December 19, 2004 – The Insight Race Across America is pleased to announce a two-hour NBC Sports airing of the 2004 edition on Saturday, January 22, 2005, 2.30 p.m.- 4.30 p.m. EST (check your listings for any local variations).

The NBC broadcast adds to a host of feature-length shows focusing on the
event internationally, and in its 24th year, RAAM is now receiving
worldwide recognition beyond the wildest dreams of the raceís founders. As
it approaches its quarter-century milestone, RAAM is gradually becoming an
international tradition. A key observer of RAAMís development is Jim
Lampley, who hosted ABC’s Wide World of Sports telecasts of the first five
RAAM editions and who is one of the Executive Producers of the upcoming
telecast. Lampley’s company, Crystal Spring Productions, was hard at work
on RAAM even as he worked his twelfth Olympics as a broadcaster for NBC in
Athens.

“Anyone who knows me well knows about my love affair with RAAM,” Lampley
says of the world’s toughest ultra-endurance event. “When we first arrived in Santa Monica in 1981 to meet John Marino and the three other men who would start out with him, we had no idea what we were about to see and I’m not sure they did either. But from the wee hours of that first night, chasing Lon Haldeman into Death Valley, I’ve always felt this is the ultimate American trip. Now we have a great opportunity to share it with millions of Americans who have never really seen it, Pacific to Atlantic across the broad backs of three thousand miles of roads, from the inside out, the way we see it on RAAM. The name alone still give me chills, has for twenty-five years: The Race Across America. There’s only one.”

At the same time the television presence of the event is taking a giant
step forward, its presence on the ground is multiplying rapidly. This
represents a coordinated move by the event management to build on the long
and distinguished history of RAAM to make it North Americaís premier road
cycling event.

Insight RAAM is the American answer to the Tour de France, attracting many
of the leading ultra-marathon cyclists in the world to climb their own Mt.
Everest. Going the rest of the American way, race organizers offer the
opportunity for nearly anyone with a driving desire to compete alongside
the hard core elite of the sport to sign up for the ride of a lifetime. A
corporate team division was recently added for eight-person teams, in which each rider takes on about 1/8th of the challenge a solo RAAM rider handles, riding three hours per day. While still challenging, this puts RAAM within the reach of practically anybody who rides a bicycle regularly and it creates a spectacular opportunity for organizations to participate in employee/customer team building as well as support their charity of choice.

For conventional bicycle racing teams, the four-person team category is
ideally suited to top amateur and professional teams. After beating an
international field, the four-person Action Sports team took away $25,000 in prize money last year. Olympic speedskating legend and bicycle road racer Dr. Eric Heiden will compete with a four-man team from Sacramento next year.

The movement to give America’s bicycle race to more American cyclists is
augmented by sponsorship activation specialists O2 Sports Media, who have
devised a plan for 2005 that reidentifies RAAM as North Americaís bicycle
race. Riders of all abilities are invited to participate in organized
rides along selected parts of the route, from 10 ñ 100 miles, celebrating
the great continental crossing, the spirit of cycling, and of course
saluting the racers themselves as these determined souls power through one
of the world’s most arduous sporting events.

The Insight Race Across America starts in San Diego on June 19th and ends
in Atlantic City on June 28th. The planned 3,000 mile route passes through
California, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illiniois, Indiana, Ohio,
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, and includes about
150,000 feet of climbing. Up to 150 cyclists from 15 nations are expected
to participate in the 2005 edition. For more information, visit
www.raceacrossamerica.org