Le Tour Ultime Crew

First of all let me tell you that we had a great crew!!  Everyone contributed to both Rob and I getting to the finish line and we could not have done it without them.  There was a merge with my crew and Robs but there was really only one of my crew members that was with the Kish crew all of the time.  The Kish crew is set in their jobs so it was better to fly as many of them in as possible since they knew how to work with each other well.   This is why most of the crew was Kish’s bunch.  Most of them had more experience then my crew but I wanted to have people that I knew in my car.  I like to have familiar faces behind me when I race.  I also wanted to have someone that I knew well driving the RV since this was on my credit card.  Trusting absolute strangers to drive an RV can be a bit scary and you might wind up with a sky light in the RV that you have to pay for.  I felt more at ease with someone that I knew a little driving the RV. Here is the crew we ended up with and a small description of them.

The RV

Daniel-  This is a guy that I added to the team.  I met him on a brevet ride and he seemed really into the race.  I did not know him really well but he did have some experience with RV and knew that he was going to be dumping the RV.  This is one nasty job but someone has to do it.  He wound up on the RV and 3 of us women were having PMS.  He really had his hands full with 3 girls.  When I was off the bike and Donna and I were on the RV he had 5 women….yikes!  He did not know that he was going to be with a bunch of girls.  He did get a little messy and seemed to have his stuff scattered around at times but the girls let him know pretty quick when he was making a mistake.  He asked if he could hop in my car with me that last night for a change but that would have shaken the crew up and I only felt comfortable with him driving the RV at the time.  We had another RV driver that was supposed to be on the crew but he was not able to make it so Daniel drove more then he had planned and did a great job at it.  He turned 60 on September 9th and we celebrated our birthdays together.

Wanda-  this was girl that was supposed to be in the scout vehicle but at the last minute we ended up not having one since one of the crew members could not make it.  Wanda has crewed for Rob for 13 years I think.  She is retired and I am not sure how old she is but she really knew her stuff and how the Kish crew worked.  She was in the front seat of the RV most of the time navigating on my shift.  She might have gotten the least amount of sleep out of all of us.  I am not sure I ever saw her leave the front seat at all.  She had her sleeping bag and did not seem to mind hopping out in rainy weather to sleep.  She was one tough girl and I sensed that she might have gotten a little irritated at Daniel at times.  Daniel down loaded Microsoft maps on to his computer and seemed to want to use that at times.  They also had different ideas on where to park but I think after a while Daniel just listened to Wanda and took her advice. I am not real sure but this was my take when I heard the two of them in the front seat.  It might have been different but by the end of the trip it seemed like the two of them were getting along ok.

Kelly-  This girl has been with Kish for 10 years and she was really nice and the most quiet of the crew.  She always had a really nice smile and kept the place nice with norma’s help.  She is a massage therapist but Norma did most of this for me.  She was a great cook and very polite the whole trip.  I do not think I ever heard her get snappy the whole trip and was always very calm.  She seemed to adjust well with changes and always accommodated my needs and never ever had anything negative come out of her mouth.  I really did enjoy her company and when I saw her rest some on my shift it made me feel really good.  This girl was terrific!  Her job was very important and she also knew how the Kish crew worked. She also did not have a problem jumping out in the cold to sleep. I sometimes wished that the the RV had room for all of the girls.  I hated to see them go outside but they seemed to prefer it.  I can tell you that I am not that type of girl. 

Norma-  this was her second  trip with Kish and she did the same jobs as Kelly.  She helped out with the laundry and shopping since she knew French.  She was very thrifty at shopping and saved us a ton of money on the food.  She was the one I got to massage me the most and she was great at it.  She had good energy and could work those spots that I liked rubbed deep.  She was sometimes a backseat driver so Daniel would hear her in the back along with Wanda.  We were always looking for a quiet place but sometimes it just was not around when we needed to do the exchange.  I think that she was in her 50’s also and was a very neat person.  She sings in a band at home so I found her to be very interesting.  She helped Kelly out a lot and the two of them had great teamwork in making sandwiches and taking care of the crew needs.  I will miss her also

The Kish Follow Vehicle

Brenda Kish-  This is Robs wife and was really the crew chief. Without her non we would not have raced.  She took care of all the logistics and everything before the race.  She knows everything about Rob so of course she was with him at all times.  I am not sure but I think that she was in the back navigating and feeding Rob at all times.  She was his personal assistant and took care of everything for him with the help of the others in the car.  She was always pleasant to talk to and pretty much called the shots.

