When you are at 6500 feet of elevation and headed to over 10,000 feet on the day, you have mixed feelings about going down hill.  Yes, the downhills are a welcome reprieve from the ascents, especially when the oxygen becomes more and more rarified, but you can’t help think that it just means more climbing…..because it does.

Good morning from Utah!!

We pulled in last night into Flagstaff after an absolutely epic ride through Prescott and Sedona. My goodness the climb up the canyon into Flagstaff was beautiful.  After 12 hours on the road (half hour on, 90 minutes off), the RV looked very welcoming.  Shift exchanges are absolutely nuts, I hope that Jesse gets one of them on film.  The vans have to be completely cleaned out and supplies: tires, tubes, drinks, food, a new driver and navigator, and new riders need to be added.

We had a chance to stop at a campground and get a shower.  I can’t describe properly how great that felt.  Next, sleep.  Yes it was on the floor of the RV, but sleep (at least sleep at RAAM) is sleep.  Sleep on RAAM comes in two flavors, about 2 hours of sleep in a parking lot when you try to get comfortable and wind down your heart rate, and then sleep in the RV maxing out the speed limit which trying to catch up to the other shift.

When we woke up this morning we were gifted with the scenery that rivaled, if not surpassed, Sedona.  Monument Valley in southern Utah is breathtaking, and at sunrise even more so.

Spirits are high, we are well out of last place (10th out of 13), and within an hour of three other teams.  Most importantly, we are proud to represent Durham as a whole and 18 awesome charities in particular.  Please give.  Please volunteer.  Please encourage your friends to do the same.  Thanks for reading!

When you are out on the road for a while you (or at least I) tend to get funny sayings in my head. Mine, for now, is I'm in the desert on a horse with no name, it feels good to be in from the rain. It's bothering me slightly that I can't remember what song that comes from. At any rate, it's what I keep thinking as I made my way on my first ride this morning accompanied by saguaro cacti here in Arizona.

Yesterday was epic. Great fanfare and pageantry at the start by the pier in Oceanside, a team parade out of town, and then it began. Dave Hofmann and I took the first shift together since the first 20 miles were unsupported. It was so awesome to be on our way...and we were hammering, maybe too much though as the support vehicles weren't there for the first switch and so I did the first big climb wondering if I had been punked . The descent was gnarly. Note to self: " do not descend fast with cross winds and a disk wheel ".....wow, was that scary!

We recovered well and were treated to a beautiful ride with amazing tailwinds..... I literally ran out of gears on the flats....35mph sustained for one 25 minute pull. Maybe the most exhilarating ride I've had. The techno dance soundtrack didn't hurt.

We got off the bike after our shift ( there are 4 of us per shift and we go) got unpacked, got a massage, some food and tried to unwind a bit. Sleeping is very, very difficult in an rv going 40 on back roads. don't try that at home.....or on the road. Going in I thought we'd get 5-6 hours of sleep a night. I need to reset expectations a bit

It was so cool to get regular tweets via the #dcaresraam hashtag. To know that there were folks on the bike at the ATC the whole time we were on the road is so encouraging and motivating!!

Good morning from Oceanside! My goodness its hard to sleep when you've got something like this on your mind. Yesterday was a blur of activity: team meetings, inspections and errands. Sandy Condray, our team logistics director, was outstanding..........we passed inspection with flying colors. I am so incredibly grateful for her leadership. To consider that one month ago, we didn't even have a team director (as our prior leader had to pull out). She has stepped up HUGE. This wouldn't be possible without her.

Another person on my mind this morning is Michael Lemanski, a partner at GreenFire, the commercial development firm in Durham. He trained for the race as an alternate to be ready in the event that something happened to one of us. I think of servant commitment like that and I am just humbled. He's another one of those people in Durham that make our city so great......there are lots and lots of them, at the DurhamCares' 18 charities and so many other ones.

We watched the piece on DurhamCares on WRAL TV last night (check it out on the DurhamCares WRAL page) and was just completely struck by how awesome BigBrothersBigSisters is as a program and how grateful I am for people like Sean Radke who have gotten out there to love their neighbor by investing in their "little" brother's lives. BBBS is the real deal. I do hope that folks never think, btw, that the 18 we have featured are the only great charities in Durham...........far from it. I hope with time that we'll be able to recognize more of those folks as they apply for our success grant program. At last count, we have placed volunteers with 60 different organizations.....all very worth of our gratitude, investment and time.

I'm off to go get coffee and breakfast.....then lots more team meetings before the "Grand Depart" at 2:29pm.

We just kicked off our DurhamCares RAAM event at the American Tobacco Campus! It's going to be a great week down at the ATC, full of live music, local celebrity riders and our great nonprofit partners. Check out the schedule of events for a complete list of all the week's events.

If you can't make it down to the ATC, you can see a live feed of what's happening thanks to our media sponsor WRAL. Just check out the WRAL website to track the team's progess and learn more about what's going on in Durham!

