This year I had to be missed among Race Across America racers, crews, officials and friends. Because of that I had the rare opportunity to observe the race from the other side of the Atlantic ocean. From 2003, I was 6 times crew member and once a crew chief for the greatest ultra cyclist on the planet, Jure Robic. Last year I played the role of race official on this great american bicycle race from coast to coast.
Below you can read my posts during the race, or how I saw RAAM from far, far away.
June 13, 2012
Tonight, according to CET, 31st Race Across America will set off (women and men 60+ started yesterday). At 1 PM, racers will start one after another and look at the Pacific for the last time with hope and strong desire to see the Atlantic in 9-12 days.
Final morning before the start is probably more tiring for the crew than it is for the racer. But the level of stress is higher in each racer than it is in the whole crew together. First stressful job for the crew was vehicles and bikes inspection which was completed day or two before the start, on the final morning they need to empty their temporary base and make the final packing of all gear in and on the vehicles. They must check all the gear and make sure that it tighten well and that everything works, when the start the race, time for any tinkering will be limited. Racer will try to cumulate some sleeping after the breakfast and relax as much as possible. The greatest ultra cyclist of all times, Jure Robic, used to walk around and make us even more nervous. We needed a lot of patience to make it to the start in peaceful manner. On final RAAM, in 2010 we were extensively helped by Mark Zuckerberg invention, Facebook. Only when it was absolutely necessary, we could take the lap top computer out of his hands. While we plugged in this final piece of equipment into one of the cars, he put on his gear and we could go to the start.
Two hours prior start, one of the vehicles has to be delivered to the parking lot near the start. “Famous” Betty’s Lot is reserved for RAAM and only then and there, the RAAM pulse can be felt. Colorful fleet of vehicles in all possible colors and loud crowd of crew members from all parts of the world. Reporters and film crews are trying to get the final statements from the racers. Crew are slowly joined by their racers, all masked with serious faces and in full gear. The best of them are entertained by TV crews, others are together with their crews. If they are not ready one hour before the start, they will never be ready. Most of the racers doesn’t meet any of the competitive riders, they are greeting them and their crews in the final minutes before the start. Those are the moments when the experienced racers think about what they will have to endure again and when, those less or not at all experienced, think about the adventure which lays ahead. But nobody knows what will happen on 3000 miles between the oceans.
When they start, they first go along the parking lot. Follow vehicle will follow them through town. At the town edge, racers will join the bike path and stay on that path for the next 21 miles. Crews will join them on the place called Old trading post and the race will actually begin. For the whole first day, only leapfrog support is allowed, crews can’t directly follow the rider, they can only give away food and drinks from the road side. Reason for that is in the amount of vehicles and the traffic jams they would produce. Others vehicles will go directly to Borrego Springs, deep in the desert.
June 14, 2012
According to the TS2 data (Brawley CA), Reto Schoch is in the lead. He reached the TS in 6 hours and 18 minutes. His lead before the second placed Gulewitz is quite high and it is measured as 37 minutes. Schoch, Gulewitz, Warner Smith, JArvas, Strasser, Sans Garcia, Tarzan Rides is the order on TS2.
Gaps between second and seventh are minimal and quite normal for this stage of the race. More then 30 minutes gap between first and second is not small but at this time totally irrelevant. We must take into account that Reto is a rookie, despite his Tortur win and that Christoph and Gerhardt were not born yesterday. We have to wait few more TSs, Blyth for instance which will come in the middle of the night and then Congress AZ which is placed just before Jarnell climb which is the first serious climb of the race. On the top, at the Prescott AZ, we will see more regular leader board.
June 14, 2012
At this moment we can only compare data from TS6, Congress AZ. In Congress I saw my first RAAM sunrise. Sunrises are the best thing in RAAM, at least in my book, every day you see different one. Practicly the whole time from Borrego Springs to Congress, track goes thru desert and the heat will take his toll. Currently we have stabile order among the first riders, Reto Schoch has a lead of approximately hour and a half before Gerhard Gulewitz and something less than an hour before Mathew Warner Smith and few minutes more than an hour before Christoph Strasser. From Blythe on, reto gained almost half an hour on Gerhard, gaps between 2nd, 3rd and 4th didn’t changed much. There is not much more in those numbers on the leader board, maybe we can get some more from RAAM media one crew who is at the leading edge of the race. Their last report was telling us that Strasser stopped in Congress to cool down. Taking into account that there is close to 100 degrees heat and that Strasser doesn’t operate perfectly in desert heat, that is not much of a news. Stay tuned.
