Our champions! Denise Stone and Karl Wianecki
“Just like dealing with fibromyalgia – crewing an extreme event like this is all about your attitude and working through adversity. We needed to be flexible and adapt to all of the challenges we faced – we worked so well as a team with our single goal of facilitating the safe finish in Durango. We certainly did our job!” (Deb Feather, AW4F crew member and fibromyalgia sufferer)
Congratulations to the All Wheels 4 Fibromyalgia team which set the record for the 2-person mixed under 50 in Race Across the West. RAW kicked off June 15 in Oceanside, California and finished on June 17 in Durango, Colorado. Their official time was 2 days, 2 hours and 4 minutes.
Our AW4F team and brother and sister riders Denise Stone and Karl Wianecki are absolutely amazing! They rode 900 miles with 50,000 feet of climbing in 2 days and 2 hours at an 18 mph pace. This means each cyclist had to ride 250 miles per day with essentially no sleep and only 10-15 min breaks throughout the whole race.
NFA president and founder, Lynne Matallana joined the team at the starting line in Oceanside. “Denise and Karl’s determination through all the difficulty and challenges they faced is shared by all the fibromyalgia patients,” said Matallana. “This is our team!”
“It was great having Lynne at the starting line. More than ever, her being there helped us to focus on our goal of raising awareness for fibromyalgia. We proudly mentioned this in all of our interviews!” added Feather.
“I am so thrilled to have reached this accomplishment with my brother Karl, and our fantastic crew including Ray, Brenda, Deb, Connie and mechanics Julian and Andrew! The crew was flawless – as in all of our past RAAM journeys ensuring optimal rider fuel, perfect navigation, executing fast efficient transitions between riders for all 900 miles, and no bike mechanical issues”. (Denise)
“The 2-person race was much more challenging compared to our 4-person Race Across America. So much more exhausting, and it was a struggle just to eat and stay hydrated. You just have to give everything you have and just keep pedaling.” (Karl)
“The conditions were absolutely treacherous this year – we dealt with extreme heat including 110 degrees through the desert, 40 mph cross-winds, and steep cliffs in Arizona and intensive climbing into Colorado that seemed to never end. All of this with literally no sleep for the full 50 hours.” (Denise)
“The scenery was amazing and really kept us going – my favorite was the sunrise over Monument Valley in Utah and the awesome red cliffs of Sedona. We especially want to thank the AW4F and NFA Facebook fans for sending us encouraging words and thoughts throughout the race! We felt their strength behind us – pushing us along!” (Karl)
NFA president, Lynne Matallana being interviewed at the starting line in Oceanside, CA
Denise riding strong through beautiful Utah - right around her 350th mile of consecutive riding
Karl heading into the 'Glass Elevator' treacherous 10 mile downhill with sharp hairpin turns and 40 mph cross winds
Crew members Deb Feather and Andrew getting Denise ready to ride...again
The Finish Line!