Bill (Squeker)-  This guy is an electrical engineer and really had his hands full before the race getting all the cars ready to roll.  We had so many wires all over the car but he got them all ready in a day.  Usually he has more time to do this but he pulled it off.  My speakers were booming and everything worked perfect!  I did not get much contact with him but he was always pleasant and positive.  If you asked him about something he would say “no problem.”  That is what I like to hear.  He was in the follow vehicle behind Rob and I think he drove and navigated most of the time.  I am sure that he and Brenda were crunching he numbers to make sure that I got off the bike by 3am.  I think that Dirk might have helped with this but I am not sure how much talking went on between the crew vehicles since I was riding.  This guy has been with kish the longest I think of the crew…not sure how long.  I really did enjoy the small times we got to talk.

Pat-  This was the biggest character of the crew.  She is a retired detective and my cousin was intrigued by her.  I wanted to spend more time around her.  I bet she was a real crack up in the follow vehicle.  She always was funny and upbeat when I saw her.  I saw her at a cycling camp and now I wished that I had gotten to know her more.  This is one woman that I really do want to know more about.  I would love to hear more of her stories.  I am not sure but I think that she did most of the driving but I could be wrong.  She looks like she is 30 but if I heard right she is 60 and has a house in Florida along with some in New York where I think she was an undercover detective.  She was flashing her badge before the race. She was really cool!

My Follow Van

Dirk-  This is the guy that crewed for me at the Gigathlon.  He has also crewed for RAAM like races 5 times.  I really had to have him in my vehicle.  He was really good at predicting what I would ride and sometimes I would get there earlier on purpose.  He knew how to work my music most of the time and would sing to me at times to keep me motivated.  He seemed to come out at night.  I think he got into my coffee gels sometimes.  He would get wild on the microphone.  He was a driver and a navigator for me and was the leader of my follow van. I do not think I could have done it without him in my follow van.  He also knew the course and is from Belguim.  He spoke 4 different languages so he was great to have.  The last night he had to speak to the Dutch police for us.  He also functioned on little sleep so he was good to have around.  He pretty much only laid down with me and was working the rest of the time.

Donna-  this was my cousin that came along and she was terrific.  She loves to workout so I know that she felt like she was in hell at times.  She was in the back of the vehicle and fixed my bottles for me and dressed me all the time.  She was my personal assistant and had a lot to think about.  She was a little more modest then the other girls on the RV and some of the places that we would stop she did not get a chance to go to the bathroom.  She would help me get dressed and then not get a chance to go.  She gets the award for holding her pee the longest.  She was my only relative with me and it really was nice to have her along.  She was always funny and did a great job taking care of me.  She was my moral support and the most important person on the crew to me.  I love her with all my heart and it was great to have her along looking after me.  We really had a good time.

Keith-  This was my bike mechanic and friend from home.  He goes with me on all of my races and loves to be part of anything I do.  Sometimes you have to do the thinking for him and tell him what to do but he does it.  He is hard to understand and has backwards sentences.  I think that Dirk was getting annoyed at him at times but by the end of the trip he seemed to understand Keith.  Keith is a different guy but he is always there for me.  He really helped me most after the race with packing the bikes and getting my car ready to turn in.  He was not the best navigator so Dirk did that most of the time.  Keith seemed to enjoy drinking the junk left in my bottles so that we would not waste anything.  He is a very colorful guy to be around but a very good friend to me.