Hologic - Special Events

Daily Race Notes

Thursday June 30th

I was able to hear Cat crossing the finish line, the cheers, the Swedish National Anthem, the awards for Women's Rookie of the Year, RAAM champion.....

I bawled like a baby. No one heard me but my dog. I REALLY bawled. I'm so happy. So overcome with emotion. I can't even tell you.

She did it!! We got our girl (and her wonderful crew!) across that finish line. Thank you, on behalf of Cat, for your prayers and well wishes! -Tracy

A radiant Catharina Berge received applause all the way along the crowded Atlantic City Boardwalk as she became the first woman to complete the solo Insight Race Across America since 2001.

For the Swedish RAAM rookie it was a beautiful moment and the end of a journey that began several months before the race. "It's kind of hard to believe, but it feels like a dream come true. And the fact that I am here without having suffered greatly, and that I've been able to enjoy the whole race just feels like a blessing," beamed 'Cat' at the finish.

Berge went through some knee pain periodically through the race, which her massage therapist worked out each time, and in the final days her left hand swelled up and she was unable to change gears properly. But to the 38 year-old veterinarian researcher, who lives in Visalia, California, the outcome was never in doubt. "There were no times when I thought 'what am I doing here?' I was so determined that I would get here, I carried on regardless."

One of the first things she did on arrival in Atlantic City was slip into a pair of well-worn clogs. Asked if she had missed them, she responded "There were times that I was thinking it will be nice to return to normal." It was 11 days since her feet had felt shoes other than her cycling cleats.

Out on the road, Cat was one of the more sociable riders, and she struck up a friendship with British rider Chris Hopkinson. "Every time we passed, we took our 15 minutes (the maximum allotted time in 24 hours that the same two riders can talk to one another). And when he got Shermer's Neck (a condition in which the neck muscles can no longer support the weight of the head), I had a neck brace for him. I am just so happy to see him still on the road, and I was hoping he would be able to finish at the same time (as me), because he really deserves the honors," said Cat. She slept more than Hopkinson, while he rode on into the night. After she awoke, she would pass him, meaning they saw one another regularly.

As the first Solo woman since 2001, Cat Berge has attracted a lot of attention from female cyclists, and she is willing to be a role model. "I hope to inspire them. My idea is for women who have done RAAM previously to take on a rookie woman in a two-woman team, and then we would have a lot of all-women teams." Although she plans to remain involved with the Ultra-Cycling movement, Berge has no plans for Solo RAAM in the immediate future. "It takes a lot of dedication and expense, and a lot of focus on myself. I want to work for others - I really enjoy working with other women and other cyclists more."

Wednesday June 29th
Ken Swartz, Amber Murphy and Kelly Golden from Hologic Delaware met Cat at the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the last rest stop before she finishes the race in Atlantic City. What a thrill. Cat was so glad to see someone from Hologic and to thank us for sponsoring her race. Ken said she looked remarkable for someone that had ridden over 3,000 miles in 11 days.

Tuesday June 28th
Got an early morning phone call from Cat's crew today. Seems they needed a bike shop. I did my magic and managed to find an open bike shop somewhere outside of Athens, Ohio, complete with directions and a phone number, in order for the crew to buy some new bike tires for Cat. Nothing like learning to utilize the Yahoo yellow pages in a hurry while still under a sleep-induced state!!! :-)

Monday June 27th
Cat last checked into Parkersville, West Virginia, at 7:40pm EDT, with only 493 miles left to go!!!

She has 3,320 feet of climbing in the next 48.7 miles to Time Station #47 in Smithburg, West Virginia, then another 3,630 feet of climbing and 46.3 miles to the next time station (#48) in Grafton, West Virginia, where she be arriving at around 4:00am Wednesday morning.

From there, it's off to Gormania, West Virginia, which will bring on another 4,540 feet of climbing through the Appalachian Mountains. At this point, she will have 355 miles to go and one more night of cycling. The climbing isn't over yet.... before she reaches the finish line, she will have 19,880 feet of more climbing to do from Gormania to the finish in New Jersey.

