My usual morning routine has been shaping into a timed ritual of coffee, push up's, sit up's, a snappy sprint ride if the weather inst too cold first thing in the morning, and then followed by a Fat mondo breakfast and check my emails. I usually leave my phone in silent mode during the night so I can get my beauty sleep, but last night I forgot to turn the ringer off.
over the course of the night my phone chimed about every 30 minutes or so signifying an email, text, or notification tied to my Facebook or blog. When I checked my phone this morning I had 87 notifications!
this cant be right? 87? I thought maybe there was a family emergency, but then I remembered I was raised by a pack of wolves. Turns out it was all notes of support and congratulations for making the team and comments from people I have never met dropping lines of encouragement from the blog and other sources. WOW! I was truly taken back at the amount of people starting to follow this escapade. I have to say I am very thankful to be surrounded by so many that are rooting for me and the team. Some of the emails I received were barely legible in English from a cycling club in Russia and they were expressing how amazed they were to see the team and myself going for the RAAM after the combat history we had gone through.
it started to get me interested in where the blog was going, so I checked the stats. It has a ton of hits in Russia alone? There must be a huge endurance cycling presence there. Pretty amazing.
The Team 4mil site threw out a press release this morning on there site and have to say I am always encouraged when I see the diversity in the team. we have almost every branch covered and and fine spectrum of athletes that would rival even the most hardened full time athletes.
RAAM’s 2011 Armed Forces Challenge Cup winners, Team 4Mil, will defend their title by returning to the world’s most challenging endurance event again in 2012. Inspired by the team’s motto, “Keeping The Warrior Spirit Alive”, several new team members have rallied to join the team, including a separate cycling team comprised of wounded veterans being hosted by The Wounded Warrior Project™ and mentored by Team 4Mil. Both US Military Teams have been challenged by two similar team entries registered by military representatives from the United Kingdom.
The US Military Wounded Warrior Team is led by LtCol Mike Matney, USA. His teammates include Mason Poe, Nieves Rodriguez, Brett Miller, John Fairbanks, Tom Murphy, Tim Conner, and Jeff Palenske. Crew Chief Richard Wolak, USMA ‘66, has organized an effective race plan to compete successfully and safely neutralize the forces of nature that are encountered during each RAAM event.
Team 4Mil has announced CPO Wayne Dowd, USN (ret) as its 2012 Ride Captain. His teammates include RAAM veteran’s Jim Weinstein, Kyle Pitman, and Jimmy Colgary, and new members Jason Peterson, Chad Connor, Alan Fischer, and Shawn Olin.
With a proud heritage of military service, these service members have experienced more than 40 deployments, hundreds of military missions, and led countless hours of mission planning. Combined with their years of cycling experience and a tenacious interest in racing, they are prepared for the many unpredictable challenges that RAAM 2012 will present.
Team 4Mil is an IRS registered 501C3 organization. As an all-volunteer team, our participation in veteran rehabilitation programs, National Soldier Ride support, and participation in RAAM are subject to voluntary charitable contributions. To make a tax-deducible donation via PayPal, please visit our website, www.team4mil.org or contact dan@team4mil.org for more info.
But there is one major thing that sets us apart from all other teams competing this year. It is not the support, nor the sponsors. It isn't the media coverage or the remarkable individual back stories. It isn't even the fact that a handful of disabled veteran athletes are going to race across the country.
The one thing that sets this team apart from any other is Esprit de core. I am not talking some corporate team building "trust fall" exercise. I am talking the Forged in combat, Blood brother trust. The military personnel itself has a razor sharp feeling of camaraderie, But when you put those same people in a combat environment it grows even stronger. Now take that same level of trust and drive and throw it in a hospital bed for several years and you now have a staggering amount of dedication and drive on top of a mutual understanding of fearlessness and unity.
They say RAAM is a race that takes everything from you and crushes even the best athletes. I say to RAAM, Prepare to be broken and crushed!
"see the battlefield and execute with violence!"
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