Dean Dave's Race Across America For American

Just 24 hours after biking 3,000 miles across America with his team, Dean Dave is already back at work!  Read his final update below, and if you have not yet made a gift, there is still time!   

Please click the Give Now! button above ⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️.

Final reflection on the bike ride and tomorrow I move back to normal life: 

Before he was exposed as a fraud, I loved Lance Armstrong and his book, “It's Not About the Bike”.  This race was not about the bike.  It was a test of endurance. Of teamwork.  Of making safety decisions in the middle of the night with no sleep and being responsible for a teenager (Jack or Tucker Punke) riding in front of you on country roads across America.  

Today, after a good night of sleep, I am reflecting on two aspects of the trip: sleep and the intense camaraderie that these experiences create. 

First, on sleep:    

My Strava records show seven rides I did between 10 p.m. and 6:30 am (one might do three rides in one night shift).  And I did the least night riding of the entire team.  I believe Tim and Lori Punke rode six of the eight nights. The nights were actually glorious- cool, no traffic, and mostly safe.  But operating off your sleep schedule is no easy feat. 

I am blessed by many things: good health, a wonderful family, a fulfilling career.  This trip made me realize another blessing: the luxury of sleep.  I now have greater appreciation—even awe—of nurses, plant operators, firefighters and police, home health workers, truckers and transportation industry workers, our men and women in uniform, those in the restaurant industry.  Week after week, year after year, they operate with little sleep. I don’t know how they do it.  

Second, on this experience and camaraderie: 

On the ride home from New Jersey to Washington, DC, I turned to Natalie and Inken (our two crew mates!) and wondered: “How do we even describe what we just experienced to people who we not part of the team?”  It is impossible. We laughed and cried across the United States at 15 miles per hour.  We started by seeking out bathrooms, but by day threedidn’t even look for a tree.  Just open the door and go (both men and women).  We sat in the car with a biker in front of us for 18 hours straight, surrounded by stinky bikers, dirty laundry, and bottles of water. 

We ate cereal, hummus and tortillas, PB&J, and/or salami and cheese roll ups for eight days.  Our luxurious meals included one Subway sandwich, two breakfasts at Hampton Inns, and one burger to-go in West Virginia.  Otherwise, it was food in the car.   

I am thrilled to be home, but waking up without the ten people I just traveled with is disorienting.  We created lifetime bonds similar to those who have been on a college sports team, in a military unit, or at a summer camp.  We had conversations one would never have in normal life.  We crossed every boundary of propriety.  

Thank you to the Punke family for the opportunity.  And thank you to the nearly 200 people who have donated more than $50,000 to support American University students and AU Athletics, to change their lives in some modest way. I am hoping to get to 200 donations. Give here.

Dave

He has done it! Dean Dave and his team have crossed the Finish Line! Exhausted and exhilarated, this team has faced extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme rain- not to mention extreme lack of sleep!  If you have not yet had the chance to make a gift, now is the time!  We need 27 more gifts to reach our goal of 200 donors in support of scholarships for Kogod School of Business students and student athletes at American University.

 THANK YOU, DEAN DAVE, FOR ALL THAT YOU DO FOR AU! 

Finish Line Update below!

8 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes.  Three thousand forty-one miles. 8 teammates.  Two crew.  Two sore legs. One sore tush. 

Thank you for all the support. It motivated me to finish.  And it will change a young person's life in the same way that someone changed your life when you were in college or grad school.

Amazing experience.  No biking for me for a while.

Dave

📣 📣 📣  ANNOUNCEMENT! Dean Dave and team are in the final stretch! Just spotted in Pennsylvania about to cross the Appalachian Trail- 70 miles north of American University- they have biked more than 2700 miles across America in the past eight days! 

Dean Dave has met his challenge to bike 400 miles and will continue on in support of student scholarships, biking additional miles to the Atlantic City finish tonight!

Celebrate Dean Dave’s 400 miles now by giving $.01, $.10, or $1.00 per mile he has biked! All gifts support scholarships for American University students at the Kogod School of Business and American University student athletes.  Follow Dean Dave's progress to the race finish here (Team Washington).  📣 📣 📣

DAY 8 Update from the race:

Good morning.  After a decent night of sleep in Bridgeport, West Virginia, we are on our way to meet the other team of riders (Tim, Lori and Kiki Punke, and Paul Balkan) somewhere near Hancock, Maryland. We have now made it through the hills of the Southern Sierras, the California and Arizona deserts, the mountain passes of Colorado, the plains of Eastern Colorado and Kansas, the rivers of Missouri and Ohio, the mountains of West Virginia and western Maryland, we now are around 250 miles away from Atlantic City.

