Race Across America
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The Race Across America, or RAAM, is an ultra marathon bicycle race across the USA that started in 1982 as the Great American Bike Race. RAAM is the best-known and longest annual endurance cycling event in the world.
The exact course of the race has varied substantially during its history, but has always been from the West Coast to East Coast of the United States, approximately 3,000 miles (4800 km). In 2006, the course was from Oceanside, California, to Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Unlike most multi-day bicycle races, RAAM has no stages or designated rest periods. Instead, the clock runs continuously from start to finish. The winner of the race usually finishes in eight to nine days, after riding approximately 22 hours per day through the varied terrain of the US. Each racer has a crew that follows in one or more vehicles to provide food, water, and other supplies. A crew vehicle fitted with flashing lights is required to follow closely behind the rider at all times to ensure they are visible.
In 2006 the race format changed slightly with the addition of a "Solo Enduro" division in which riders are required to rest (off the bike) for a total of forty hours at specified Control Points spread across the country. The forty hours are deducted from a rider's total elapsed time at the end of the race. These changes were intended to improve rider safety and shift some emphasize toward long-distance riding speed and away from the capacity to endure sleep deprivation. The "Solo Traditional" division remains as it was before; lowest elapsed time from West coast to East Coast. The official winner is the one in the "Solo Enduro" division. In 2007 the race will start on the 10th of June in Oceanside CA and the first solo is expected to arrive around the 19th of June at the pear of Atlantic City NJ
The race is held in several divisions. In 2006 those were:
- Men's Solo Traditional
- Men´s Solo Enduro
- Female Solo Traditional
- Two Person Male
- Two Person Mixed
- Two Person Recumbent
- Four Person Male
- Four Person Male HPV
- Four Person Female
- Four Person Mixed
- Four Person Tandem
- Corporate Challenge
- 24 Hour Corporate Challenge
Contents |
[edit] Great American Bike Race
The Great American Bike Race was originally organized by John Marino in 1982. There were four competitors, John Marino, John Howard, Michael Shermer, and Lon Haldeman. The course started in Santa Monica, California and finished at the Empire State Building in New York City. Haldeman won the first race. The race was televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports through 1986.
The Results for the 1982 race were:
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Finish Winner Location Time Average Speed 1 Lon Haldeman Harvard, IL 9d 20h 02m 12.57 mph 2 John Howard Houston, TX 10d 10h 59m 11.83 mph 3 Michael Shermer Tustin, CA 10d 19h 54m 11.42 mph 4 John Marino Irvine, CA 12d 07h 37m 10.04 mph
[edit] Records
Because the course has varied in length and difficulty over the years, performances in different years are sometimes not comparable. Records are usually recorded in terms of average speed, not total time, to account in part for the different course lengths. The fastest men's average speed for a crossing was by Pete Penseyres in 1986, when he rode 3107 miles (5000 km) at 15.40 miles per hour (mph)(24.8 km/h) to finish in 8 days, 9 hours, and 47 minutes. The fastest woman to ride the race was Seana Hogan in 1995, who averaged 13.23 mph (21.3 km/h) to finish 2912 miles (4686 km) in 9 days, 4 hours, 2 minutes. The shortest elapsed time ever for a crossing was actually outside of an official RAAM, by Michael Secrest in 1990, when he finished in 7 days 23 hours.
[edit] List of overall winners
This is an all-time list of winners of Race Across America in Men's Solo category.
