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With all due respect to Tom Jones- unless you could hear me sing, then you would say I have no respect for him, I found myself singing the tune named in the title of this post on a recent down hill section of a training ride. (English teachers, I am truly sorry for that first sentence.) I know I should have been concentrating just a little harder on my technique and line, but I was pondering why so many of us are riding the Death Ride for the charity, TurningWheels For Kids. Our numbers have grown from the 4 last year to over 20 this year.

So, why do I do it? Because the kids are worth it. Period. The longer I’m associated with TurningWheels For Kids, www.turningwheelsforkids.org , the more amazing I find everyone who is associated with it. Over 6,000 new bikes to underprivileged kids in less than 4 years! What kids? Our kids of Santa Clara County. Many of us remember our first bike. For many of these less advantage children these bikes are their first bike. So many families struggle to survive, never mind provide for a bike to experience the exhilaration and freedom of pedaling yourself to your own adventures.

Just recently I assembled and prepared a few more bikes to another group TWFK serves. These are the children in the Family Healthy Lifestyle Center, which is a program under the VMC umbrella. These kids are classified as obese and have committed to Dr. Dan Delgado’s program of education, healthy eating and exercise. If bike riding is the chosen exercise and one can’t be supplied by the family, we will provide. Not long ago I had the privilege of viewing some before and after pictures of these kids and their bikes. So much joy went along with the slimmer faces. There were reports of so many children (and their families) moving into a much more healthy lifestyle. This is an amazing, life improving program and we are privileged to be a small part of it.

Although there are many things TWFK does throughout the year, the culmination is the one day in December when over 2,000 boxed bikes are assembled by 700 community volunteers and given to a variety of charities. To be part of this is magical. Did I mention that this all happens in less than 1 day? Can you imagine what 2,000 bikes looks like in one spot?

Those are just a few of the reasons I’m riding the Death Ride this year for TurningWheels For Kids. This is partly why I’ve ridden over 1,400 miles and climbed well over 100,000 vertical feet so far this year. This is why I will attempt to ride 125 miles and climb 15,000 feet in one day in July. There is, though one unchanging reason that I am riding for and volunteer for TWFK~ It’s not just for the kids, it’s more than that. It’s because these children are worth it! If even one finds a healthier, more exciting world because of our efforts, then it is worth it.

Please consider supporting my efforts by making a donation in my name here:

http://www.turningwheelsforkids.org/blog/?page_id=63

Thank you to all how follow and support our adventures.

Death Ride For Kids- Round 2

Thursday, January 1, 2009
Day 1- Jan 1- Ride 1
Who’s bright idea was it to get up early on New Year’s Day and ride up Mt. Hamilton? I’m such a sucker. It started foggy. Cold, wet, thick fog. It transformed into a beautiful sunny day at the Lick Observatory after 4,300+ feet of climbing. The snow capped Sierras were even visible.

It ended after once again passing through the thick, cold, wet fog. A great day, a great ride, a great way to start the new year. Even better was that I met several friends at the top including Team Wrong Way member Frank (a huge TWFK supporter), Scott and first time Mt. Hamilton summiteer- Sue!
5,000′ of climbing, 39 miles.

Oh, one more thing. I’m proud to say that I’ve re-instituted my post-ride regimen of a hot dog after a good ride.

Posted by Dave at 8:19 PM 0 comments
And So It Begins
Maybe I’m not so smart. Maybe I am. Maybe it doesn’t matter, but I’m back for round 2.
Last year I rode my first Death Ride. I felt like I went for it kicking and screaming. I know I was reluctant. If you’re bored you can read all 17 posts detailing last years preparations and the actual ride here:
My 08 Death Ride blog

So here’s the scoop: On July 11, 2009 I will once again attempt this.

Why? That’s a very good question that has a very good answer. I participate in a Not-For-Profit charity called TurningWheels For Kids and we provide new bikes for under-privileged and under-privileged health challenged kids in and around Santa Clara County, Ca. This year we provided over 2100 bikes! That’s crazy. Actually we’ve supplied over 6,000 in the last 4 years combined. One of our struggles is the on-going funding of our programs. Bikes are not cheap. Last year as part of our efforts a few of us solicited financial pledges from our friends, acquaintances and even our enemies in exchange for riding the Death Ride. It turned out to be a very successful and rewarding way to earn money for TurningWheels For Kids.

