One complaint about the Race Across America bicycle race has been the role that sleep deprivation plays. Another has been the hugeness of the support team needed to be a contender (I recall the official RAAM site says to plan on a base cost of $5K for support).
I’ve made noise for a few years now that there should be a RAAM event or option for self-supported riders, with sleep-spots or something. I also saw the event as something that might be led by racers but would include anyone who wanted to ride the route. It might also be no-holds-barred in terms of how you wanted to ride: bike, tandem, ‘bent, HPV. I liked the notion of mixed terrain, to really test the bikes: dirt, trail, paved: the works. Maybe this way some of the notoriously infamous paved sections (full of trucks) could be avoided by way of pleasant backroads.
Anyway, some very experienced, totally loco guys are way ahead of me. They’ve already run a RAAM like this and are getting ready to do another. If you like the sounds of this, sign up, dude! Or, just show up and ride. I’m not sure there’s any sign-up. The rules might be simpler than that. Ya got 6 months before the start. If you like. Really, you can start any time you like. They’re just offering a set of standard ground-rules for comparison and you can include a same-day start in on that if you want.
It’s called the Great Divide Race and it crosses the nation: but north to south along the whole continental divide. You shop at stores along the way to get your food. It’s easy to get a map of the official route. The record is now about 16 days.
Here are the two main websites for info:
www.mile43.com/peterson/Divide/DivideRace.html.
