It's now, or not -- and, news

This time tomorrow I'll be far north of town, hopefully checking in for lunch somewhere around Pattonsburg, MO... maybe even farther north.  But, yes - as the title suggests, at least as it relates to my current R-12 run, it's now, or it's time to lay down my chips.  No chance of the latter occurring:  tomorrow's 400 kilometer brevet up into Iowa and back from north of Kansas City will satisfy my April requirement nicely.  I have a small amount of trepidation saved for the fact that I haven't ridden longer than 217km since the 2010 season, and haven't ridden 400km since 2009, but hey... gotta start sometime.  I can recover when it's over.  It will be interesting, however, to visit that frontier once again, which typifies randonneuring at longer distances:  the sun goes down, the stomach begs for more, and the legs ask "uhhh, we're supposed to stop, right?"

So, wish me luck -- should be a nice day!  Semi-epic ride report will likely follow, as usual.

In other news, a big announcement from the 'Dude Camp:  I've been invited to fill, and have accepted, a crew position for a Race Across AMerica (RAAM) rider!  If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, this is a goal I've been looking to accomplish for a while, and it feels good to have been asked.  It's one of those things, I think anyone can go to the RAAM Facebook page, or their main website, and try to actively get onto a team -- but (the last few years in particular) the timing hasn't been right until now.  

I'll be crewing for local ultra-rider Alex Shnyra, and his rider number is #430.  He's racing in the solo division, so it's 3,000 miles, from Oceanside, CA. to Annapolis, MD., non-stop.  We've ridden together several times in the past, I know his style and tactics, plus, we already talk on a regular basis, so it represents a great fit - and I'm humbled by the amount of faith he places in my abilities.  I, and the rest of the team, will be learning a lot over about 10 days of racing, starting June 13th, 2012.  

So, please keep en eye out -- I'll likely have more information on that subject in these pages before long, and will *TRY* to update from the road to some extent... though, I have a feeling those opportunities might be few and far between.  The real source will be the RAAM pages, the video updates, live race coverage, blogs, and tickers... their media set-up is extensive, so I'll wave at the camera if I get a chance.  It's going to be an interesting time... to be sure!