Ed Abdella , clockwise from top left , as he nears the end of a 24-hour bike maranthon to raise money for the high school band , pushing off on his Ride Around Mississippi tour and at the completion of the Natchez Trace 444 , a ride from Nashville , Tennessee , to Natchez . Photos courtesy of Ed Abdella .
this June ’ s adventure . Abdella has assembled a crew of 10 people who will follow along behind him in two vehicles , providing crucial support and managing logistics . They will provide him with everything from food — think liquid meals — to hydrating drinks to chapstick and sunscreen and anything else he may need while on the bike . They will keep him awake when he is sleep deprived and help with repairs if anything breaks . They will keep up with mileage and speeds down to the second , making sure his breaks stay short and he makes up any time if he gets off schedule .
“ Every thing ’ s based off of science . I have some of the
greatest crew members ,” he said . “ We have ice vests . I have two of them , and we ’ ll change those out regularly . We ’ re going to have tube socks and we are going to fill them up with little bags of ice and we ’ ll wrap them around my neck to try and keep me as cool as I can all while pushing through the dessert . If we do sleep , we are going to try and sleep around noon for like maybe two hours and then get back on the bike and try to ride when it is a little cooler in the evening .”
Abdella admits to feeling anxious , nervous and a little dread as he thinks about the approaching big race .
“ I don ’ t want to let anyone down . I don ’ t want to let Meridian down , and I don ’ t want to let the kids at Hope Village down ,” he said . But being worried may be a good thing , he said . “ I am real worried about it , but they say that ’ s a good nervous . That if you go into this race and you ’ re like , ‘ I got this ,’ then you ’ re not going to finish . You will DNF ,” Abdella said , referring to the do not finish result given to riders who fail to reach a time station by the deadline . But , he said , racers who respect RAAM and prepare for the challenges and tests they will face during the race have a greater chance of making it . “ I feel much better today than I did just a couple of weeks ago ,” Abdella said “ All these years of training and all these years of praying and it ’ s finally come to fruition . It ’ s finally here , and I am actually excited .” M www . meridianstar . com
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