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[Cloe] In 2014,
my dad, John Tarlton

competed in the toughest
ultra-endurance bike race

in the world,

the Race
Across America.

It's known as RAAM.

[John] There are
approximately 300 people

who have
ever completed RAAM.

This is not
for everybody.

[Cloe]
Unlike the Tour de France,

which has multiple stages,
allowing riders

to rest
and recover overnight,

in RAAM,
the clock never stops.

The race starts in Oceanside,
California

and finishes
3000 miles away

in Annapolis, Maryland.

[Jenny] Extreme heat,
extreme climbing,

extreme everything.

[Cloe] Riders must
pass through timed checkpoints

or they are disqualified.

That averages to ten
and a half miles per hour

for 12 days
without getting off the bike

for things like
a bathroom break or sleep.

I can't understand
or even comprehend

that somebody can ride
their bike this far this fast.

[Cloe]
All riders are fully supported

with a follow crew,
providing food, liquids,

directions
and a place to rest

for maybe
two hours a day.

[Kevin] You may
just be sleeping

on the side of the road,
it's all dependent on

how far John
goes that day.

[Cloe] My dad crossed
the finish line in 2014,

but he was only a couple hours
away from being disqualified.

[John] You don't want
that DNF behind your name,

Did Not Finish.

[Cloe] This year,
he's a lot stronger

and he has new ideas about
nutrition and performance.

His goal
is to reach the podium.

His support crew
will have some veterans

from my dad's last race,
like my brother, Jack.

-We will figure it out.
- [Cloe] But this year,

there's one big difference.

Mom decided
to join the crew...

I need my team in the car,
let's go.

...and she convinced me
and my little brother,

Cooke, to go too.

The whole family
will be there

for every painful mile.

[suspenseful music]

[sea rumbling]

They'll be down there
in about 40 minutes.

-It's-- it's just--
-Just making sure

we have all
the pit stops ready.

Doing all that timing.

[cheering]

[announcer] Three, two, one.

[crowd clapping]

It's the 38th running
of the Race Across America.

This morning's races
will include racers

that are going just through
Durango for RAW,

Race Across the West

and solo riders are going
all the way to Annapolis.

[announcer] Next up is an all
ladies team out of Texas.

[Gary] Today we're going
to have a fairly cool start.

But when we get over
Mount Palomar

and down into the valley,
on the other side,

we'll be seeing
temperatures of 100

and 110 degrees
out there.

So it's really stressful
for the riders.

Thinking about
the heat.

I can't win the race
in the desert,

but I can lose the race
in the desert.

Try not to get burned.

[announcer] Next up,
from Wisconsin

Mr. David Haase.

Four, three, two, one.

Good luck, Dave.

[John] RAAM,
it's a bit of an adventure.

It's sometimes referred to
as the Everest of cycling.

And I think that's
an apt description.

Biking longer distances
is a greater challenge,

but also has greater rewards.

[announcer]
Three, two, one, good luck.

[crowd whistling and cheering]

So our goal is to podium

within my age group
of 50 to 60.

And raising awareness
and money for Stanford Cancer.

Fifty to fifty-nine
is very strong.

There are several riders

who have
second place finishes.

The classic is, like,
Mark Pattinson.

He has more
second place finishes

without a win
than anybody.

I've come 4th once

and 2nd four times.

I dropped out twice,

everybody drops out
at some point.

Christoph Strasser
is obviously,

if he finishes the race,
it's tough to beat.

Very tough to beat.

Every time it's--
it's a new challenge.

It's--
it's a new experience.

You have other people
in your crew,

you have other racers,
there's different weather.

Why does Roger Federer
play Wimbledon every year?

Why does Dirk Nowitzki play
the NBA season every year?

It's the same [indistinct],
if you want to race

Ultra Races, RAAM
is the biggest race possible,

so you want
to do it every year.

[announcer] Five, four,
three, two, one.

Good luck, Christoph!

[crowd cheering]

[Jenny] You said Oceanside
to Durango,

I totally just focus inward.

I overheard you talking
to Les or somebody today.

Yeah, yeah, I'm racing
my own race to St. Louis.

I won't be specifically trying
to race other people.

That's foolish.

I got to do
my own thing.

It's a really long race.

You can't, like,
start racing

from the start line.

It's just craziness.

You'll burn yourself out.

I want to do
well in my category,

my--
in my age group.

That could be a win.

[Jack] You want to,
I think we should go now.

Okay.

[Vic] More than anything,
Tarlton is an unknown.

You know, he did RAAM
a couple of years ago.

He didn't set
the world on fire.

He got a respectful finish

with 11 days in change.

But in talking
with John recently,

it's evident that
he learned quite a bit

from that first experience,
and he's coming here

with one of the most scientific
approaches I've seen

and he could
surprise people.

[woman cheering]

When we finished RAAM
in 2014,

there was
a general sense that

we could do it
better and faster.

And that maybe
if we really worked hard

and had a little bit
of tailwind

that we might finish
on the podium in Annapolis.

[woman] Go John!

[announcer] Next up,
John Tarlton.

John finished RAAM
in 2014 as a rookie.

We told him, you don't
just do this race once

he didn't believe it.

Well, welcome back, John.

John is raising money

for the Stanford
Cancer Institute.

Four, three, two, one.

Good luck, John!

[crowd cheering]

[Jenny] He just left
the starting line.

All the racers took off
with their follow vehicles.

John is going to go
to mile--

What is it, guys, 28?

He's going to have
a crew switch.

Getting to this point,
it's just really nice.

I mean, we keep saying like,
it's crazy now,

but it'll all
come together.

And everyone
will fall in line

and everybody
will figure it out.

So what he's going to do,
he's going to chuck,

he's literally just going
to throw a water bottle

and then I'll pass
on this.

[traffic noise]

[John] So the strategy
is to keep temperature

under control
through the desert.

To try and get to Durango
in three days.

Try an average
300 miles a day...

225 watts,

keep it under 140 beats
per minute, just...

boring.

That's the strategy,
is boring.

It's actually
hot down here.

We've got--

We've got the breeze off
the ocean right now.

So it's just going
to get hotter and hotter

as we go
further inland.

We are at
mile 42...

out of...

3071.

Yeah, crushing it.

[laughs]

[Jenny] It's not surprising
that he does this

because it just fits so well
with his personality.

He's very calm,
he's introverted,

he's focused.

You know, every aspect
of his life is about

conserving energy
and pacing himself

so then he can get
a ton of stuff done.

And it's very much
at his temperament

all the time...

to be that way.

[Kevin] Hey, sorry, you
were asking about elevation?

[John] My job is to execute
on the bike.

And for me, what that means
is holding this dynamic tension

between wanting
to go all out

to get to Annapolis
as fast as possible.

But knowing that you have to
restrain in order to get there.

[Kevin] So, yeah, you'll peak
at twenty-six,

you'll go down
to twenty-three.

[John] Because
if you burn matches

in Oceanside...

you're done,
you're gonna be done

before you even
get to the Arizona desert.

[Kevin] Okey-doke.
Byeee.

You're welcome.

[man] Does he laugh
when you like,

you know,
say "byeee" like that?

Yeah, no,
like, at first,

he's like,
"Oh, okay, bye."

And then he started doing it
back to me and now it's like,

we do it every time
we see each other.

Okay, bye-byeee,
you're welcome.

Okay, byeee.

[Paul] The way they tricked me
into doing all of this was,

you know, I--

I had told John like,
"Oh, yeah, oh,

I also want to start getting
into like cycling.

Like, I think I want to do this
race from San Francisco to LA."

Somebody grab a tail light
and a head light.

And it took Jonathan
like a third of a second

to be like, "Oh,
I'll help you pay for a bike...

if you sign on
to do RAAM."

And I was like, "I don't know
what that is, but okay."

[man] Hey, there's John.

[Kevin] So like,
that was like

the beginning
of me realizing,

you know,
who John is as a person.

John is the kind of person
that you want to help.

How could someone be
like that nice

and that grounded
and that kind

and like that generous
to people?

Just trying
to plan ahead...

and see
where the best spot

for the first crew stop
is going to be.

[Kevin] You meet him,
and you think, you know,

is that kind of like an act,
is he really like that?

Or is it just kind of like
some kind of front,

And you know,
you get to know him

and you talk to him
and you realize,

"Oh, okay, like,
he's just that guy."

I'd do anything
to support John.

[Jenny] Kevin is very much
a member of our family.

He goes on vacations
with us and he lives here

in a cottage in the back
of our property.

You know,
has dinner with us most nights.

Well, until he got
a girlfriend, but--

Early on, if you mess up
the shift times,

like all the numbers
get screwy,

but it all
averages out at the end.

So as long as it's
all written down, we're fine.

[John] RAAM is a team sport
and like a CEO,

I've got
my vice presidents.

Allen,

Kevin.

And then Jack.

And they're--
they're working it out.

[Jenny] I thought Kevin
was Crew Chief.

He-- he from the text--
Group text chat.

