with one "working" bathroom; my house is like that! He has more than one bike; I've got bikes! He wears Carnac shoes, me too! See I told you that we had lots in common. Fortunately for me we formed some kind of bond with each other while crewing for a rider on RAAM. Unfortunately we don't ride the same size bike or components, but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

How long should it take for UPS to send a bike half way across this country of ours? I don't know because each time I've sent mine it has been different. The first time I sent it was for the '97 24 hr. Worlds. I was told that it would be 3 days, it ended up being 5 days. Stress is not a good thing before a race; I was in over load. Calling Aaron daily to see if the bike was there at his sister's house in the Quad City area (Aaron's family is nice also, she was letting us stay there, mine doesn't know my name). The bike was a no show. I called Tom Buckley (another nice guy) to see if he would bring another bike with him in case mine didn't show, he said he would, so I was covered. The flight into Moline was still very stressful; there is something about riding your own bike in a Ultra race. When I arrived Friday afternoon the bike was there and ready to ride. It had arrived Friday around noon and Aaron had put it together for me. I told you he was a nice guy! Except for a little run-in with the local Military Police the day before the race, things went very well. I won my age division and came in second overall to Wolfgang Fashing. That year he went on to win RAAM. I'm not too sure if Aaron was happy about putting my bike together for me though!

The second time I made the mistake of sending my bike by UPS was for this year's '99 UMCA World 24 Hour Cycling Championships (HTTP://DENALI.PHYSICS.UIOWA.EDU/IUE). Knowing that it took 5 days last time, I sent it on the Friday before, giving me 3 extra days. I sent it to Aaron's house in St. Louis this time and thought 8 days should be enough. I called Aaron on Wednesday and still no bike, the tracking number said it was in route in Colo. on Tuesday. So I thought it would show on Thursday for sure and I would have Friday to drive up to Iowa, etc. I flew into St. Louis on Thursday and still no bike. On Friday morning we checked the package on the computer and it had been delivered Thursday to a place in Colo. I had been given the wrong tracking number for the bike! After a "few" calls I got the right number, but by then the UPS computers had gone down and they could not tell me where my bike was. I had flown in from California to do a race in Iowa and I had no bike to ride. Once again the stress levels are higher than you want before the race. The problems were just starting to happen, or should I just say the adventure was just starting?

Once again Aaron is there to help, he had offered his old reliable Bianchi on Thursday night. Aaron is a nice guy, but he wasn't going to give up his Litespeed for me to ride. The Bianchi was nothing like the bike I had planned on riding. It's a steel frame, mine is titanium. His is a 57cm, I ride a 58cm. Mine is a custom full-suspension road bike I had made for RAAM; Aaron's was bought in the store as is. His has Campi 8-speed, mine Shimano 9; he rides Look pedals, I ride Speedplays; his handlebars are narrower than mine are; he has different aero-bars, and seat. The wheels were Tri-Spokes, which feel different then standard 32 spoke wheels that I ride. We had to do a little work on the bike Thursday night before it would even run, but it was there! Then aero-bars had to be put on because Aaron had been training for PBP this year where aero-bars aren't allowed, and gear changes were made because of the course. The positive thing was we wear the same shoes, Carnac, so I was able to switch the cleats on my shoes to fit his pedals. Something I had learned before was to bring your helmet, your cycling shoes and clothing, and your bike's light system on the plane. Now I know to bring your pedals with you also! I waited until 5:15pm on Friday for my bike and it was a no show. I still had a 5-hour drive to Iowa to do.

Aaron had gone up to Iowa earlier with some crewmembers. I put the Bianchi in the rental car and headed toward Iowa not knowing what I was in for. I had arrived too late for registration at the pizza joint, and headed for the hotel for some sleep. I still needed to make some food for the next day etc.; so I hit the sack around Midnight; plenty of time for the 6:30am start time!? I got up at 5am to drive to the start, and registered when I got there. Now I had to make the adjustments on the bike, tape my lights to the aero-bars, and get dress for the race. As others sat waiting for the start, I was busy making someone else's bike "fit" me. Moving the seat back and up, riding a couple of laps in the parking lot, I had the bike in as good of a position as it was going to get for me. Riding a total of 2 blocks on Aaron's bike before racing it in an Ultra event was starting to become commonplace somehow, for me at least (read the BAM story).

One of Aaron's biggest fears before the race he said was that to get beat by his own old bike. I was just hoping against all odds to make it 150 miles back to the school (starting point of the night loop). There were a few times during that lap that Dave Holmes, the race director, came by to ask how I liked my "new" bike. Well my knees were ready to blow and I couldn't get comfortable in the aero-bars. After making it to the school I was ready to call it a good little ride, but I was told that I was in 3 or 4 and should "keep up the good work". Well I guess I should tell you about the 20+ mins. on the porcelain or the throwing up on the road outside of town, but I'll leave that to your imagination. Maybe I should complain that my hands were killing me because I couldn't ride in the aero-bars, but that's all ultra stuff at it's best. What I will tell you is that I made Aaron's fears come to be. I came in third place overall with 441miles, finishing behind Wolfgang and Tom.

I have heard people say they can't do a bike race because of this or that. I'm here to say if you have the legs to travel, than you can do it. You may not have your best ride and you may suffer some discomfort, yet you will have done something that makes life an adventure. Aaron Rumple has made my life more of an adventure; I love him for that. If you can find a friend like Aaron; someone who helps make your life an adventure; try to spend some more time with them and enjoy the ride.

I never did see my bike in St. Louis; Aaron took the tag down to UPS and sent the bike back home for me. Thanks Aaron for another adventure and sorry I beat you on your own bike.J

P.S. the UMCA World 24 Hour Championships is one of the best places for an adventure. Dave Holmes sets-up the race so you don't need a crew; the course is nice without much climbing, or traffic; he has water stops on the day loop and food etc. on the night loop. There is plenty of room to setup tents,etc. You can use the school's showers during and after the race. I know of many doubles that don't have this much to offer. I can't think of a better setup for a race. I wouldn't ask Aaron Rumple to use his other bike if yours doesn't make it there. I don't think he is too happy about loaning his bikes out anymore, but I'm sure something could be worked out.

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Read stories I have written about my races:

• 2001 24-Hour World Championship Story
• Do's and Don'ts of Ultra Team Racing - Team 508 '99
• What? Are you stupid! - BAM '96