PETER OYLER: “We’ll get ‘er done this time!”
By Vic Armijo
A RAAM rookie has less than an even chance of reaching the finish. In 2007 Canada’s
Peter Oyler was among those fortunate rookies, finishing in a time of 11 days 4 hours 21
minutes with a race that went relatively trouble free, “There were the typical factors of
having to keep pressing on,” he recalled, “But there were no neck issues, no major saddle
issues. I was off the bike every three to five hours for little treatments here and there.”
Two years later he attempted to better that result, “In the beginning I just went for it like
all the top guys did,” he recalled, “I fought it for a while, but by Taos, New Mexico I was
already in trouble; a lot of night sweats and things. It just wasn’t pretty.” He continued,
“But we had to bail in Kansas. I was ill with kidney issues—a lot of edema and I had to
pull the plug 1500 miles into it.” He blames his DNF on “Lack of sleep and just really
going for it; as opposed to a little more conservative strategy which we used in 2007
when I actually made it.”
TAOS, NEW MEXICO 2009
When Oyler reached the 1044 mark in Taos in 2009
he was already showing signs of trouble. Amazingly
he continued for over 500 more before packing it
in at Maize, Kansas.
“We’ll get ‘er done this time!” he vows of his 2013 RAAM, “I’m taking the approach of
more sleep, better sleep so that when I’m on the bike a can actually ride the bike and not
just plod along and be a zombie like 2007 and even 2009. As the race wore on I didn’t
sleep long and as time went on I slowed down. But this time around I plan on getting my
rest. Your body heals during that time. Get a quick treatment, get something in your
belly, get the sleep and wake up fresh. I’ve learned that strategy the hard way. Like most
of my training and racing over the years once you’ve done things a couple of times the
right way and the wrong way you get more of a feel for it. I feel it’s going to be a great
race.”
That training has been challenging this year with Toronto’s lingering winter, “I have a
total of 13 days on my bike over the winter,” Oyler said in late April. Those few on-thebike days came during a visit to California. Unfortunately more visits to warmer climates
weren’t possible with work commitments—he trains other athletes at his facility, Watts
Up Studio Cycling, http://www.wattsupcycling.ca/sd_tm_peteroyler.asp. In lieu of actual
riding he pedals 20-30 hours a week on the trainer. “That’s crazy isn’t it? He said with a
laugh and explained how he’s tried to get out and ride, “Usually by now we’ve had spring
weather and it’s decent riding, but two weekends ago we had everything arranged for a
15 hour ride and the wind was blowing so hard it felt like it was minus 10! I just packed
my car and called everybody,’ Don’t meet me, it’s not worth it.’ It wouldn’t have been
healthy or safe and wouldn’t make any sense. You run the risk of getting sick. It’s just
not fun. I said to myself, ‘There’s absolutely nothing enjoyable about being out here right
now.’”
For this third RAAM he’s working to have more balance in his training, “I used to get on
the bike every day—mile, miles, miles—it was all about sort of a fear of having to go the
distance versus an overall balanced life. A lot of RAAM riders never see their spouses.
You read how they’ve done a 500-mile this weekend, and a 200-mile the following; some
big mileage but it doesn’t necessarily pay off when it comes to the event. I’m doing a lot
of lower volume rides during the week and bigger volume rides on the weekends, but no
3 or 4 hundred miles at a time. It takes too long to recover. I’m also working on my
speed; everybody slows down as the race goes on. I’d like to have a reasonably strong
beginning, but not really start to think about racing ‘til Kansas.”
An obvious factor in RAAM is the heat, “I’ll be in Borrego Springs by the 28th of May.
I’ll arrive in California and after a couple of days on the coast we’ll head to the desert,”
he related of his plan to deal with one of RAAM inevitable challenges, “I know that I’m
going to have plenty of moments in RAAM. I’ll have to deal with those issues and
continue to turn the pedals. We’re not going to push push push push like in 2009 and just
explode. We’re going to be a lot more conservative. If I’m having trouble we’re going to
stop and deal with the issues instead of just staying on the bike. When you push on
beyond the worse it actually gets and the probability of finishing actually gets smaller.”
That’s the voice of experience. While the 43 years old has “only” two previous RAAM’s
he’s done plenty of triathlons, including some of Ironman distance, some 24 hour
mountain bike and road bike events, “I haven’t done a ton of races but the ones that I do
tend to be the ones that have a bit more credibility as far as Ultra Cycling goes. For me
it’s a time and finance thing and where they all are. In Canada there’s really nothing,
which means traveling and means expense. Fortunately for this RAAM I have a lot of
great support from clients and from P10, a group of individuals who stood up and helped
me by way of finances. I want to say a big thank you to them. And I have some great
sponsors. La Bicicleta, a bike shop here is giving me two bikes, other small sponsors,
Awake Chocolate, Re-Skin which is great for saddle-sore issues; it’s an amazing product.
Now that we’re in the final stages a lot of people have come forward and said ‘I want to
support you in this venture,’ so it’s been great.” Oyler gives back too, partially through
his affiliation with The Jack Project. “It’s a charity aimed at raising awareness about
mental health issues and youth,” he related, “One of my clients, his son took his own life
in his first year at university. So his father started the Jack Project in memory of him. We
have an upcoming charity ride here in Ontario that will have close to 500 riders—for us
that’s huge up here.”
With training and finances set the remaining concern is a crew, “My crew chief has done
RAW twice. My dad is along as an auxiliary crew person with another retiree, and they’ll
be doing recon for us and finding hotels and things along the way. He has a ton of
crewing experience; he’s done the 508 and RAW and both RAAMs. He’s been to pretty
much every sporting event I’ve done my whole life. My coach Greg Cannon has been to
the 508 and RAW and he crewed for Paul Millar last year for RAAM.” That’s how it is
with RAAM, with riders and crew returning year after year, “It’s the pinnacle of
UltraCycling,” Oyler said, “Everybody wants to be a part of it once they’ve experienced
it. It’s almost as if you’re in another world and it draws you back. As an athlete you want
to see what’s possible. I know myself that I can share those experiences with so many
others—a nine year old right on up to a 70 year old—who I have as clients, I’ve been
able to help them in their cycling and in their daily lives as well. You can accomplish
great things and RAAM allows you to take that and during that time you’re able to stay in
it and be in it without thinking of anything else. During that whole time it’s all about you
and your team—that network of people—focusing to get you to the finish line. It’s a
rolling road show. For the people on the crew of course it’s all hard work, but they also
have a great time and come away with some inspiring experiences to share.
“We’ll be in good shape come June 11th,” he said in conclusion, “I think I might still have
23 only days on the road by then. But one thing is for sure, you don’t forget how to ride a
bike!”