cedo

He started at 20 mph average last year.

Devil

20.19mph average at 228 mile checkpoint. Ridiculous. It's not all flat, either.

Richard Cranium

Yes, 20.19, .36mph faster than last year, but I can't vouch for the weather, I wasn't there.

My weather maps show favor, but reports are saying surface winds are crossing or hindering.

Only, nutjobs get dehydrated enough to need IVs -- sure it could be an emergency, but get off it will you -----any athlete, with any sense, won't let themselves lose the time or performance by screwing around with needles and bag of fluids - you could never make up the time......sorry - I suffer fools poorly......

Devil

https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/fil...o/raam28mb.wmv

Cool video promo about 12 minutes long on RAAM, narrated by Jim Lampley of HBO Sports.

Richard Cranium

Robic continues to beat his pace from last year, at Prescott, nearly 40 minutes ahead of schedule. However, he made the time while riding Congress, not up the climbs to Prescott.

I doubt these guys wanted to give Robic a cushion this early, I expected everyone to say within 30 mins, but only Baloh is close.

Nothing "super" about the speeds yet -- after all, these guys need 800 in 48hours.

cedo

It is a truism about RAAM that many passes occur while a rider is taking a break / sleeping. Given that Robic needs less sleep than the others, if he builds up a substantial cushion, it will be diffcult for anyone else to pass him.

Richard Cranium

Robic's .7mph faster than last year, but the course is about to diverge, so no strict comparison can be made anymore......

Looks like great weather going Flagstaff, so they should all have great times. But MacDonald has not checked in to TS7 - I guess he has issues with the pace, or they missed a TS call.....

Whoah - Robic just hit TS8 - he posts about 442 for the first 24hours.......

froody

MacDonald is down to 15.5 mph. Maybe he had trouble, maybe he just took a nap. Looks like the top 3 are well ahead of the rest. We'll seen when they first sleep. Robic just keeps extending his lead. It's not huge, but it does matter. Looks like he'll beat the 2 slowest 24-hour teams to Flagstaff.

Tim

cedo

He's been moving back up through the standings - currently in 10th place.
Does anyone know what caused the slow start?

froody

Not sure, but looking at his breakdown:
https://raceacrossamerica.org/racesta...fo&RiderId=186

He really only was slow going to TS 1. Since then he's been pretty consistent. I think he's moving up in the standings because other people are slowing down. For instance Breedlove (who was cruising pretty good) clearly took a break or something between TS5 and TS6:
https://raceacrossamerica.org/racesta...fo&RiderId=188

Tim

cedo

Some minor setback must have happened to Kish the first leg. Otherwise, his speed for that section would have been higher.

Also the Kish / Breedlove 50+ competition is already getting exciting.

Richard Cranium

I don't know for sure the "schedule" for MacDonald, his first sleep break was to be based on the amount of sleep he had the night before the race. If he slept well, most likely he would ride for up to 36 hours, if not, he would take a sleep break within the first 24 hours.

Kish IS riding exactly Kish-like.... He's just enjoying the race, picking and choosing his time to work.
Most of the these veterans can ride these distances without duress. It's when they get to 700 miles and the 2nd night out that "RAAM fatigue" starts to weigh in......

Of course Robic, Baloh and Trevino, are at the edge of their ability, so little things will hurt them in a hurry if anything goes wrong.

I have no doubt, that Robic is feeling no pressure, and is riding against Penseyres record fast start times.

There's extra prize money for a record breaking ride......

cedo

RC, you were right -- Kish did not have any problem heaing to the first station. The first leg had the most climbing of any stage and since the day was a scorcher, Kish conserved energy.

Richard Cranium

Great news - RAAM server - race data application is too busy to return info.....

No Race stats unless you call TS or headquarters......

cedo

Looks like Marko Baloh has taken the lead near the Colorado border.

cyclwestks

Hope the server's up before long. Look's like Dr. Breedlove's riding his race soo far. Can't help but pull for Ben too.

cedo

Server's back up. Looks like Robic is first to reach TS#11.