If all goes well, Wednesday night will be Catharina's last all-nighter in RAAM 2005. She will be greated by fans during the daytime hours, sometime on Thursday, on the boardwalk of Atlantic City!

Sunday June 26th
Good morning!

Cat is in great spirits this morning! Her knees are feeling good... saddle sores are minor... and the heat/humidity is really not all that bothersome to her. She is looking forward to seeing her sister and parents tonight. I was contacted this morning by Robert Giacin, Time Station coordinator. He is at a time station with van troubles. He will be limping back home in his van and would like some prayers that he makes it safely.

Cat will be arriving in Greenville, Illinois, by early evening, where temps are now in the high 80s with humidity at 54%. At that time station (#36), she will have cycled 2058.3 miles and has only 991 to go!

Saturday June 25th
Good news. JUST got off the phone with Cat's crew and a new RV is en route. The van is up ahead of them getting the tire fixed. Prayers work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

6:55 a.m.
Another chat with Cat this morning! I am getting so lucky! As luck would have it, while talking to her crew this morning, Cat stopped briefly for some adjustments and I got to talk with her. She sounded a bit sleepier and not as perky today. She said, "Trace, I'm really tired". I just did the best I could to say the right things. I told her that problems and emotions will wax and wane throughout the remaining days of RAAM. Every bad moment WILL go away and she will soon forget those moments as they fade away by different hours of RAAM.

She was having some problems with sleepiness and just overall tiredness this morning. As I had the crew on the phone, they were getting some coffee ready to put in one of her water bottles. It's always hard work for the crew... the en route coffee perked Cat up but they were not able to find any non-dairy creamer or non-fat milk in the vans, so it had to be black. It's hard to always have the necessary items to please your rider, but you make the best of everything and just hope that it will do.

In addition to the RV break-down, one of the 2 vans has a bad tire. They need to get to a tire shop and get a patch. For now, they are limping along and putting air in it as needed. Prayers are also needed for this van. The RV was left behind with 2 of the crew members. They are dead in the water, so to speak. Until they have a replacement RV or van, they will remain stuck between TS #28 and 29. The crew is getting worried because, of course, that is where everybody sleeps. They can find hotel rooms, but this is an additional expense and difficult for the crew. The crew is also worried because there are so many supplies in the RV that they do not have access to right now and if they are dealt with having to get a rental van instead of an RV, room will be tight.

Otherwise, things are going great. One of the teams rode by Cat this morning and one of the riders, done with his exchange, rode with Cat for awhile and chatted with her. As a crew, you never know what words are exchanged, this is always between the two riders. Those moments are always heart-felt.... words between two cyclists that really know what the other is going through. Words that stick with you and that comfort you. I can only imagine the comfort and happiness that Cat felt by having another cyclist by her side for a bit of time this morning.

Cat had her usual 3-hour sleep break last night and they put her in the van for about 10 minutes this morning to help with her battle of sleep deprivation. She has an amazing crew... one that works like clockwork. One person's job is to massage her as she falls asleep, the other's job is to get her undressed and get new clothes ready, the other takes care of her saddle sores, while yet another ices her knee or takes care of food.... this is the routine each night as she goes down. A well-greased machine, that crew of hers. Cheers go out to her crew.... without them, Cat could not do RAAM so successfully!

I shared the stats with the crew. As they are having better cell service, they are more aware of the standings from phone calls with other people. It is really comforting for a crew to know exactly where they stand and not be left to just wonder.

1400 more miles to go!! More than 1/2 way done and she's well on her way to a stellar RAAM finish!

12:33 a.m.
Well, tonight I finally got the chance to talk with Cat. By chance, when I called her cell phone, she happened to be in the van getting her knee iced!!! The conversation with Cat was brief, but her voice sounded wonderful, strong, lucid, and cheery!!! She said, "Trace, I have had so much fun! There's been some hard times, but it's not as hard as I thought it would be. I'm having fun!" We told each other we loved and missed one another and then she said "Oh... I need to get back on my bike". Understandable. ;-)

WOW!!! It was so incredible good to talk to her. Something about hearing her voice made me completely emotional, yet elated and relieved! It was the best 45-second conversation I think I have ever had!! :-)

I chatted with both Lissa and Patty, crew members for Cat, for almost 25 minutes. They wanted me to post this message to all of you: DO NOT tell Cat about Dr. Bob Breedlove if you get the chance to talk with her. She does not know and they do not plan on telling her. They have been screening calls a bit, until I had a chance to post this message.