It is surreal that now I think 250 miles is a short ride.  And it is even more surreal that after days of not wanting to ride another mile, now I want more.  The team camaraderie of this adventure has created a lifetime memory. 

Assuming we make the finish tonight at the boardwalk of Atlantic City (expected before or after midnight), I will have an immense sense of pride.  This has been among the hardest things I have ever done - a physical and mental challenge.  The logistics of moving a team of eight and two crew forward was much tougher than the riding.  The heat was much stronger than the soreness in my legs or tush.  Riding in the heat dome of the east coast is nothing compared to the 116 degree heat of the California desert.  

This has been an epic journey with the amazing Punke family - Tim, Lori, Jack, Tucker and Kiki, the youngest female rider to have completed the Race Across America. Tim and Lori are amazing parents and have given a lifetime memory for their kids, and instilled grit.  Superlawyer and lobbyist Brian Pomper powered up hills; sometimes we had to peel him off the bike.  Technology attorney Paul Balkan did several 24 - 36 hour shifts, powering through the most difficult stretches at high speeds. 

And our two crew members - Natalie Oliver and Inken Ehlers - have been tireless. With little sleep, they drove, coordinated transitions, ensured that radio communications worked between riders and the truck, and kept everyone's spirit up with their youth and charm.  

I really did not know Natalie or Inken very well before the trip.  At a picnic with @kogod sustainability students in mid-April, I sat across from Natalie and asked her what she wanted to do after school.  She said she wanted to play pro soccer in Europe for a few years before embarking on the next phase of her career.  She would not leave until later in the summer.  My response: "You are used to being with stinky people, do you want to serve as crew on a bike ride across the United States?"  A few hours later, she sent me an email saying she would be happy to "drive" the route with us.  Little did she or we know that we were signing up for several all nighters, eating processed food for eight days, dodging semi-trucks to protect a biker, 
living in a truck for hours on end and having a few meltdowns. Natalie recruited Inken who has been tireless, hyper organized, relentlessly positive and has an infectious laugh.  

More than 150 donors have now given almost $50,000 to support students and student athletes at AU.  Please consider even a small donation - it makes a difference. 

Dave

Good morning- 

We are back in the RV working towards Martinsville, Ohio where we will meet the team (Tim, Lori and Kiki Punke, and Paul Balkan who has been in the car and taking shifts for 28 hours. The amazing Inken Ehlers was crew) which has been out all night.  Apparently it was a tough night with one rider actually falling asleep momentarily on a bike, another biker had something thrown at them by some drunk men hanging out of their truck, and the hills and heat continue.

Yesterday, for my team of four (Brian Pomper, Paul Balkan, Tucker Punke and me, plus Natalie Oliver as crew), we had a long but glorious day.  We started in the RV at 3 a.m. in Jefferson City Missouri and I took the first shift on the bike at 6 a.m.  It was one of my favorite rides as I was lucky enough to cross the Mississippi River on bike.  

My great-great grandparents on my mom's side immigrated from what is now Lithuania and nearby regions and landed in St. Louis Missouri in the late 1880s, joining a small Jewish immigrant community at the center of the country.  My mom grew up in St. Louis, I was born there and some of my earliest memories are driving with my grandparents on the banks of the Mississippi. I thought of them and my family still living in St. Louis (Uncles, Aunts, cousins) as I crossed the river. 

We had a glorious, albeit long day, starting off with longer shifts (1.5 hours), then shortening them to as little as 30 minutes as we arrived in Bloomington, Indiana at 9 p.m.  The weather was hot - 96 degrees - but it felt fine compared to the 110+ weather conditions we faced in Arizona.  