He seems like he's
the one that's like in charge

and giving orders.

To a very large extent,
you're right, Jenny,

but they both want Allen
to be Crew Chief, so...

I don't think we needed
as much structure

as maybe
everybody else needed.

[Kevin] I don't think
it was important to have

the Crew Chief
and the Assistant Crew Chief

and be, you know,

mini crew lead
and another mini crew lead.

[Allen] In terms of Crew Chief
or not or whatever,

we had to sign the papers
at the beginning

and it says Crew Chief so
we had to put names.

Yeah, during-- during the race,
people we were like, well,

who's-- who's the Chief,
it doesn't matter,

just do
what we ask you to do.

It's just past seven o'clock.

So we are
in direct follow mode.

Which means, now,
this is our view

for the next
twelve hours.

[Jenny] Kevin and Allen
are the anchors

and then they...

went out
and got their friends.

So the Corey
and the Jonathan.

Kevin didn't even mention
like a pretty ride.

He just said,
"Hey, do you want to go ride

with us in a van
for two weeks?

-And I said, no.
-[both laugh]

[laughs]

-Your driving sucks.
-[indistinct]

I know,
but I am getting nauseous.

I think the thing
I'm most worried about

is like having to go
to the bathroom.

As a girl, that's just
really weird, you know,

like,
we got these

great pee sticks.

I did it, success.
I peed.

-[Jonathan] How did you pee?
-With my pee sticks.

[man] She still squatted.

It's just a little weird,
never done that before.

[Jenny] What you guys doing?

Jenny, I peed.

[Jenny] Yay!

But I didn't do it right.

Still squatting.

Three of the crew
are our kids.

Jack is our oldest son,
he's twenty-one.

He's been
on the crew before.

Cloe,
who's eighteen

and Cooke,
who is sixteen.

It'll be hard for them
to see their dad go through

so much pain,
go through so much discomfort.

I mean, just agony.

I don't really know
what I'm doing.

I've never seen
any of this before,

so I'm just
taking orders

from the people
who've done this before,

Kevin, Jack, Allen.

[Jenny] But it's also
a good experience

and we want the kids
to have that experience.

I would not go,
like, I-- I don't.

People ask me all time, "Oh,
are you going to go there?"

Like, absolutely not.
Under no circumstances.

I do not want
to see any of that.

It came as a bit of
a surprise to all of us

that she wanted
to have

a part in RAAM.

And her expression
of interest and participation

came fairly late
in the process.

You were the one that
was telling me to go.

I-- The whole time before
I was like, "I'm not going."

You were like,
"You're going, Dearborn."

And I'm like,
"I don't want to go."

Yeah, I mean,
that was a very--

I wasn't going to tell
my wife that she can't go.

You know--
you know, that was--

That was totally something
you should have done.

I mean,
it was very tough.

You know
what I didn't like?

When they were announcing
each of the riders...

they were saying like,
and here's this guy

and he's done it
nine years in a row.

Here's this other guy.
He's done 15 different--

He's crewed,
he rode,

he was part
of a two person team.

Then he was a single team.
All these things.

And I was like, oh my God,
these peo--

This cult of people.

John is part
of this cult.

and it is--
He'll never be finished.

This is--
This is not a hobby,

it's a lifestyle
with all these nuts.

I don't know
why people do it, honestly.

I can't quite--
It just doesn't seem normal.

Like I--
I can't imagine

why anybody
would want to do this.

I mean, I love you
and I'm doing this because

I'm, like,
legally obligated to.

But-- but for other people,
like, I don't--

Honestly,
I don't get it.

[John] Competing in RAAM
is like being

in the flow
of this energy field

that has to be aligned
to get to Annapolis.

You have to have equipment
that's in alignment,

your training
has to be in alignment,

your bikes
have to be in alignment.

You got to have a dozen people
completely in alignment.

We want everybody to know
that I really appreciate you.

The sacrifice
you're making.

We are all friends.

And it's super
important to me

that we treat
each other with kindness.

Just pace yourself
and be super healthy

and make sure you--

Oh, bless your heart,
sweetheart.

Vidya Mahalaxmi

is a Construction
Project Manager

for my company,
Tarlton Properties.

Come on, John.

To be honest,
if someone else had asked me

to crew for them
for a race like this,

I would have probably
thought about it.

But just because
it was John,

I just said yes
without even thinking.

And you know, he treats me
like I'm his family

and it works
both ways.

[Jenny] Everyone's
feeling good?

I-- I'll feel good
after inspection.

For Paul, Paul was easy,
I knew I wanted Paul to come

because Paul's one of those
people that, like, if you

ask him to do something like,
he'll do it, and he'll do it

the way you ask him to do it
and he'll do it the right way.

[Corey] All right, straps
are done, who needs them?

We have four support vehicles
for the race.

And last
is our Coach Captain.

Howard is
our Assistant Coach Captain.

Scott helped
to build out the vans.

He's a former
professional cyclist

and he's joining us
in Durango.

I'm honestly, I'm a little
concerned about the crew,

just their readiness.

That's definitely something
that I've thought about a lot.

You know,
if anybody has a meltdown,

we can just put them
on a plane and--

In St. Louis
and just send them home.

Just say, you're done,

you're causing
too much friction.

I have no problem
with sending people home.

-"I have no problem--"
-I'm in charge.

I am finding some irony
in this conversation

coming from somebody who said,
"I am never,

ever having anything
to do with RAAM."

Yes, I know.

I need one more number
on that media car.

That goes here.

There was a lot
of crew tension,

even before we started.

When we were marking
up vehicles

and when we were doing a lot
of the pre-race logistics.

You could just
sense the tension.

Do we have another number?

[Kevin] I don't know
whether that's going to pass.

We have the RV,
we got the sprinter.

We have the old RAAM van,

we have to put all the signage
on all of them.

The whole time, you're just,
like, "Who's in charge?"

Nobody really knows
what they're doing.

Is someone going
to tell me what to do?

Do I jump in
and just start doing stuff?

And we're behind
and I don't know

if we're going
to make it on time

and I don't know for this
vehicle where everything goes.

So anyway,
we got to go.

[John] That experience
for the crew was essentially

a microcosm of RAAM.

[Vidya] You know what you
could do, how you can help?

[overlapping conversation]

The crew had to adapt.

Hey, we got 15 minutes.

It felt super chaotic.

It felt like
a mad scramble.

It was incredibly stressful.

In about two miles,

he's going to start
a pretty crazy downhill.

Known as a glass elevator

where he's just going
to bomb by us,

like, it's going to be really
hard for us to catch up to him.

[John] The glass elevator

is a very steep
mountain road

where you're just
taking every turn

at break neck speed.

And for us,
it's just a stressful moment

because there's such
a high risk of injury.

As you're going down
the glass elevator,

there are gusts of wind
as you come around a corner

that could veer you off
into the other lane.

That's problematic.

If you're not careful
on the glass elevator,

you can pick up speed
50 plus miles an hour.

It's very easy
to develop a wobble.

[dramatic music]

[calming piano music]

And did we pass?

-Yeah!
-No problems.

See you all later.
Thanks for being prepared.

-Thank you.
-Thank you so much.

We got it done, Kevin!

Of course
we got it done.

[chatter]

[Jenny]
There's so much invested.

All these people that
are helping him on the crew,

they're so invested
in his success.

All of these people
took time off work.

And all these people
have sacrificed so much

to be a part
of his experience.

And like,

it would be just awful

if he crashed early

and was out
and everyone was like,

"oh", you know, like?

Or if it doesn't
somehow live up

to their expectations.

[cheering and clapping]

Keep it going! Yeah!

[John] We often think
of nighttime

as being substantially
cooler than daytime.

The reality is different.

We were looking at 115 degrees
in the middle of the night.

It's just
too freaking hot.

Okay, how are you doing?

So the plan is

to take a cold shower,

change into fresh TOGS,

stretch me
and get on the road.

-Yeah.
-Okay?

[John] The combination
of the heat and the climbing,

you have to keep
under control.

Otherwise, you're going
to burn yourself out.

It's a no win situation.

It was getting hot enough
that we were starting to worry

about him essentially passing
out, it was so hot.

[John] Is my phone fixed?

[Jenny] So we're going
to buy you a new phone.

So the phone that just--
That was just dead, I mean.

[Kevin] Like the salt really
corroded it and it was dead.

I focus on getting, like,
compression socks on.

-The toes are not coming up?
-It's just hard to put on.

[Vidya] It was awful that
night, it was so hot.

And just watching John
roll in, it was--

I am like, "Oh, my gosh,
this is just night one?"

Here, more energy
to put your socks on.

I got two
left feet here.

-I need the other socks.
-No, I'll get it, I'll get it.

[Kevin] Being nice to John
is not being nice to John.

Like giving him
too many luxuries,

like letting him take
a ten minute nap.

You know, asking him like,
"Oh, what do you want to eat

when he's sitting right there
and we're wasting time.

