Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Mont Ventoux Photo ©: Sirotti |
Race Across America - NE
USA, June 11-23, 2006
Day 1 - June 11
Tactics vary as RAAM riders set out on long haul across USA
There have been a wide range of tactics employed by the Solo Enduro riders as they try to figure out the optimal way to conquer the newest division in the Race Across America.
A group of four riders -- Jure Robic, Marko Baloh, Jonathan Boyer, and Valentin Zeller -- got away on the first good climb of the race, though from here these solo riders took different tacks.
Two-time defending champ Jure Robic threw down the gauntlet and began pushing the early pace by jumping out to a lead through Time Station 2.
However, Robic incurred a 15-minute penalty when he and crew stopped on the Interstate, and while not assessed until the end of the race, his countryman Marko Baloh caught up to Robic by Time Station 3 and now holds a slight lead.
1985 RAAM winner Jonathan Boyer decided to follow his pre-race plan of resting early and he amassed an 83-minute sleep at Time Station 3, Chiriaco Summit.
Kenny Souza was noted to be riding comfortably and well within his zone, conserving energy for later in the race... and knowing that those in front, particularly Robic, will have to take mandatory rest at some point.
Rookie Tinker Juarez stayed with the leaders for a while but was not riding in his aero bars as much as the other riders and was having trouble with the height of his seat, causing him to take a four-minute rest at an Enduro Time Station -- which will count towards his mandated 40 hours.
Towards Time Station 4 in Blythe, CA, today's exceedingly high temperatures (topping out at 106 degrees) started to take their toll. Valentin Zeller fainted from dehydration and his team was tending to him at the time of this report. Also seen vomiting on the road's shoulder was Gerhard Gulewicz, a Solo Traditional rider.
Team Beat Cancer, a 24-hour team had a 35-minute lead on the Enduro field at Time Station 3 and early 'speed watch' has them near or better than the pace of 24-Hour record-holder team, Clif Bar (RAAM 2005).
Chew's View
By Danny Chew
The 25th Race Across America began on Sunday, June 11th at 9:00 am local time in Oceanside, CA. Official race time is Eastern Standard Time military (0-24 hours) so we began at 12:00. The 29 rider (Fredi Virag never showed up) solo field including 13 Enduro riders, four 24 hour Corporate Challenge [to Flagstaff, AZ] up to 8 person teams, the 2 person mixed Team Racing Against Diabetes, and the 6 person Austrian hand cycle team left in that order at 30 second intervals. This time trial start (unusual for RAAM) was because San Diego County forbids big group riding on it’s roads even though 7 miles of the 13 mile parade start (neutral zone) were on the San Luis Rey Bike Path. The first 55 mile leg to time station #1 at Lake Henshaw had 4,300 feet of climbing. The 24 hour CC Team Beat Cancer arrived first one minute ahead of Enduro leaders Marko Baloh and Jure Robic. Valentin Zeller and David Tinker Juarez were two minutes back, and Kenny Souza three minutes them. All five of the top solo riders were Enduro. Leading the Traditional race were Marcel Knaus and Fabio Biasiolo. Dino Nico Valsesia was just one minute back, and David Haase four minutes behind Dino. Women’s leader Shanna Banana Armstrong was just 23 minutes behind the Traditional leader. The time range between the first and last solo rider was already 1 hour, 33 minutes. The 6 man hand cycle team rode through one hour after last solo rider Lou Lamoureux.by
Between time station 1 and 2, Baloh had 5 rear flat tires enabling Robic to build a 9 minute lead at TS #2. Valsesia and Juarez were riding bikes with no aerobars, and all of Jock Boyer’s wheels had sew-up (tubular) tires on them. At TS #2, the top 6 soloists were Enduro riders, and Valsesia had taken over as the Traditional leader. In Mecca, Traditional rider Haase took advantage of a brief unexpected stop for a train, to have his crew jump out of their minivan and lay a blanket down for him to lay/stretch on. The high temperature topped out at 103 degrees F.
A lot of activity happened at the 3rd TS in Chiriaco Summit on Interstate Highway 10. This was the second Enduro Control Point (a place where Enduro riders can log time off the bike towards their mandatory 40 hours for the entire race). The 3rd Enduro rider to arrive (6 minutes behind leader Baloh), Boyer stopped a total of 83 minutes for an afternoon/evening sleep. He left in Enduro 6th place, and 10th place among all solo riders. Souza and Juarez logged very short stops. Souza arrived one minute ahead of Juarez, stopped for 9 minutes, and left 4 minutes behind Juarez who stopped for 4 minutes.
Three time 4 person team RAAM winner Kerry Ryan is Boyer’s crew chief. He called the Enduro race the “Penalty box race” because he thinks riders will near the end of the race without getting enough of their 40 off bike hours, and will have to wait out the rest of their time at a time station just before the finish line like I and other riders penalized have done in past RAAMs.
During an Enduro Control Point stop, a rider rides up to the control board, signs it with his initials and number, then usually goes to his crew vehicle for a sleep or something else. After the sleep/rest is over, the riders goes back to the control board and signs out before riding away. An official or manned TS person then subtracts the two times, and writes the off bike time down on the board. All this information is posted on the RAAM website. The kinks of this bran new procedure need to be ironed out. Kenny Souza was the 3rd Enduro rider to ride into TS #4 in Blythe. He signed in and then signed out after a brief stop, but his crew wasn’t ready to pull out with him so he had to wait about 10 minutes until they were. At the TS, head RAAM official Lon Haldeman cut him some slack by changing his sign out time, but I could tell that Lon’s wife Susan wasn’t happy about it.
The heat seemed to have gotten to the two solo Austrian riders. Enduro rider Zeller stopped for a short rest, and fainted when he went to get back on his bike. Traditional rider Gerchard Gulewicz had to stop and vomit next to his minivan, but quickly got back on his bike afterwards.
Orlando Borini and Attila Kaldy got 15 minute penalties for running stop signs. Robic got 15 minutes when his crew stopped on I-10 to service him. Marcel Knaus got 15 when his support vehicle parked on the white line of the road. Riders seem to get the most penalties on the first day when rookie crewmembers are not yet familiar with the rules.
Solo leader Baloh rode 240 miles into Arizona his first 12 hours of RAAM despite heat and flat tires. Comparing this to the first 12 hour leader splits of the previous 3 RAAMs – Robic rode 2-3 miles farther in 2004 & 2005, and Baloh rode 203 miles in his (rookie) 2003 RAAM on a hotter first day, but he did not finish.
Results
24 Hour Corporate Challenge 1 Team Beat Cancer 488.9 1.00.24 (20.04mph) 2 The Swami's Team 488.9 1.02.26 (18.50mph) 3 Pam Reed's Badwater Crew 488.9 1.02.36 (18.38mph) 4 Team Illumina 488.9 1.04.28 (17.17mph)
