Before diving into the Opening Ceremonies I should fill you in on some details about this race.
RAAM is a bicycle race formally known as the Race Across America. It is 3000 miles in length with a start in Oceanside California and distant finish in Annapolis Maryland. I am a rider on Team ViaSat which is an eight man team. While teams are free to devise whatever division of labor is fastest my team has chosen to break the eight men into 4 working subgroups.
Each sub-group (hereafter "Teams" 1-4) rides for 5 hours and then has 15 hours "off" to race up the road in a car and position themselves for more bike racing. In short, a 20 hour racing cycle which continues 24 hours a day until we complete the 3000 mile course. Sound confusing? At first, it is. I'll bet by the end of this it will become second nature.
The opening ceremonies for RAAM were held at the Oceanside Pier on Saturday June 20, 2009. To make things interesting, I threw my hat into the ring to play the National Anthem before the riders took off. All the RAAM officials were completely cool and seemed to "get" my take on the event. I would play my version on the electric guitar and wanted to make it an event nobody would soon forget.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
RAAM 2009: Introduction
What soul could have known?
Despite having ridden, trained and persistently questioned RAAM veteran and training partner Jeremy Gustin, I entered this race with many things unresolved.
The questions outnumbered the answers but I'll not ask you to consider them now. They will become apparent as I take you on the road with me to share my experience. My deepest hope is that, in reading this, you will join my team on this adventure. This is a huge ambition, limited by my abilities to find the right words to convey such an epic experience.
Our journey together invokes the spirit of a Jules Verne novel. Our variation of the tale takes Around the World in Eighty Days and transmutes us into racing bikes Across America in Less Than Six Days.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehgL69wRjPS1298_DTu9Nq9Dq4ScbCBBz2RoF6n2e8XOJkcax9gO7CYzESJ4bWLPPcdO8-YyNMYKSqYzR5IxGZ6osK6zGcpK4HT_giHw42IQnmYXFN0uBJ6Qvh_PGNJy9wnfvCX3ZhNE/s1600-h/PICT4551.JPG
Despite having ridden, trained and persistently questioned RAAM veteran and training partner Jeremy Gustin, I entered this race with many things unresolved.
The questions outnumbered the answers but I'll not ask you to consider them now. They will become apparent as I take you on the road with me to share my experience. My deepest hope is that, in reading this, you will join my team on this adventure. This is a huge ambition, limited by my abilities to find the right words to convey such an epic experience.
Our journey together invokes the spirit of a Jules Verne novel. Our variation of the tale takes Around the World in Eighty Days and transmutes us into racing bikes Across America in Less Than Six Days.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehgL69wRjPS1298_DTu9Nq9Dq4ScbCBBz2RoF6n2e8XOJkcax9gO7CYzESJ4bWLPPcdO8-YyNMYKSqYzR5IxGZ6osK6zGcpK4HT_giHw42IQnmYXFN0uBJ6Qvh_PGNJy9wnfvCX3ZhNE/s1600-h/PICT4551.JPG
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