Race Across America (RAAM) 2016

drjohnson08

I’d like to share with the team a unique event that I’m
taking part in over the next couple of weeks.

 

On June 14^th, 2016 at noon PDT the 35^th
edition of Race Across America (RAAM) begins. 
RAAM, touted as the world’s toughest bicycle race, begins at the pier in
Oceanside, CA and finishes in Annapolis, MD. 
This year’s iteration of the race is 3069.3 miles long with over 170,000
feet of elevation gain and travels through 12 states.  If you’re not familiar with RAAM, one of the
things that sets it apart from other long distance bicycle races is that it is
only a single stage, there are no designated breaks.  It is completely up to each racer or team to
formulate their race plan and how much/if/when they rest.  Former EN teammate Ray Brown will be
competing in the Solo Division of the race in the 50 – 59 AG category.  He will need to reach the City Dock in
Annapolis by 3PM EST on June 26^th to become an official finisher, no
small task.  If you follow Ray on Strava
you know he has put in a ton of mileage on the bike the past 24 months or so
including a lot of climbing and I believe he is well prepared to put up a
strong performance and finish well.  An
additional note, Ray’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer this past Fall and
he is using the race to bring awareness and raise money for the Breast Cancer
Research Foundation (BCRF).

 

I have the cool opportunity to be a part of Ray’s crew that
will be supporting him as he makes his way across the US.  We have a very diverse group of people on the
crew with men and women from 4 countries outside the US (Italy, Denmark,
Ireland, & Mexico) and people from 6 different states here at home (GA, NC,
FL, NJ, OH, & NY).  We have a nurse,
physical therapist and bike mechanic on the crew to take care of some of the
obvious situations that may arise.  The remaining
crew members have a wealth of experience in the sport of endurance cycling so I
have confidence we’ll adapt well to all of the unexpected things that WILL
occur in a race of this length.  Although
I don’t have any specialized knowledge for this stuff myself, I have crewed Ray
for a 400 mile and 500 mile race and know him better than anyone else on the team,
which I think will prove valuable in identifying some of his needs before problems
occur and making communication more efficient. 
I expect it to be a unique and challengin experience for everyone
involved and hopefully rewarding too. 

 

Some websites for more information about Ray, RAAM, Ray’s
BCRF page, and coverage of the race are below. 
I’m not sure if I’ll have time, energy or internet access but if anyone
is interested I can try to provide periodic updates about the race and my
experiences in this thread.  Thanks for
reading!

 

https://www.strava.com/athletes/916207

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/index.html

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/about.html

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/race-roster.html

(Unfortunately i can’t copy the direct link to our team, you’ll have to search
a little bit.)

https://give.bcrfcure.org/fundraise?fcid=526939

http://raceacrossamerica.org/live-tracking.html

http://www.ridefarther.com/
(Live tracking and leaderboard information)

RAAM will also be posting updates on all of the social media
outlets including youtube.

drjohnson08

I'm not very internet savvy, not sure why I can't turn those websites into hyperlinks, sorry.

tim cronk

Doug, I have followed Ray for several years on his amazing journey to RAAM , I have ridden with Ray , there is no doubt he is physically and mentally prepared.... Knowing you are on his team is icing on the cake... His team is everything.... I know you guys can do it... Will be following you guys, sending good vibes to the RAAM team and Ray's wife Tami.... Thanks for posting.... Keep him safe and moving forward.

Todd Glass

Wow!!   What an amazing experience.    I will be following along from a distance.  I wish everyone the best of luck!!

JeremyBehler

That's great DJ! RAAM is an epic event. I'm friends with Dave Haase and we are sponsoring him again this year. As grueling as it is physically...it pares in comparison to the mental toughness required to finish, let alone compete.

Look forward to following along!

Jacklyn Moore

What an amazing and epic experience. Have a great time. Be safe ALL of you. My family will be following you. 

moetai@gmail.com

Thanx for the heads up. All the best to Ray, U and the rest of the team
keep us posted

John Withrow

Ray is a maniac! And I mean that in most complimentary type of way. Ray hosted me at his house for a bike camp 2 yrs ago and I have been followed his crazy Strava escapades ever since. Good luck to Ray and good on you Doug for crewing for him!

drjohnson08

Thanks everyone! I'll make sure to tell Ray you're supporting him and following along, and I'll try to post some updates along the way.

