AMERICAN ULTRA RIDE

Ralph Giarnella MD
Southington Ct USA

Monday June 11, 2007

Special Supplement to The Prologue:

The Race Across America begins June 10th for soloistsand then again on Tuesday June 12th for team relayriders. RAAM attracts the world's greatestultra-marathon cyclists to race non-stop 3,046 milesacross America. Racers come from all walks of life andeven support numerous charitable causes with theirefforts. Last year's RAAM competitors raised over $1million dollars for their recognized causes, butmeeting the cycling challenge is priority one; and ithas to be. Soloists face a cut off time of 12 days, 5hours or 10.4 miles per hour and the winner usuallybreaks the ribbon is less than 9 days.

The Solo Female division is growing. Last year therewere only two solo female contestants, ShannaArmstrong of Lubbock, TX and Patty Jo Struve of KingsBeach, CA. Armstrong won the race and Struve withdrew.Kerry White of Vail, CO, Lauren Fithian ofMinneapolis, MN, and Patty Riddle of La Jolla, CA arethe American female solo racers competing againstCaroline van den Bulk of Huntsville, Ontario, Canadaand Hana Ebertova of the Prague, Czech.

In the Men's Solo Division the race is going to be anabsolute battle with 24 contestants and threereturning RAAM champions, including last year's winnerDaniel Wyss and the 2005 and 2004 winner Juric Robic,add the legendary repeat RAAM winner Wolfgang Faschingand all the returning veterans and RAAM promises to bea wheel to wheel race from coast-to-coast. Remember inRAAM there is no drafting!

RAAM entries have soared 25% since RAAM 2006, mostpredominantly among team entrants, with over 40 teamsof 2, 4, or 8 members racing relay-style across thecountry. Even with the super human conditioninginvolved in the preperation for RAAM, Solo racersusually deteriorate substantially after a few days of22 hours per day of racing, but the speed andintensity of team racing will amaze you. Imagineriding across the United States in 20 minute splits,the coordination of both the riders and their supportcrews is more complicated than solving a Rubik’s Cubeblindfolded. The ability of team racers to rest &recovery fuels their speeds around the clock, acrossthe nation! One bad split or exchange can mean thedifference between finishing 1st or 5th.

In the words of Race Director Terry Zmrhal; Everyoneis going after their dream and every category has astory and a race – three former winners, five women,two recumbent teams, two 60+ teams. With a staff offormer RAAM racers covering the race you can be sureour increased web coverage will showcase all thepersonalities, drama, and challenges that RAAM has tooffer. Catch the live race ticker on
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/, but beware the world'stoughest bicycle race is extremely addicting.