Like those luxuries
that we wanted to give him

because we all like John
and we-- like

we're just hurting him
in the end.

[Vidya] Do you want
any reflective jackets?

[laughs]

I forgot
it's hot, sorry.

It's got to be
over 100 degrees.

-In the dark.
-[Vidya laughs]

I do not want
any jackets.

Sorry, I forgot,
my bad.

[laughs]

I laughed about that
for the next 100 miles.

Let's go,
Johnny Tsunami.

He is riding 24 hours a day,
except when he sleeps,

which is between
like noon and two.

[Jenny] Okay,
it's 90 degrees in the car,

it's 109 outside the car
and it's quarter to noon.

You know, Kevin was texting
that John was averaging

eighteen miles an hour
and doing great and-- and--

So he'll end up going riding
for twenty-four hours.

And we've just been seeing
cyclists this whole time.

Here's one right now,
here's a RAAM vehicle.

On this route you see

cyclists
and follow vehicles.

[Gary] You got this heat
coming across here,

100-110 degrees,
you got 131 degrees

off the asphalt
you're riding on.

Break up on you.

I'm on a motorcycle,
so I feel the heat,

I feel the wind,
but I don't have to pedal.

[laughs]

He's burning a lot of calories,
he is pretty much burning

the whole way through.

So what we're trying to do
is replenish his body

by the water, juice,
carbohydrates, fats, protein,

which is the most
important ones.

So he doesn't start eating up
his muscles pretty much

and counterbalance things.

So we just got
to keep feeding him

so he doesn't cramp up
and start losing muscle mass.

During the racing,
food intake is super important.

We've formulated
a recipe

for John's granola
that's exactly

the right nutritional balance
and fiber

and protein
and all of that for him.

Granola and the cookies.

And that's
his rice cooker.

Fresh produce,
we got peanut butter.

RAAM 2014
was Shot Bloks, Gu,

Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew,

like anything
to give him sugar.

The racers in RAAM
are going to be consuming

vast quantities
of sugar every day.

And that-- If you were to track
their blood sugar level,

it would be going up and down
and up and down like this.

And you don't want that.

You want flatline
glycemic index.

And so it's less fatigue
on my whole body.

It's actually
a huge process, you know,

putting fresh dates
in a fruit processor

with coconut oil and honey
and homemade vanilla.

You know,
seven cups of pumpkin seeds

and all of that.

To make a huge batch that
fills up this whole thing.

Seven...

What that granola
does for me

is allows me to--

Totally fucking lost count.

[Vidya] These are the water
that John drinks,

we don't get
any other water for John,

this is all
that he drinks.

Extra spare tires.

This one here is the freezer,
put some ice in here

all of his drinks, his
electrolytes-- berries.

Oh, my gosh,
he loves Perfect Bars.

[Jenny] Crew is doing good.

Things are falling
into place.

John's doing well,
he's strong.

I know
he's in great care.

He's in great condition.

He's totally
passionate about this.

So I'm not worried
about it at all.

It's really hard to eat in
this heat.

I know, just,
can you eat a little bit?

Just a little bit.

Just take another--
half way on that.

-That's enough.
-Okay.

Well, I'm just
giving him options.

Allen says,
"We may need you,

John is having
a rough time in the heat."

[Vidya] Just put these on.

[gagging]

It was awful to see him
throw up and, you know,

you're trying to get
all of this nutrition in him,

you're trying to get
all this fluid in him

and here he is,
he's throwing up...

and it was hard
to watch him.

[gagging]

I was just trying
to hold him.

You know, he's--
he's a big dude

and trying to hold--
hold his back.

And I was like,
"what am I supposed to do?"

And I am trying
to hold my tears back.

It was a tough one.

[throwing up]

[Jenny] "We need electrolytes
in the RV.

John's throwing up
from the heat."

[sighs]

Okay,
that's where we are.

We've got to get
through the heat.

I didn't-- I had no idea
that it was going to be

so difficult so soon
into the race.

I sort of
anticipated it getting

incrementally more difficult
as we went through.

I didn't realize
it was going to--

We were going
to hit the wall so quickly.

And you know,
John can't drink enough

or eat enough
because he's so hot.

you know,
his body is rejecting it.

You know, all the fluids
inside of him to help

cool him down
are now gone.

But he actually did well
after puking, though.

Gave him
some electrolytes.

Salt tab
in every bottle of water.

It was Allen's suggestion.

It's got magnesium,
calcium,

all the electrolytes you need,
it is called Salt Tabs,

but it's only
nine percent sodium.

And slowly,
he wanted more food,

which was a good sign.

It's too much to watch him
ride in that hot weather.

-[woman] Yeah.
-It's just-- I can't.

[woman] Yeah.

I mean,
I was like in tears,

but I'm like,
okay, don't cry,

John can see you,
so I was just like,

kind of wearing
my sunnies.

I don't know
what I was doing, but--

-You were crying.
-Shut up!

[Jack] What's he doing
out here?

Why is he walking?

[Jenny] Honey,
what's going on?

You need some space?

The logistics
of the crew swaps...

fell apart immediately.

There's a miscommunication
and so the team

that just finished
is ready to go off their shift.

But the Relief Team
is not here yet.

At first, it was supposed
to help people sleep.

The problem is like,
we don't know

how fast or slow
John is riding.

So some days
he's feeling really good...

and that crew that's sleeping
might be over sleeping

and they might wake up
and not be able

to make their shift.

[Jenny] Most important
takeaway is,

no spouse should ever go
with their spouse

on a race like this.

It was--
It was awful.

Crew
is doing great.

[John] You guys
got some rest?

Everybody's good,
everybody's rested,

everybody's good.

-Kevin actually slept?
-Kevin slept,

Kevin is rested and happy,
he's totally good.

So he's always asking,
how's the crew?

And so we're constantly put
in a position of lying to him.

John doesn't want to know
while he's riding

that the crew
is melting down

and the disasters
that other crews are having.

Or other riders
that dropped out

or other accidents,
I mean,

these are things that
you deliberately keep from him.

How quickly does he
get out of the heat?

I just need to get
to 2000 feet.

-Thirty miles.
-Thirty miles.

Okay.

John, are you ready?

We need ice. We need--
[indistinct]

back inside, or are they in?

[indistinct] are inside.

I think this is more
of a frustration on the point

of part of the crew,
I know some people,

some parties
are frustrated that they--

And they feel like their
message did not come across

in their expectations.

And so I think
that's more

inner crew tension
and drama.

[piano music]

Feels nice and cool out.

We are out of the worst
part of the heat.

His toes are cramping.

But we're starting to get
into the elevation now,

so it's going to be harder
in terms of the climbing,

but not as hot.

Which is--
Which is going to be great

because he's a very
strong climber.

So this is
really his strength.

Pleasant day
for a bike ride.

♪

[Cloe] You get off your shift,
try to find a place to sleep.

If you can't find a hotel,
you sleep in the car,

you sleep on the side
of the road.

You don't know
when you're going to sleep,

like what time of day.

It's like sometimes
we were sleeping from

like 7:00 a.m.
to 11:00 a.m.

And sometimes
you're sleeping from like

1:00 p.m.
to 4:00 p.m.

When you wake up, you try
to figure out where John is.

Most of the time,
it's like 50 to 100 miles.

Everyone tries to meet up.

Then you get behind him in
a van and you drive

for about 12 hours
at 15-10 miles an hour.

And it is mind numbing.

And you have nothing to do
but sit in that van

and think about all the things
that could go wrong.

[Kevin] Jack and Cloe
are on their way to mile 65

on page 71.

So it might be
easier for you

to coordinate with them.

I don't-- I don't know
where Allen's group is.

[John] We need to focus on

how do we set up the crew

so that I'm off the bike

and asleep in 30 minutes?

And how do we set up
the crew so that I'm awake

and I'm back
on the bike in 30 minutes.

Right.

These are recovery boots
that are filling up with air.

Right now, we're trying
to get him to speed up

the recovery process.

So pushing the blood
out of my legs, basically.

Yeah, we are moving
the blood around.

[Cloe]
You sleep with these?

[Allen] He's going to sleep
with them on.

[Kevin] Just checking out
what we can push John to do

to make the cut off time.

[Allen] We have 382 miles

and 32 hours

to get to Durango,
Colorado.

And there's a few breaks
that he took unexpected.

So if he is going to sleep,
we are going to wake him up...

early.

Usually when we do that,
we lie to him.

We tell him he's had his
three hours, it's time to go.

[John] To win
we need to focus on

how do we
set up the crew

so that
if I ever get a flat,

I am rolling to a stop

as someone is leaping
out of the sprinter

with-- with the next bike

or the wheel
and changing it.

So you don't have to touch
the chain.

So what you have to do
is pull this back.

Okay.

I think there's just
a certain part

of RAAM where you--

you learn on the fly.

-[Cloe] Yeah.
-[John] You figure it out.

[Kevin] Yeah,
so there's a deadline by now,

it's midnight, tomorrow
is the deadline for us,

we have to be
in Durango by then.

