17 Jan 85 Dear Friends, We just found out that ABC should show the 84 RAAM coverage on the Wide World of Sports shows on 10 and 17 Feb. WWoS tends to air around 4:30. We’re not sure how solid this info is, so keep an eye on the TV sports listings. Come on by and watch with us! As to the future, Elaine has been invited to ride RAAM 85, so she does not have to qualify again. She is looking for‐ ward to riding and our current schedule looks like this: · A lot of 24 hour rides ‐ take off Friday night and ride through to Saturday night. · A lot of the usual Northern California distance events, when they don’t conflict with other events below. · Perhaps an attempt on the 24‐hour record, depending on how Elaine’s speed comes along. · Training in Texas in late March. · A 48‐hour ride on 5‐6‐7 April. · The Arizona Challange on 11 May. · The John Marino Open on 18‐20 May (Elaine doesn’t have to compete, but will be there to ride and help out). · A Seattle‐San Diego run 1‐8 June. · A ride with our friends 30 June ‐ 7 July (Elaine will ride many long days, the rest of us will ride, drive, camp, ... ‐ let us know if you want to come along for part or all of it). · RAAM 85 begins 4 Aug. Needless to say, we need all the help we can get with this ambitious schedule. One of the several attachments lists areas where you might be able to help out. Call us collect if you have any ideas. I want to thank everybody again for the generous help with last year’s race. Things got pretty frantic as we hustled to get to Huntington Beach and our records aren’t as good as they should be (I have a recurring nightmare that involves a little pile of last‐minute dona‐ tion checks that never made it to the bank...). So, if you ‐2‐ made a donation and never got your tee‐shirt or some other such travesty, _p_l_e_a_s_e_l_e_t _u_s _k_n_o_w _s_o _w_e _c_a_n _g_e_t _s_q_u_a_r_e_! I still have a hopeful little pile of Xmas cards on my desk making me feel guilty, so I will take this opportunity to wish you happy new year ‐ hope the holidays treated you well. Yours truly, Vance Vaughan Crew Chief for Elaine ‐3‐ TThhaannkkss ttoo OOuurr 8844 SSppoonnssoorrss Velo Sport Cyclery, Berkeley, CA. Endless parts, setup and repairs, and general support. Vigorelli, Oakland, CA. A complete set of beautifully coordinated custom cloth‐ ing. Elaine was voted best‐dressed at the RAAM get‐ together at the Las Vegas Bicycle Trade Show... mt Xinu, Berkeley, CA. A computer company with an inexplicable philanthropic bent. Specialized Bicycle Components, Morgan Hill, CA. Frame, wheels, and other components. Mikkelson, Oakland, CA. Custom bike frame with a great paint job. Bernie was the very first one to come through with support... Sportcare, Berkeley, CA. Good medical care and advice. Yakima Products, Arcata, CA. A good bike rack. Consumers Co‐op of Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. A great article in the Co‐op News plus some supplies for the trip. Calistoga Water, Calistoga, CA. An endless supply of Elaine’s main beverage. Spenco Medical Corporation, Waco, TX. Saddle pads, chaffing creme, second skin, and other essentials to "keep the rider on the road". Neptune Sodas, Los Angeles, CA. Sodas, caps, and a lot of help getting off the line in Huntington Beach Numerous old friends and new acquaintences who generously contributed money and time... ‐4‐ RRAAAAMM 8855 WWiisshh LLiisstt If you can help with any of the following or have any other ideas, please call us 415‐527‐4354!: Bucks Last year, over and above many valuable donations of equipment and supplies, we spent $7,000 on RAAM expenses (and we should have spent more!). With this year’s more ambitious schedule, our rough budget is $25,000 to cover expenses. We have some sponsor carry‐ over from last year, but at this point it is really only a start. We are talking to two different PR/mar‐ keting agents about raising money, but have no definite arrangements as of this writing. If you have experience in this sort of thing, or know somebody who does, it could be a great help to us. If you know of potential sponsors who might be willing to contribute, that would be helpful too. We are espe‐ cially interested in sponsors who are not bicycle‐ based. Riding Support Elaine can use various sorts of riding support: · People to ride with. Having company provides variety in the training diet and a margin of safety. If you want to do some distance riding, give a call. · Places to ride. Crossing the Berkeley Hills twice a day, seven days a week can get tiresome. If you have a place where Elaine could hang out for a few days and ride, ... · Crew. We would like to tune up a crew for RAAM. If you think you are interested, let us know. We want to try to get everybody a little experience ahead of time, so we would try to schedule you for one of the warm‐up events for practice. Support Van This is something we need right away and are working on. Basic idea is to get something like a Dodge maxi‐ van with a raised roof and put together an interior specifically designed for race support. If you know of someone who could provide such a vehicle free or at a discount in exchange for advertising/publicity, that ‐5‐ would be wonderful. (A mad philanthropist who just wanted to give us one would be fine too.) The van will be seen at all the events on our itinerary plus most of the distance rides in Northern California this year. Or, perhaps you know where we might get a good deal on such a vehicle new or used? (No, the cost of such a van isn’t included in the $25K budget, although some equivalent rental expense is.) Motor Home One major expense item is rental/operation of a large motor‐home for ~3 weeks for RAAM. Any clues? It is important to have access to the vehicle ahead of time, and perhaps to use it once before the big event. Odds and Ends Of course we need all sorts of assorted bicycle stuff. Trouble is, not just anything will do so don’t just send your kid’s old used three‐speed. Possibilities we would like to talk about include: · Quality bike(s) or frame(s) in Elaine’s size, especially track and tandem gear. · Good sew‐up tires are as good as money. · Tools. A good portable wheel building stand, a portable bike stand, just a good bicycle tool box, ...