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Year Winner Nationality Route Miles Time 1982 Lon Haldeman 
United StatesSanta Monica Pier, CA to Empire State Building, NY 2968 9 days 20 h 02 min 1983 Lon Haldeman United StatesSanta Monica Pier, CA to Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 3170 10 days 16 h 29 min 1984 Pete Penseyres United StatesHuntington Beach, CA to Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 3047 9 days 13 h 13 min 1985 Jonathan Boyer United StatesHuntington Beach, CA to Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 3120 9 days 02 h 06 min 1986 Pete Penseyres United StatesHuntington Beach, CA to Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 3107 8 days 09 h 47 min 1987 Michael Secrest United StatesSan Francisco, CA to Washington Monument, D.C 3127 9 days 11 h 35 min 1988 Franz Spilauer 
AustriaSan Francisco, CA to Washington Monument, D.C 3073 9 days 07 h 09 min 1989 Paul Solon United StatesFairgrounds, Irvine, CA to Battery Park, NY City, NY 2911 8 days 08 h 45 min 1990 Bob Fourney United StatesHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2930 8 days 11 h 26 min 1991 Bob Fourney United StatesHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2930 8 days 16 h 44 min 1992 Rob Kish United StatesHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2911 8 days 03 h 11 min 1993 Gerry Tatrai 
AustraliaHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2910 8 days 20 h 19 min 1994 Rob Kish United StatesHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2901 8 days 14 h 25 min 1995 Rob Kish United StatesHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2912 8 days 19 h 59 min 1996 Daniel Chew United StatesHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2905 8 days 07 h 14 min 1997 Wolfgang Fasching AustriaHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 3025 9 days 04 h 50 min 1998 Gerry Tatrai AustraliaHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2906 8 days 11 h 22 min 1999 Danny Chew United StatesHoliday Inn, Irvine, CA to Rusakas Plaza, Savannah, GA 2938 8 days 7 h 34 min 2000 Wolfgang Fasching AustriaPortland, Oregon to Pensacola Beach , Florida 2975.1 8 days 10 h 19 min 2001 Andrea Clavadetscher 
LiechtensteinPortland, Oregon to Pensacola Beach , Florida 2983.2 9 days 00 h 17 min 2002 Wolfgang Fasching AustriaPortland, Oregon to Pensacola Beach , Florida 2991.9 9 days 03 h 38 min 2003 Allen Larsen United StatesSan Diego, CA to Atlantic City, NJ 2921.7 8 days 23 h 36 min 2004 Jure Robič 
SloveniaSan Diego, CA to Atlantic City, NJ 2958.5 8 days 09 h 51 min 2005 Jure Robič SloveniaSan Diego, CA to Atlantic City, NJ 3051.7 9 days 8 h 48 min 2006 Solo Traditional Daniel Wyss 
SwitzerlandOceanside, CA to Atlantic City, NJ 3042.8 9 days 11 h 50 min 2006 Solo Enduro Jonathan Boyer United StatesOceanside, CA to Atlantic City, NJ 3042.8 10 days 0 h 52 min
RAAM RECORDS FOR ALL OF THE DIVISIONS Division or Category Name of Team Name of Rider(s) Year AVS in MPH Time (D: H: M: ) Distance (miles) Solo Enduro Men | Jonathan Boyer | 2006 | 12.63 | 10:00:52 | 3,043 Men Pete Penseyres 1986 15.40 8:09:47 3,107 Rookie Men Jonathan Boyer 1985 14.31 9:02:06 3,120 Men 50+ Jonathan Boyer 2006 12.63 10:00:52 3,043 Men 60+ Fred Boethling 2006 10.31 12:07:03 3,043 Women Seana Hogan 1995 13.23 9:04:02 2,912 Rookie Women Muffy Ritz 1993 12.49 9:16:29 2,910 Women 50+ Bonnie Allison 1992 8.48 14:07:27 