There he is.

-He looks fine.
-[Cloe] Yeah, he looks good.

[Kevin] But we'll make it

as long as
nothing crazy comes up.

I'm not really worried
about that at all.

[John] Corey, what does
the gas gauge say?

[indistinct]

-Why don't we fill up?
-[Kevin] Okay.

We were hoping to fill up at
this gas station,

but they don't have diesel.

Are you guys set up
to do follow?

[Corey] No, we don't have
amber lights.

Shit. We need diesel.

-Can you guys get a gas can?
-[Corey] Yeah.

And fill it
with diesel for us?

-[Corey] Yes.
-Okay, fine.

Because I don't think
there's any diesel

for like 100 miles that
we are going to have to take.

-[Corey] Okay. All right.
-Okay.

-Right here, we're full, so--
-Okay.

Hey, no, fuck that,
let's go, get out of the way.

[Jenny] Get out of the way.
Go away.

The crew structure
is falling apart.

They're not calculating

the math accurately.

They think
they're doing great.

They're taking way
too many breaks.

They're slow
in the turnovers.

You know, if he's only
sleeping for two hours,

why is the break
four hours long?

Okay,
so now I can settle down.

I don't understand
how they let it get so low.

People aren't filling up
the van and...

you know, John shouldn't have
to ride up and say,

"Oh, I wonder
if they have diesel?"

I mean, do they have
diesel or not?

Should not be
John's concern.

I called my mom
on the phone

and I essentially said,

we are in over our heads,
like, we need--

we need someone
to take charge.

[Jenny] Is this us?
That's us.

[Jack] And telling people
where to be

and making reservations
and you know, whatever.

Because
I cannot stress enough

how hard it is
to think...

when you are
so sleep deprived.

[Jack] No one has been
running point and so

when [indistinct]

someone is floating.

Right, Jack's right,
we don't have a crew chief

in the RV running point,

you know,
being the leader.

[Jack] No one's fault,
it's just we need someone--

We need leadership,
I get it.

They're communicating
with each other,

but they're not communicating
out to the whole crew.

And so you've got people
that are kind of running rogue

and don't really know
what's happening

because they're not
in the communication loop

with the leaders.

[Jack] The main thing that is
lost between 2014 RAAM

[indistinct]
is that you don't have

a centralized leadership
structure sitting in the RV,

pointing-- pointing
people to go,

-right?
-Yeah.

and it's awesome
that people are having fun

and-- and you know,
enjoy seeing the country.

But you know,
we're going to lose a race

if we don't get
to Durango in time.

We'll see you
in Kayenta, bye.

[Jack] Bye.

What a clusterfuck that is.

[dramatic music]

♪

We are
in Monument Valley.

We have to get
to Durango, Colorado,

by midnight.

Or...

John is disqualified.

The text exchange
with the crew is,

he may not make it.

Give him 15 minutes,
that's it.

Tell him it was more.
When he asks for breaks.

tell him, no, you can't,
you got to keep going.

It feels like from following
the crew text exchange,

it's a little bit
of a scramble

and people are pretty
concerned.

Why are you guys here?

To give them their food?

Oh, this is the lunch
for the people in the--

Food and then
they need bars and ice.

Takes a crew to support
the crew.

[Vidya] You're killing it!
Woo-hoo!

[Kevin]
We have three groups.

So the crew just stop
supporting John.

Is essentially
just going to...

fly 300 miles
down the route and just wait.

So the second one,
the minivan

that will go
to wherever we designate

-crew stop point is.
-[Corey] Got it.

And then obviously
these two

-just stay together.
-Got it.

I don't really think
there's anything else

I need to say about this.

Obviously,
once you do the swap.

Both vehicles now just go

and we all meet up.

What happened was...

there is that part
of me that was like...

logistics.

This is how
this is going to be.

Everything's going to run,
you know, like--

like the military,
like clockwork.

And then there's a part of me
that knows all these people

and is friends
with all these people.

And all these people
are asking,

"Oh, can I crew with this
person next time?

Can I crew with you next time?

Oh, I want to do a shift
with this person

or this person,
this person."

And so then
the whole thing blew up.

-This is getting tribal, yeah.
-Yeah.

We have our names.

Every crew thinks
the other crew

is completely messy
and disorganized.

-These guys suck.
-Yeah.

You know what,
that's what Jonathan said.

They come to ours after and
they're like,

"Oh, these guys
fucked everything up."

And then we come in
and be like,

"Oh, they fucked
everything up."

You're not
feeding him right.

No, you're not
feeding him right.

The whole first part
of the race is really hard

on John, because
it's not just distance,

it's elevation.

So Dave was the Crew Chief
in 2014.

And he made
all the calls.

And you've got to make it
to Durango,

Friday at midnight.

If you don't make it,
it's DQ and it's all over.

[Kevin]
There are some things

that Dave Johnson
does really well.

Like reading the rule book,
like, cover to cover.

Making sure everybody reads

his highlighted version
of the rule book.

We got to have
one of these in every car.

This is what
the road book will look like

when you get your bound copy.

You know, the things
that nobody wants to do.

Like nobody wants
to read the route book,

nobody wants to do that.

And if we screw up,
it costs John time.

It just seems like
David Johnson

does a lot of
administrative stuff that

actually needs to get done.

The other thing that we
really got to talk about today

is all the people we have

and how this is all going
to work with these cars

and these people.

[Jenny] That administrative
stuff is not a strength

or an interest
of Kevin and Allen.

I don't want
to take anything away

from the success of 2014

and the people
who were part of that success.

But extreme
administrative efficiency

is not going to translate
into a win.

I asked
Dave Johnson to step out

of being a Co--

A Captain of the race
and to stay behind

and... lead

the charge
on raising funds.

Jack was genuinely worried
that things were falling apart.

And he was
genuinely worried that--

that Dad wasn't gonna make it.

And he was like,
I need you to jump in

and use your leadership skills
and just take over

and just start
barking orders.

Yeah, that's what
we started doing.

Good.

When anything
was going wrong,

it was my-- It was my instinct
to sort of jump in and,

you know, be a leader.

I've been an executive

in tech companies
for about 20 years.

Hewlett-Packard,
Sun Microsystems.

I know everybody
on the crew personally,

but they're also,
you know,

self-employed folks

who are not accustomed

to running
large organizations

or operational efficiency

or the contingency planning
and things like that.

And as a business person,
I'm very accustomed to that.

So you don't need me
running point in the RV.

You don't--
We don't need Dave Johnson.

We're all good.

Dave Johnson?

Oh, okay.

Would have been useful
to have David Johnson

during the--

the whole race,
because he is trained by

the United States Military.

What-- what better
organization to train someone

on the logistics
of a stressful,

organized campaign?

When do you want
to take a shift change?

I'll look at the book
and I'll text you guys.

Extreme administrative
efficiency translates into,

"Oh, we checked
all the boxes."

That's good,
but to win,

we need
a different set of skills.

To win, we need focus
on nutrition strategy.

How do we execute
that nutrition?

Not just nutrition strategy,
so that we finish.

But nutrition strategy
so that we go fast.

[Jenny] Did we have
some miscalculations?

My phone's not loading.

The last text I saw was,
"We're not"-- From Kevin,

"We're not going to make it."

[Kevin] Hello, yeah,
so I hate to say it,

but we're being too
nice to you.

We're giving you too much
rest stops and we're like,

when we are stopping,
we're not being tight enough

on, like,
hard stop at x minutes.

[Kevin] This morning,
when we made the shift

at 6 a.m.,
he was a little tired,

-you could tell.
-Yeah.

So then we just fed him
a lot of food.

[Jenny]
What did you feed him?

A lot of saltines
and avocado.

-[Jenny] Not a lot of calories.
-[Allen] Yeah.

[Vidya] He was like,
I don't want potatoes.

-I don't want quiches.
-[Allen] Threw the quiche out.

[Vidya] He threw
the quiche out,

he was like,
he can't digest food, either.

[Allen] He takes a bite
and he just tossed it.

[Vidya] Yeah.

[Jenny]
So he is not eating food.

[Vidya] The best thing
for him right now

are the crackers
and the avocados.

-[Allen] Yeah.
-They're working the best.

-So we are feeling like--
-That's not enough calories.

[Allen]
So, every ten minutes--

[Vidya] Yeah, every ten minutes
we kept giving him,

avocados are pretty good.

I mean, they have
a decent amount of fat.

And the crackers have salt.

I mean,
it's better than nothing.

-Of course.
-And then he had

-the Perfect Bar one time.
-Perfect bar. Yeah.

And then he had granola.

[Jack] I don't know, but if
he takes any more time off,

we are not going to--
We are not going to make it.

[Kevin] So I mean,
should we just, like...

sneak him some,
like, caffeine

and hopefully
that perks him up?

[Jack]
That would be the quickest way

to get some sugar to him,
but--

[Kevin] Yeah, okay.

-[Jack] I don't know.
-Yeah.

