6.18.07 - Belated Article on Deb Georges Before Her Crash from RAAM Website

Great article here from RAAM Time Station 28 volunteer Robert Giacin. He shows what spirit Deb Georges has. Read on - you'll be moved.

RAAM - Sans the Beast by Robert Giacin
June 18, 2007 - 05:53 — Terry Zmrhal

06/17 10:08 -
Just as I was getting comfortable I heard the roar of applause and cheers for Deborah Georges of Team Donate Life - Beauty and the Beast outside the porta-potty. Okay, personal business will have to wait.

Stepping out, I grab my camcorder and digital camera as I see Debora shaking hands with RAAM TS28 veteran Larry Robertson, greeting him with a big smile. Announcing she has to keep moving, she thanks us for manning the time station. In less than two minutes Georges is back on the road and moving east. It was my first time meeting Georges on RAAM this year but I never realized it would not be my last time to see her.

It was after she headed back out and we spoke with crew members that we learned that Deborah Georges, from Miami Beach, Florida was not half of #200 Team Donate Life but now she was THE WHOLE TEAM. Beauty and the Beast was now Beauty Sans The Beast! Or to put it simply... #200 Team Donate Life - The Beauty.

After #209 Team Beat Cancer came through, we chose to pull stakes in El Dorado. Numerous locals visited and several people had volunteered for periods of time but Larry Robertson and I felt spent and needed to go home. Unfortunately being a RAAM junkie I could not leave RAAM so easily.

I decided to move east and shoot photos and video of Team Beat Cancer for a while. After leap-frogging several times, I proceeded on to Yates Center, where I caught Deborah Georges just 100 yards away from Time Station 29. As The Beauty Crew tended to Georges' needs she shared some thoughts of the struggle she was facing. Not a complaint could be heard from this short, fit, and well tanned woman; she was simply speaking facts, tactics and she had her goal set... to reach Atlantic City.

With customized cycling sandals, toes cut off of shoes, she was ready to roll. Before pulling out of Yates Center, I would receive my first Father's Day gift, Georges signed a RAAM T-shirt for my daughter. Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, is Rachel's favorite Disney Princess, and she now had a 2007 souvenir from Deborah the RAAM Princess.

With determination in her voice and a smile on her face, you could not help but want to be there for this competitor. I made a decision to continue on to Time Station 30, Fort Scott, Kansas and shoot video and photos despite the exit towards my place in Ottawa, Kansas was halfway there. The next several hours were great! Georges was always in a good mood though she admitted later it had been a very emotional day for her. Whenever I was on the roadside videotaping her she smiled, waved and occasionally shouted, "Atlantic City, here we come!"

To look at my first few clips you would have thought this cyclist was on a sightseeing trip of America, but she was determined, and I had to figure out how it could be captured. My tactics involved moving ahead and hiding myself where I could see her, but she could not see me; hunched down in a drainage ditch, hiding behind a rusting antique car while shooting through broken out windows and shooting long across a farmers field allowed me to film Georges determined pursuit of the Atlantic City Boardwalk. You could almost set your clock as she maintained a steady pace and every 30 minutes she was right where I expected to see her.

Georges arrived in Fort Scott, Kansas, Time Station 30 at 19:23, seven minutes sooner than I expected, even though the heat seemed to intensify since leaving Time Station 29 and pains in her knees.

After a potty break, and a crew change, I received my second Father's Day gift, this one from the crew. The crew chief arranged for me to ride in the pace vehicle for a few miles to capture on tape Georges' crossing into Missouri and then have The Beauty RV return me to my van. I shot video as she climbed the hill towards the Missouri border, then we pulled alongside so I could welcome her to my home state of Missouri. Deborah Georges was beaming, "I am having a ball and I think RAAM rocks!"

It was difficult to leave her, knowing my time had run out to give to RAAM this year, but my time spent documenting Deborah George's pursuit of Missouri, enroute to Atlantic City, New Jersey was a wonderful wrap-up to several days spent following the progress of the all competitors first hand in the 2007 Race Across America.

I wish to encourage all the time stations to keep up the good work. All the riders praised the time station workers and they still need our help.

Robert Giacin - RAAM TS 28 / El Dorado, Kansas

P.S. As soon as I can get my photos and videos cataloged and uploaded, I will provide a link for viewing.