June 15, 2012
In the past night, RAAM racers completed their first stops, some of them did that even earlier. Strasser rested already in the first night due to the heat. TS13 Montezuma creek UT data showed the three hours lead of Schoch before Strasser who overtook Gulewitz who is now one hour behind Strasser. Strasser’s resting on the first night reminds me of RAAM 2009 when Wyss also rested the first night and later set his own pace instead of chasing Jure. Later the race developed as it developed and Wyss won the RAAM 2009. Tonight, according CET and afternoon according EDT, the fastest will attack three mountain passes in Colorado, Wolf creek, Chuchara, La Veta. Those climbs will probably change the gaps between the leaders, especially because the riders will also have to take rests. After the passes, flat part of Colorado will follow which will continue into the Kansas.
June 16, 2012
On TS16, Pagosa springs CO, Schoch had 3:40 lead on Strasser who was 1:40 ahead of Gulewitz. On this section, Strasser had 4 miles per hour slower average speed which means that he was probably resting beside the road to Pagosa Springs. On TS17, Schoch had a lead of 3:45 which tells us that he was 5 minutes faster on a climb to Wolf creek pass. At this point I should probably stress out that the procedure for reporting time stations can also generate some difference. Crews must report the TS within 30 minutes of passing the TS and sometimes they don’t report the arrival but departure from TS, if they have stopped on that certain TS. Similar average speed prior to TS17 tells us that none of the riders rested. Schoch’s speed on the way to TS 18 was more then 17 miles per hour which also proves that he hasn’t sleept yet. TS20, Trinidad Co will give us more accurate data on how the first three riders rode on all three passes and how much they were resting. From then on, route will be flat and mostly downwards and the race will change again. By morning (EDT), all three passes will be behind them and by the end of the day, Kansas will lay ahead of them. From Trinidad to Kim, which is next TS, lays 115 miles of empty space. Route book has the special warning for crews to remind them that they should by gas, food and water since there is no chance to by anything for at least next 115 miles. Pastures on the left and right, occasionally few cows, maybe a car. As the road goes lower and lower, more agricultural becomes the landscape. Kansas will be hot, weather forecast for Ulysess is close to 100 degrees, thunderstorms in the evening and during the night. Wind will mostly blow from south, tail wind is not predicted, but in case of thunderstorms, everything will change. Ft Scott is the last TS in Kansas and from then on, hills will join the riders again. Ft Scott will be reached at the end of tomorrow. Team division race will start today and they will bring more speed to the race. The best will catch the majority of solo riders before finish. My personal favorites are strategic lions which are racing in 8 man team division.
June 16, 2012
Both, Schoch and Strasser, reached TS20, Trinidad CO. Between TS16 in Pagosa Springs CO and Trinidad CO they both rested and while crossing the three mountain passes, gap between them changed. In Pagosa Springs they were 3:40 apart. In Trinidad Schoch leads Strasser only for 2:40. Results from TS19 La Veta are showing much slower average speed for Schoch (10.7) while Strasser had 16.27 miles per hour. Gap between both leaders was then only 1:30. In Trinidad, gap is 2:40 since Strasser obviously rested.
From these data we can conclude that both riders took their sleep and that Strasser gained one hour in the mountains. Mountains are supposed to be more suitable for Schoch and flat sections are supposed to be more suitable for Strasser. Since Strasser shaved one hour in the mountains, we can only conclude that Strasser will attack even more in the flats. I have read that Schoch never raced more than 1200 km, now he is beyond that, flat Kansas is coming and defending champion is steaming from behind. All that combined means that, like Marko Baloh said in the morning, race is on.
June 17, 2012
- TS 21, gap 1:30, Schoch and Gulevitz average speed around 13 miles per hour, Strasser 17.32
- TS 22, gap between Schochom and Strasserjem 1:10, Strasser records the highest average speed on that section, 17.76, Schoch 16.41, Gulevitz 15.3
- TS 23, gap 2:20 (calculated 1:50), Strasser average speed 13.43, Schoch 18.78.