That’s mostly why I’m doing it again. Well, that and the amazing stretch goal this is for me. Imagine riding a bike over 125 miles, climbing 15,000 feet of mountain passes and doing it all in one day. Imagine doing it with a few thousand other riders and some of your best friends. Imaging preparing by riding a couple of thousand miles and 100,000 climbing feet of training. Imagine suffering extreme heat, exhaustion, pain… oh, wait. Don’t imagine that part.

And so, having registered for the Death Ride a couple of weeks ago, the adventure begins. I just hope there won’t be any crashes, aching knees, suicidal squirrels or worse like last year…..

Let me preface this by saying this was not only my rookie year at the Death Ride, but my rookie road riding year period. I had just recently bought my road bike in the fall and didn’t really begin riding seriously until after the first of this year. I may have been crazy to even attempt this so soon, but I couldn’t resist the challenge. I received report from one lady who said there is no way I should even be there, never mind have a chance to finish. For those that don’t know, I’m not a young man. I believe that I completed this ride by trying to be smart in my training, preparation and riding and that is what gave me the chance to finish.

I know, I should probably stop and think this out but my current plan is to do the Death Ride again next year as part of team TurningWheels For Kids. I know that many of you have told me that someday you want to ride the Death Ride and that next year might be the time. I’m not going to name names but you know who you are- Don, Scott, Steve, Scott, Kevin, Brad, Alan, Bill, Derek, a few people from Gold’s and elsewhere…. If so, plan to start your training accordingly if not right away. Next, contact me about joining our group for the 09 Death Ride. We would love to have you team up with us so we can support each other’s efforts. Besides you’ll get to wear a cool jersey and have people ask if you know Leah!

For more information about my ride experience read the post below. Both Leah and I have posted blogs about our training experiences below also.

Here’s what you do-
*Make and follow a plan to get into Death Ride shape. If you need ideas, we’ve accumulated some information about how to do that.
*Be sure you have a decent bike. It doesn’t have to be top of the line, just decent for a 125 mile ride.
*Contact us to express your interest and find out what’s involved. dave@turningwheelsforkids.org
You’ll find we give more than we take!
*Watch the Death Ride website for registration information and register when the lottery opens. If you don’t get picked in the initial lottery there are other ways to get in.
*Just Do It!

• ride 125+ miles in one day- Done
• climb 15,000+ feet of mountain in one day- Done
• Obtain all 5 mountain pass stickers- Done
• Be a Death Ride finisher- Done
• Earn money for TurningWheels For Kids- Done
• Thank everyone who supported our cause- Working on it.

Soooooo, I finished! We finished! All 4 of our TurningWheels For Kids team members who were able to start the ride, finished the ride. Congrats to Brennan, Jeff and Leah. Thank-you to all who supported us. I could feel your support. I felt so honored to be the recipient of so much from so many.

Now I’m going to type a long diary of the day. For most of you that may be extremely monotonous and boring so feel free to skip down to the bottom and read my list of highlights and impressions at the end. It won’t offend me. Again, thanks for your generous support!

Here’s how it all went down: Keep in mind that this was my first attempt at the Death Ride. Also, I was a rookie at road riding period. I had only bought my bike in the fall and have only riden one organized ride which was a century.

Thursday morning before the ride~ drove into the Sierras to begin my deep focus on the task at hand…. yeah right! Drove up to take a break from work. I just used the DR as an excuse. I did drive over highway 4, Ebbetts pass into Markleeville to check out the area. The weather was warm but clear. Highway 4 looked tough and I tried to ignore the fact that it was going to beat me up in a couple of days. While in Markleeville I checked in and picked up my registration packet, numbers and goodie bag.

After hanging out for awhile I headed back over to Dorrington (near Big Trees) to meet up with tonights host, Jeff along with more TurningWheels support crew members- Sue, Donna, Derek, Deb, Jakob and Colby for a great Italian dinner. I love the carbo loading part of the preparation for a big ride.

