Anyone done RAAM?

[davidalone]

has anyone here ever done RAAM? what were your expereinces? how did you prepare logistically and train for it? equipment? ( TT bikes or road bikes?)

asking because some friends have mooted the idea of going for either the 2014 or 2015 edition.

[hasbeen]

Did the two person team. Finished in just over 7 days.
Still dont have complete feeling in my toes, had massive swelling in both legs for a month, both knees gave me big trouble and still do (that traces back to doing Mt Washington on a 39x26 though), and I ate junk food constantly for 6 months even though I knew better. I was racing as a 2 before I did it. Ive always been an "all day is ok" type of rider though. I used to ride to crits, do the crit, and ride home for some massive days. That helped. Its mostly mental, then preventing injuries, then riding hard. We almost won that year and wish we would have known going into it that we would be in that situation. hindsight.
I used my regular race bike with multiple wheel and helmet options. I did not add aero bars. My position is naturally low.

In the end, at least for me, it did more harm than good. Its massively expensive and insane. Over 200 miles every day for 7 days. Stupid.

Id do it again and win this time.

[ras11]

Do it! Riding across the US (in Raam or otherwise) is a right of passage.

[Zitter]

one of my friends was on the viasat 8 man team that set the RAAM record. from what I understand they brought TT and road bikes (TT bike for flats and windy, road bike for climbing/descending). his training was like 20 hour/400+ mile weeks. I don't know the specifics but a lot of TT and ultra long distance stuff

[djconnel]

Hasbeen, I am in awe. Good luck to further recovery.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

[Privateer]

I finished in 2010 (9 days 17 hours) and DNF'd in 2012 after about 1,000 miles.

What exactly do you want to know? Everyone's experience will be different, but I'm happy to help where I can.