The winner usually finishes in eight to nine days, after riding approximately 22 hours per day through the varied terrain of the United States. Thus, the winner is the rider who can best combine fast riding with short and infrequent stops. The clock runs continuously from start to finish as in a time trial, and the final overall finish time includes rest periods. There are no designated rest periods for food and sleep. He broke a bone in the neck and had to quit the race.Īs noted above, unlike most multi-day bicycle races such as the Tour de France, RAAM has no stages, i.e., there is no specified distance to travel each day. On June 18 or 19, 2018, Thomas Mauerhofer, in 3rd place, was hit by a car while he made a left turn. However, he remained in a coma until his death on February 16, 2018. He later stabilized and rehabilitated back in Denmark. He was quickly flown to a hospital, where he went into a coma. Tesgaard suffered a severe brain injury and multiple fractured bones.
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The driver came from behind and hit Tesgaard at 60 mph. On June 15, 2015, while in 3rd place, Anders Tesgaard of Denmark was hit by an inattentive truck driver in West Virginia. A similar fate befell Canadian cyclist Wayne Phillips in 1985, when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver in New Mexico. He is paralyzed from the waist down, but hopes to walk again one day. A little less than one month later, Ballesteros was home in Spain and undergoing rehabilitation. On June 16, 2010, participant Diego Ballesteros Cucurull of Spain was critically injured when he was struck by a car near Wichita, Kansas. Outside magazine investigated the crash in its November 2006 issue. Details are lacking because he was by himself (his support crew was a few miles behind) and the only witnesses were in the vehicle that collided with him. In 2005, solo participant Bob Breedlove was killed in a collision with an oncoming vehicle near Trinidad, Colorado. In 2003, team rider Brett Malin was killed when he was hit by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer outside Pie Town, New Mexico. There have been three fatalities in the race's history. The finish line was once again in Annapolis, Maryland. The solo division of the most recent (2018) race began on June 12 in Oceanside, California teams started on June 16, 2018.
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In addition to races across the full span of the United States, shorter races with a similar format have been included within RAAM among these are a 24-hour version and the Race Across the West (RAW), typically ending in Durango, Colorado. In 1989, team divisions were added to introduce new elements of technology and strategy: a category for HPVs and faired bikes resulted in record speeds, and a four-man team division gave racers the option of riding together or taking turns, allowing them to balance higher speeds against longer rest periods. The race was televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports through 1986. The concept caught on and the event grew larger year after year, with riders from around the world showing up to compete. The course started in Santa Monica, California and finished at the Empire State Building in New York City, where Haldeman emerged as the winner.Īfter the first year, the name of the event changed to Race Across America, and participation became subject to qualification rather than invitation. There were four competitors: John Marino himself, John Howard, Michael Shermer, and Lon Haldeman.
The first incarnation of RAAM, The Great American Bike Race, was organized by John Marino in 1982. By contrast, the Tour de France features a different route each year (alternating between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits around France) and is about 2,300 miles long the distance is divided into individual daily stages spread over the course of about 3 weeks and contested at much higher speeds. More importantly, the race has no stages, i.e., it is in principle a nonstop event from start to finish, with the fastest competitors needing slightly over a week to complete the course. However, in the Race Across America, the direction has always been from the west coast to the east coast of the United States, approximately 3,000 miles (4,800 km), making it a transcontinental event. The courses of both races have varied over the years. In length the RAAM is comparable to the Tour de France, but the races differ to a great extent. All entrants must prove their abilities by competing in any of several qualifying events, completing a course within a specified time period. RAAM is one of the longest annual endurance events in the world.
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