Race Across America - NE

USA, June 11-23, 2006

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Day 6 - June 16

Velez & Jones call it a day. Solos vs teams race to the river

Enduro soloist Jean-Marc Velez and Traditional soloist David Jones dropped out as the rest of the remaining solo riders (Enduro and Traditional) braved howling winds through the Heartland... and the race within the race -- RAAM solos vs. teams to get to the Mississippi River -- will be too close to call.

Jean-Marc Velez officially dropped out (DNF) of the 2006 RAAM this evening at approximately 22:00 EDT citing only the reason of "None" when asked why he was quitting.

Velez did crash earlier in the race (near T.S. 20 in Colorado) and was able to continue after a trip to the hospital to get patched up. However, he only made it to the next Time Station before calling to announce his withdrawal... It appears that Velez was simply "course-whipped" by the race. RAAM HQ estimates report that Velez was in serious trouble of making race cut-offs.

David Jones very reluctantly called in his withdrawal from Ulysses, Kansas after assessing his ability to make cut-off times and dodge a looming storm that his crew was alerted to. David reports that he felt good climbing into Colorado, then got a little down with his nutrition through the eastern side of the state, and then once again felt good getting into Ulysses which makes his decision even more difficult.

As a rookie who has dedicated the last year of his life to planning and training for RAAM, Jones says it will feel a little weird returning to his full time job as an aerospace engineer. He's happy to be a part of the RAAM experience and didn't realize how rewarding it could be for his crew and himself to overcome the immense obstacles of RAAM. The race wishes David well and looks forward to hear his decision about racing the RAAM again.

Meanwhile, Traditional solo race leader Fabio Biasiolo is estimated (by rough computer analysis at race HQ) to arrive at Time Station 35 (the Mississippi River) at 10:12 AM on June 17... however, the two lead teams are estimated to arrive 62 and 54 minutes ahead of Basiolo!

But since this is the Race Across America and anything can happen, we'll leave it to the race gods to decide who gets to the Mighty Miss first.

The latest race weather -- Continued "howling" winds followed by more "howling" gusts of wind.

Two-time RAAM winner and ultracycling pioneer Lon Haldeman said that in the 25 year history of RAAM he's never witnessed such a sustained period of high winds across such a large area -- which in this race has included 30-40+ mile per hour winds across the eastern half of Colorado and through the entire state of Kansas.

From the rolling desk of Danny Chew somewhere in Kansas...

Danny Chew called in his "Chew's Views" report for Friday, June 16, as he travels across Kansas catching up with many solo riders.

20 men and one woman in both solo divisions were slowed considerably across the plain states by these 30+ mile per hour south crosswinds bringing average speeds down considerably and literally blowing Fabio Biasiolo and Jonathan Boyer off their bikes.

Despite being blown over, Biasiolo has built a considerable lead of almost four hours over the rest of the Traditional division into the first Time Station in Missouri, while Boyer has established a 40 minute lead over the Enduro field through the same spot.

Guus Moonen (Traditional) only had 30 minutes of sleep in the first third of the race through Durango, CO and this lack of rest seems to have caught up to him as he rolled into Time Station 26 in Pratt, KS. Moonen took four hours of sleep in a motel across from the wild and wooly McDonald's serving as T.S. 26 (see Report from the Field, 2006-15-06, 21:15 EDT) last night, and then had to take another two hours during the day.

Being from Holland, Moonen likes flat terrain and is looking forward to the next few days through the middle states.

David Haase (Traditional) had a relatively unlucky day as his crew left Pratt, KS in a hurry to catch up with him and drove under a clearance that was too low for one of his bikes. A bike store owner had a bike Fed Ex'ed all the way from Wisconsin to Time Station 27 in Mount Vernon, Kansas while Haase took a huge 11 hour sleep. With a new bike on board as back-up, Haase appears refreshed and is back to form.

Kevin Wallace (Traditional) can barely speak from a bout of dry, cracked throat which many racers picked up with the extreme climate change from Arizona to Colorado, but his form looks good and he's in an extremely confident mood. Wallace has set his sites on all the riders in front of him, and after "taking it easy" through the first half of the race, he's ready to turn it on when he gets to the Mississippi River.

Kenny Souza (Enduro) fought what seemed to be a bout with pneumonia through Utah and Colorado, and took an 11 hour sleep to try to shake it off and recover. Souza has now accumulated over 35 hours of off-the-bike time with less than half the race course completed and it appears that his intention to finish the race is still extremely high, though he may forego a good result.

On the team side of the race, Team Type 1 continues to close the gap on Beaver Creek/Vail. The rookie racers of Team Type 1 lost ground early and were down as much as 2 hrs, 2 minutes at T.S. 20 in Trinidad, CO. Now, they are a mere 6 minutes back through T.S. 31 in Collins, MO. Team Type 1 has been experimenting with putting two riders on the road at the same time to draft off one another in order to increase speed. The move is still tentative and little utilized because of the unfamiliarity of the teammates with each other. Averaging over 20 miles per hour, Team Type 1 is well ahead of the eight-person speed record of 19.84 mph.