Friday morning while the others headed out to the lake for a day of boating and tubing :>( , I drove back over to Markleeville to truly begin the “Death Ride experience”. It was only 10:30 am the day before the ride and the Markleeville area was beginning to hop. Turtle Rock Park had security at the entrance and I had to talk my way through with a little name dropping to get to the camp area I was to be staying at that night. Immediately after driving in I met up with a friend, Greg Eby, that I would be camping with that night and set up camp. Around noon fellow TWFK team mate and DR guru Leah showed up and we all walked up to a main area of Turtle Rock so the others could sign in and we could all walk through the vendors display area and bag a few freebies. Soon afterwards Leah took off back to Bear Valley where she would be staying in her cushy bed for the night while the rest of us would be sleeping with the bears.

Hunger showed it’s head again (happens a lot) and so we didn’t hang out too long before Greg talked me into riding the bikes down to Markleeville, about 3 miles, to a great little Deli for lunch. The only problem is I refused to ride back up the hill to camp (part of my pre-ride resting discipline) so we hitched a ride with another friend with our bikes in the back of the pickup. Now the real preparation began as Friday afternoon was filled with sitting around and talking and meeting new friends who were camping in the same area. It’s a tough life. Sit, talk, stand, talk, sit, talk, laugh…. Oh, occasionally wander over to my well prepared bike and check something just in case. When we spent sufficient time we walked back up to the main area to, you guessed it, eat again. Pasta, of course. Dinner was followed by more new friends joining our group. After everything was laid out for the next morning, we hit the sack at the relatively early hour of 9 or 10 or so. It would be a long night as sleep would be hard to find. It was. How does 1 1/2 -2 hours sound? In spite of being up most of the night I didn’t hear the bear that passed by our tent.

Saturday- Day of the ride! 4:00 am – Greg’s and my alarms went off simultaneously. 40 minutes later, dressed and prepped for the day, we rolled out of Turtle Rock park, in the dark with headlamps and tail lamps, into a long line of early starters single file down the hill and through Markleeville to begin the first long climb of Monitor Pass. In less than 2 hours the top of Monitor was crested at 8730 feet for the first time. For those that don’t know, every couple hours of riding there is generally an established rest stop where drink, food, restrooms, mechanical and medical help are available. Many people gave me great advice and one I chose to follow was to skip the rest stops at the summits. If altitude affects a person the only cure is to get down from the altitude. I spent very little time at the summits for that reason and usually rode right past since the next stop would at the bottom of the next down hill or shortly after and would be easily obtainable.

What a great and picturesque ride down the east side of Monitor! This was a blast! Soon I was at the bottom of pass #2 at mile 25, which is out near Highway 395. This was my first stop of the day and involved filling drink bottles with Cytomax, eating a little fruit and pretzels and shedding some clothes. I didn’t waste time at the stop (another bit of advice- minimize stops, keep moving) and soon I was turned around and headed up climb #2. It didn’t take long before I saw Leah fly by on her first downhill and Jeff Kazan not far behind. I was wondering how far back they might be as they started 45 minutes to an hour behind me since they didn’t want to mess with lights as I did. Over the top of climb # 2 at mile 35, 2 stickers in (each pass climbed means a sticker on your bib number) another high speed downhill and soon riding the rolling Highway 4 to begin what some consider the toughest climb- #3, the east side of Ebbetts pass.

Gratefully, I had ridden this exact route back and forth over Highway 4, Ebbetts pass just 2 weeks prior and knew what to expect. It would be a long, but very do-able climb. Resisting the urge to keep looking over my shoulder for Leah I tried to enjoy the amazing views and people that would pass by. So many jerseys and stories. Many people riding for a cause besides our team. In some ways it’s the people that really make this a great ride. At one point I looked right and then looked left to see Leah’s smiling face. She caught me. So, I’m grinding along and she whips out her camera and starts shooting pictures! Oh, brother. My pain will be immortalized. After talking (well she talked, I just tried to breathe) she stepped on the gas and sped up to her normal pace and was gone as she was even more excited than I because her family would also be waiting with our TurningWheels crew at the next rest stop. They had driven all the way up to support and cheer our efforts- amazing! Continuing my slow but steady pace I summited at mile 55, collected my 3rd sticker and bombed down the west side of Ebbetts to see the team. This was the best down hill of the day as I was on schedule, if not early and felt like I had a good chance to finish all 5. Sure enough as I rode into the Hermit Valley rest stop at mile 61 I was welcomed by a very loud cheer on my behalf from the TurningWheels For Kids crew. This was an amazing reception in the middle of nowhere. I would imagine other riders wanted some of that.

