Media contact: Wendy Booher, tel. (609)348-7402 cell. (617)308-2500
TREVINO HANGS TOUGH AFTER MID-RACE CONTROVERSY Race
Administration Unsympathetic to Either Side in the Matter
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (June 29, 2004) - Four days after the
flare-up, the dust began to settle on a controversy that
raged during the middle of the race, possibly effected the
outcome, and certainly made the newcomers Jure Robic
(Slovenia) and Mike Trevino (San Diego, Calif.) acutely
aware of the psychological warfare that is a traditional
part of the Insight Race Across America (RAAM).
It is nothing new for one rider in RAAM to be disbelieving
of another rider' s average speed over a particular stretch
of the country, and by the half-way point the Robic camp -
competing in only their second RAAM - found themselves
puzzling over the way rookie Mike Trevino was tenaciously
able to hang on and remain in contention with the Slovenian
former road-race cycling champion.
Accusations soon started flying. Robic - representing the
Slovenian military - deployed one of his support vehicles to
spy on Trevino, and the problem was compounded when the race
officials monitoring these two riders had problems with the
brakes in their van and withdrew from the race for 18 hours
while repairs were made, leaving the two riders unmarshalled
for a period of a few hours.
The organization acted within an hour of hearing about the
problems to bring in extra officials, but different
circumstances worked against the situation, and distances to
be covered were as much as 300 miles. Within 24 hours both
of the two leading riders in the elite Solo category were
under the watchful eye of an official.
Meanwhile tension within the Robic and Trevino camps was
reaching boiling point. Trevino responded to Robic's spy
car by enlisting one of his own - a move permitted within
the rules of RAAM. Several hours later an official caught
up with the Robic spy car and issued the team a 15-minute
penalty (added to Robic's finishing time) for
'caravanning' which is when cars from two teams get too
close to one another and cause a potential obstruction to
passing road traffic.
Fatigue blended with stress and frustration to create a
bitter cocktail. Angry messages were posted to the Robic
team web site by team members who were concerned the
organization was biased against them. Hate mail started
coming into the race administration from fans of Robic.
The race organization moved to bring matters under control
by informing the Robic camp of a rule that prevents teams
from denigrating the race. Once they learned that official
vehicles had been dispatched to both theirs and Trevino's
team, the Slovenians were satisfied that appropriate action
had been taken and a retraction appeared on the Robic web
site. His crew members later admitted that they might have
acted too hastily in the heat of the moment.
The controversy, however, was not over. Meanwhile, in the
Trevino camp at roughly the same time, a reporter for the
race's in-house television crew asked Trevino to comment on
the allegations of cheating made by the Robic team. This was
more than the San Diego software developer was prepared to
take, and the team imposed a media ban that remained in
effect until the run into Atlantic City.
The incident with the journalist was the last straw for
Trevino, a former high school wrestler and line-backer in
his college football team, who then became an ultra-distance
runner before stepping up to RAAM. Struggling with his
motivation to stay in the race, on Friday evening, June 25,
he climbed off his bicycle and went for a 20-minute run to
ground him while he reflected on the situation. On return to
his team car Trevino remounted continued to Atlantic City -
although his tussle with Robic for line honors was by then
long over.
Trevino's result - second place in the Solo Men's category
- identifies him as a remarkable athlete who pulled off an
impressive feat. This is the result that several great
RAAM champions have gotten in their first year of the
race. The determination he showed in staying with Robic
for the first half of the race made Trevino's 2004
campaign all the more impressive. However, after his 2004
experience Trevino - while admitting that the complexity
of the race was fascinating - would not immediately commit
to entering again.
Of course RAAM veteran and co-owner Lon Haldeman has seen
it all before - and he permitted himself a wry chuckle and
a demure lowering of the eyes on hearing accounts of the
events. Haldeman recounted stories from his days of racing
RAAM, where he committed acts of trickery with the express
purpose of inducing paranoia in his rivals, playing on
their frayed nerves and tired minds. "We used to get up to
all sorts of things, far worse that that," Said Haldeman
with a smile.
RAAM race director, Jim Pitre, himself a record-setting
winner of the two-person team division was not overly
sympathetic for either the Trevino or the Robic camps, and
said: "There was no proof of any cheating. With proof we'd
take a different view of the matter. People do not take into
account that in any kind of racing mind games are played.
This just happens to be a more drawn-out saga, and there are
other factors such as sleep deprivation thrown into to
complicate it further. This is a perfect example of how
people's minds get set sideways by the race. I see this kind
of thing as just a part of RAAM. They're big boys, I say
'get over it'."
Almost six hours after Trevino's eagerly-awaited arrival in
Atlantic City, three-time winner Wolfgang Fasching of
Austria pedaled a tired cadence along the Atlantic
Expressway to complete his seventh RAAM. For Fasching, who
counts Robic among his personal friends, this had not quite
been his year. Lack of proper training was one reason he
gave for never managing to mount a challenge to the leaders
- having decided to compete in the 2004 race as late as
April. Around lunchtime in Atlantic City, the extraordinary
and ebullient Grand Pac Masters team rolled gleefully onto
the legendary Boardwalk to complete a record breaking ride
in their age division, of 7 days, 6 hours and 31 minutes.
As the evening came, the wife and husband team of Terri
Gooch and George Thomas riding for VeloWear/Co-Motion, from
Corvallis, Oregon, completed their trek in the Two-Person
Mixed category, in 7 days, 18 hours, 5 minutes. Thomas, a
six-time veteran of RAAM, has now ridden the race as a Solo,
with Gooch on a tandem, and now with Gooch in a mixed team.
A few minutes later, Germany's Team Frauleins rolled
triumphantly up the boards to complete their first RAAM and
take second place in the 4-Person Women's category with a
time of 8 days, 4 hours, 40 minutes.
Quotes follow.
All race times are in EST; stay tuned to
www.raceacrossamerica.org for up-to-the-minute race status.
Quotes:
Michael Trevino, solo, 8 days 21:06 - 2nd place
"My result confirms my belief that I can compete with
cyclists at this level. I didn't have any background in
cycling before about a year ago. It is exciting, but
humbling also. It is great to be able to aspire to something
like winning RAAM.
"The allegations (of cheating, made by the Jure Robic camp)
hurt me. It was tough. People who know me would know it
would insult me to even ask that question. In hindsight, as
you say I'm the dark horse and I should've been prepared for
some skepticism. It was flattering at first, but then I got
a bit sick of it.
"I feel a huge sense of relief that it is over. My
reasons for being here and being part of the event had
been polluted. At one time I felt I should walk away from
the event."
Wolfgang Fasching, solo, 9 days 02:45 - 3nd place "I had
no problems this year. I felt good all the way, except for
Day One when I had a stomach upset. The only problem I had
is I wasn't fast enough! I am just happy that Jure Robic
did not do more damage to (my relative finishing time)."
"Climbing Mount Everest is more dangerous, but mentally
RAAM is more difficult." "I hate the final 15 miles. It is
always the hardest."
Enrico de Angeli, solo, 9 days 09:08 - 4th place "I didn't
expect to finish so fast. I planned to finish in ten days
and I finished in nine days; I am very happy." "The highest
point for me was when I saw Nico, Rob, and the other riders
and I overtook them within two hours." "I was sorry to see
Nico drop out because he lives about 20 kilometers away from
me in Italy."