All of the top riders are done with sleeping for tonight, I’ve read the news that Strasser had the storm, Schoch not. Could be that Schoch had tail wind while Strasser had to stop. Considering those facts, greater gap between Schoch and Strasser is understandable. That is RAAM too. Unplanned stops can be good too, maybe he can capitalize that rest later. As soon as Strasser catches Schoch, sooner they will have equal conditions and we will have very interesting race to follow.
Kansas will probably be finished by midnight, after that climbs towards Jefferson city, then Missouri river, after that hilly terrain towards Mississipi river which will be reached by tomorrow evening or during the night.
June 17, 2012
According to unofficial info directly from RAAM, Strasser overtook Schoch 10 minutes ago.
June 17, 2012
TS25, Grensburg KS, Strasser came in 3 minutes before Schoch! Due to start time difference, he has now 30 minutes lead. He can control the race from this position. Obviously he used the last night storm to rest and he managed to overtook Schoch in the early morning hours. All he needs to do today is to stay close with Schoch and go to sleep at the same time or later then Schoch. Tommorow will be the whole new day after crossing the Missouri river. One day later they will cross the Mississipi river and the old saying will come to life. Race starts after Missisipi river. Crew experience might be a decisive factor from now on, less experienced crew will probably make more mistakes under pressure. Anyhow, we have a true race now.
June 17, 2012
Christoph Strasser is slowly pulling away from Reto Schoch who lead the race for first three days. Current calculated lead is 45 minutes. Due starting times difference 15 minutes on the road means 45 minutes on the leader board. It looks like Strasser is back and as I wrote in my previous post, he is determined to control the race. Following night and day, when they both reach climbs towards Jefferson city, will show us if Schoch is able to counter attack or will he just pace him self and wait for possible opportunities.
June 17, 2012
8 man teams category is offering us something interesting to follow. At TS 9 in Flagstaf AZ, Team Viasat is still in the lead, 40 minutes ahead of Strategic lions and 4mil. Yes, Strategic lions and 4mil are neck to neck. Those guys are flying across the country, exchanging every 15 minutes. Crews are under huge pressure, trying not to loose seconds while exchanging riders and crew members on the road. I had the opportunity as race official in 2011 to closely watch how it is done. After previously crewing 7 times for the greatest solo rider, I must say it’s a totally different race. 4 riders resting, 4 riders exchanging every 15 minutes. 2 cars on the road, one truck and at least one motorhome to provide bed and breakfast and dinner and much more. Will be interesting to see how close those trams will be at the end of the race.
June 17, 2012
At Maize KS, both Strasser and Schoch are toghether again. At least on the calculated leader board. Schoch acctually came in 32 minutes before Strasser, due different starting times, they are now only 2 minutes appart. Strasser leading. Looking into average speeds, my opinion is that Strasser took a power sleep or something even longer. All that means only one thing, RAAM2012 solo category will be a tight race.
June 18, 2012
It looks like Strasser took his sleep a bit earlier tonight. His average speed between TS28 and TS29 is only 11.75, compared to Schoch’s 15.89. We predicted that Strasser’s only rest in the past night was the forced one due to the storm, that is why he closed on Schoch so fast. Both will have to rest till morning (EDT morning comes 6 hours later then CET) when we’ll have more realistic data. RAAM leaderboard says that Strasser allready reached TS30, but looking closely into data for TS30, we can see that nobody reached TS30 at this time and that the Strasser time is for TS29.
RAAM HQ is getting calls from all the solos and teams and occasional misstakes can happen. Barbara Franklin and her team are doing everything from filling in the TS times to managing the race officials and dispaching them to various places on the track.
One of the vehicles of the Team Red White and Blue caught fire and exploded. It can happen out of various reasons, but almost new rental vans usually don’t do that. My guess is that something was wrong with the electrical instalation which is usualy not done by professionals. That’s RAAM too. I hope they get the new van and continue the race.