Very cool. First things first, I collected that very important #4 sticker

and then over to the “gang” to report. 3 climbs down, 6+ hours and looking down at my bike computer realized I only had covered half the course, mileage-wise! I think it was Jeff Kazan (he came into the rest stop shortly after me) suggested that I remember that I’ve already climbed 3 of the 5 passes including what some believe is the hardest. Don’t stress about the mileage. I had plenty of time.

I’ve got to say how grateful I was to realize the sacrifice Sue, Donna, Deb, Derek, Jakob, Colby, John O., Carlene and Jeff made on our behalf. They had a huge banner and attracted many other cyclists that knew about TurningWheels For Kids and even participated in our Big Bike Builds. Unfortunately if I was going to finish the DR, I needed to go. With mixed feelings Leah and I said our good-byes and began our push up climb #4. Just a short way into it as Leah was beginning to move off at her faster pace, Brennan went flying by. He looked good. It didn’t seem to take too long before the summit of Echo came up again at mile 70 and soon found myself flying down Ebbetts back towards Markleeville. This descent is fast and can be somewhat technical with tight turns and no room for error. No mistakes made and I soon found myself at the lunch stop where Jeff Kazan waited for me to have light lunch, refuel and take off for the long grinding ride out to Carson Pass.

To be honest this next section was the part of the ride that I was dreading. It involves a long, usually against the wind, rolling hills ride out back through Markleeville passing my car along the way and on to Carson Pass. The advice to me was to hook up in a pace line to minimize effort and to find some relief during this part. If you aren’t familiar with that term is, it’s a close single file line of riders with the lead rider working hard and breaking the wind while following riders have an easier time in the draft. Fairness dictates that there be rotations or turns in the front pushing the wind. Almost Immediately I saw a long line forming just ahead and tried to catch it, but I was spending too much energy getting to it so I let it go. Not too much later a short line passed by at my pace and I hooked on. It broke up in Markleeville as the lead riders stopped to see supporters so I pressed on. It wasn’t long before I realized that I had a shadow (another rider) on my rear wheel that seemed content to just stay there. I came to find out she and I had started about the same time and 10 hours later found ourselves pretty evenly matched. Last year was her first attempt (she completed 4 passes) and we agreed to work together to push each other to the top. This part of the ride got hot and at the next rest stop there was a volunteer squirting people with a hose. The volunteers were great all day. Unfortunately at the next and last rest stop before the final summit I left my temporary partner, Laura, behind as she was running out of gas and pushed for the summit of Carson. Carson Pass is open to traffic so it was important to keep my concentration for this last leg. Everyone seemed to be slowing down to my pace, so part way up the hill I found myself in a long pace line. Luckily I was paying attention because a few riders tangled and crashed up in front and immediately bikes and riders were sprawled across the highway up ahead. Keeping my head up allowed me to avoid the mess. Luckily no one was seriously hurt and could push on. At about mile 100 I could see the top of Carson pass way up ahead and it looked like it was still another 100 miles away.

Pushing on at my snails pace I eventually found myself at the final grade. I knew I was close and the riders around me and I started to talk about just that. We could taste it. We were so close. We could feel it. Oh, wait. What we were feeling was hail! It was starting to hail! We had heard thunder for the last hour or so and I was worried about rain, but hail? Turning the last corner at the summit I rode down to the #5 summit rest stop and the hail began to dump. Luckily I was wearing my helmet. Ditching my bike I joined the mass of riders squeezing under every available shelter to wait it out but it kept coming down. It lasted about a half hour before it changed to rain. I wanted to get down and finished, so donning a garbage bag as a make shift raincoat I started the big descent down Carson in driving rain. This was the most miserable part of the ride. I was soaked and couldn’t see much at alland was shivering, which makes it a little hard to control a bike going at a pretty good clip down a mountain pass. I was concerned that the oil had lifted out of the road which would make the pavement very slippery, never mind the wet white lines and the passing cars. Eventually I made the last right hand turn back onto Highway 89 as the sun came back out. Only a few miles to go. I was going to make it.

I did it! Finished! There was Turtle Rock Park. There was my car! Done. Completed. Accomplished my goal. Finished not only for myself, but for the kids who deserve to have what I have and the freedom to be happy.

