UltraCycling: Peter, congratulations! You're the first 60 year old to finish solo RAAM.

Lekisch: Thank you. I feel like a survivor. I'm proud of the results, but it's a very difficult race.

I felt strong before the race; you prepared me well. But I felt weak during the race. Everyone deteriorates to a certain extent; I deteriorated faster.

UC: How big a factor was your age?

Lekisch: Age was a huge factor. I have an enlarged prostate, so I had to pee every fifteen minutes. At my age, it's a weak stream, so I had to stop instead of peeing off the bike. That cost me a lot of time and was very frustrating. I developed hemorrhoids -I don't know if they are age related. The pain from the hemorrhoids was so bad, that my saddle sores didn't bother me. In general, I just didn't seem to recover as fast as I did when I was young.

UC: What was the hardest part?

Lekisch: When you rode with me for a few minutes on the climb up the Monte Cristo mountains, I was having a lot of trouble breathing. After you left, it got worse. Every quarter-mile, I'd stop, hang over the bars and gasp for air. The crew called the RV back. As soon as Dr. Jay Caldwell heard me, he said I had to go to the ER because of fluid buildup in my lungs.

I had over $1000 of tests done in four hours! I was suffering from exercise-induced asthma so they put me on an albuterol nebulizer for three hours to clear my lungs. When I left they gave me inhalers. Each day I used one at 2 a.m., one at 2 p.m., and I could use a third one any time I really needed it.

They did an EKG, which showed I wasn't getting enough oxygen to the heart. They thought the results were wrong, so they ran the test again, with the same results. They said I could continue, but if I had any chest pains, to tell Jay. I wanted to finish. I was more concerned about finishing than surviving to live in an old folks home! I knew I'd finish. I was resolved, it was only a question of how long!

Lekisch climbing the Monte Cristo mountains John Hughes photo

UC: What did you eat?

Lekisch: I started out on a liquid diet, but I had terrible problems with bloating and diarrhea. After a few days, I went to 100% solid food: avocado sandwiches, avocado and cheese, turkey, peanut butter and bananas, and lots of cookies and Clif bars. The solid food seemed to work for me.

After we changed the diet and then solved the breathing problem, I got stronger as the race went on. Once we got over the continental divide, I had a good chance to be official, to finish in under 13.5 days. And I thought I had a shot at 12 days.

UC: How much sleep did you get?

Lekisch: I started out sleeping three hours a night. In Evanston I was off the bike for 11 hours and slept for at least six hours - they couldn't wake me! Through Colorado I was sleeping two or three hours. From Oklahoma on, I got less than two hours sleep a night. Towards the end, I'd ride a century, rest a bit, and then ride another century.

UC: How was your crew?

Lekisch: They were great! I had a host of problems: diet, couldn't breathe, saddle sores, hemorrhoids, blisters on my toes, mouth sores - they dealt with every problem and kept me on the road! Jay Caldwell really came through - I was fortunate that I had a doctor on the crew. Liz Crosby, the nutritionist, was excellent.

UC:You had problems with saddle sores on your 24 hour rides, didn't you.

Lekisch: Yes, and by Utah, I had really bad saddle sores. I was just sitting in the saddle, spinning in my granny gear on the climbs. Somewhere at the end of Flaming Gorge, Dan Jordan passed me, climbing out of the saddle. I tried this on a small hill, to get some relief. Then on a bigger hill. By the end of the race I could climb out of the saddle for 20 miles at a time! It's almost like a classic cross-country ski position. [Lekisch is a national champion XC skier.] I'd move my hips forward, shift my weight from side to side, and breathe naturally so my heart-rate didn't go up. I learned something for P-B-P next time and 24 hour races.

UC: And another RAAM?

Lekisch: I'm not coming back next year. I focused on the race for nine months. I was living in Fredricksburg, TX. I had friends in Austin that I never went to visit! I really just focused on RAAM.

UC: What's next?

Lekisch: I'm going back to my cabin in Alaska to fish for salmon with friends. Want to come?