Ed Eovino

Good luck to Ray... Think he made a wonderful pick of crew member for support... Have an Epic time!

drjohnson08

As you may or may not know, Ray DNF’d early Wednesday morning (6/22) just short of 2,000 miles into the race. I thought I would be able to provide some periodic updates as the race progressed, however, I found out as a crew member you are extremely busy the entire time and when you aren’t doing something for your rider you are trying to sleep! Due to the nature of the race and the limited and weird timing of sleep, many of the days blend together and it’s kind of a blur. The first 1000+ miles of the race went exceptionally well. The race started 6/14 at 1:12 PM pacific and except for a couple short breaks for food Ray rode until around 9 or 10 PM on 6/15. After a 3.5 hour sleep he was back on the road. This was the general pattern for the race; 3 to 3.5 hours sleep each evening and a couple short breaks for food and rest during the day. What ultimately spelled doom for Ray was an inability to stay on the bike. By 1000 miles into the race he was suffering from a sore butt. He did not have saddle sores or broken skin, however, he did have a lot of bruising in the area and it was extremely uncomfortable for him to sit on the bike. He started to request frequent kit changes and at times it was not unusual for him to get off the bike and adjust his saddle 4 or 5 times within an hour. He started favoring one side and sitting off-kilter on the saddle. Eventually he suffered a pulled/strained muscle in the lower part of one of his legs because of this. Another issue that eventually caused problems was nutrition. We were fortunate to have a woman who crewed last year for a RAAM finisher. She prepared a lot of great healthy meals for Ray. At the beginning he was eating the meals, but the last 1000 miles of the race he no longer had an interest in the type or variety of meals she was preparing and he reverted to frequently requesting hamburgers. We really tried hard to get him back on track but the rider won that battle. A steady diet of Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Oreos and Nutter Butters to go along with the hamburgers eventually led to disaster from a nutritional standpoint. The last full segment that I provided direct support for Ray was Tuesday night and lasted for 56 miles. During that time I conservatively estimate that he got off the bike 20 different times to change bikes or to adjust his saddle. It was clear that he just did not want to be on the bike anymore. We tried providing all sorts of encouragement to no avail. Additionally, he was having problems taking in nutrition and digesting food. Overall it was not an enjoyable scene to witness. Personnel in the follow vehicle changed for one last time around 2am on 6/22. I got a call from them around 5:30am stating that Ray advised them that he could no longer go on. The race ended for Ray in Missouri about 100 miles short of the Mississippi River.

My own personal takeaways…Obviously riding 3000 miles is a huge undertaking in a physical sense and a lot of training needs to be done. I think the mental preparation needed for this race is extremely underestimated. For me, it would be hard to fathom standing at the start line saying to myself I need to ride 3000+ miles in 12 days, but that’s not even the worst part. When you’re one week into it and you’ve slept less than 24 hours, your head better be in the right place and you better have the right attitude. Some people think that the sleep deprivation is actually the hardest part of completing the race. I can’t imagine trying to ride or do anything physical on that little amount of sleep. I have slept “normally” for 4 days in a row now and I still don’t feel fully rested yet. Race plan…we all know how important a race plan for an Ironman is. It is a gigantic understatement to say that you need a serious plan to tackle this race and all sorts of backups and contingencies as well.

All of the states we drove/rode through had unique qualities. Two states stick out, California and Colorado. The beauty and desolation of the desert in California is amazing. Colorado was my favorite state. Most of the time spent there was around 6000 feet I believe. I was really surprised how much the elevation there affected me and I wasn’t even physically exerting myself. The entire time I was there it felt like my head was in a vice and no matter how much fluid I drank I felt parched. I imagine over time I would adjust. We did see a few mountains in Colorado, not all of them and probably none of the big ones but even so, the size of them was aweing. The highest point of the RAAM course is the climb up Wolf Creek Pass that is just shy of 11,000 feet. Again, I was really surprised how I could physically feel the change in elevation as we drove up the pass.

This was a pretty unique opportunity for me and something cool to be a part of. We had a really great crew who worked extremely well together and did all that was possible to get our rider to the finish line. According to the woman who had previously crewed a RAAM finisher, she says that there was nothing else we could have done for Ray. Would I crew again? Yes, under the right circumstances.

Thank you so much for all of your support. I did let Ray know that there were a bunch of people from EN who were following along and it was definitely a source of encouragement for him.

If anyone has any questions or wants more information let me know.

Ed Eovino

Great report DJ... I can't even imagine doing the 2k that he did do... Tough as nails!

thekidduxc

DJ - thanks for providing the great read. Just an incredible feat. Ray and the whole team are amazing!!!

Francis Picard

Thanks DJ for sharing the experience, thats an unbelievable project to tackle that distance. That must be a unique experience for the rider and the crew with him.