We have now biked almost 2500 miles and have around 575 to go.  That is the good part.  We are also entering the most difficult part of the ride.  The hills in eastern Ohio, West Virginia and Western Maryland are brutal.  Unlike in Colorado, where we faced peaks of 11,000 feet, those mountains were long uphills mostly at 3 - 5% grades. What we face next are 1000 - 3000 foot climbs at 8 percent grades, then a quick downhill, then another uphill.  Thus, where we were averaging 19 - 20 miles an hour across the flat parts of Indiana, aided by a slight tailwind, we might average as little as 10 miles an hour on this part of the ride.

We are all beat, have sore tushes and other parts, but we can see our way to the finish line sometime between midnight and noon on Monday morning. 

Amazingly, 137 donors have given more than $45,000 to enable a student to pay for a class, or books, or a meal plan, or for a student athlete to take a flight instead of a 10 hour car ride.  Thanks for your support.

Dave 

Dean Dave and team have biked halfway across America!  While Dean Dave has personally pledged $50.00 to Kogod for each remaining mile of his portion of the race, should he not complete it, your support of as little as $4 will help motivate him along last half of the journey! 

DAY 6 update from the race!

Good morning.  We just passed through Ft. Scott, Kansas.  

The good news.  We are more than halfway, having biked more than 1750 of the 3041 miles.  

Tuesday night into Wednesday morning was a low point.  After making great progress, we faced brutal conditions in western Kansas- rain and strong, 20- to 30-mile headwinds.  For bikers, headwinds are a weight both physically and mentally.  It is like running with a 40-pound backpack strapped to your back.  A tough uphill eventually ends; headwinds can last for days.  When I went to sleep Tuesday night, I had real doubts whether we can make it.  We were exhausted and feeling down.  Tempers were short.  Several other Race Across America racers and teams dropped out in Kansas, defeated by the wind.  

After 20 or so hours of difficult conditions, miraculously, the weather cooled, the winds stopped and a giant Midwest storm capable of tornadoes passed in front of us.  

Our crew of Tim, Jack (17) and Tucker (15) Punke took over our shift at around 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon about 100 miles west of Wichita, Kansas and rode around 225 miles toward the Missouri border.  The ride was glorious with one exception - a flat tire.  Since we could not stop, for the first time in my life, I changed a tire in the back seat, enabling me to take a last shift at 3:30 a.m.  We rolled into a $57 per night rode side at 5:30 a.m.  A 17-hour shift was long, but it was a beautiful, moon-lit night with relatively cool weather. While Tim was out on a long shift, we all stopped at Subway for a sandwich, the best meal we have had since starting.  For the rest of the time, we have lived on salami and cheese on tortilla, bars and energy gel.  We slept from 6:00 - 10:00 a.m. and then hit the road again, meeting up with the crew which is currently biking toward Jefferson City, Missouri.

We face two major challenges going forward, in addition to exhaustion: hills and heat. As we move into Missouri, we go deeper and deeper into the heat dome that has built over the eastern United States.  Humidity will exceed 90%.  We are using "ice socks" - panty hose filled with ice that we ride with stuffed into our bike shirts.  And while one intuitively concludes that the major elevation lies in the west - the southern Sierras, the climb out of the desert to Flagstaff and the Rocky Mountains- as we enter eastern Missouri, Illinois and Ohio, we will face a series of 500- to 1000-foot "rollers".  But when we get to West Virginia and Western Maryland, we encounter endless 1000- to 2000-foot ups and downs.   

Our crew: AU grads Natalie Oliver and Inken Ehlers have been amazing, keeping the RV and truck going, handling logistics and keeping us going.  They have tireless energy, boundless enthusiasm and have shared an unforgettable experience crossing the United States.   

So far, 104 donors have given more than $35,000 in scholarships for deserving students.  Let's keep it going! 

More to come tomorrow.  

Dave

It is Day 4 and Dean Dave and team discover firsthand exactly how big Colorado is!  Here's the latest from the race:

🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️  🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️

Good morning!

We are now 72 hours into the race and last night crossed the 1000 mile mark and the Continental Divide.  Two raindrops falling right next to each other would travel radically different paths. One would flow to the Pacific and the other would flow out the Mississippi River.  

So far, we climbed out of California, down to what is known as the Glass Elevator into the Anza Borrego Desert where temperatures topped 114 degrees.  We went around the south side of the Salton Sea at 235 feet below sea level. We then climbed 7000 feet through the Arizona desert and across the vast Navajo reservation. Our team of four - Jack Punke (17), Brian Pomper, Paul Balkan and me, plus crew chief Natalie Oliver - left our hotel at 11:30 pm Sunday night and finished our shift at 7 pm in Durango, Colorado.  One of my riding shifts traversed Monument Valley, Utah. We finished our day with a 50 mile climb - sometimes taking turns every 20 minutes because of fatigue. 