[Jack] If he takes
too much time off,

we're running
into the deadline.

[Kevin] Yeah.

Make a right, head that way.

You don't have to make
any turns for 42 miles.

-It's just, go.
-Okay.

-How are you doing?
-Good.

I'm on a roll.

Took a short break and
pretty much just ran errands

the whole time and drove.

And now we're back on.

So we're yeah,
we're tired.

You know, it's-- It was--
this is definitely

difficult,
but it's not impossible.

And you know, as much as
we can complain, like,

he's the one out here
the whole time.

Well, while we still get
to go into a hotel

and get eight hours,
sometimes five hours.

♪ So I pick myself up ♪

♪ And I push to move on ♪

♪ Like a mountain to the sky ♪

♪ Yes, I will stand tall ♪

♪ Oh I'll pick myself up ♪

♪ And I push to move on ♪

♪ Like a mountain to the sky ♪

♪ Yes, I will stand tall ♪

♪ I'll stand tall ♪

[indistinct]

[sighs]

I know.

-Oh, oh my goodness.
-Almost.

[Vidya]
You're almost there, okay?

Stay safe,
see you soon.

[Kevin] Hi John,
you see the--

the top of that hill.

You're going to descend
for about 10 miles.

You know
what to do after that.

Get to the bottom.

[laughs]

♪ But I can see the light ♪

[train bells ringing]

♪ To fight the good fight ♪

He'll make it.

[clapping and cheering]

Right.

[overlapping conversation]

♪ Pick myself up ♪

♪ And I push to move on ♪

♪ Like a mountain to the sky ♪

♪ Yes, I will stand tall ♪

♪ I'll pick myself up ♪

I'm worried about
the hands and the feet

getting in the way of my

laying down
power on the pedals.

-Yeah.
-[Jenny] Oh, honey bear, bear,

you're going to be
just fine.

-[Vidya] Sorry.
-[Jenny] That's okay.

[Vidya] I can't believe
he's doing this to himself.

[Jenny] I know.

Well, he is lucky
to have you on his team.

Time?
Last time?

Fourteen minutes.

[Vidya] I didn't anticipate
how bad it was going to be.

I mean, that was
my emotion throughout.

I was like, I just couldn't
believe he was doing this race.

Where is his glove?

[Kevin]
All right, who's on?

[woman] Scott is.

[John]
See you on the other side.

[cheering and clapping]

"This is Cloe,
Cooke and Jack.

We have decided no media
in the Sprinter tonight

as our top priority
is to be very efficient

with zero distractions.

I'm sorry
if this is not good news,

but our decision is final.

We love you.
Sincerely, your children."

I think it's awesome.

Decisive, clear leadership.

You don't criticize the person,

you--
you talk about the problem,

It's unemotional.

"Excellent."

Kevin and Allen,

they're going to get
together and sync up.

And everybody's got to be

on the same page
about no hard feelings

and you know,
it's nothing personal.

And you know.

People have to understand,
you know,

what's at stake and that
they can't take offense.

[loud clattering]

[John]
Virtually all of the racers

in RAAM are raising money

for a non-profit
of some kind.

The purpose of our ride
is to raise money

for Stanford Cancer Institute.

The discovery fund that funds

new primary research

into cancer therapies.

We raise money
from sponsors.

So we've raised
about $150,000.

We're hoping to raise another
$250,000 for--

for this race.

[Jenny] John has been
very touched by tragedy.

His mom died of cancer,
his sister died of cancer

and he spends
his professional life

building research facilities,

buildings
where scientific companies

are housed
that do cancer research.

[Jack] Our entire family
has been affected by cancer

and my grandmother
passed from cancer.

And so obviously there's--

The whole point
of doing this race

is raising...

awareness and funding.

But I mean, when you

look at the values
working for others,

doing your best
to better your community,

having faith
in the people around you,

building friendships.

And those are the values
which my father tries to live,

which is, you know,
stressful for the rest of us,

because how can you--
How can you live up to that?

But doing RAAM
and raising money is--

is just a physical expression

of that way of life.

-Honey, honey, are you okay?
-I'm fine.

-Are you sure?
-Yes.

Okay.

I was thinking about
the inspirational story

that we saw last night.

Yeah, I know, I know that's
what you were thinking about.

So Jenny and I were

privileged to be invited

to Stanford Cancer
Institute Discussion

last night
and they showed a video.

You're gonna have to--

No, no, it's your story,
babe, you do it.

This young man...

developed...

incredibly rare...

metastatic cancer

and--

He was part
of a clinical trial

that was-- That Stanford
Cancer put together.

-And he's cured now.
-And he's completely cured.

So not just in remission,

but he's completely cured

and he's a young man and he's,
you know--

-[John] He has kids now.
-[Jenny] Yes, little kids now.

And so...

[Jack] Cycling for him
is like meditation, I think.

I mean, he's never
told me this, but I think

this is how he...

sorts his thoughts
and escapes from,

like the chaos of his day.

This is how being able
to get away on the bike

and just put all of his focus

and energy into riding.

Like, that's how
he gets out, his energy,

his frustrations,
his everything.

And then
that kind of catharsis

that, like, release

translates into
sleeping better,

eating better,
you know,

improving mental health,
all these other things.

[Les] It was a very cold run
over the top, I'm sure.

But I think this is great
weather for him to ride in,

he's been killing it.

He's been killing it
on his speed.

Today, I think
he was upwards of 17.

Yeah, he's been killing it.

Trying to get this organized
real quick.

Each time
we change crews,

it's just crap everywhere.

[laughs]

That's right.

It's hard
to see him like in pain

and, like-- like, when
he's like swerving and like,

I can't give you
extra sleep

because
we don't have time.

Like, stuff like that.

[Jenny]
Did you-- What did you see?

Like, what was the
hardest part?

Like, sometimes he's like,
he swerves close to the--

And then a big semi

goes by and I'm like--

Have you guys been
honking at him

when he starts swerving?

That's what we do,
We honk and he knows

it means,
like, get over.

[John] I listen
to children's books.

I'm going to start
with the Harry Potter series.

It was soothing to me
to read to the kids.

It was soothing
to me to have

books read to me by mom.

So the key for me

is a story that is
interesting enough

to keep my mind from

falling into the misery pit

and to pull my mind away

from the mild pain
that's going on.

But not so engaging that
it's actually burning energy...

through mental processing.

[Cloe] "Harry ignored her,

blood was pounding
in his ears.

He mounted the broom
and kicked hard against

the ground and up,
up he soared.

Air rushed through his hair

and his robes whipped
out behind him.

In a rush of fierce joy,

he realized
he'd found something

he could do
without being taught.

This was easy.

This was wonderful.

He pulled his broomstick up

a little to take it
even higher and heard screams

and gasps of girls
back on the ground

and an admiring
woop from Ron."

He started mixing-- he's
listening to Harry Potter,

and he was mixing reality
with Harry Potter.

What?

He pulls over
to the side

and he'd unclip
and I'm calling him, like,

"Hey, what's up?
Why did you stop?"

He would be like,
"I don't know."

And then I got to the point
where I was like,

"Why-- why are you stopping?"
and he said,

I'm conflating
the book and reality.

So he'd be riding

and the thought
would come into his head.

I need to give...

Jack a broomstick

so that he can fix
the broomstick

for the Quidditch match.

Because he's listening
to Harry Potter.

And then
he would unclip to, like,

give me the broomstick.

And then he realized...

-I don't have a b-- Like--
-I don't have a broomstick.

I don't have a broomstick,
I'm on a bike race right now.

And then he'd re-clip
and keep going.

[soothing music playing]

[Jack] We can't be
directly behind him

protecting him
from oncoming traffic.

And so if he's stuck,

he swerves and stops
in the middle of a road,

we can't protect him.

So I was like, you know what?
I'm calling it.

We are just going to put
you down for a nap.

Yeah, if he just
keeps unclipping.

Yeah, so we just
put him down for a nap

and he got back up
and he was a lot better.

But it was just getting to
the point where he is a little.

[Cloe] It was also like when
you wake him up from his nap,

he's like, "What time is it,
what day is it?

Where am I?"
Like--

It would be
my responsibility

to honk the horn any time
he fell asleep on the bike.

You can see him...

kind of drift off
and swerve.

And then he'll catch himself
and he'll wake up.

And he does
these little micro naps

because he just
can't help himself.

He's so exhausted, he'll just
fall asleep and wake up.

But sometimes the--
the micro naps

get a little longer
than a millisecond

and so I had to
honk the horn.

And towards the end
I was honking the horn...

pretty often.

I think
that was super scary.

John.

John, how are you feeling?

Pretty good today,
we're going to crush Kansas.

All right.

[Jenny] It's hot,
it's going to be hot in Kansas.

[Jack] It's hot. And it's
really flat.

-Yes.
-Flat and [indistinct]

[Jack] Kansas will be a
challenge.

Really?

I thought
Kansas was going to be easy.

Kansas is gonna be a challenge?

Boring, but hard.

