I recently read an interview in Vanity Fair Magazine with Sean Penn, actor and humanitarian who is and has been camped out in Haiti, helping to rebuild and reorganize the world that was destroyed by a large earthquake earlier in the year.
It seems that our collective attention passes like a searchlight, highlighting problem areas of the world for only a moment and then moving on to the next tragedy of massive proportions.
Penn has become a beacon for Haiti, rather than a celebrity searchlight and so it is in this vein that he says about that country, “There is no exit for me until there is more life than death.”
In that same spirit of commitment and dedication, Eric Begin and I set out to participate in the 2010 Race Across the West bicycle race, on behalf of the Southern Exposure Foundation, which raises funding and resources to build homes for the impoverished and embattled citizens of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Juarez is in a state of emergency, and has been this way for some time, becoming a focus point for the so-called war on drugs, the NAFTA and the police state of Mexico’s government.
Southern Exposure buffers this misery by building homes for residents who need them the most, single mothers, families torn by terror and bloodshed.
The race, well, it went great for us. Did you hear that we won? We did win, but we did it with integrity and class…a tradition amongst the racers, crew and supporters of Team Switchback.
Eric was amazing on the bike. He is a gifted athlete, a highly capable professional firefighter and a father to a beautiful baby girl. It was a treat to watch him climb the highest reaches on the course, only to absolutely crush the descents. We simply couldn’t keep up with him on the decline.
I had moments of greatness and moments of, um, not greatness, but we got through it together. The course that the RAAM/RAW staff assembled this year was another epic route through some high peaks and some very low valleys (see also: below sea level).
The weather was tough in places and magical in others. Like much of the past four years of doing the Race Across America, there was a great tail/sometimes cross-wind through the Anza-Borrego desert and of course in Monument Valley, Utah, where we really couldn’t find a small enough cog to rip through the high desert overnight.
We saw some amazing things…drifting sand dunes, military helicopters, blacked out, flying terrain at 0300 in Utah, dogs chasing us along the road, RAAM/RAW staff cheering for us and wishing us well, etc.
It was epic.
The crew did a great job of getting us across the American West in one piece. Some were first time crew people, others were experienced, but all had a great time and seemed to get to the finish “none the worse for wear.” Special thanks to our Crew Chief, Jeff Magnuson, for keeping the details before, during and after the race in check and getting our accomodations set up in Oceanside and Durango.
Eric and I rolled in to Durango well ahead of schedule…almost 12 hours faster than we thought we would. Whodathunkit?
After a short welcoming ceremony at Ft. Lewis College, we grabbed some Burger King to go, caught a very welcome shower and took a nap that felt incredible.
We really appreciate your continued support for Team Switchback. Oddly enough, there are already plans in the works for 2011. Stay tuned for details. In the meantime, Team Switchback will be out doing other ultra races, the next one being the Breck 68 mountain bike race in July in Breckenridge, CO.
Encore anyone?
Tim and Eric
