The Hammer
Rookies in RAAM are a curious lot, they posture loudly like the male timber doodle showing off their new gear and how they plan to "settle in easy" before "making a run at it after the Mississippi". Half these rookies will be hauled off the road before they ever reach those muddy waters, saddle sored and mentally broken, physically ill or near death. The RAAM has no favorites and has a taste to swallow rookies whole; each and every one is tested, some pass, some fail. For Hammer things were going smooth and easy, "according to plan" he said in an interview as he climbed out of the desert in good standing. Then, undetermined as to the precise reason; sabotage, a more interesting plot for the documentary, or perhaps just the random conclusion to a thousand decisions all leading towards this, the Hammer was overtaken by a four-door sedan, cut-off and struck, then completely run over. Having sustained no serious injuries Hammer was released from a Navajo Nation Medical Center, mounted his spare bicycle and rode another 4,000km to arrive in Annapolis in 8th place, in 10 days and 20 hrs.
Hammer's only regret from his rookie year was the 7 hours he spent in the ambulance and the clinic, instead he "should have" immediately got up after the accident, shook it off and got back on the bike.
This year Team HammerFest is coming back to take names, the Canadian record, and go head to head with the most talented field ever assembled. Now a full two years removed from total bilateral knee reconstruction and a "new and improved" outlook on defensive driving it looks like all his excuses have run out.
The Hammer loves to hear your thoughts, your encouragement, and even discouragements - it makes him angry, and arguably a bit faster. Feel free to drop a line...
Hammer's only regret from his rookie year was the 7 hours he spent in the ambulance and the clinic, instead he "should have" immediately got up after the accident, shook it off and got back on the bike.
This year Team HammerFest is coming back to take names, the Canadian record, and go head to head with the most talented field ever assembled. Now a full two years removed from total bilateral knee reconstruction and a "new and improved" outlook on defensive driving it looks like all his excuses have run out.
The Hammer loves to hear your thoughts, your encouragement, and even discouragements - it makes him angry, and arguably a bit faster. Feel free to drop a line...
Why do they call me The Hammer?
Way back in the day, when I was but a young'n, I found myself the privilege of racing with an incredibly experienced, albeit older, adventure racing team. As the new season began, we found ourselves without a fancy sounding big-shot name like a lot of other teams out there, so as an amusing antic to ourselves, we began entering our team as "The Tools". As time went on (about 4 or 5 minutes or so), we realized we needed tool names. There became a Pipewrench, a Grinder, a Saw-Horse, and finally a Hammer. As the young Tool on the team, I was the anxious keener always wanting to "hammer" the pace off the start line, even if it was a five day race. I didn't really care where we were going, as long as we were going there fast. Ever since I've been The Hammer.
Copyright 2013 Team HammerFest
