It’s a Family Affair : Cyclist Matt Will Bear the Beerer Torch, but He Won’t Face the Challenge Alone

There’s no such thing as a one-on-one interview with Matt Beerer, a 23-year-old cyclist who will be competing in the Race Across AMerica.

Not with most of Beerer’s family of nine surrounding him on the patio of their Garden Grove home as he recently discussed his participation in the 3,120-mile bike race, which begins today in Huntington Beach.

Even Leon Spinks would envy this entourage, which included Beerer’s mother, three of his five brothers and two sisters.

Cycling is not an individual sport for Matt Beerer. It’s a family affair.

The family has been as much a part of Beerer’s brief cycling career as he has. And they have as much at stake in this race as he does.

Family members were out recruiting sponsors while Beerer trained; they studied the effects of diet in ultramarathon cycling; they aided Beerer during his qualifying races. And they will comprise most of Beerer’s support crew during this race.

“All my support has come from my family,” Beerer said.

His mother, Lucy, and four of his brothers, Mark, 32, Danny, 30, Tim, 25, and Michael, 22, will accompany Beerer on the Race Across AMerica, but not as spectators.

They’ll be monitoring his diet, and his sleep and rest periods. They’ll make sure he stays on his bike and on course. They’ll provide emotional support.

“He doesn’t make any decisions,” Mark Beerer said. “We make all the decisions for him--when he gets off the bike, when he sleeps, when he gets fed and watered.”

Ever wonder how Pavlov’s dogs felt? Beerer will find out--not that he minds. He knows he won’t be in any condition to make decisions during the race.

The Race Across AMerica is a grueling ride to Atlantic City, N.J., through such cities as Flagstaff, Ariz.; Albuquerque; , N.M.; Amarillo, Tex.; Oklahoma City; Nashville and Roanoke, Va. It crosses mountains, prairies and deserts. Weather conditions are unpredictable.

Last year’s winner, Jonathan Boyer of Pebble Beach, covered the course in a record 9 days, 2 hours and 6 minutes. Most finishers sleep about an hour a day.

“It’s the hardest sporting event in the world right now,” Beerer said.

It’s not for everyone. Beerer’s brother, Tim, is an accomplished cyclist who recently qualified for the U.S. Cycling Federation’s national time trials for road racing. He’s been cycling for six years, racing for four and hopes to participate in the 1988 Olympics.

Why didn’t he try the Race Across AMerica?

“I don’t have brain damage,” he said. “Three thousand miles nonstop is crazy.”

Not crazy enough for Matt Beerer, who will be riding in his first Race Across AMerica. The La Quinta High School graduate qualified for the 1985 RAAM but pulled out three weeks before the race because of financial difficulties.

Beerer qualified for this year’s RAAM by finishing third in last September’s John Marino Open, a difficult 715-mile race through the mountain ranges surrounding Tucson, Ariz. Cyclists who finished climbed a total of 27,150 feet during the race, and temperatures at night dipped into the 20s.

“The JMO is devised to kill you,” Beerer said.

But for the second straight year, he completed the John Marino Open, covering the course in 47 hours and 52 minutes. Oh, there were a few difficulties.

During one night, Beerer became disoriented and began wandering off the course. At one point, he stopped in the middle of the road.

“We asked him why he was stopping and he said, ‘Did you see that?’ ” Mark Beerer said. “We said, ‘What?’ He told us there was a pink fox in the road.”

Said Michael Beerer: “The guy who won that race forgot how to pedal his bike for a while.”

Mark: “We’re talking about serious sleep deprivation.”

Matt said he remembered the part about him turning off course. “But I don’t remember any of that fox stuff,” he said.

Ultramarathon cycling can play games with your mind. But through his experience in the John Marino Open, Beerer has learned that he must rely on his support crew.

“He’s really depending on us,” Mark said. “Matt is stubborn and he likes to do things his own way, but I think he knows that in order for him to succeed in the race he has to do everything the crew says. He’s gonna have to live with our decisions.”

The two Marino Opens are the longest races Beerer has completed. His biggest fear about the Race Across AMerica, he said, is everything past 700 miles.

“It’s all new, and I don’t know what I’ll be like at the 1,000-mile point, 2,000 and 3,000 miles,” Beerer said. “I feel if I can stay on the bike and stay steady, and if the crew can keep my diet at 100% we have a good shot at (winning) the race.”

Diet will be a big factor. Beerer has come a long way since his first two John Marino Opens, when he fueled his body with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pizza, cookies and candy.

None of that this year. Beerer will be on a liquid diet, with 90% of his food intake consisting of a formula high on carbohydrates, calories and protein.

“Jonathan Boyer was on an 80% liquid diet last year, and he feels that was the biggest factor in winning the race and setting a record,” Mark said. “I feel a lot of the riders will be going to a liquid diet this year.”

Beerer’s first RAAM experience was in 1984 as a crew member for a friend, Mark Straley. Straley dropped out with a knee problem during the second day of the race and the crew headed home, but Beerer said that just seeing the riders compete was a big thrill.

He bought an old bike from his brother, Tim, and began training for the 1985 John Marino Open. He finished seventh in the May, 1985, race but couldn’t find enough sponsors to back him financially for the 1985 RAAM.

Beerer, a computer technician for Costa Mesa-based Specialized Management Support, fared better in the fund-raising department this year. He secured six sponsors, including his employer, to help cover the $30,000 in costs for the race.

He has been training full time during a four-month leave of absence from work and he believes, despite his limited experience, that he will be a contender.

“We know we can finish the race,” Beerer said. “We want to finish in the top three.”

And what will he do when it’s over?

“Sleep.”

Race Across AMerica

Starting time: Prerace ceremonies begin at 8 a.m., one block from the Huntington Beach Pier on Main and Walnut streets. The 28 riders (22 men and 6 women) leave at 9 a.m.

The Route: 3,120 miles from Huntington Beach to the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J.

Area Course: The riders will head north on Main Street, turn right on Orange, right on Lake and left on Atlantic to the Santa Ana River trail. The course continues northeast to La Palma Avenue, crosses the Riverside Freeway to Weir Canyon Drive, then up Santa Ana Canyon Road to Gypsum Canyon. A bike path at Featherly Park will take the riders past the Green River Golf Course and into Corona. The public is invited to ride the first 20 miles with RAAM competitors.

Orange County competitors: Bill DeBreau (Garden Grove), Dennis Bock (Costa Mesa), Matt Beerer (Garden Grove) and Curt Eury (Huntington Beach).

Information: For 24-hour race updates, call 1-900-410-RAAM. The message will last two minutes and cost 80 cents per call. There will be comprehensive updates every six hours.

TV: The race will be filmed, edited then aired later this year or early next year on ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

Past winners: Men--Jonathan Boyer (1985), Pete Penseyres (1984) and Lon Haldeman (1983, 1982). Women--Susan Notorangelo-Haldeman (1985) and Shelby Hayden-Clifton/Pat Hines (1984-tied).