[Jenny]
The challenges of the first

third of the race,
you know,

extreme heat,
extreme climbing,

extreme everything.

It's almost easier
to tackle all that stuff

because it takes
so much mental focus

and so much effort.

But when you get to Kansas,

it's just so--
feels like this endless,

monotonous, you know...

off into the horizon
that never, never ends.

And so a lot of people
drop out

because of the
mental aspects of it.

Okay, well, I'll let you guys
go get some food.

Today's Father's Day.

Be sure and...

catch your dad say

good stuff.

Hello, hello, sir.

We're marking the turn,
we're right here.

You're going
to take this, right?

[exclaims]

Like when-- when he--

When we put
him down for a nap

or when he's,
you know, like,

when people are doing
body work on him,

screaming, so much pain
and all this stuff.

I feel so bad for him,
he'll hop on the bike

and be like, "You guys
getting enough sleep?

Are you guys eating?"

What are you talking
about, like?

What are you--

How can you be
asking us these things?

Like, you're doing this shit,
you focus on you, man.

But that's like-- That's where
he gets his energy, right?

He gets-- He gets
his energy from--

from helping,
supporting other people.

Because he is so,

like, authentically--
He does that so authentically

and so honestly and he
genuinely wants to help others.

Everyone, we all want
to help them, so.

-It's uh-- oh!
-What?

You were about
to hit that car.

I wasn't about
to hit the car.

Just calm your face.

[Vidya] Dude, look at Jenny.

[laughs]

And I'm sure he loves it.

Got to see his reaction.

Fuck, he's smiling.

Yeah, I mean, I think

if--

if John finished
the race in six days.

But every time he, like,
he got on the comm,

I got on the comms with him

he lost his mind
and he started screaming at us

and cussing us out
and flipping out.

That wouldn't be, he
wouldn't be winning the race.

He might be setting a record,
he might be

an incredible athlete,
he is an incredible athlete,

but that wouldn't be winning,
right?

Winning is
achieving your goals...

but also staying true
to who you are.

-[Vidya] Jack, Jack?
-[Jack] Yeah, what's up?

You're the best.

-Why am I the best?
-You are like your dad.

Thank you, it's--
It really is a compliment.

-Appreciate that.
-You seriously are.

It's fucking junior John.

He's-- he's my role model.

He's the person,
I look up to the most.

[Vidya] Yeah.

Don't tell him that.

It will make him
sob his eyes out.

Oh, oh my God, he would,

if I told him that, he would
not stop crying for a week.

He would combust in tears.

[Jack] He would just sob.

[Jack] Do you know what my
favorite part of Kansas is?

All the roadkill.

Oh, look, speak of the devil,
there's a deer right there.

-[Cloe] Oh, my God.
-Dead deer.

Get used to it, this is
the name of the game now.

Well, now that your appetite
is all riled up

with the carcass,
you want something to eat?

[Jenny] He's feeling strong,

I think the crew
is really starting to gel.

Yesterday,
during the turndown,

they had the clock running.

They know exactly
who's supposed to do what.

I saw Kevin saying to Corey,
okay, you were-- You know,

you've got three minutes,
work on his neck.

And to Jonathan, you've got
three minutes, work on his leg.

You do this,
you do that.

You know, everybody
sort of getting ready to go,

wake him up
and have ten minutes for--

Before he's back
on the bike.

So it's really starting
to sort of click into gear.

[Jack] You know, sometimes

you can't crew as
efficiently as you'd want to.

Because you got to do
those pesky things, like,

go to the bathroom.

It works, it's working, see?

Be strong. Keep it up.

And let us know if,
like, the road kill

starts, like,
talking to you.

So we had some mechanical
issues with the RV last night

where the generator died.

We couldn't get
the RV repaired fast enough

to be assured that it wasn't
time for him to go down.

So arrangements
have already been made

to put him down
in a hotel.

[Brett] How are you doing, sir?

My name is Brett,
I'm from London, England

and I'm a chiropractor.

Flew into St. Louis,
obviously,

a little bit more frenetic
than I'm used to.

But it was good,
it was all-hands-on-deck.

Corey and Jonathan
were doing the cupping

and then some
soft tissue work.

[Vidya] And his back
was completely bruised.

[Jenny] Yeah,
black and blue.

Yeah, and it was
an emotional

-roller coaster.
-Yeah, yeah.

I came in just basically
grabbed whatever I could get

hold of and just started
working-- Did hands

and then started doing
the quads as well.

Oh, yeah.

Everybody took a little role
in whatever they had to do.

-Kevin, are you doing the hip?
-[Kevin] Yeah.

The right hip.

Yeah, it was
an interesting procedure

of how you actually
treat somebody.

But obviously,
time is of the essence.

And we need to get everything
done as quickly as possible.

He's up.

Eighteen minutes.

You're incredible.
You are incredible.

You are incredible.

You guys are amazing.

[overlapping conversation]

Just straight, right
on this road, okay?

[Jack] He's doing good.

His-- his feet
are hurting a lot.

So we're working
on solutions for that.

So we've got-- We already do
ice baths and toe separators

to help increase
the blood circulation.

But he's been putting pressure
on his feet pretty,

pretty consistently
for the last few days.

So he's-- he's hurting.

But you know,
this is--

It's part of the--
part of the game.

[Jenny] It's Wednesday.

We are in Missouri

on our way to cross
the Mississippi River.

[Jack] And I'll give you
a juice.

There you go,
all right.

[Jenny] How much-- how much
sleep have you been getting?

I got-- Cook and I in that
one room got three hours.

I can't complain
about my sleep

when he's getting less
than I am and peddling.

You're both a driver
or feeder or navigator?

Yeah, I pretty much
always drive,

and that's kind of
the way I like it,

I don't really want
to navigate.

I would be so mad at myself
if I...

had John steering off
in the wrong direction

for even ten minutes.

Somebody else
can do that,

hopefully, a family member,
I will drive.

You know,
point me where to go.

[Jenny] John is number four,
in his category.

[Cloe] He is ahead of Geoff.

[overlapping conversation]

So we're in number four.

This is so beautiful.

We want it to be like, okay,
John, like, you're-- you know,

you're in third place
right now

and you've got-- you're like
two miles off second place.

Now's the time, like,
freaking JT and The Flats.

Hammer time, baby,
let's go.

You know?

But then, like,
we want him to, like,

overtake this guy just at like,
his natural pace and his speed

and what he feels
comfortable doing.

And not try
to push him to, like,

completely smash
the rider in front of him,

because that might
not work out for us

in the long run,
you know?

Yes, it's not like,
mean-spirited in any way.

Like we see Geoff's crew,
we're like, hey, guys,

how's it going?

Like, you know,
it's not like,

we're not like,
yes, we passed him.

But it's like--

But at the same time,
it is a little bit like this.

[Cloe] But like,
it's so long.

[Jack] I think passing
peak riders in rounds

is kind of
like a dance

because like, you're not
seeing the same people

over and over again.

It's like, you passed them,
they pass you.

You pass them
and then they like,

take a little bit longer to
pass you and then you pass them

and they take a little bit
more time to pass you.

You pass them
and then they have a target.

And so they ride harder
to chase you down.

[Cloe] And then you ride harder
to stay in front of them.

[Jack] You ride harder to stay
in front of them, it's just--

At the end of the day,
like everyone who finishes

is a winner in a way.

These-- these late stages,

it's just about
like, maintaining

and not like, letting
other riders get in your head.

[Cloe] I think he's
pretty good about that.

[Jack] He is very good about
it, he's very zen, yeah.

[Jenny] Martin.

[honking]

I think there
has been four DNFs.

We talked to the one rider
who passed out

because of the heat
and had internal bleeding.

And there was
one bad accident

descending
the glass elevator.

We know one rider

that was hit by a semi-truck
on the freeway.

Thankfully, he lived.

There's somebody else that--

that didn't make it
because of the heat.

Yeah, I mean, you come
to terms with it, I guess.

I mean, I think about
widowhood a lot.

What would it be like
if John was killed, and...

How would I tell
my kids, and...

So I guess, it's just something
you kind of come to terms with

because it's, you know,

it's not a zero
chance for sure.

We are going to get
your rain gear prepped

and will potentially
pull you from the bike

if-- if the weather gets
too bad, okay?

We'll give him rain gear
so that his feet can stay dry.

And then
if there's a tornado

or if there's lightning
within two seconds of thunder,

then we pull him
from the bike.

But everything else,
we push through, persevere.

[cheering & loud clattering]

At that point
in the race,

it started to feel

like our race strategy
was really clicking.

And that
third place was--

likely second place
was within reach.

It felt like
this is-- this is awesome.

Jack says, "John wants Kevin,
Allen and Brett to note

that he has periodic loss
of control of his arms

when going to get off the bike
or other basic motions.

Sometimes the arms
don't respond."

Kevin says, "Fuck."
Yeah.

Jack says, "He says, it's only
annoying at the moment."

Cooke, "Brett says, remove
the tape from the shoulders."

