Anybody else following RAAM???

[Blueberry]

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/subwebraam/blogx.php?N_webcat_id=86

Any good rider blogs out there this year??

I'm always in awe of these folks.

CA

[motochick]

I have been cheering then on as they come thru my little town. This morning I rode up to the top of the mountain behind my house in hopes of seeing the leaders of the team race. Boy, did I. I got to see 1st and 2nd place screaming down a monster switchback filled mountain while I was climbing up. It was awesome!! I hooted and hollered for them and the chase cars cheered me on for going up!

My hubby on the other hand, got to see a rider exchange at the bottom of the other side of the mountain, the side they were going up. He said the one guy came in on a time trial style bike, then his relief who was a climber motored uphill like it was nothing. At the top, my friends got to see them exchange again for a descender. WAY COOL!

After hanging out at the top for a few we headed back down, now going the same direction as the race. In the little mining town of Jerome, we got our pictures taken by some of the race photographers. We had told them on the way up how excited we were to get a glimpse of some of these amazing athletes. We had seen the solo riders trickling thru town on Mon and Tues and even met a solo female while she took a break. It was WAY COOL!! I hope to help next year in my neck of the woods.

Brenda

[Blueberry]

Wow!! I wish it came through my town:)

The soloists are really amazing- looks like the 2 women are hanging in there - I'm not sure a female finished solo last year.

CA

[motochick]

The three that were just (yeah, ONLY 1000 miles) doing the RAW event all DNF'd. I guess the girl I met, quit right there after we talked to her. She did look pretty tired but she was amazing to me. She rode over 400 miles in bad heat and very steep terrain with only 2 hours sleep. She rocks. I hope at least one of the females can finish. Looks like the first womens team should be coming thru any time now.

Brenda

[Possegal]

It looks like they aren't too far from me at some point, but I can't quite get my way around the website to figure out exactly where I could see them. Will have to try with a fresh brain tomorrow. :)

[Blueberry]

It looks like they aren't too far from me at some point, but I can't quite get my way around the website to figure out exactly where I could see them. Will have to try with a fresh brain tomorrow. :)

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/subwebraam/raam.php?N_webcat_id=7

This should get you started:)

CA

[Possegal]

OK, this time I looked a little harder, thanks CA! and found the pdf files that list turn by turn. Wouldn't you know it, they are actually going to be right near my office! I may go check out this weekend where they are to ride by and see if I can figure out a way to escape from the office for a bit once they are supposed to be in the area. It says June 16-20th, something tells me that would be an unacceptable length of time to be away from my desk. :) Do they seem to come by in a large group or a trickle of people every now and then?

We can see why I let my sister and b-i-l handle the logisitic of our Tour de France trip in 2004. ;)

[motochick]

It is more like a trickle of people every now and then. I mean like every 1/2 hour to hour. At least that is how it was in my town. The solo riders may be first, then the teams. It is very neat to see the entourage.

Brenda

[spokewench]

Yeah, Brenda it is very cool. I was going to tennis last night a bunch of guys were coming into town - they are so awesome. Probably a little crazy too!

[Blueberry]

It is more like a trickle of people every now and then. I mean like every 1/2 hour to hour. At least that is how it was in my town. The solo riders may be first, then the teams. It is very neat to see the entourage.

Brenda

I expect the teams will overtake the solos (at least some of them) before MD. Looks like some of them are already passing.

CA

[alpinerabbit]

there's a swiss guy with only one arm...

[motochick]

The guys on the fixies are crazy!

[Pedal Wench]

One of my friends is one of the DNF's in the 1,000 mile RAW. I have mixed feelings about it -- I'm so excited for her and proud - she did so amazingly well, rode 930-ish miles which to most of us is just unbelievably far, and she should be so proud. Yet, I know she's disappointed. I just hope her spirits are good, and we'll do more training rides to get her reaching her goal next year.

[Blueberry]

One of my friends is one of the DNF's in the 1,000 mile RAW. I have mixed feelings about it -- I'm so excited for her and proud - she did so amazingly well, rode 930-ish miles which to most of us is just unbelievably far, and she should be so proud. Yet, I know she's disappointed. I just hope her spirits are good, and we'll do more training rides to get her reaching her goal next year.

I hope she's not too hard on herself! Anybody who can ride 930 miles straight is *very* impressive.

CA

[Blueberry]

From the RAAM blog:

Details are sketchy, but local witnesses in Taos reported the Solo RAAM riders near the lead, specifically the 3rd 4th and 5th riders at the time, were accosted by ruffians and alternately roughed and possibly attempted muggings took place.

More to follow as details emerge, but the local authorities are reticent and the offical who leaked the story asked for anonymity, but speculated the attacks were nothing more than bored local kids up too late. No one was apparently hurt.

GRRRRR.......

ETA: And now the blog entry is gone. Very strange.

CA

[uk elephant]

Turns out there is a Norwegian team in the lead......the team is from central Norway, where I'm from. Saw a story about them in the local paper on-line:

http://www.adressa.no/sport/article1100439.ece

It's their first attempt, but so far they are doing well and feeling strong. And they are over 2 hours ahead of the next team. According to the story they are enjoying the landscape too..."just like the movies".

[Mr. Bloom]

I had dinner at Panera and as I was leaving saw three riders. First one didn't register with me.

I did take note of #201 and #408.

They looked peppy for sunset!

[Zen]

I'm sure I must have seen some riders when I was coming through Mt. Airy area at 2:30 AM today. Who else would be out riding a TT bike in a skinsuit?

[BurrOakBobcat]

While running errands and sitting outside eating at Taco John's, we saw 4 riders in Athens OH late this afternoon.

Several years ago, when I followed the event much more closely than I am now, we rode from Athens OH to Parkersburg WV to glimpse more of the riders. It was really something to see Lon Haldeman parked in a lot; he wasn't racing that year but was in a vehicle.

It is incredible physical accomplishment to ride RAAM, on the one hand and, on the other, I think it's incredibly dangerous. Sleep deprivation alone sets up the possiblities for a lot to go wrong. More than a few participants, I think, flirt with causing themselves serious personal injury. If there were a built-in requirement for x hours of sleep for every x hours on the bike, it would be a more sane event.

[Mr. Bloom]

I stopped at the Time Check tent halfway through the ride tonight. The last riders were expected around midnight tonight.

BurrOak: You're so right. The volunteer said that some of them were really in bad shape and worn out. The weather here today was beautiful...I can't imagine what they'd be feeling if the weather was bad.

A local guy came through with his team last night and had 100 folks from the club to cheer him on!:) It must be cool to do RAAM through your hometown!:)

[Blueberry]

Didn't they try that with Enduro RAAM (4 hours of sleep a night, IIRC)? Wonder what happened to it....

I'd like it way better if it were sleep 6 hours and ride.

CA

[crazycanuck]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/sports/playmagazine/05robicpm.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1213935038-rbXD2hfExcS3PeXF8EM5tw

interview with an interesting solo dude.

[Blueberry]

Very interesting article. Hmmm....makes one question the wisdom of doing such rides. But I do admire his dedication.

CA