7 Days Left

MS150 September 11, 2004

BJ Ranch Riders Team Update

(7 Days Left)

There are only 7 days left until the big day. The miles have been ridden, the bikes have been tuned, the bags are being packed, and the fund raising goal has been reached. This has by far been the best year for this event. What began three years ago with mountain bikes and t-shirts for some has evolved into a high octane machine.

The hype surrounding the event continues to grow. With the prestige of this event now equaling winning the Tour de France, an Olympic Gold Medal, and the USPC Championship all in one event, you can see why the preparation has been intense.

Below is a recap of the riders, and where they are expected to finish. Read to the bottom of the page for a recap of the last major rides for each training group, Arizona and Arkansas.

Rider Name (Tandem Riders are listed Together)	Las Vegas Odds to Win	Comments
Clint Lercher	1:1	It is his race to lose. Clint brings great stamina, good acceleration, desire, great body weight, and he is the defending champion. Clint’s key to winning is to control the tempo and respond to the attacks. He is a complete rider that will not get dropped.
Chris Cowgill	2:1	He wants this race bad. He is in better riding shape compared to 2003. He just can not get his weight under control. Until he can stop eating those Quarter Pounders, he will never win this event. His key to winning is getting some time early and then hanging on. He will never be able to climb with either Clint or Martha.
Martha Lercher	2:1	She has proven time and time again that she has the desire. The only thing holding her back is experience. Can Martha become the first rookie to win this event? Her key to winning is taking the last hill and then dropping the group. Long known as the Queen of the Climb, Martha has the ability to leave the others in the dust on the climbs.
Steve & Tanya Lercher	2:1	Steve is a former champion (2002*) but did not come prepared to ride in 2003. With the addition of his dynamic tandem partner, he has a chance to win, it all depends on the stoker on the back. This is a team filled with traditions. They will have to overcome a few of these traditions in order to win. Finishing the last ten miles could mean victory for them.
Brad Neahouse	4:1	Brad is the first non-family member to ride in this event. The judges have still not decided if Brad is eligible to win this event. Brad has great climbing skills and the ability to endure high amounts of pain. Brad is not coming to win the event, but make sure that the right person does. Could this be a trend in the future? His key to winning is saving energy for the last minute sprints.
Mike & Bryan Lercher	4:1	This is a team of competitors. No matter what, they will finish the ride. If they can dig down deep enough, they might find enough energy to win at the end. Their key to winning is to hang on the back of the group and spend as little energy as possible. Mike is known as the “Iron Man”, he likes to ride in the highest gear possible and he never stops.
Cheryl Lercher	4:1	Cheryl has no problem keeping up with the group on the flats or downhill sections. If she can conquer the hill, she could surprise many of these riders. Cheryl’s key to winning is conserving her energy early for the big hill at the end.
Blake Lercher	50:1	Blake is a late addition to the team. He does not have the riding time built up to be a competitor this year. Blake is taking this event as a build up for 2005. He plans on seeing what it takes to win in 2005. Word on the street is that Blake will drop from the group early on, looking for a beautiful riding companion to share the long day with.

* While Steve was clearly the best rider in 2002, he did not finish the final ten miles of the ride. He was awarded the trophy based on his projected finish. The Shiloh rules committee determined that he deserved to win but the win must be noted as under dispute for all eternity.

Arkansas Training Ride

TOUR TO DIE

I took the time to call Captain Steve in Arkansas to get is view on race day. Steve was very candid that he was bringing the most prepared, well rounded team in history to this event. He believes that the winner will be riding with him on the way home. It should be noted that Steve is traveling with the other 7 riders from Arkansas in the same car. Is this a visionary prediction or a matter of the odds?

Steve then proceeded to tell me about the last training ride, it was called “Tour To Die” by the riders. This was a ride filled with highs and lows. It was the best of rides and it was the worst of rides. The ride started out a few members short, Mike & Blake had previous engagements and would not be able to ride with the group. “The Iron Man” Mike did not like all the starting and stopping, so he planned to ride 50 miles on his own in the afternoon. We were forced to stop three or four times in the first twenty miles to fix Cheryl’s front tire. It would go flat with no hole in the tube. After the third fix on the road, I called for the S.A.G. vehicle to meet us for lunch. During the lunch break (I had a nice pulled pork sandwich, large order of fries, and giant glass of milk) I took the front tire off, put in a new tube and placed a new tire on the front wheel. I also fixed the flat on the back wheel. This was a day filled with unplanned stops. To put this in perspective, we road the 80 miles for the day in 4 hours, averaging 20 miles an hour. However, we spent 9 hours on the road. For every minute we spent riding, we spent 1 minute resting, eating, or repairing the bikes. I am hoping that this will get all the repairs out of the way before the big ride.

I can tell you that my team is ready to ride. We went out today and rode a route that is 10 times more challenging than the ride next week. Between all of the up and down hill sections, our team climbed 6,000 feet today on the bike. Even with all of the climbing we kept our average speed at 20 miles an hour. This is very impressive. Our toughest hill was 400 feet of climbing that lasted about three miles. This one hill is harder than anything the team will see in Tulsa. I have trained my team to pass other riders on the hills. We will do whatever it takes to win on the hills in Tulsa.

I know one thing I plan on doing before leaving to Tulsa, is checking the Shiloh rule book to see what the rules say about breakdowns during a race. I know originally, the rules on page 834 paragraph 7 said, “Only the rider of the bike may undertake to repair any problems with the said equipment. If any party assist said rider in the repairs, that rider will be added a 30 minute penalty to their time.” I hope to get this rule changed before the ride next week.

(Editors Note: The information in the story above was taken from a phone interview. This Editor did not physically verify the numbers. Based on the information above, Lance watch out!)

Arizona Training Ride

Our last training ride was no where near as exciting as the ride in Arkansas. Brad and I went out Saturday morning for a 70 mile ride in the scorching heat of the desert. The day started out at 75 degrees by 6:00AM. By the end of our ride at 10:30, it was 105 degrees on the bike. The wind was in our face the entire day. It would shift as the temperature rose and we always ended up riding straight into the wind.. For the day, we climbed 2,500 feet with the longest climb lasting 9 miles and climbing 1,000 feet with the steepest portion being around 8% grade. It was a very tough and tiring day. We had two planned rest stops for the day and ended up adding a third one on the way home. We spent 4 hours riding and 30 minutes stopped. Our average speed was 16.5 mph.

I can honestly say, today was one of the harder rides I have done in the last two months. I felt pretty good about the ride, until I heard from the Arkansas group. After their performance today, I am thinking about getting a motor added to the bike for the ride.