Otherwise, she is doing great. She has had a couple of 30-45 minute sleep breaks during the day due to fatigue/sleepiness and is getting 3 hours of down time each night. Her knee has gotten better and her saddle sores are remaining status-quo. So far, so good!!!

Cat doesn't like the flats right now. She felt much better in the mountains while climbing. The flats tend to irritate her knee and her saddle sores, because there are fewer opportunities to get out of the saddle and stand. She is actually LOOKING FORWARD to the Appalachian Mtns once they get east!!!

She has had her low points.... but Patty Jo said that when Cat is happy, she is REALLY happy!! :-) Cat has cried, she's laughed... and, can you believe it, she actually got a little mad! :-)

When I talked to them, at about 8pm PDT, young Benjamin cycled on by Cat while she was in the van. Chris Hopkinson was in his van sleeping. Cat is now ahead of Benjamin and she may be ahead of Chris at the present time due to his sleep break. Her sleep break will be coming up tonight, so it looks like they will be shifting places a little bit.

At the 1,000-mile mark, they had a little party for Cat.... the girls on the crew did a little Indian dance and cheered her on. They have big plans for the 2,000-mile mark, but didn't share 'em with me. :-)

Cat is now en route to Yates Center, Kansas, Time Station #29, where the weather seems to be around 77F right now with just a slight south wind at 9MPH. This puts her at over 1,600 miles with about 1,400 to go. She will be crossing the Mississippi River a little after the 2,000-mile mark.

I talked with Susanne, Cat's sister, and with Bjorn and Gunnel, Cat's parents, last night and again with Susanne this morning when she was at the airport getting ready to depart from Sweden. They will be arriving in Washington D.C. and driving out to meet Cat on the course, starting Sunday. I'm sure this will be a HUGE motivating factor for Cat and she will be very, very happy to see them, as well as them to see her.

Patty and Lissa both wanted to let everyone know to keep the prayers coming and they said "hello!!" to all of you.

Thursday, June 23, 2005
Coming out of the Rockies
With a storming tailwind blowing them across the Kansas border, Cat Berge and Ben Couturier rode mere minutes apart in the closing hours of daylight on day five of the 2005 Insight Race Across America. Couturier trailed Berge by less than a mile as the two riders pushed out of time check 22 in the tiny town of Walsh, Colorado, where they went through in 10th and 9th, respectively.

"Tell Cat to slow down," yelled the 18-year-old Couturier with a big smile on his face. "I've been chasing her all day."

Descending out of the Rocky Mountains onto the long downhill that runs into Kansas, Berge and Couturier looked to be having much the same RAAM experience, a good one. While it's easy to put on a happy face with a 35MPH tailwind, both riders said their legs have gotten better in the past two days and physical problems have been minimal-to-nonexistent.

"My massage therapist said my muscles are feeling much better," said Berge. "I had some knee problems two days ago but it seems to be getting better. It's amazing that you can heal all while you're riding."

As for Couturier, he has maintained a sleep more/ride fast strategy in order to maintain a physical reserve for the final half of the race. Peter Lekisch, Couturier's coach, said that the plan for the race has been to turn the 18-year-old Alaskan loose once the course hits the Mississippi River. Day five will have been Couturier's longest in the saddle thus far in the race.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Cat really showed her stuff on Wolf Creek Pass today, climbing to over 10,000 feet in elevation, and keeping herself in the top 10... currently sitting at 9th.

She checked into Time Station #18 at 6:03pm tonight (Pacific Time), which is Alamosa, Colorado, 988 miles into the race, seated at 7560' elevation. From the interview on the RAAM page, it sounds like she is in great spirits and still sporting her Cat-isms and humor!

