Beyond ultra - Race Across America

If you ride a bike far enough, will distance cease to matter? If you ride often enough, will weather cease to matter? If you ride through all kinds of terrain, will landscape cease to matter? If you ride long enough will time cease to matter?

This week a handful of riders will take on the Race Across America (RAAM). RAAM is a 3,000 mile bicycle race from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis, Maryland. Some will ride as a part team of riders,  a few will ride the entire distance solo.

If you would like to follow the race by following a rider or two whom you can root for,  I have a couple of suggestions:

Geoff Brunner is taking on the solo challenge. He's a Pennsylvania rider and a good guy. Last year, he came in just under the deadline for a successful finish. His support team consists of family and friends. If you are on facebook you can follow his progress by "liking" his page: Geoff Brunner - Road to Race Across America

Patrick Autissier is a Boston based AIDS researcher who completed RAAM solo once before (He was one of the featured cyclists in the award winning movie Bicycle Dreams). This year, he is part of a four man team that is not only riding but doing AIDS/HIV research at the same time. Team4HIVhope has a page on Facebook, you can follow them on twitter, and they have a web page.

And in a shorter (860 mile) event called RAW - Race Across the West, Team Roadworx will compete. An excerpt from their web page:

We are racing 860 miles from Oceanside California to Durango Colorado. We are (Charlie Combs, George Metzler, Mark Pattinson, and Will Pennino and we competing as a 4 person relay team. Each rider will race at close to an all out effort for 20 minutes and then rest for 60 minutes as he is shuttled up the road to take another 20 minutes turn in the rotation. 43 hours later we should arrive in Durango.

You can follow them here:

Best luck for safe travels to all the riders! It should be quite an adventure!