Former professional cyclist turned endurance rider, Joe Barr has spoken for the first time about his crew’s decision to pull him out of the Race Across America (RAAM), saying the outcome for him could have been grave if he had tried to press on.
“You know, it’s a big disappointment not to continue, but at the end of the day the team made the decision for my own benefit,” he said.
Barr’s crew chief Damien Keys put it more bluntly: “The way I look at it is; it’s better to come home from RAAM alive than to have a good position within the race."
Barr began the men’s solo race last Wednesday week in Oceanside, California, with some 3,000 miles ahead of him including 170,000 feet of climbing. However, he was forced to withdraw last weekend after around 1,000 miles and was hospitalized in the Rio Grande Hospital in Colorado where he was diagnosed with High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE).
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The condition involves fluid accumulation on the lungs brought about by exposure to high altitude. It is a serious condition that requires urgent treatment and in some cases can be fatal.
Barr has now been discharged from hospital and in a video interview released by his crew – Team Joe Barr – he says he accepts the crew needed to take over and make the decisions for him when he was struggling on the road.
“We were climbing the leader board and everything was starting to come into place. We had survived through horrendous heat in the desert. When we came into Colorado and we knew we were coming into altitude, the first sections were in and around that borderline figure of 6,000 feet. It was when we went over that, into 7,500 and 8,000 feet – especially in the night time because I took so much time back on the big climbs – that the altitude really started to take its toll on me.”
Barr said when he had climbed to 11,000 feet and he rested and set off again he had “no gas at all”. When he set off from one timing station – with almost 1,000 miles of the 3,000 race done – he was forced to stop after just four miles; most of it climbing. He tried again but could only manage 200 metres at a time.
On a descent off a climb he was trying to convince the crew in the car that he could continue and start to take time back on the other riders. But at the timing station not long after that the crew decided they were unhappy with his mental and physical condition and it was decided they would seek medical attention.
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He was taken to the nearby Rio Grange Hospital where “the best group of medical people you would want to meet” diagnosed his condition and the possibility of continuing in the race was ruled out.
Says Barr: “It got to such a dangerous point that we probably didn’t actually realize how dangerous it was; I certainly didn’t anyhow. Thankfully the crew made a good decision and it was the right decision to make.”
He said his oxygen levels had dropped so low that his body had come under serious pressure and pushing on could have led to grave consequences. While the right thing to do, he said stopping was very disappointing. Perhaps being overly harsh on himself, he said he took responsibility for not knowing the full risks associated with the race.
“I paid a big price for it. On the other side of that, it was such a serious condition and I was in such a serious position that I’m sort of glad we didn’t push on because had I not gone to hospital, and had the crew not pushed for me to go to hospital, I wouldn’t like to think where I would be right now. However, I’m a racer so I would still want to be in there….”
Having been discharged from the hospital he traveled from the altitude of 8,000 feet to below 5,000; using oxygen to get there.
Despite feeling nauseous from the medication he was on and having swollen feet, he felt his recovery was going well. However, he said recovering fully from such an endurance event even when there were no complications would take around three months.
Preparing for RAAM had been very intense and he was now looking forward to going home and spending time with his family.
He was still hopeful that despite being forced to abandon his experience would raise awareness for the charity he was riding for – Northern Ireland Children’s Cancer Fund – and would lead to donations.
The money raised will help provide a respite centre for families to be together in a new centre in Newcastle, Co Down.
When asked if he would race endurance for charity again he joked: “I have to be careful about how I answer that because my wife is probably listening. I’m a racer but for now I need to take a rest; for now my family is priority.”
People can still donate by texting ‘Joe’ to 70444 and donating £5 to Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children.
For more details visit http://www.nicfc.com/news/joes-race-across-america/
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