Anyone Following Raam?

[CAMPYBOB]

I'm kind of interested because I guy I train with is following STRAVA ultra-climber and long distance rider, Brian Toone. That and many years ago I had the opportunity to ride with Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo-Haldeman.

Toone currently is in 10th place and had a crash that left him scuffed up a bit.

Live interactive map showing current rider locations (on-bike transponder GPS I'm guessing): http://tractalis.com/live/raam2015/html5/

Leaderboard here on the ridefarther.com website; click it on the right hand side of the page: http://www.ridefarther.com/

Official RAAM website: http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/raam.php?N_webcat_id=1

Up until yesterday the race was being headed by Austrians running 1-2-3. One Austrian, Gehard Gulewicz, had to drop out due to a syndrome known as 'Shermer's Neck'. This is a condition in which your neck muscles fatigue and no longer respond to nerve input...you're so tired you can not hold your head up. The syndrome is named after Michael Shermer, a legendary RAAM racer from the early days of the race.

In this picture, you can see a trained athlete determined not to quit the race without going to extreme means to keep himself in the game. His crew has rigged a tennis ball canister to his bike to rest his chin on. Note also the tape under his chin that runs around the backwards ballcap. This is also an effort to keep his head erect.

This rider suffered the same syndrome during last year's RAAM and said it required two weeks to get over. No pain, but not strength to hold his head up.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Lon and Susan wearing Shaver Sport gear and Skid Lid brand skid lids. Both riders were transcontinental record holders in the solo and tanden categories. Lon also held the two-way record, West to East and the back.

 

[limerickman]

I'm kind of interested because I guy I train with is following STRAVA ultra-climber and long distance rider, Brian Toone. That and many years ago I had the opportunity to ride with Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo-Haldeman.

Toone currently is in 10th place and had a crash that left him scuffed up a bit.

Live interactive map showing current rider locations (on-bike transponder GPS I'm guessing): http://tractalis.com/live/raam2015/html5/

Leaderboard here on the ridefarther.com website; click it on the right hand side of the page: http://www.ridefarther.com/

Official RAAM website: http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/raam.php?N_webcat_id=1

Up until yesterday the race was being headed by Austrians running 1-2-3. One Austrian, Gehard Gulewicz, had to drop out due to a syndrome known as 'Shermer's Neck'. This is a condition in which your neck muscles fatigue and no longer respond to nerve input...you're so tired you can not hold your head up. The syndrome is named after Michael Shermer, a legendary RAAM racer from the early days of the race.

In this picture, you can see a trained athlete determined not to quit the race without going to extreme means to keep himself in the game. His crew has rigged a tennis ball canister to his bike to rest his chin on. Note also the tape under his chin that runs around the backwards ballcap. This is also an effort to keep his head erect.

This rider suffered the same syndrome during last year's RAAM and said it required two weeks to get over. No pain, but not strength to hold his head up.

Fair dues to anyone who takes part in this race. It is a very very tough event and the effort to pedal throughout each shift

BBC did a documentary about 10 years ago about the RAF team and the RAAM.
The RAF selected one civilian to train with the team to take part in the RAAM (4 man team). The documentary was fascinating because it showed the
torture that these riders have to endure.

Chapeau to all those who take part

 

[CAMPYBOB]

The Nordic and Germanic types seem to take to our transcontinental crossing race...and they do very well at it.

The Brits sent us Pippa Middleton...she's like some sort of royalness...something titular like The Duchess of Hot Bods or some such stuffy Engrish monarchist thing. Still, a beauty in a track suit, no doubt! I'ld hit it like the fist of an angry colonist!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

They were here last year. Nice riding gear.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

And of course, her Royalness rolls on Campagnolo! shimaNO? That stuff is for commoners and the French.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

RAF and SAS?

Not fo' me. Gimme...dat ass!

Ack! shitmaNO cleats! And do the Engrish mount horses and bikes like they do their automobiles? From the wrong side?

 

[swampy1970]

And of course, her Royalness rolls on Campagnolo! shimaNO? That stuff is for commoners and the French.

Campag wheels but the kit looks like SRAM. I'd bet the BB30 crank into the bearings isn't the only thing you'd care to SRAM in there... *cough*

She's to cute to be English. Must be a transplant from somewhere else... I lived there for 29 years and saw no one that cute.