And that's officially it for Day 5 of the solo race and Day 3 of the team race as the clock strikes midnight at RAAM HQ in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Results

Men's Solo - Traditional
 
1 Fabio Biasiolo                        1852.6  5.11.45 (14.06mph)
2 Daniel Wyss                           1793.9  5.10.40 (13.73mph)
3 Kevin Wallace                         1740.3  5.13.23 (13.05mph)
4 Dino Nico Valsesia                    1740.3  5.13.33 (13.03mph)
5 David Haase                           1740.3  5.15.53 (12.81mph)
6 Guus Moonen                           1678.3  5.14.06 (12.52mph)
7 Attila Kaldy                          1557.2  5.10.35 (11.92mph)
8 Gerhard Gulewicz                      1557.2  5.12.11 (11.78mph)
9 Tony O'Keeffe                         1557.2  5.14.06 (11.61mph)
DNF Marcel Knaus                        1295.3  4.00.44 (13.39mph)
DNF David Jones                         1295.3  5.01.59 (10.62mph)
DNF James Kern                           721.0  2.01.52 (14.46mph)
DNF Orlando Borini                       721.0  2.09.43 (12.49mph)
DNF Louis Lamoureux                      488.9  2.07.12  (8.86mph)
 
Men's Solo - Enduro
 
1 Marko Baloh                           1852.6  5.14.50 (13.74mph)
2 Jonathan Boyer                        1793.9  5.10.13 (13.78mph)
3 David Tinker Juarez                   1678.3  5.15.49 (12.36mph)
4 Kenny Souza                           1557.2  5.14.01 (11.62mph)
5 Bryce Walsh                           1496.8  5.11.11 (11.41mph)
6 Rob Lucas                             1443.5  5.14.13 (10.75mph)
7 Mitchell Lesack                       1443.5  5.14.23 (10.74mph)
8 Fred Boethling                        1401.4  5.12.18 (10.59mph)
9 Guido Kunze                           1401.4  5.14.56 (10.39mph)
DNF Jean - Marc Velez                   1173.1  5.02.52  (9.55mph)
DNF Jure' Robic                          885.5  2.09.20 (15.44mph)
DNF Guy Wells                            565.1  2.12.20  (9.37mph)
DNF Valentin Zeller                      488.9  1.10.21 (14.23mph)
 
Women's Solo - Traditional
 
1 Shanna Armstrong                      1443.5  5.09.39 (11.13mph)
DNF Patty Jo Struv                       771.2  3.00.03 (10.70mph)
 
Two Person Male
 
1 Team BodyXchange / Garden Pathways    1740.3  3.10.50 (21.01mph)
2 Team Race for Wishes                  1345.6  3.09.09 (16.58mph)
3 Cheniere's Making Cancer History Team 1295.3  3.07.43 (16.25mph)
4 Team eXtreme                          1295.3  3.10.49 (15.64mph)
 
Two Person Mixed
 
1 Racing Against Diabetes               1443.5  5.14.18 (10.75mph)
 
Two Person Recumbent
 
1 Volae Wolf Pack                       1443.5  3.09.29 (17.72mph)
 
Four Person Male
 
1 Beaver Creek - Vail                   1852.6  3.09.52 (22.63mph)
2 Swiss DAMOVO Team                     1678.3  3.09.31 (20.59mph)
3 Athletes Racing for Charity Team      1619.3  3.11.00 (19.51mph)
4 Dreams for Kids                       1496.8  3.06.57 (18.96mph)
5 Gearsandtears                         1496.8  3.08.58 (18.49mph)
6 Team Heifer International             1443.5  3.08.37 (17.91mph)
7 Team care 4 kids (NICH)               1401.4  3.09.07 (17.28mph)
8 Team OC Quattro                       1345.6  3.11.13 (16.17mph)
9 Vencendo Desafios Team Brazil         1295.3  3.09.36 (15.87mph)
10 2CURE - HD                           1222.7  3.07.56 (15.30mph)
11 Team Nor'easter                      1222.7  3.08.34 (15.18mph)
12 Team Cyclonauts                      1173.1  3.08.53 (14.50mph)
 
Four Person Female
 
1 Vail / Beaver Creek B2B Divas         1443.5  3.10.26 (17.51mph)
2 Team Red Helmets                      1295.3  3.08.49 (16.03mph)
 
Four Person Mixed
 
1 Emily's Team                          1557.2  3.09.25 (19.13mph)
2 Just Sweat No Tears                   1443.5  3.09.13 (17.77mph)
3 Team 4 Gone                           1345.6  3.09.42 (16.47mph)
 
Four Person Tandem
 
1 Team JDRF                             1222.7  3.10.05 (14.90mph)
 
Corporate Challenge
 
1 Team Type 1                           1852.6  3.09.52 (22.63mph)
2 Team ViaSat                           1557.2  3.06.44 (19.78mph)
3 Team Donate Life 8                    1496.8  3.08.42 (18.55mph)
4 Cycling for Chaffey                   1401.4  3.08.49 (17.34mph)
 
Corporate Challenge HPV
 
1 Handcycleteam RC - Enjo Volarlberg    1619.3  5.12.06 (12.26mph)
 
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)