SEP 20
Xtreme Dream Ops Chief Mark Sollinger is climbing the 1,300 miles of steep ascents between Santa Barbara, CA, and Taos, NM, as we speak.
That's Mark in the lead
After Mark not only commanded our crew in our valiant attempts to cross from Cuba to Florida, but also oversaw all my many long training swims at his home base of St Maarten, now the roles are reversed.
How great it was to watch him train in the Caribbean heat, prepping for this mountainous ride. Mark had a bad, I mean bad to the point of could have been fatal, accident just two days before the Cuba attempt in August. A car hit him hard. He flew some 30 feet in the air, landed on his back on asphalt. Could have, should have, broken his neck or back. Could barely stand up and got the call to get to Cuba. No way? Not for this tough guy. Way.
Just as I'm always saying "ONWARD" to myself and anybody who teams up with me in my ventures, Mark's saying is "ROCK STEADY".
That's Mark in the middle. His caption from the road that day: "It's tough out here. Just the way I like it."
After his seeing me off on so many swims, including from the shores of Havana, with that knowing look of friends, eye to eye, as if to say "Let's seize this moment. Let's do this thing", now it was me watching him climb into the saddle last week-end and push off into the 103-degree day, and say to him: "ROCK STEADY, DOG".
He'll get to Taos. And next year the goal is cross-country. He'll do that, too.
Posted 12:41am
Role Reversal
Xtreme Dream Ops Chief Mark Sollinger is climbing the 1,300 miles of steep ascents between Santa Barbara, CA, and Taos, NM, as we speak.
That's Mark in the lead
After Mark not only commanded our crew in our valiant attempts to cross from Cuba to Florida, but also oversaw all my many long training swims at his home base of St Maarten, now the roles are reversed.
How great it was to watch him train in the Caribbean heat, prepping for this mountainous ride. Mark had a bad, I mean bad to the point of could have been fatal, accident just two days before the Cuba attempt in August. A car hit him hard. He flew some 30 feet in the air, landed on his back on asphalt. Could have, should have, broken his neck or back. Could barely stand up and got the call to get to Cuba. No way? Not for this tough guy. Way.
Just as I'm always saying "ONWARD" to myself and anybody who teams up with me in my ventures, Mark's saying is "ROCK STEADY".
That's Mark in the middle. His caption from the road that day: "It's tough out here. Just the way I like it."
After his seeing me off on so many swims, including from the shores of Havana, with that knowing look of friends, eye to eye, as if to say "Let's seize this moment. Let's do this thing", now it was me watching him climb into the saddle last week-end and push off into the 103-degree day, and say to him: "ROCK STEADY, DOG".
He'll get to Taos. And next year the goal is cross-country. He'll do that, too.