1/3 of RAAM completed for Cat!!!!!!!!

3:35 a.m.
Cat Berge Looking Strong and Fresh
A stop at time station 16, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, provided an opportunity for an impromptu interview with Lee Mitchell, and then, surprisingly a very chipper Cat Berge. According to Mitchell, Cat has some minor aches and pains - the normal wear and tear on a RAAM soloist, but overall she is very strong. Mitchell explained: "Her head is in good shape, which in ways is the main thing. She is doing modestly well, and her ride is going according to plan. We are happy with where we are: we are in the middle of the field, which is where we want to be." Specifically, the affected areas are the lower back, and her right knee was hurting yesterday, but today she reports it is feeling better. She wore a brace just in case. Some saddle sores are developing, which the team will treat with lubricants and antibacterial cream, under a layer of bandage. "Wearing two pairs of shorts is an option, but that creates a new set of problems," said Mitchell.

Cat herself emerged from the gas station at this point and was very pleased to offer RAAM web site viewers a few words. "It's been so beautiful.. I'm feeling good. I went down early last night at Cortez, but I woke at 1 a.m. and kept riding. I got so cold I couldn't stay on the bike, so I took a sleep break in Durango... I got cold so I took a sleep back in Durango. I haven't had any bad times. I've been expecting them - I've had some tough times, but not bad times. I'm having a great time. My knee was sore, but it's better now. I have a super masseuse in my team. The pain has gone away now. I am feeling fresh, I'm feeling great. I'm banking up (my sleep). I'm figuring a few will have fried themselves in the first half of the race, then I will drive hard later."

As she mounted her bicycle, Cat started singing "On the road again," as she wheeled out of the gas station towards the race's highest point, 10,000 feet at Wolf Creek Pass, about 18 miles away.

Your best bet to get messages to Cat, is to send her an email.
Her sister, Susanne, will be printing out emails on Thursday afternoon and will take them with her from Sweden en route to the US and will be driving from the east coast, heading west, on Sunday, until she finds Cat and the crew... which, in my estimations, should be Monday by the time they all catch up to each other. At that point, she will give the emails to the crew, or perhaps get in the pace van herself, and the emails will be read over the PA system to Cat. Those who have sent emails in Swedish... no worries!!!.... Susanne can read them in Swedish to Cat. :-)

She'll take the comments from Cat's website, as well.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

First and foremost, Cat is doing great!!! Of course she is having the usual RAAM-induced variety of problems, but her spirits are good and she is focused and determined. She is quite aware of whose RVs she is seeing and who might be taking sleep breaks, who might be ahead of her, who might be behind her, whose pace van that is pulled off the side of the road, etc.... Of course, like I mentioned before, her crew does not have access to the time station stats like we do on the RAAM site. They only have the data that is available at each time station, if they even have a chance to stop at it. Each time station lists who has already passed thru ahead of her. So, who is in back of her is really unknown to them unless they see a pace van belonging to a rider that they know is not ahead of them. If so, they can deduct that that given rider may be close behind or their van pulled ahead for a crew sleep break and is just going to wait for their rider and the 2nd pace van. It's really a lot of detective work for each crew to deduct where other riders are.

I updated Elaine on the placing of each rider, their average speed so that we could figure out who hasn't slept yet and who has, and how far ahead of her the next rider is so that Cat could pace herself.

Cat is having trouble with her knee. She has a neoprene support brace on it now and will be riding with that, probably from now until the end. This knee has been a source of trouble for her and prayers are needed to keep her knee in good condition to get her to the finish line. She also is wearing 2 pairs of shorts due to saddle sores and has switched to her larger pair of cycling shoes due to swelling in her feet.

Cat didn't sleep at all the first night, which I already knew... but she did take her sleep break last night and the night before. Her sleep break is scheduled to be for 3 hours, but Cat is waking up after 2 and has been getting back on her bike without the total 3 hours to sleep. REM sleep patterns are such that 90-minute blocks of sleep are most helpful and most resting, so 120 minutes has her waking up before her 2nd REM cycle. She also took another 30-minute break early this morning because she was so cold. They put her in the van and cranked up the heat and she snoozed for 30 minutes.