In Durango, Tim, Lori and Tucker Punke (15), along with Brian Pomper, rode over the Continental Divide at 3 am, an 8 mile climb to the 10,856 peak.  After suffering through 100 degree heat, Tim wore six layers of clothes down the descent from Wolf Creek Passage. 

We have enjoyed some wonderful vistas, some great downhills and empty roads as we ride across the west. Colorado is huge. Kansas next.  

Our crew, Masters of Sustainability Management graduates Natalie Oliver and Inken Ehlers, have been amazing. Neither we nor they knew what it entailed. Long stretches of driving, no sleep and swapping bikes, preparing drinks.   

The riding is tough. Yesterday I rode 85 miles and climbed almost 4,000 feet. But the biggest challenge is the heat and lack of sleep.

More to come!

Dave

🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️  🏔️ 🚴 ☀️ 🏔️ 🚴 ☀️

Happy Father's Day to Dean Dave as he battles the intense heat of Arizona while biking across America in support of student scholarships on Day 2 of The World's Toughest Bicycle Race! 🚵‍♂️  

Dean Dave caught up with us from the race this morning:

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Happy Father's Day to everyone! We are starting day two of our ride, going through the Arizona desert. It's brutally hot. Last night we came down the mountain into the desert and at 8 PM. It was still 106. I rode down a 10 mile, 4500 foot mountain pass, reaching speeds of more than 47 miles an hour. But at some points, even though it was a steep downhill, the winds and the heat coming off the mountain made it so I had to pedal hard to go downhill. It was like riding into a blow drier.

We arrived in Parker Arizona around 11:30 p.m., slept for four or five hours, and now are back on the road. Another part of our team, led by the Punke family, rode all night – the first all-nighter.

We are now coming out of the Arizona desert towards Colorado and have some steep up hills in 107 or 108° heat. It's brutal.

Our spirits are high, although we get occasionally grumpy. The logistics of moving a team of eight, with one truck and one motorhome, are very challenging. Luckily, AU masters graduates Natalie and Inken are amazingly helpful, energetic, and tireless as crew.

Last night, we drove past some of the elite racers who are way ahead of us on the bike, but we passed them when we went to our hotel. The are incredible athletes – unbelievable - they were riding along, in the middle of the night at 35 or 36 miles an hour, after being on a bike for 15 hours. 

We're about 20 hours in the race, and have ridden around 320 miles, or more than 10% of the overall course. But we have a long rode ahead and lots of climbing.

Thanks for all the support!

Dave

🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️

With as little as $4, just $0.01 per mile of Dean Dave's 400-mile portion of the race, you can help fund scholarships for students at the Kogod School of Business and student athletes at American University. 

Dean Dave and his cycling team are off! They've left the glistening beaches of Oceanside, California, for the ultra-endurance, 8-day, 24-hour-per-day Race Across America.  🚴‍♂️  

They'll pass through 12 states as they cycle 3,000+ miles, climb the equivalent of Mount Everest multiple times, and face sweltering conditions before reaching the Atlantic City Boardwalk’s finish line.  

You can support Dean Dave and his mission to fund student scholarships by joining fellow Kogod friends near and far with a gift of as little as $4- that's just $0.01 per mile of his 400-mile portion of the race. Your gift will go directly to scholarships for Kogod students and American University student athletes.

Be sure to follow along as we track Dean Dave’s progress in the most challenging cycling event in the world! 

With just 3 days to go before our very own Dean Dave Marchick embarks on his grueling trek across the US as part of Race Across America, please join us in rallying behind him with a gift of $4 or more. That’s just $0.01 per mile of the 400 miles he has committed to cycling his way to a more sustainable summer.  🚴‍♂️ 

All gifts will directly support American University student scholarships.  

The 8-day, 24-hour-per-day race covers more than 3,000 miles, 175,000 vertical feet of climbing, and air temperatures over 115 degrees. The ascent alone is like scaling Mount Everest six times! 

Let’s send Dean Dave off knowing he has your support!