2,911 TEAM 2 Person Tandem Men Lon Haldeman & Bob Breedlove 1992 14.55 8:08:08 2,911 Tandem Men (non-RAAM) Lon Haldeman & Pete Penseyres 1987 15.97 7:14:55 2,921 Tandem Women (non-RAAM) Estelle Gray & Cheryl Marek 1984 11.32 10:22:48 2,975 Tandem Mixed Ron Dossenbach & Sue Pavlat 1990 11.15 10:22:40 2,930 Tandem Mixed (non-RAAM) Lon Haldeman & Susan Notorangelo 1986 12.16 9:20:07 2,871 2 Person Team Recumbent Volae Wolf Pack Thomas Kingsbury & Tim Woudenberg 2006 16.56 7:15:47 3,043 2 Person Team Men BodyXchange/Garden Pathways Joe Petersen & Kevin McNulty 2006 19.58 6:11:24 3,043 2 Person Team Men 50+ eXtreme Charles Liskey & Steve Winfrey 2006 15.82 8:00:23 3,043 2 Person Team Men 60+ Team 60+ Fred Boethling & Dan Crain 2005 14.85 8:13:34 3,052 2 Person Team Women 50+ Twin Team Dr. Barbara Warren & Angelika Castaneda 2001 13.03 9:13:00 2,983 2 Person Team Mixed VeloWear.com/Co-Motion George Thomas & Terri Gooch 2004 15.90 7:18:05 2,959 2 Person Team Mixed 50+ Racing Against Diabetes Terry Dutton & Patty Riddle 2006 10.74 11:19:14 3,043 4 Person 2 Tandem {4 Person} Team Mixed JDRF Tim Skipper & Brenda Barnell 2006 15.37 8:05:56 3,043
Tom Hooker & Rachel MaGrady
4 Person Team HPV Team Lightning/Tim Brummer Pete Penseyres & Jim Penseyres 1989 24.02 5:01:08 2,911
Bob Fourney & Michael Coles
4 Person Team Recumbent ALS - Bacchetta Tim Woudenberg & John Quarterman 2005 20.70 6:03:26 3,052
Phil Plath & Karta Purk Atehortua
4 Person Team Men Action Sports Kerry Ryan & Kerry Classen 2004 23.06 5:08:17 2,959
Sean Nealy & Nat Faulkner
4 Person Team Men 50+ Team Bicycling Pete Penseyres & Ed Pavelka 1996 22.12 5:11:21 2,905
Fred Matheny & Skip Hamilton
4 Person Team Men 60+ Team PAC Masters Lee Mitchell & Dr. Ron Bell 1995 17.71 6:20:27 2,912
Victor Gallo & Ian Sandbach
4 Person Team Men 70+ Team Grand PAC Masters Lee Mitchell & Dr. Ron Bell 2004 16.03 7:16:31 2,959
Chris Stauffer & Bob Kash
4 Person Team Women Team Florida Jane Sheeder & Cathy Coveney 1996 18.57 6:12:28 2,905
Laura Williams & Joyce Gogola
4 Person Team Women 50+ Red Helmets Melinda Yelton & Paula Larsen 2006 15.99 7:22:15 3,043
Sharon Koontz & Celeste Callahan
4 Person Team Mixed Ideo/Fat City John Lake & Brad Melmon 1994 19.50 6:04:44 2,901
Lynette Ross & Diane Young
4 Person Team Mixed 50+ Emily's Team Dan McGehee & Laurence Burns 2006 18.56 6:19:59 3,043
Marvin Atwood & Pamela Atwood
4 Person Team Mixed 60+ The Twin PAC Dr. Ron Bell & Walt Chapman 2002 15.22 8:04:35 2,992
Dr. Barbara Warren & Angelika Castaneda
6 Person 6 Person Handcycle Team Men RC - Enjo Vorarlberg Philipp Bonadimann & Thomas Bechter 2006 12.67 10:00:12 3,043
Jurgen Egle & Hubert Kilga Kiaus Salzmann & Wolfgang Wimmer
8 Person 4 Tandem {8 Person} Team Men Team TwoCan John Williams & Tim Skipper 1996 19.77 6:02:55 2,905
Brian Stark & Terry Wilkinson Pat Jesson & Michael Kanter Anny Beck & Jeff Sale
4 Tandem {8 Person} Team Mixed Two Mixed Up Tim Skipper & Tom Hooker 1997 18.31 6:21:13 3,025
Bob Kimber & Ray Collins Katrin Teal & Tiffany Tretschok Kathy Urschel & Marlee Sondgeroth
8 Person Corporate Team Type 1 Diabetes Phil Southerland & Pratt Rather 2006 22.36 5:16:04 3,043
Linda Demma & Jay Hewitt Robert Heyer & Troy Willard Joe Eldridge & Steve Holmes
8 Person Corporate Team 60+ Cycling for Chaffey Pete Penseyres & Jim Penseyres 2006 17.23 7:08:36 3,043
Ron Mittino & Gary Spencer Carl Skvarna & Gary Byrne Chuck Gilbert & Don Flanigan
