Trans Am Update #2
Greetings again from ‘mission control’ here in Eugene, OR. Due to some unexpected health issues Rob will not be continuing in the Trans America Bike Race. It ultimately came down to some significant swelling in his knee and numbness in his foot that made this decision.
After taking the day to try and recover in Darby, MT. and with much deliberation with his wife and support crew, the conclusion was reached that proceeding would have a high potential to yield a much larger injury that could have long term effects.
Upon his return, Rob will provide more updates about this adventure, his gear and a deeper analysis of Trans Am. Thanks so much to everyone who cheered him on along the way, it’s been extremely encouraging to Rob and it is with a heavy heart I relay this message to you.
Also, a huge Thank You to his sponsors for helping to make this possible, as mentioned above there will be further write ups and reviews about Rob’s kit when he returns home and gets sorted.
DT Swiss, SRAM, Ruckus Composites, Schwalbe, USE-Exposure lights, Castelli, Silca, Kali, Arundel, Kaibab Customs, Custom Colorworks.
Good luck to all the participants in Trans Am, be sure to show them your support. Best of luck and be safe out there!
Stay tuned for more updates.
Cheers,
-Andrew Neill- @eugneill
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winner of Best in Show at the 2013 North American Handmade Bike Show. Custom bicycles built in Eugene, Oregon, USA since 2009.
Well done Rob! It was an amazing effort and adventure. Wise decision and made for the right reasons. Cheers!
Definitely the right decision Rob! Great riding up to this point, but there is always next year, so no point risking seriously damaging yourself.
All the best!
Chapeau Rob, looking for your dot was the first thing I did every morning…and quite a lot during the day.
Enjoyed riding along with you virtually, and checking out places you passed through on the way. Congratulations on your massive commitment.
Best regards
Sean
get healthy & all the best!!!
all the best in recovery – suspect it won’t be the last try…
Well done Rob. We’ve been following you’re amazing progress since the start of the race. We hope you recover quickly.
We spoke with Rob briefly on Saturday as he stopped for a fast break at the beginning of Camp Creek Rd, just outside of Springfield. He looked great and we were cheering for him, sorry to see him have health issues. He is inspiring for having coming back from a bad incident a few years back to riding as far as he did in the TABR. Wishing him luck in the future!!!
Solid effort Rob! You rode like a champ! Smart decision to ride another day. We’ll have to catch up sometime.
Cheers,
Erin
Bend,OR
@Rob Quite sorry to hear that – highly exciting to hear about “lessons learned” – and the total experience of the new bike – Would you change something at the bike, the bike layout or the equipment? Other strategy in sleep / pedal pattern? One specific question: You had a very large map protecting front bag – would you use it again? I noticed that my – much smaller map protection bag gets quite dirty while riding with dust etc. So I was wondering if you had to clean that transparent map protection cover often too.
How about your nutrition / drinking consumption? Worked out ok ?
Please have a swift recovery !
BR
Ben
So Awesome! The effort even more so than the bike…which is like, DOUBLE awesome.
I totally dig builder that race what they build, refine, race and rebuild. The end product is a notch above. Cant wait to hear from Rob what worked and what he’s tweak!
So sorry to hear Rob couldn’t continue! All the best for your recovery. (The mention of “support crew” does make me wonder how self-supported the ride was, though! https://transambikerace.com/rules/)
You’re a rock star in my book all the same ! Chapeau.