Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Raam 2014

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Bigaard
04-05-11, 10:22 AM
Hi all,

Well, this is a longshot, but here it goes:

I'm a 21 year old guy from Denmark. I spend the 2010 summer biking across the states, from Seattle, WA - New York City. A ride of 5.400km. I did it in 26 days.

I've been following RAAM as long as i remember, and when Chris MacDonald, the danish/american did the race in 2005 i decided that I have to try the race sometimes. After my own "RAAM" last summer i now have decided to go for my dream.

I think it would be realistic to get in shape for the RAAM in 3 years with good training - i've got no plans for podiums, just to cross the finishline in time. I'm i way off here?

Then why am i posing here - well, i have no clue on have to gathering a crew and get in contact with possible sponsors. So do anyone in here have some insights or ideas?

I would be very appreciated.

Kind regards,
Kasper.

(sorry for my bad english - i hope it is readable)

Santaria
04-05-11, 05:14 PM
I'm not an expert - but from my limited data gathering, and reading prior posts here I've found that the first major stumbling block is the roughly $40k you'll need to get a support team, food, vehicles and travel expenses ironed out. This doesn't seem like a race you can cut corners, so you're probably looking at the minimum requirements dictated by the race organizers. The first one being the $3,000 entry fee. Also, you have to have (if I'm remembering correctly):

2 vehicles, with 2 licensed drivers each.
3-4 bikes for varying terrain, potential breakdowns, etc? (this one I'm not 100 sure is in the rules, but it seems like a logical minimum for me)
at least 2 people that can wrench. Good. Not iffy wrenches, but bona fide guys/gals you'd trust to let work on bikes while your asleep. This would get tricky because if you gotta get back on that specific bike after a quick nap, you're not going to get a whole lot of "aweshucks" time.


I've had the idea creep up in the back of my mind too, but I don't think I can fund it until I finish grad school. But what I can tell so far thanks to the very experienced long distance racers/riders here is that you're going to want to build on the base miles you already have. Do some races that match the qualification races to just get into the RAAM. Work on eating/saddle time because there is a cut off for this that is no joke.