Jack, "This feeling can happen,
especially during handoffs,

apparently, so you have to be
very careful."

It's not insignificant,
you know, the danger.

We have...

friends in our
social circle

who have been killed.

You know, there are ghost bikes
around in our community.

A ghost bike is a bike
that's painted white

and is a permanent memorial

on the side of the road
strapped to a tree or something

of where the accident was,

where that cyclist
was killed.

Cooke, "Brett says,
keep the tape on,

if that's the case.

Ask-- and ask
if the tape is helping.

It's easy for him
to talk

about the pains
he's currently feeling.

So I don't think we should
completely dismiss this.

He says
the tape is helping."

I don't-- I don't give
a shit about the tape.

If he can't control
his arms,

how can he avoid
a semi-truck

if he can't control
his arms?

How are they going to know
when it's too much?

You know, it--
Every day just gets worse.

He can't control
his arms.

It's kind of important.

I just-- I just
want him to finish.

I don't care
if he wins.

There's no prize money
to offset anything.

It's like a mistress
in your marriage that you,

you know, you're not allowed
to get mad at.

I mean, everything's fine
until the accident

and then it's too late.

I just feel like I'm holding
my breath all the time.

[Les]
He's four hours ahead

of where he was
five years ago.

And when we hit Durango,

he was almost
eight hours behind

where he was
five years ago.

So he's made up
about a 13 hour swing.

Hey, is Brett
ready to go?

So do we know,
he's working on second?

Where is he
in his age group?

Though he was trying
to be first in his age group?

Is that a reality?

[Jack] No, he's not going
to chase down Marko,

that guy that's in first,
that guy is,

like, hundreds
of miles ahead.

Second place,
is striking distance.

-[cracking]
Oh. Wow.

The get good news about
thinking about the arrow

for today was that
I had a tail wind.

-Yay!
-That was lovely.

So I was like, "Oh, well,
I'll just sit up in the hood."

-[laughs]
-There you go.

[Jack] The guy
that was in second place

completely blew
himself up

and he's now, like,

-in six or seven
-Oh.

And so we need to make sure
we don't fuck this up

-the last little bit.
-Okay.

[Corey] When you're
in the shower,

you're going
to move your neck around,

just tiny, tiny movements,
not big ones.

He's doing it.

[Jenny] So he can't--
he can't pick up his head.

[Jack] He can, he just can't
hold it.

Those muscles are just fried.

He can't go down
into arrow

because he can't pick his head
up to look where he's going

-[indistinct]?
-Yes, I do.

We're currently
50 miles

from you being
in second place, okay?

Everything we wanted
to do, okay?

[John] Yeah.

And so as much as you

want to go Johnny Tsunami
on this thing,

we got to wait.
-[John] No, I understand.

Until the last minute

and then we fucking take
this thing, okay?

[John] Yeah.

[Jack] So we built a bike,
a hybrid bike,

So that his neck isn't under
too much load.

And so, like, the only
comfortable position

is him looking straight
down like,

you know, four feet in front
of his front tire.

which is a bad... thing

when you're going 25,

30 miles an hour
on a downhill.

[Jenny] Right.

His neck
blowing up is...

It's-- it's
a huge issue.

For him to be an arrow
which is more efficient

and then also
looking up like this,

puts a ton of strain
on the muscles in his neck

and upper back,
I imagine.

And then that combined
with the jittering.

His neck collapsed
from the strain

the muscles gave out.

And from that point on,
he had to sit up in the saddle.

Not only was
he sitting up,

he was sitting up more
than he normally would.

He was touching
the handlebars

with the tips of his fingers
to keep him straight

and making himself
as tall as possible.

It's inefficient from
an aerodynamic perspective.

It's mechanically inefficient

for applying force
to the pedals.

So it was
a big deal.

Give me your hands, John,
give me your hands.

-[man] Chap stick!
-[woman] Chap stick!

Glasses?

Get the chapstick on his lips,

get somebody to do the
chapstick for him.

I'm excited that John
is still in it

and you know,

he hasn't had a major-major
accident or crash.

I mean, he's got a lot
of things that are, you know,

the wheels are starting
to come off the wagon,

but you know,
nothing is totally irreparable,

you know,
irreparable harm.

Is there ever a time
that I would call it?

Yeah. I mean, yeah.
I absolutely would.

I would. I would.

Step in and say,
he's done.

Don't wake him up,
let him sleep.

He's going to sleep
for 14 hours

and he's going to miss
the end of the race

and that's just
my decision

and I'll take
the consequences.

I would do that.

I super, super
trust everyone here

and I think
he's okay.

I mean, there was a couple of
days ago when that--

When they were saying
he was weaving quite a bit.

I got pretty scared.

[dramatic music]

So I just want to stay
super close to him.

But yeah, I definitely would
if it came to that.

But he would
kill me.

But I would--
I'd do it.

[Brett] In about 12 minutes,
we'll do direct follow,

-anyway.
-[Jenny] Okay.

[Brett] So we'll be
right behind the whole way,

watching out
for his neck.

[Jenny] Okay, okay, okay.

Oh, look at that.
That's insane.

This thing
to hold his neck up?

Well, no.

Brett said
that in the long term,

it causes more damage
to his--

to his neck,
long term neck.

So it's like,
cross the finish line,

have neck issues
for the rest of your life.

What do you want
to do?

It's insane.

These are insane choices.

Corey and Jonathan
are just beating

the hell out of him
every turn down,

getting his muscles
to let go.

And the chiropractor loosening
him up

at each go-down
is really helping him

stretching him and getting
the things to let go.

I am a bit tired.

How many consecutive hours
did Jack work?

[Brett] I think about 16.

He just told-- he just told us
he's just been sleeping

at least five
to six hours per day.

So he said he could do a
little bit longer shift.

[Brett] It's not good
for him.

I know,
it's not good for him.

[Jenny] So Jack did
three shifts?

-[Cloe] Yeah.
-[Jenny] Oh, my God. Why?

What's happening?

[Cloe] Everyone's upset
with Kevin.

[Jenny] Why?

[Cloe] They feel like he's--

[Jenny] Like, messed up
the schedule or what?

[Cloe] Yeah, he's got
too much on his shoulders

and for him, it's different
compared to the others.

[Jenny] Yeah.

-Where is he?
-In the restroom.

[Jenny] Will he talk to me,
do you think?

What's going on?

What's happening?

[Kevin] I don't know, trying
to make the right choices.

[Jenny] You know,
I was thinking about

how the beginning
of this process,

John is like
the adult.

And we're all looking at John
saying, John is amazing,

take care of us, John,
be our leader, be our boss.

Be our husband, be our father,
be our employer,

be our landlord,
be our whatever.

And then
at the end of this,

It's switched.

He's like--
like a baby.

And we're all
taking care of him.

[Kevin] Yeah.

[Jenny] And when I saw you
taking care of him,

it was like
a role reversal,

father-son role reversal.

Like here you
are changing his diapers.

[Kevin] Yeah.

That's pretty incredible.

That's a pretty
incredible gift

that you're giving him
this experience.

Come on, let's go.

So you said he's going to do
this again in five years?

What did he say?
Did you ask him?

Well, Kevin asked him.

He said yeah, maybe,
like in five years.

Oh, good.

With his next wife maybe,
but not me.

[Les] I know
that a lot of people

did not truly have
an appreciation

of just how hard
this race is.

Watching him
day by day deteriorate

and yet still have
to keep pushing him

because he's got
a time deadline.

The past few days have been
like crunch time, I guess.

I've been doing
a lot of different roles,

so like either driving
or feeding

or navigating
in the follow van.

But I mean,
it's been tough

just because
he's in so much pain.

And like, it's-- it's really
hard to watch.

There's only like maybe...

200-150 miles left.

Yeah, we just need him
to wake up.

He's really, really
tired right now.

And his neck
is giving out.

Part of why he's not
drinking any water

is because it's hard for him
to lean down to get the bottle

and that he can't tilt his head
back to actually drink it.

So he's becoming dehydrated.

Yeah, it's been hard.

[Jack] Go on, dad.

[clapping]

It's just, rough,

I've been trying
to hold it together

so that he can hold
it together, but...

It's fine-- I mean, like--
like, I'm fine.

But yeah, it's just like,
why did you do this?

I ran side of him a little
bit today, and he said,

"How are you
doing Jenny bear?"

It's, like, "I'm fine, John."

"You getting enough sleep?"

"Yes, John, I'm fine."

Madness.

He's so selfless,
it's frustrating.

I know! Exactly.

Thank you
for articulating that.

[Cloe] Yeah, exactly.

[cheering
& loud clattering]

[Jack] We are
in the homestretch.

So he's got you know,
a lot of neck pain.

He is having trouble
keeping his head up

and his feet
and ass, and hands hurt.

I am sure the rest
of him doesn't feel great.

But I think
at this point,

it's like
he's come so far

and he's not going
to not finish.

[Jenny] Oh, my God,
we're so close.