125 miles.
15,000 feet of climbing.
5 mountain passes.
11 1/2 hours in the saddle.
13 + hours total time.
9200+ calories burned.
1 day.

So, what did I do next? No, I didn’t go to Disneyland. Instead I rode some more~ down to the camp to catch up to Greg, who finished hours before. He’s a stud. Then I rode back to the car to pack up and head out, touched bases with old friends and new friends on how their day went and then off to Jeff’s cabin in Dorrington for the celebratory dinner of superb pasta and shrimp prepared by John O.

End of day.

Feelings, Impressions and Highlights:

*The almost 2,000 training miles, over 100,000 training feet of climbing and countless spin classes were worth it.
*Loved camping at Turtle Rock. Met new people, made new friends
*No sleep the night before.
*Disappointed that I didn’t hear or see the bear that passed by our tent.
*The Death Ride has multiple personalities and many chapters.
*The 4:40 am departure~ Seeing the long line of bike tail lights on Highway 89.
*The high energy RAP High School guys filling water bottles on the run coming up Monitor.
*The prom queens cheering the riders up Ebbetts.

*The spectacular support by the “Skeleton Crew”.
*Being amongst thousands of riders.
*Talking to so many other riders along the way to learn their story.
*Being asked over and over if I knew Leah and was riding with her.
*Top speed recorded- 49 mph.
*So many who were willing to offer great advice that was “spot on”.
*Lots of hail and lots of rain.
*Unfortunately I don’t know what happened to Laura. Hopefully she finished.
*The spectators and supporters scattered all over the course cheering and supporting us.
*Both sides of the main street through Markleeville lined with people waving, making noise and cheering.
*The sense of accomplishment.
*The TurningWheels For Kids crew who sacrificed and drove so far to support our team.
*All of you my supporters and your generosity.

THANK-YOU!

Quick news flash- Just finished the 2008 Deathride today and completed all 5 passes. It took all day, but it’s done, finished, completed! More detail to follow as soon as I recover some. Currently everything hurts.

Ok boys and girls the work is over and the fun is about to begin.

The last 10 days have involved a couple of spin sessions and a couple of mostly flat street rides. I’m as ready as I’m going to be this year. My bike has been checked and tuned. Bill Hyland of Hyland Family Bikes has been very generous and I have added his logo to my jersey. By-the-way, if you have bicycle needs see Bill and his crew on Meridian Ave. in San Jose. Others of you, and you know who you are, have been very helpful for me to be on a quality bike and do some quality training in preparation. Thank-you so much for your gifts and generosity. I have logged over 1800 miles on my bike, somewhere over 100,000 feet of climbing and hours and hours in the gym.

My stuff is packed and I’m heading to the Sierra’s in the next day or so.
The weather report looks ominously hot. I think I’ll be ready to hydrate well and replenish lost electrolytes and other important stuff. Stuff is a catch-all technical word related to bodily physiological something or another.

For me the DR is NOT a race. It’s an event to complete for the kids we are trying to lift to a happier and healthier life. With your help that can happen.

Mostly, I wanted to let you know how important your support has been for this endeavor. The ride will really be a stretch for me and I recognize that so many of you are supporting me as I go a little wacko with this fund raiser for TurningWheels For Kids. Experienced cyclists may do the Death Ride routinely. Not me. I’m really a rookie road rider this year and this is a very lofty goal. In order to finish all 5 passes it will take everything I have both physically and mentally. My goal is to complete it and contrary to what I’ve said to some people my belief is that I can.
I will make every effort to post results after this weekend so stay tuned…
Don’t feel sorry for me as I do have at least 3 excellent Italian dinners lined up while I’m gone.

From the bottom of my heart- Thank-you,

Dave

I found myself leaving Bear Valley Village this morning (Sat. 6/28) to explore for the first time Highway 4 over Ebbetts Pass. I basically followed the same route Leah did 2 weeks ago from Bear Valley to Markleeville and back covering the up and down of the Death Ride Passes 3 and 4 and some pretty steep road up the east side of California Grade. BTW, there’s still patches of snow next to the road. I also explored a little of Monitor Pass, but not too much. 71 miles, 6 1/2 hours total time (about 6 in the saddle) and whatever elevation Leah figured- 8,000ish? ? It felt like more. It was hot, a little windy (not much smoke) and took a lot out of me. My knee continues to be bothersome. I chose to carry a Camelback so that fluid wouldn’t be a problem and really tried to stay on schedule with liquids, ecaps, and food and I think it paid off. I was testing Fig Newtons on a ride- not bad.

