Meet More of the Racers

200 Jamais Vue Due
Mark Biedrzycki, Portland, OR
Phil Plath, Half Moon Bay, CA
Defending recupright champs! Combine a couple of strong bike racers and let them pick their weapon of choice and you get a very fast team. Phil Plath invented this division – combing a recumbent with an upright – and we love it. Plath is a multi time RAAM finisher on both 2 and 4 person recumbent teams. This is his 6th RAO and the 2nd time he has paired Biedrzycki. Mark knows this route as well as anyone having participated in our ‘ride the new course’ test ride a couple of years ago as well as multiple RAO Training Camps, DRVTTs and Rings of Fire (Ring of Fires?). Special prize for the first person who hasn’t met him (or know anyone with the same name etc) to pronounce “Biedrzycki” correctly.

211 Team Teal
Glen Gorrie, Okotoks Canada
Sharisse Kyle, Alberta Canada
I know very little about our 2 person mixed team other than I have heard they are fast. The pair raced at last year’s 508 and did very well.

Four Person Relay

401 Harder Cycling Team 1
Steven Kahn, CA
Braulio Calle, CA
David Wallerich, CA
Dustin Harder, Mill Valley, CA
I only know that Dustin Harder comes across as a nice guy in his emails. How he, David, Braulio and Steven race bikes will soon be learned.

402 Woodinville Bicycle
Jiri Rabas, Lynnwood, WA
Marcus Osterwinter, Bellvue, WA
Loren Roschen, Redmond, WA
Nick Matlock, Everett, WA
This team had a bit of a reshuffle. Woodinville would have had the oldest and youngest racer in the field but the 16 year old driving force behind the team fell ill and will be unable to race this year. We’re all hoping for a full recovery and having him race next year. The team has received quite a bit of pre-race advice from solo racer Mick Walsh. If they have Walsh’s lungs, legs, head and legs they are going to smoke the route. If they have Walsh’s stomach they are in for a looooooong weekend… We do know that Loren is an absolutely amazing climber who had a bad crash about a month ago. The story is that she received a concussion during the crash and was able to be talked in to doing RAO while in a daze.

403 Harder Cycling Team 2
Rob Fleskes
Craig Carter
Sam Caruso
Tom Dempsey
Again – do not know much about this team. Dempsey finished the 2001 RAO on Team Blood, Sweat and Gu. The goals of HCT2 are to have fun and finish. We hope you achieve both of those and more!

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