June 18, 2012
Even in Missouri, the battle for first place in Race Across America solo category continues. The last TS data from TS33, Jefferson city, are showing that Reto Schoch is again in front. All the way from Fort Scott, Christoph Strasser recorded slower average speeds which makes me think that he is on few short breaks per day strategy, while Reto Schoch continues in his pace and is using one slightly longer night break strategy. On the last stage from Camdenton MO to Jefferson city MO, Strasser was again faster, but only just. All that is telling us that, although Strasser caught on Schoch, he can’t just pull away from him. Following Missouri is Illinois and Indiana which are not so hilly and not so flat either, I remember them as hot. Ohio will come next with it’s more hilly landscape. Jure used to love that terrain and was very confident to shake off any competitors. We’ll see who likes more that terrain and is able to use it to his advantage. Since the boys will be racing hard, all the fans on TS42, Blanchester OH, will be disappointed to see the riders only passing the TS with top speed. Amy, Cathy and the others are happy to see if riders and crews are stopping there for a break, coffee, snack or just chat. So if you are there, stop for a few minutes. Teams are also racing hard within minutes. Slovenian Team Idrija Homage to Jure Robic is holding 3rd place and fighting for 2nd, 30 minutes behind Team twenty.six and ten minutes more than an hour behind leaders TDL – Liv 4 life. Everything is still open, although in teams category minutes can’t be gained so easy. In 8 man teams category, leaders are Viasat, followed by 4mil and Strategic lions. Last year winners, Strategic lions are not so convincing as they were last year, but race is still long and order can be changed.
June 19, 2012
RAAM 2012 will soon run out of it’s miles and somebody will have to win it. Question is not so much who will win it but more how will he win it. Both, Christoph Strasser, current champion and Reto Schoch, rookie of the year are good and very fast. Christoph had his share of problems in the heat of the first day and managed to come back to the race. Reto started very fast and showed amazing strength also at the end of Colorado when Christoph caught on him and many thought that this is the end of this rookie. But no, he stayed in the race and is showing mature RAAM racing. At TS38, Sullivan IN, both of them recorded exactly the same time! To the minute.
What lays ahead is Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Pensilvania and again Maryland. Terrain will be hilly with some nasty Slovenia style climbs in West Virginia which was the favorite part of RAAM for Jure Robic, 5 times RAAM Winner. Weather is hot and will probably stay hot. As we saw in the first days, heat is not something Christoph would like. On the other hand, Christoph showed some great performance in the mountain passes of Colorado. It seems that when they are on the road, average speeds are more or less the same, what made the difference in the past two days, were sleeping tactics. Christoph had a lead of almost an hour which was annulled by Reto, probably just with sleeping/resting tactics. It looks like that Reto is making somewhat longer sleeps at the end of the night and Cristoph is doing shorter ones at the beginning of the night and during the day. All in all, Reto’s stops seems to be shorter. It might be that Christoph needs those midday stops to cool down. We saw that in 2009 when Jure needed to stop just to cool down, few times per day. And during those stops we lost valuable minutes. In such a close race, one break less can also decide the race. If one of the riders can go to sleep, for instance, exactly 23 hours before finish and the other needs to go resting 10 hours before the finish simply because he rested 33 hours before finish, first one will win just because he made one stop less. Similar to Formula one racing. In 2011, Marko Baloh showed how it’s done when he made just one power sleep in last night, compared to others who slept more. At the end this tactic was good enough for 3rd place, but without it, he could just as well be 5th.
This race reminds me of 2009 race in many ways. At first we have Strasser, suffering heat stroke in the first day. In 2009 we had Wyss with the same problem. Later Wyss decided to just pace him self and try to stay in the race. It looks like that Strasser did the same. Later in the race Wyss slowly caught on Jure and actually showed how RAAM should be raced. Eventually he won. This year, Strasser caught on Schoch but now Schoch is doing the same as Wyss in 2009. One would expect that rookie would crack under pressure, but we don’t see any cracks yet. One thing is different from 2009, penalties which actually decided the 2009 race. Jure had for one hour of penalties and Dani just needed to stay within that hour and win the race. Even if we don’t have the penalty factor this year, we have the time difference due different starting times, and again, Strasser can just stay within that 30 minutes and win the race. If I stay with penalties for a line or two. I believe that RAAM HQ assigned the best race officials for the leading edge of the solo race, probably even two teams of officials, just to ensure fair race. They just don’t want penalties to be decisive factor and they will rather play on the presence of officials on the road just to raise the level of concentration in riders and crews. One simple navigational mistake can decide the race. Or any other crew mistake. We must not forget that crews are tired too. Stress level is amazingly high and experienced crew will have some advantages compared to rookie crew.