Stay tuned to the DurhamCares Facebook page, Twitter feed and Flickr account for updates throughout the week!

Thanks for loving your neighbor!

Good Morning! So, I check in last night in Oceanside after an afternoon of meetings at LAX and Saddleback, at the Wyndham resort here. I notice off to the side of the check in counter what appears to be a bowl of candy...hmmm. free candy......I've been training, I deserve it (I've done this calculus a lot lately, most especially with ice cream...at all hours). The only problem is that it's not free candy. It's a large bowl of individually wrapped orange ear plugs. Ear plugs? Yes, ear plugs. As I write this from my 2nd floor bedroom, I am about 100 yards away from what must be the most active railroad track on the West Coast.........and man oh man, do the engineers (or brakemen) out here love to pull on that whistle. So much for a making some deposits into my sleep bank! : )

It's hard to sleep anyway because there is so much to do today. Team pictures, inspections, group meetings to go over the rules, equipment checks, calls with Heather to coordinate continued outreach to Durham businesses (know of any who might want to join us as sponsors : )) etc.

I'm also really keen on getting familiar with the first 21 miles of the course. I'm leading off for the team, and all support vehicles aren't allowed to join the race route until we are well out of town......so the pressure will be on me to make sure that I don't get lost. Can you imagine that?? getting lost in the first 20 miles!? wow, that would be tough to live down.

Much talk this morning about the conditions for the ride. Day time temps in the dessert are above 110 and their are reports on advisories to not do any exercise outside....: ). And apparently Colorado is experiencing unusually cold temps....down in the 30s at night. How awesomely appropriate that the daily Bible reading plan that I just got on, had the following for me this morning from Isaiah 42 v.2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

The buzz around the hotel (when the train horn isn't blowing) is contagious. The collective energy from the teams is nothing short of awesome!! I am so thrilled to be here...here with my great friends from Durham, here with new friends from all over the world (teams from 20 countries on 5 continents). Thanks for checking in. Lord willing, I'll be back later with more

Hello from 35,000 feet! The pilot just called out that the Grand Canyon is on the right and that we'll be touching down (at LAX) in an hour. My goodness this country feels big, it feels like I've been traveling all day.....and most of that at 550mph!!

I'm struck suddenly at the magnitude of this thing. I've had the great blessing to have had so many life experiences....but nothing can prepare me for this. How will I do in the first of 40+ half hour time trials.....how about # 27?? Can I handle the sleep deprivation from sleeping in minivans and the RV? What have I forgotten to pack?

I'm also struck by how this is a beginning, but also in many ways it's also an end..... to the almost full year of training and prep. It does feel both a bit stressful, but more liberating that there's just about nothing left to do but get on the bike.

I'm so grateful for the team and 12 person crew.....all told 20 folks putting their life on hold, and the families that are supporting and encouraging them. And then, of course, there's Heather (an amazing woman!) and the volunteer staff that has prepped so hard and is staying behind to run the 24x7 event at the ATC.

I do so hope and pray that this event will inspire folks to love their neighbor by GIVING and VOLUNTEERING. I'm heartened that area companies have already pledged over $60k... All of which will go to the awesome 18 charities that have listed their outcome related goals. Now it's the time for the rest of us.....I hope we get a thousand Durham residents to give over the next week. I want to celebrate the $10 gift from the 10 year old.....and the pledging of 20 volunteer hours from someone who has never volunteered before. Now THAT will get us over the Rockies in the cold of night!!

Love your neighbor....the one across the street and across town! On behalf of the team, THANK YOU for your support and encouragement!

DurhamCares is seeking a detail-oriented, outgoing, social individual that desires a job in community development and networking. We would prefer someone with recruiting experience that is passionate about the mission and vision of DurhamCares! See a full job description here and send resumes to jobs@durhamcares.org.

 Midshipman Thomas Payne (known as T-Payne in the office), a former DurhamCares intern and student at the United States Naval Academy, defeated Andrew Manglcimot from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the National Collegiate Boxing Association Championships on April 10th. Thomas worked last summer as DurhamCares launched its primary programs for volunteering and the Success Grant.  He spent the majority of his time on marketing and communications primarily working on our video projects to tell the stories of neighbors through Durham. DurhamCares is proud of Thomas for his awesome accomplishment and how he's serving our country. Congratulations T-Payne!

And while we can't promise you'll turn into a national championship athlete, we do promise to give you a great place to use your skills and talents over the summer!  If you are interested in an internship with DurhamCares email Heather at hjones@durhamcares.org!

We hosted our second annual NCAA bracket challenge during the men's basketball championships.  How great for Durham that Duke brought home the championship!

And, it was great for DurhamCares partners as well!  Hundreds of neighbors played along, picked their winners and DurhamCares put in $1,300 as winnings for the top 10 finishers.  So. . .(insert drumroll) here are the top 10 winners and their allocation of the pool as well as which partners will receive their portion of the winnings!

Great fun for all!  We'll play again next year!