Tom Bombadil

The Race Across America (RAAM) is in progress right now.

Leaderboards are here: https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raa...nkraamteam.php

There is a 4-man team of 50+'s from Georgia: https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raa..._Entry_ID=2498

They are currently averaging a bit over 18 mph.

There's a 2-man 50+ team that is averaging approx 17.5 mph. A 4-man 75+ team averaging 14.5 mph. A 4-person 50+ mixed (male & female) team that is flying along at 18.4 mph.

Notable non-50+ teams are an 8-person team that is averaging a whopping 23.6 mph over 2750 miles so far. They've had averages of >25 mph over a number of stages. But their last stage in West Virginia was only 18.6, through the mountains.

The fastest 4-person team is Team RANS, which is a team riding RANS recumbent bikes. They are presently about 100 miles ahead of the fastest 4-person team riding upright bikes. But they still have the Appalachian Mountains to get through - the hill climbs are shorter than through the Rockies, but steeper. Right now they are in eastern Ohio, heading toward Athens, OH and then into West Virginia.

Tom Bombadil

Apparently the 75+ team had some difficulties on the Grafton to Gormania, WV stage. Up to this stage, their slowest speed over any stage was 11.59 mph. But on the WV stage, they slowed to only 5.86 mph. Must have spent nearly the entire stage in their lowest granny gears. I bet they were glad to get this one behind them. Some mountains still ahead of them, but then comes the downhill ride into La Vale, Maryland.

Can't find out any personal info on the team. They are named the "Great Grand PAC Masters."

Tom Bombadil

The RANS recumbent team has a couple of riders in their mid to later 40's. As they are the fastest 4-man team, they are showing the young'uns that near-50 racers are a force to contend with. Here's a pic of one of them cruising across Kansas:

Tom Bombadil

Should have mentioned that there were 4 50+ solo riders in RAAM. 2 men in the 50-59 age group, 1 woman 50-59, and one man 60-69. One of the 50-59 men had to drop out midway through the race.

The 60+ rider is averaging just a bit over 11 mph. That doesn't sound impressive, but consider that he has ridden 2458 miles in 10 days!!! Amazing!

rodrigaj

https://bicycledreamsmovie.com/

John E

I was sorry to see "Did Not Finish" on Peter Oyler's web page. My clubmates and I met him about an hour before he started with the other solo men under 60, and he's a smashing bloke, as my British friends would say. https://peteroyler.com/

Tom Bombadil

Should have also noted that the 11 mph average INCLUDES whatever time he has spent sleeping, resting, and eating.

George

Just ordered the DVD, thanks for the link.

rodrigaj

Your welcome.

I just received it yesterday and watched it last night. It's a truly great documentary on so many different levels. Although RAAM is the focus, the real story is the meaning of human existence.

I wish it had reached wider distribution. I would have loved to have seen it in a large theater with a good sound system.

Enjoy.

rae

Just wanted to note the participation of Team Type I and Team Type II, whose members are all diabetic. Team Type I was the first to finish, I believe.

DnvrFox

There is a guy 85 years old doing the race on the 75+ team.

DnvrFox

https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raa...4&s_N_Year_ID=

The Weak Link

Ordered the DVD. Feeling very existential at the moment.

George

I tried to find how long it was and couldn't, but I know it will be good.

rodrigaj

At least 90min-2hr.

Tom Bombadil

Some of the results:

The 50+ female from Great Britain got to within 132 miles of the finish and then dropped out of the race. No reason was cited.

50+ male soloist Dominique Briand (https://crazygone.canalblog.com/) did finish in 11 days, 9 hours, and 24 minutes. He rode an average of 265 miles per day!

60+'er Paul Danhaus also finished, just barely behind Briand, at 11 days, 10 hours, and 48 minutes. His web page and blog about his experience can be found here: https://www.pauldanhaus.org/

All four of the 50+ 4-person teams finished. The 4-person 50-59 Mixed (male & female) did quite well, they beat 10 of the 14 under 50 4-person traditional bike teams, averaging 18.12 mph over the 3021 miles.