Someone once said that the crew can not win the race instead of the rider, but can for sure loose it for him. I hope that will not happen and that the sheer greatness of endurance rider will win the 31st edition of Race Across America.
June 20, 2012
Schoch is doing OK, he has the momentum, but is at least 30 minutes back due difference in starting times and possibly even further 75 minutes due Strasser time credit. On the other hand, Strasser looks worn down, but has the advantage in above mentioned time. What lays ahead are Apalachian mountains with some nasty climbs. Weather will be “nice” with temperatures up to 31 degrees celsius, few degrees cooler in higher parts of West Virginia.
Strasser’s position should be considered as better since he is experienced and has the time credit on his side. Should be pretty easy for him, all he needs to do is just stay within 30 minutes to be sure (75 minutes time credit is not confirmed yet). But, is that as simple as it sounds? If Schoch is really in better shape than Strasser, then gaining an hour or so should not be a problem. But in the last few time stations he gained only minutes. Both of them crossed more than 2500 miles and they are definitely tired. Instead of asking ourselves who is more tired, we should ask the question are they still capable of racing? Are they just trying to get to the finish? The answer will come in the next hours when they both get on the first WV climbs.
Schoch should probably attack as much as possible and try to increase the gap, but even if the flats after Hancock seems to be appealing and easy to ride, they will be hot and exhausting. That means that attacks with no real gain can have their consequences in the last miles of the race. On the other hand, he has nothing to loose if HQ confirms Strasser’s 75 minutes time credit. If that happens, all he can do is all out attack. Strasser will probably try to stay close, just in case if the 75 minutes time credit doesn’t become reality. Attacks will probably not be his weapons of choice, he will just try to answer the Schoch attacks. Maybe he should even gamble on that 75 minutes time credit and make few more rests and be ready to defend 75+30 minutes time credit. What we saw in 2009 when Jure tried to compensate 60 minutes of penalties? Gaining 30 minutes on the last day is not very simple. He got 20 minutes lead, all he needed was another 40, but when he gained 20, we run into some road works and lost it all.
The race will be over in a day or so and sleeping tactics can also be decisive. Will be interesting to see what what will both riders do in the last night of the race.
June 21, 2012
This RAAM will probably go into history with the smallest gap between 1st and 2nd in solo category. All the major climbs are behind them, but the race is far from over. Both will probably go to the finish without sleep, on TS49, Strasser still had 32 minutes calculated lead. On TS50, calculated difference is 0:00!
The question is if those times are correct since the crews have 30 minutes to report the time. Time should be exact, but not always is. From now on the only possible tactics for both is “all out”. The winner will be remembered for long time and should directly go into the hall of fame. Second placed should never be called looser, but something more grand. Schoch is definitely in advantage since he closed that gap of time credit and starting difference. Now he just needs to go full power to the finish. If Strasser didn’t stopped for any reason, this average speed is his real riding speed and if he keeps that speed, he will have to shake the hand of the winner. If he rested, then he will raise the speed and could just win this race with only minutes to spare. There is also one little opportunity for Strasser. When Schoch actually finishes with the race, he will have to wait what will Strasser do in the last hour and a half and then Strasser will have the data he needs and his crew would be able to motivate him. Also, Schoch is probably already giving all he has and he might not be able to continue with that pace till the finish.
Jure used to say something which is not translatable to english: “Na konc gajžla poč”, could be substituted with “It’s not over till is over”, or “It’s not over till the fat lady sings”.
Anyway, we will just have to wait and see.
June 22, 2012
RAAM solo category has got it’s new champion! Reto Schoch started brave and also finished bravely. Even if he was chalenged with Strasser atacks and time credits, he managed to gain some extra lead in the final climbs of RAAM. Like Strasser in 2011, he showed this year, how it’s supposed to be done.
Strasser, on the other hand, fighted till the end of the race. Even when facing problems the first day, he didn’t gave up and he closed the gap in Kansas. Later they stayed toghether for few days, but at the end, Schoch was simply stronger.
We had a great race and my conclusion is that we should not be feared for RAAM future. If we add Daniel Wyss along side Reto Schoch and Christoph Strasser, we have 3 champions which will fight hard for their next title. On top of that we should add Gerhard Gullewitz and probably few others. Future great RAAM racing guaranteed!
Matjaz Planinsek
Matjaz Planinsek 
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