We're 180 miles.

I think
we're in Maryland.

And then we go in and out
of Maryland and Pennsylvania

and like in and out
of Pennsylvania.

Today, they're not going
to put John down for a

turn down
for a long sleep.

They're only going
to let him

get ten minutes
at a time.

The crews
are absolutely exhausted

and fried.

We're actually
really impressed by Cooke.

-Yeah.
-Everything he does.

[Corey] He has definitely
stepped up, he can feed.

-He can navigate.
-[Jonathan] He does everything.

Only thing he can't really do
is drive at the moment.

But you know--

[overlapping conversation]

[Corey] Going from like
just kind of

mope around on his phone,

like, he's definitely
stepped up his game.

Calculating like,
"Oh, where am I,

where are we supposed to be?"

Like,
he's on top of that, yeah.

The cutoff is at...

at 3:00 p.m.

Race time.

Just 15 until 3:00 p.m.

[Jack] So definitely
going to make it, but--

Frickin G off.

You know,
when he went down last?

-Geoff?
-[Cooke] When did

Geoff go down?

[indistinct conversation]

[Paul] So we haven't
gone down in 20 hours.

Yeah, so, that's not.
great, I guess, but.

Geoff is in 4th place

and he is quickly,

rapidly coming closer
and closer to John

and probably overtake him soon,
it seems like.

A lot can happen still,
but this is kind of the--

the crunch time,
for sure.

So...

Seeing all this
coming together

and then coming down
to this crunch time,

it's like a
Tour de France or something.

You know, pretty exciting.

-Except harder.
-Except harder.

Passed the Tour de France mile
marker like three days ago.

Yeah.

Plus, they get to sleep
every night.

And they get to eat
a good meal.

Lance Armstrong is such a wimp.

[Cooke] Yeah, what a wimp.

Geoff just passed John,

Geoff is looking pretty
healthy.

Geoff's follow van stopped
and spoke to Jack,

offering help
for John's neck.

Jack declined.

But said that was really
nice of them.

And then
Geoff's team said

it's really hard
to watch John suffer.

And Jack said, yeah,
it's hard for us too.

I mean, it's hard,
it's really hard for him.

Because like for
the past few days,

we're in the part
of the race

where all the teams
are going by.

And so they're like four,
eight person teams

and they-- they get,

like hours
and hours of sleep.

They're well rested,
they're staying,

they're showered,
they're clean.

And they just like
ride on by going,

you know, 20 miles an hour,
like, hey, John, hang in there.

[Kevin] He was falling back
in a bad way.

Whoever was in fourth
and even in fifth,

they were just
gaining on us.

[Ken] How are
you guys doing?

Not great.

Yeah, he looks like,
he's suffering, but good God.

You know, one thing
this has taught me

is I don't want
to do it by myself.

I mean, it's-- it's crazy
and it's all mental, you know?

Even if physically, I think,

could get through it,
but mentally, I don't know.

Well, I mean, you know,
like when you're really tired,

you just close
your eyes for a second

and then, like,
wake up,

he does that on the bike
and you can tell.

Oh, that's when he's swerving,
that's what's happening.

Yeah, so he's taking
little micro sleeps.

[Jenny] I got
a Starbucks order

from the people
in the van.

-[Jack] Oh, God, oh God.
-[Jenny] John!

[Paul] I think
it's a little bit warm out

there's a lot
of crazy hills

and John's going to be up
longer than usual today,

So they're going to try

and dunk him in ice water
in some form.

I don't know
if it's going to be--

Just like
pour it over him

or put him inside some
kind of a big container.

Well, yeah, so I guess
we're going to meet.

It's call it
"operation chunky dunk."

[clapping]

[Kevin] Like everything
was starting to fall apart.

It was definitely-- We needed
to do something different.

One, we were trying to, like,
shock him to wake him up,

two, like everything was
getting really hard for him.

Like physically, just because,

like, his body was just
breaking down.

We talked about it before hand,
like,

is this smart thing to do?

You know, is-- At this stage
in the race, you know,

can we risk
taking this chance?

[dramatic music]

♪

Are you ready?

[John gasping]

Breathe, breathe,
breathe, breathe.

Ice bags, ice bags
on his legs, somebody.

[Jenny sobbing]

[man] John, keep breathing.
Keep breathing, John.

Keep breathing.

[John whimpering]

-John, are you okay?
-This is freaking cold.

[overlapping chatter]

Oh, my God.

Okay.

[overlapping conversation]

Put a towel around his legs!
Don't let his socks get wet!

Don't let his socks get wet!

[Vidya] That ice bucket
thing was...

I was sort of intellectually
counting on the fact

that the trainers
knew him really well,

but at the same time,
the trainers are very stoic.

And so no matter
what happens,

they're going to say
it's fine.

When do you
not trust that right?

You say
it's not fine.

You know,
you just never know.

Look how swollen
his face is?

[Cloe] He had lost
20 pounds.

He was sunburned
all over.

He basically
couldn't lift his head.

He couldn't move.

He was limping
and walking

and he was
honestly destroyed.

[cheering & clapping]

[Jack] Knowing he's tired,
knowing he's hurting,

and then just kind of
"Get out there, Champ,

get back on the bike."

I-- it's a...

it's a tough thing
to do.

He was in a bad way already,
didn't know where he was,

couldn't see, things were like,
things are bad.

And I remember we had just,
we were, like, 20 minutes out

from that pit stop.

Whatever we say,
like, you know, John,

just turn off
to use the bathroom.

He always just pulled
off to the right.

And for some reason,
like in his state of...

just total,
like not being there,

there is like a wide open
field on the left.

A truck comes behind us

and like, I've never seen
John do this,

like he cuts across

right as this truck
is passing the sprinter

and like, luckily,
the truck stopped.

Like, we all just ran out
and like I remember,

like we just grabbed John.

We're like,
"What are you thinking?"

Like, "We
don't do that.

We don't cut across,
you know,

you don't cross
the double yellow line man."

I think
that was super scary

to see him...
lose control like that.

[Kevin] You know,
he literally told me, like,

I see three lines down
there in front my wheel.

You got to tell it like,

I can't look more
than 20 yards past the bike.

You got
to aim me.

We're not-- we're not going
to get the podium.

Let's get them off the bike,
get him some rest.

See what we can salvage.

[Jenny] And I knew

that it was an excruciating
decision for them.

[Cloe] So what happened? You
eventually lost the bike?

What happened?

Just wasn't
worth it anymore.

I'm not going to watch
my friend get hit by a truck.

-[Jenny] Thank you.
-Yeah.

[Jenny] Is he going
to finish?

[Kevin] Yes, he'll finish.
100 percent.

[Jenny] He has until 4:00 p.m.
Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

18 hours
and eight minutes.

You know, he was his brain
was so foggy.

They were, like. "He didn't
even recognize the danger

-of what had just happened."
-I'm, like, so pissed.

Well, before when you--
when I was giving you a hug

and you were crying
and I said, "It's okay,

he's going to be fine."

You're like, "I know, but now
he's not going to be third."

I was like, "Whoa,
when did you get competitive?"

Hey.

[John] The back of my mind,

I'm thinking finishing
is an accomplishment.

I really don't like
failing to finish.

Hi. Just-- just checking in
with you.

What do you
guys think?

[Kevin] I mean, he's like
old John right now.

Well, he like--
he looks like he did day one .

He was like
super talkative.

He's like cruising at 16, 17
miles at times.

He even dropped into arrow
a few times

I don't think he's done
that in, like, three days

Asking for music. We're good.

He's asking for music.

He's talking--

[Kevin] If anything changes
we're going to,

like, we're not
messing around,

the second anything
starts to deteriorate

we're gonna,
we're gonna act.

[Jenny]
You're going to pull him.

-[Kevin] Yeah.
-[Jenny] Okay.

[triumphant music]

[applause and honking]

It was an incredibly
proud moment,

I mean it was a very
emotional moment

for me as a mom
to see,

you know, my kids
be able to experience this

with their dad.

[crowd cheering]

I don't think
I felt, like, relief...

for like a week
or something.

-[applause]
-[laughter]

Wasn't the ending
we wanted,

but I wasn't really
disappointed

with how the race ended.

♪

[crowd whistling & clapping]

The experience of RAAM
from the rider's perspective

is a journey of gratitude,

and that gratitude reaches
a crescendo at the finish line.

And I think
that's how I felt.

[Jack] It's a defining--
not just for my dad,

but for I think
for all of us--

it's a defining
life experience.

[cheering]

[Cloe] It wasn't
for a few months

until he kind of regained
some semblance of himself

That I said, "Okay,
that was a good experience.

Let's not do that again
for a while, please."

[Kevin] Like, we were already
talking about like, "Okay,

what's the first thing
you want

when we're done
this damn thing?"

He's like "Ice cream,
just give the ice cream?"

-[Allen] Yeah.
-[Kevin] It's...

[Corey] Oh, you
want another?

[laughter]

[relaxing piano music]