Anybody else following RAAM???

[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.