The 75+ 4-person team did finish, completing the course in 8 days, 14 hours and 49 minutes. I had earlier noted that they had slowed to an average speed of 5.86 mph in the steepest WV stage. That was an error on the RAAM site. They actually did 10.23 mph on that stage.

The 4-person team riding RANS recumbents, of which two riders were 52 and 47, finished with the fastest time of any 4-person team, besting the best upright bike team (of any age) by 6 hours and 50 minutes. They averaged 16 mph through the steepest Colorado stage and 14.83 in the steepest WV stage.

Dchiefransom

One of the riders is 76 on the Surfer team. Too bad a van from another team broke an ankle of his team mate.

rodrigaj

Tom- do you know why none of the soloist ride recumbents?

It would appear that the neck problems and visual problems would go away.

prxmid

Watched some teams finish yesterday in downtown Annapolis

bought the RAAM T shirt

Don't want to do the ride

Tom Bombadil

I don't have much information on it. But usually only a few participants ride recumbents, nearly always in teams. I believe there have been some years with no recumbent riders.

This year's recumbent riders rode without fairings. I believe there was a team that rode with fairings back in the mid-80s which set the 4-person RAAM record, which stands to this day.

Recumbents seem to offer an advantage in this race, but for whatever reason the crazed mentality possessed by RAAM riders doesn't seem to co-exist often with a desire to ride a bent.

Tom Bombadil

The New York Times ran an article on Team Type 1, which was an 8-person team made up of cyclists who have Type 1 Diabetes. Here's an excerpt from that article:

"During the Race Across America, the Team Type 1 cyclists wore glucose monitors and traveled with a doctor, eating or drinking when blood sugar levels begin to drop. While all the athletes must take insulin regularly to prevent high blood sugar, the intense exercise causes their medication needs to drop 60 to 75 percent during the first days of the race. As the body adjusts in the later days of the race, the cyclists must generally increase their insulin injections.

To complete the race, the cyclists divided into two teams of four. The first four riders took turns pedaling at full sprint for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, meaning each individual rider took only a short break before having to ride again. After about 150 miles of tag-team racing, the exhausted cyclists met up with the second set of four riders, who took over, giving the first riders time to eat and rest before they started again.

Despite mechanical problems, the team, which started in Oceanside, Calif., rolled into Annapolis, Md., a distance of 3,021 miles, in five days, nine hours and five minutes. Their average speed was 23.41 miles per hour — 0.17 better than the winner last year, a Norwegian cycling team made up of professionals."

Artkansas 

And here I was, thinking about taking the bus today because my hour commute seemed too arduous this morning.

gcottay

There may be no overlap between the sane choice of riding recumbent and total insanity of doing RAAM solo. <G>

big john

Recumbents are their own division, have their own records, etc.

Last year John Schlitter finished as the first ever solo recumbent. His time was almost the same as my clubmate David Jones, who was 61 then. Oddly, they both fell asleep near the end and had slow speed crashes.

Dana from Carbent tells me next year he hopes to sponsor some 'bent riders in the race, not sure if any will be solo.

Anybody else think it's crazy that 4 time champ Jure Robic quit with about 40 miles to go ?

Tom Bombadil

Just Googled and found this:

"Mount Airy Bicycles serves as one of the 53 time stations across the country, where racers must call Race Headquarters to report their location and time.

Additionally, the shop is the only penalty box along the entire route. Bikers who have committed any infraction, including unsportsmanlike conduct or running a stop sign, must spend a specified amount of time, in increments of 15 minutes, off the course at the store.

"They don't have to sit in a box, they just can't leave the area," Black said.

The first rider through Mount Airy was Jure Robic, at 6:23 p.m. Robic served a one-hour penalty at the shop and was passed for first place by Dani Wyss before dropping out of the race."

and this:

"Baltimore, 28 June (STA) - Slovenian ultra-marathon cyclist Jure Robic has failed to defend his title at the grueling Race Across America (RAAM) after quitting in protest over jury decisions. Compatriot Marko Baloh finished third."