The crew has been reading some cards to her over the PA system... cards from well wishers, notes of encouragement. Cat loves this!

Since the crew has not had a chance to download the digital photos they have been taking, or check emails, I don't have any photos today and I can't read all of your emails to her crew. So, I'm trying to make a deal with Cat's sister, Susanne, who is coming to the course from Sweden on Sunday, and having her print the emails out so that the crew has them for the 2nd 1/2 of RAAM and can read them to Cat.

Cat has a big climb today....as she leaves Time Station #16 from Pagosa Springs and heads into Time Station #17 into South Fork, Colorado, she has to climb Wolf Creek Pass, of which the elevation is at 10,857 feet. The temperature looks to be cool, at 61 degrees (F) in South Fork, Colorado this morning. Then she has a 6% descent for 6 miles off the summit.

Cat is eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter bagels, Hammer Nutrition products Sustained Energy and Perpetuem, Clif Shots, and organic milk and organic chocolate milk. Nutrition-wise, she is doing great. She is having no problems with her food or water consumption.

Cat should be pulling into Time Station #16, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, really soon now. This puts her at around 300 miles, give or take, for Day Three. From what I have read, the weather ahead of Cat looks great.... sunny, around the middle 80s (F), and SW winds.

A note to Susanne, Cat's sister.... yes, she has the Swedish National Anthem with her! Cat has it noted in her crew book and the CD is ready to be played while crossing the finish line!!!! Cheers to Cat!!!! Girl, you are doing great!!!!! I love you, Cat. You're my best friend in the world and I am praying so hard for you!!!! -Tracy Fawns, with help from Team CATitude

1:06 a.m.
Earlier this evening, Cat arrived in Flagstaff where the temperature was cooler and she glided into 9th place!!!

I got a phone message from one of her crewmembers tonight... she said "Hey Tracy, Cat wanted me to call you and let you know that we're at the coffee shop in Flagstaff", which just made me laugh out loud and I realized how good of spirits Cat must be in right now! It is sort of an inside joke regarding my search for the perfect cup of coffee (the best actually being in Flagstaff and I actually drove from Vegas to Flagstaff and back in one afternoon just for their coffee!). She remembered my story and had to have her crew members call. That's just perfect and made me feel so great!

We're onto Day Three and things are looking great for Catharina!!!!

Monday, June 20, 2005
On Day Two: Day Two slammed 13,820' of more climbing as Cat powered her way from Congress, Arizona to Kayenta, Arizona for a total of 294.8 miles in her 2nd 24-hour time period of RAAM.

From the stats on the RAAM site, she obviously took her first sleep break sometime early this morning, thus the decrease in average speed, decrease in daily milage, and she fell back a spot or two. This is going to be the case for everyone out there now. All racers are going to be stopping for sleep breaks almost daily at this point. So, there will be drops in average speed and placements. No worries... this is all normal!! :-)

There are a couple of new people on this contact list that may not have the RAAM site address. For those of you, the stats/placings are at: www.raceacrossamerica.org

Catharina is listed separately from the men, so it takes some figuring out to find how she is placed overall

8:36 a.m.
Straight from the RAAM website:

Cat Berge
Pre-race predictions from the Berge camp were that she had the potential to finish inside the top eight. So far the Swedish veterinarian researcher, who lives in Visalia, California, is showing that her supporters may be right and that RAAM has found a new superwoman. At Time Station 9, Flagstaff, Berge had moved up into 10th place.

This is just awesome.... AWESOME!!!

When I talked with Lee Mitchell, Cat's crew chief, yesterday, he asked me "Where do we stand?". You need to understand, when you are out there on the route, there is no internet access, minimal cell service, etc...

So, her crew doesn't have the luxury of looking up the time station stats on the RAAM website. So, when I started reading the postings to him and told him that Cat was in 11th place currently, he was ecstatic. They didn't realize they were that far up in the pack. I'm sure that lifted everyone's spirits and put a big smile on Cat's face!!!!!