Edit: I meant TS#14.

froody

Good morning RAAM junkies. :-)
Robic's out in front at TS14. I'm glad to see that Haase is back in it. Looking at his breakdown, he may have started out a little optimistic, then paid for it, but is riding at a reasonable speed now.
I'm kinda worried about the back of the pack. Karl Traunmueller is below 10mph now, and several riders are hovering just above. What exactly are the rules on minimum speed? Anyway, I'll be rooting for them to finish. In a way I feel for them more, because if I ever race RAAM I'll be right there in the back. No way I'll ever make it out in front. Breedlove has 6 and half hours on Kish.

Tim

cyclwestks

I remember from the NBC special that Rocket Rosar got warnings when his avg speed was approaching 10 mph. Don't know if that was overall, or between time stations. At this rate I may have to head for our Kansas time station earlier. Looks like we're predicted for 100 degree days these next few.

cyclwestks

Found this on their site:

Cutoff times for Solo Riders -- . Solo riders have 12 days 2 hours to finish by noon in Atlantic City or 290 hours total, and must reach the Timestation within the times noted below.

TS 13 Aneth, UT at mile 727- start time plus 72.5 hours , Wednesday, June 22/05 10:30 am EDT
TS 27 Mt Vernon, KS at mile1513 - start time plus 145 hours, Saturday, June 25/05 11:00 am EDT
TS 40 Indianapolis, IN at mile 2257- start time plus 217.5 hours, Tuesday, June 28/05 11:30 am EDT

Cutoff times for Team Riders --Team riders have 9 days, 19 hours to complete the race or 235 hours total. Teams must reach the timesations below within the times noted below.

TS 13 Aneth, UT at mile 727 start time plus 59 hours. Friday, June 24/05, 4:00 am EDT
TS 27 Mt Vernon, KS at mile 1513 - start time plus 117 hours. Sunday, June 26/05 3:00 pm EDT
TS 40 Indianapolis, IN at mile 2257 - start time plus 176 hours. Wednesday, June 29/05 2:00 am EDT

If a rider does not reach the indicated Time station within the allowed time noted above, the Rider will be disqualified from the Race except that under extraordinary conditions, the Race Director or his appointee may extend the time to take into account unusual circumstances.

cedo

Clearly, you can't hope to win or post a competitve time on RAAM unless you sleep very little. But if your goal is to finish with a respectable time, I wonder if anyone has considered a strategy of riding a bit harder with more sleep. It seems that by the last third of the race, a deep fatigue sets in that is due in part to the high exertion level over a long period and in part due to the lack of sleep. It might be possible for the foks in the bottom half of the lineup to post a better time if they allowed themselves a bit more recovery. Or does time off the bike just eat away any advantage gained by the additional rest?

Ceiliazul

Legend has it that Jonathan Boyer won RAAM in 1985 while getting six hours of sleep per night. He won by two hours according to the Ultracycling Hall of Fame site at https://www.ultracycling.com/about/hof_marino.html.

Anyone have more definitive information on that race and Boyer's schedule? Boyer was an ex-TDF rider, so his cycling superpowers might have allowed him more flexibility.

recursive

Jonathon Boyer 1985:

https://www.markobaloh.com/eng/index.php?page=Raam

Ceiliazul

Recursive, Good link!

Boyer beat Secrest by 4:02 in the 8th closest finish ever.
https://www.dannychew.com/RAAMstats.html
(search page for "4:02")

cedo

"Jonathan Boyer, a four-time Tour de France veteran and one of the best American cyclists at the time was a pioneer who came to change the character of the race-forever. . . . He was clearly the best cyclist in the race and predicted he would sleep more than others and ride faster to catch up. But, halfway through the race, he realized it was not going to be so easy. For half of the race, Michael Secrest was fighting with him for a lead, exchanging places several times. To fulfill the expectations of everyone and win the race, the consummate road racer and Tour the France veteran had to become an ultra-marathon cyclist. He was riding without sleep, eating his meals and changing his clothes on the bike. Despite his pre-race predictions, he was just chugging along like the rest of them-just trying to get through the ordeal. . . . .

So Boyer attempted to ride with more sleep, but had to switch his strategy in mid race to order to win.

But this doesn't quite answer my previous question. You need to deprive yourself of sleep to win, but what about posting a respectable time? I think the answer is, any advantage gained by recovery during extra sleep is lost by spending too much time off the bike, even for those at the back of the pack.