 

[swampy1970]

RAF and SAS?

Not fo' me. Gimme...dat ass!

Ack! shitmaNO cleats! And do the Engrish mount horses and bikes like they do their automobiles? From the wrong side?

She's doing everything right there... Everything. I thought your politics swung to the right you borderline gun toting redneck...

Damned lefties have to complain about everything.

The lass does need a helmet though.

 

[swampy1970]

... and cheers for the link for the RAAM.

 

[swampy1970]

Looking at the GPS map, it's amazing that the first few are spread out over Kansas while the majority of single riders are still in Colorado. A huge, huge difference in distance that's difficult to comprehend - that's about 500 to 600 miles already.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I think experience contributes to the spread as much as talent. And luck...always a factor.

Brian Toone is a serious long distance rider and mega-climber. His STRAVA stats are just in-****ing-sane. Still, this is his first RAAM. You can train for a lot of stuff in life, bur RAAM is beyond training...unless you are wealthy enough to fund a few cross continent training runs. The scope of this race is unlike most other events, for sure.

Horses, motorcycles and bicycles are mounted strictly from the port side. Pippa can be mounted in various fashions, I'm certain of that.

Her brake hoods look Campy to me, but yeah the levers look like SCRAM. As did a shot of her road bike crank arms. The TT bike? No clue if it is even hers. but it appears to be all SRAMish and Mavic.


The prairie lies ahead. With endless, mindless flatness and rolling hills it can be as hard or harder to get across than the Rocky Mountains. After the Mississippi River and the continued flat areas heading across Indiana come the steep, short and repetitive climbs of Ohio. They are tiring when a rider is fresh. Painful to the exhausted.

After that, the serious climbing starts. Much steeper and demanding than the Rockies IMO, the Appalachian Mountains are a reality check. This is probably the last point to try and make up time on those ahead or to lose positions. These climbs are steep and tough and require energy and constant effort to get over. Only to face another and another. West Virginia is going to be hard miles. Painful miles.

Like the Hour record, RAAM just gets more difficult towards the end.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

The story-within-the-story this year is Seana Hogan. She set the women's transcontinental crossing record something like 20 years ago and now riding in the 50+ age division she is back to try and set a record for that age group and possibly break her old record.

And yes, she's riding the same Vuelta wheels you can order from Bike Nashbar. That's pretty cool to find on an all-Campy equipped Bianchi road racer.

You go girl!

She is currently AHEAD of Brian Toone. That tells me she is one powerhouse of a rider and has the drive and experience to get through the multiple bad moments of RAAM.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Campagnolo...so light weight even a grandma can bench press it!

At first they were all like, "We're putting you on shitmaNO stuff! And I'm all like...WTF?!?!".

 

[swampy1970]

That doesn't look like a Campag crank.

Campybob's head explodes in 3, 2, 1....

Seana's ace.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

That pic is from two years ago and is a Campy alloy model. Seana is riding a carbon Campy outfit this year. Scroll half way down this page and you can see the top of her Ultra-Torque crank: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/18932899435/in/album-72157654508365476/

I'll try and get a better pick...flickr sucks ballz.

The lead Austrian, Strasser, dropped out of the race sometime last night after being passed by Zotter, another of the Austrian riders and a friend. Zotter is hauling ass and 600 miles between him and Brian Toone.

A 47-year old American, Dave Hasse is in second place currently.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Strasser abandoned due to a lung infection that got worse in the high altitude crossing of the Colorado Rockies. He had hoped that once he reached the Great Plains it would cease to affect him, but it did not.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Seana Hogan abandons. I have not heard the reason yet.

Brian Toone still in 9th place.

With Strasser dropping out with a lung infection while in 2nd place, Zotter is carrying on for Austria and flying across Ohio currently. American Dave Haase is chasing hard in second place.

Two of the three leading Austrians were forced to abandon, but three Danes are running well in 3rd, 4th and 5th places.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Hogan's bike: Campy Chorus 11-speed.

 

[mpre53]

RAF and SAS?

Not fo' me. Gimme...dat ass!

Ack! shitmaNO cleats! And do the Engrish mount horses and bikes like they do their automobiles? From the wrong side?

She could mount me any way she wanted to.