July 1, 2004 – Rob Kish crossed his 19th RAAM finish line today at 8:36 a.m. EST. The three-time solo winner (’92, ’94, 95) struggled on his way up to the stage for a brief awards ceremony but, with the moral support of his wife, Brenda, Kish answered questions about his latest addition to a lengthy RAAM career.

“Every time you walk up onstage, when you’re this tired, you say, ‘This is the last year,’ but then it never is,” said Kish.

During a pre-race interview in San Diego, Kish revealed that he was afraid to quit because he might not ever do it again. While this might not be a bad thing, Kish, at 49, shows no sign of quitting before completing an even 20 RAAM’s . So far, Kish has ridden nearly 53,000 miles in 19 RAAM’s .

Germany’s Jutta Kleinschmidt of Team No Limits has been racing cars and motorbikes since 1987. Her RAAM bio lists a second overall finish in the 2002 Paris Dakar Rally but Kleinschmidt herself tells of a Rally win more recent than that. With a career already studded with volumes of overall wins and victories as an auto racer, competing in RAAM was her first bike race.

“Competing in this event is fantastic training for my sport,” said Kleinschmidt. “Not only to race the event, but to prepare for it. Dakar is in January, and afterwards we can get a little bit lazy. But in preparing for this you have to go directly into training, then you stay in good shape into the autumn.”

Kleinschmidt’s star-power in the automotive world could only be eclipsed by her teammate, Joey Kelly who, as RAAM staffers discovered, is a white hot rockstar in Germany. No Limits’ finishing time was eight days, 12:41.

Other racers to roll into Atlantic City today include the two-man TBW team from Brazil, Team New England (from guess where?), and solo rider, Andrew Otto sponsored by Energizer Batteries.

“I thought at one point, ‘It sure would be fun to beat Rob Kish but if I try to beat him at his game, he’ll win,'” said Otto.

Otto’s main goal during this year’s RAAM was to finish. In a pre race interview with Otto, he claimed to be a regular guy who works 50 hours per week and who finds it hard to find time to train. Shortly before nine this evening and with the power of the bunny inside, a limping but smiling Otto successfully met his goal at 20:56 EST.

Only two more racers left to cross the finish line in the Insight Race Across America. Guus Moonen is due in shortly past noon on July 1 and Randy Van Zee is expected by 18:40 on July 1.