June 22, 2004 – Two-person, four-person, eight-person, mixed, men’s and women’s teams toed the line yesterday afternoon at the start of the 2,959-mile long Insight Race Across America (RAAM). Four-man category favorites: Royal Air Force, Action Sports, and Vail – Go Fast will sate speed fans while Team Grand PAC Masters – who count 280 years of racing among the four teammates – will try to set a new record in their age category. The two-person mixed category features Race Across Oregon event promoters George Thomas and Terri Gooch (VeloWear/Co-Motion) racing against Team No Limits from Germany. Suitably matched four-person women’s teams Vail B2B Divas and Team Frauleins focus on their respective race strategies in hope of gaining the leading edge over the competition. Three teams in the corporate category raised a combined minimum $45,000 for their respective charities and the chance to win the title for their category.

Solo racers, who departed San Diego on June 20, press onward across Arizona and New Mexico with Slovenia’s Jure Robic maintaining a record-setting RAAM pace of 17.5 mph. At time of release, second-place Michael Trevino from San Diego, Calif. follows Robic by only two hours while third-place former RAAM winner Wolfgang Fasching remains two hours behind Trevino. David Hasse has been trading places with Rob Kish and Nico Valsesia. Hasse has never reached a time station lower than 7th overall and has been as high as 4th. Valsesia likewise has placed 3rd at Time Station Four and never finished lower than 7th. 51-yea-rold German rider Peter Holy has climbed to 8th. Andy Lapkass, who at 46 is riding with two partially amputated feet, has also placed 8th at two time stations.

The desert heat took a slight toll on solo rider Tracy McKay who was forced to intake fluid intravenously after becoming dehydrated mid-day on the first day. Crew member, Lisa Duncan, confirmed McKay’s improved health and emphasized that he was back on track and going strong after two rest periods of two-three hours each.

Solo racers are expected to enter New Mexico by 6:40 a.m. ESTon June 22, presumably with Robic still holding onto the lead. Teams are expected to cross into Arizona by 7:05 a.m. EST, June 22. With teams traveling at a pace five-six miles faster than the solo racers, teams are expected to overtake solo racers at or before time station number 28 in Fort Scott, Kansas.

For updated information, visit: www.raceacrossamerica.org.

RAAM Update:

19:33: The Action Sports team opened a lead on the long-stepped climb leading out of San Diego. This climb rolls up and down, crossing valleys over a 70-mile stretch on its way to the saddle at Pine Valley. Pen oak trees punctuate the scrub, in places offering good cover of the hills, and in many places line the course. Yet somehow these sun-baked trees manage to offer the riders little protection from the hot sun.

Temperature only 76 degrees, but the riders feeling it as they make the long climb

Yesterday’s temperature was 106, not 86 degrees going through the desert of central California, past the Imperial Dunes.
——————–
Pine Valley Time Station, 19h45, elevation 4,000 feet (the course then descends to 3,000 feet and then climbs back up to 3,890 feet at Tecate Divide before finally descending into the desert): Team Action Sports powered into Pine Valley Time Station, the first time station of the route. There they switched bikes and riders, and “Dilley” rode out on a time trial bike.

“It’s going real well for us,” said a team official, running to call in the changeover time at a pay phone.

Team Vail Go Fast came in next, 4:25 behind. 24-hour mountain bike racer Jimi Mortenson, who steps in to take over from Zach Bingham.

Asked about the riding conditions, Zach responded, “It’s real nice. Less hot than last year. We’re four minutes from where we want to be, but we’re having fun.”

Vail Go Fast is operating on the 30-minute shifts that are standard on flatter terrain (on mountain grades, the shift is determined by intensity, so is commonly only about 5 minutes). “We do shorter sometimes,” explained Zach.
——————-

Vail B2B Divas lead the competition with Team Frauleins. B2B rider Kelly White, an Australian by birth, said, “We operate on 30-minute shifts including the whole team in the early part of the race, then we expect to go onto four-hour rotations with two riders sharing the work when we get down into the desert.”

Asked about pressure from Team Frauleins, White said, “We are not going to pay any attention to that side of it until Day Four. Until then it is all nutrition, hydration, and keeping us riders on the road. At about the half-way point we will start to get serious about going as fast as we can. At this stage we are still learning to get the changeovers right, the rotations right, and help our entire crew to get proficient. Then it can become a race – provided we are still healthy.”

This is White’s first Insight Race Across America. “I am very happy to be on the road,” she said. White is an experienced 24-hour mountain bike racer who normally competes in the solo category. “This is a bit like a 24-hour mountain bike race: the racing proper doesn’t begin until dawn of the next day.”
———-
Jack Bochler – Manager of the Pine Valley Time Station, on why he would want to run a time station: “It’s such a neat event. Somebody has to come out here and cheer the riders on. I live relatively locally – about 60 miles from here. You get to see the riders and talk to the crews. It’s a great way to learn about the event.”

Jack first watched RAAM in 1984 when it departed from Huntington Beach and would like to compete in the event himself one day – or at least crew in one of the teams.

“I spent half an hour last year talking to Kish’s crew. I was learning the attitude and expectations to adapt to the race, so when I have my day, I’ll be better prepared.”
————–
Kaiser Permanente’s (eight-person corporate) John Paluca: “Four people in our team are really good. Not pros, but pretty good. Brian is a triathlete. He competes in Ironman events. Mark [Meyer] raced pro in college, but he’s 35 now and not quite so fast. Five of us are doctors. I really ramped up my riding for this event. That was my excuse for going out on my bike.”

Mark Meyer (aka Mark the Mountain), with a broad smile: “I’m having a good time. It’s my first time.” Mark recalls having watched Lon Haldeman depart from Huntington Beach back in 1982. “We trained for the past six months for this. We’ve been riding 200-300 miles a week. Our coach set up a specific training program and some simulations, riding to El Centro and back, so we could get used to the transitions and get a feel for the course and the race. It really helped.” Kaiser Permanente held a good lead over the Insight team as at 21h17.

“It’s a long way to go yet,” said Mark Meyer.