So the result of the “acid test”- I think I’m good for 4 passes and will definitely have to dig deep to finish all 5. It will be more than anything I’ve done this year (or any other year) by far. It will help as I won’t carry my Camelback so I’ll be lighter and will start much earlier. I’m finished with big training rides for the next 2 weeks leading up to the DR, but will spend some time making the pedals go round and round, fine tuning my bike, gathering food and supplies and working out the details needed to flee the country within the next 2 weeks.

A side note- At my turn around at Carson River Valley resort they were having some kind of a Harley club BBQ and get together. I felt a little out of place in my cycling duds amongst all the leather, but I really wanted some cold water. I did receive some suggestions. One guy said I should try apple Cytomax. I hadn’t heard of that flavor and he said, “No wonder, it wasn’t very good.” Oh, OK, thanks. On my way out as I was joking about trading my bike for one of theirs, it was suggested that I might do better if I had Red Bull in my Camelback…. mixed with Vodka. I passed on that one too. I wish I could have stayed for the BBQ!

Monday was Los Gatos- Shannon up, Shannon down, Hicks up, Hicks down, Hicks up, Hicks down, Hicks up, Hicks down, Kennedy-up, Kennedy down. Have you figured out the pattern?

I’ve got to find another form of entertainment besides my brain on rides. Enough said.

Wednesday- a very short ride. I was overcome with guilt and chose the family dinner at Dad’s and Mom’s.

Sometimes I get work and pleasure mixed up. I wonder where “pain” falls in? Let’s see if I can get these right.
Pleasure- Monday 6/9, Our youngest son, Taylor graduates from High School as one of the Valedictorians and delivers a marvelous speech before several thousand. Yep, we’re definitely proud parents. He did the work, he deserves the reward.
Pleasure- No time to ride until Wednesday, but it’s ok as I still hurt from the last century.
Pleasure- Back to riding: work to home via Metcalf. 2K climbing, 26 miles.
Work- Thursday morning ride. Well it is work, that’s where I rode to.
Pleasure/work/pain- Mixed on Saturday- BAWSI girl bike picnic in the morning. 30+ young ladies received new bikes for all their hard work in the program and we were lucky enough to be part of it. Afternoon ride up Mt. Hamilton (hot!). A new record of 2:06 from Alum Rock to the Post office where I collapsed for awhile before going back down (about 50 minutes). Turned around at the car and went back up for a few miles and back down. Had to hurry for Father’s Day dinner with my oldest daughter and her new husband. What a treat! Pleasure! They paid.
Work- You guessed it, a flat spin to work.
Pleasure, work, and a lot of pain- Third ride with Leah, her choice (yes, that’s always trouble). Downtown San Jose to and up Sierra Road, down Felter. Now for the good part- turn around and go back up Felter and down Sierra. Back to the shop after dark because for the 2nd out of 3 rides with Leah, I flatted again. I clocked 41 miles and guess about 4k+ climbing.
Pain- That just describes the next couple of days. It’s hard just getting out of bed.
Pleasure/pain- You figure out which- no work out Thursday or Friday because it was too hot! Saturday to the Nascar races at Infineon and then to my High School reunion that night. No I’m not going to tell you how many years ago, except to say that Leah, Deb, Derek, Sarah and about a third of the world’s population weren’t born yet. Gas prices during the shortage that year skyrocketed from 38 cents to 55 cents/gallon a year later. Elvis Presley is still going strong. Richard Nixon starts his second term. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is released. The World Trade Center officially opens. The Watergate scandal becomes public. Skylab is launched. The Battle of the Sexes: Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs.
Pain- The realization that I’m getting older. Pleasure- The journey to get there!

Knowing that Jeff has worked in the bicycle industry for years and that he enjoys riding double centuries and basically living on his bike, I thought it might be wise to secretly take a picture of his ride. I did so that I might study it and discover the latest technology he has obtained and further gain advantage towards my goal. He must know what he is doing, right?
I expect that Leah, Brennan and Jack will be making the appropriate changes as soon as they see this break-through in technology.