By Ruth Stoffel
Special to the Kent Reporter

Steve Stoffel just completed the biggest physical challenge of his life.

The Kent man rode 860 miles with Team RVLution, a rookie bicycling team of three other men on June 13-15, and came in second in their division in the Race Across the West (RAW).

RAW is a challenging race from Oceanside, Calif., to Durango, Colo., that takes riders through deserts and mountains.

Stoffel can attest to that. He said the hardest part of the race was the heat, the climbs and the sleep deprivation.

Stoffel, 53, did part of the Oak Creek Canyon climb toward Flagstaff, Ariz., on June 14 when temperatures at night dropped to the mid-40s. The climb is described as the toughest section west of the Mississippi River, averaging more than 128 feet of climbing per mile. The day before and after that, Stoffel rode in 100-degree-plus weather in the deserts of California and Utah.

“I promised myself that I would finish, and any time uncertainty or doubt crossed my mind, I thought about the people that matter to me and that kept me going,” said Stoffel.

Team RVLution raised awareness and money for the MORE project, a charity that seeks to change lives of families living in poverty in Brazil, Cambodian, Thailand and Malaysia. Stoffel dedicated the race to his sponsored child in Brazil, Felipe Souza, a 13-year-old boy who loves to ride his bicycle. Stoffel has a son of the same age with similar interests.

Stoffel’s fellow teammates had the better part of a year to train for RAW but Stoffel had only three months. He had been training for the 2012 Seattle-to-Portland (STP) Bicycle Classic and had to kick up his regimen significantly when Team RVLution recruited him for RAW. It’s a far cry from Stoffel two years ago when he called himself a “professional couch potato.”

Stoffel weighed almost 300 pounds and was denied life insurance because he was considered too high of a risk. Stoffel has since lost close to 100 pounds and kept it off. He found bicycling to be a sport he enjoyed and would stick with over a long period of time.

Team RVLution’s goal was to finish RAW in 55 hours. They did it in 57 hours and 35 minutes, beating Team Wisconsin – a team that had placed in the top three in the past five years — by 23 minutes. RAW officials said Team RVLution was the only rookie team to cross the finish line. Other rookie teams made the attempt but did not finish.

“While this was a competition, the camaraderie that was built with other teams was impressive,” Stoffel said. “We all wanted each other to succeed and this motivated us to do our best.”

Next up for Stoffel is finishing the 2012 STP next month in one day. And he has his eyes set on RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day) next year.

Stoffel said he would do RAW again.

“This was a great team of very dedicated athletes and it was an honor to be part of that unit,” he said.

You can meet Steve Stoffel at Road Runner Sports, 417 Ramsay Way, Suite 110, at Kent Station at 7 p.m. July 26. He and his wife will be holding a free nutrition seminar for the public and sharing tips on living a healthier lifestyle.

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Ruth Stoffel, wife of Steve Stoffel, lives in Kent. She is an Emmy award-winning journalist, a best-selling author and currently a certified nutrition coach and marketer.