RAAM

[rustychain]

Just wonder if anyone is following RAAM this year
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/subweb ... df890f39e9

I've been wanting to do this for a few years now but................ hell of alot of time, money and organization to make it possable.

Any predictions on the solo winner/ team?

[djconnel]

It seems RAAM is such an extreme event, it has difficulty attracting a deep quality field. There's those seriously competing at the top level, then the guys doing it as sort of the ultimate challenge just to finish, The latter group, with the exception perhaps of Boyer 2 years ago, includes the 50+ and 60+ year olds. This year has a particular lack of depth, and Robic is the run-away favorite to win, even if he did start out crazy fast the first day.

The 4-rider and 8-rider team races are basically all-amateur deals. Get any group of solid cat 3 racers, work out the logistics, and you have a team which can compete for the win. Honestly, I pay little attention, unless I know any of the participants. I'm a bit familiar with team H4 this year, so have been checking their progress.

2-man teams are sort of a hybrid race. Again, I don't think they're top-level competitions. More like a "any man can do this if he works at it" type of thing.

I like RAAM, but it's not an event contested at the level of a Pro Tour race, or for that matter, any pro cycling race. Not even close.

added The most impressive rider may be David Jones, leading the 50+, but also the 60+, and is 8th overall, in the solo.

[rustychain]

You must have some hard riding cat 3's were you live!
There are many catagories of races within RAAM but I differ with your opnion on the level of fitness needed to do well (esp. solo). Perhaps its me but I find some of the behind the scenes drama as well as the statagies of the riders themselves interesting. Granted its not the TDF for entertainment value. I did 280 miler this week with lots of sleep and it left me feeling drained. Thinking of doing such (try almost double that) day after day..............

[djconnel]

You must have some hard riding cat 3's were you live!

Yeah -- they kicked my b*tt on the final climb of the 75-mile Pescadero RR yesterday (even with my KCNC skewers! ). Fortunately the kicking came from my teammates, and we won the race.

An 8-man team RAAM requires riding approximately 375 miles in a week (although 750 may be more typical, if you do 2-man shifts), while 4-man RAAM requires 750 miles in a week. I've done these before, the first time at Hell Week Texas, which was 800 miles in 8 days. It's different to go out and ride at a steady pace day-after-day than it is to train this many miles, including hard intervals and/or races, while holding down a full-time job.

Is team RAAM hard? Absolutely! However, we're not talking hard like a national championship RR, where if you have a full time job, or are over 38, or aren't genetically gifted, forget it.

[HammerTime2]

Yeah -- they kicked my b*tt on the final climb of the 75-mile Pescadero RR yesterday (even with my KCNC skewers! ).

If only you had M2 or Omni skewers instead. Ahhh, what could have been.

[EspenBjørgan]

Huh? I thought the Team Type 1 was good? And they got beaten so hard by my friends? Hahaha! GREAT! Viva la Norway!

[rustychain]

Norge, WAHOO!

[kingtom]

I like RAAM, but it's not an event contested at the level of a Pro Tour race, or for that matter, any pro cycling race. Not even close.

you never have done things like that i guess. for shure it isn't contested at the level of a pro tour race. but only when you compare the speed average. but i can tell you, that a ultrarider suffers more than a tdf-rider. an ultrarider has pain for 8 days. everytime he suffers.

but generally you can't compare this two ways to race. they are two complet different forms of sport. like a sprinter and a marathon-cursor. not comparable.