Hi RAAM Fans ...

"It's getting wierd out there ... My mind is finally realizing that I'm not
kidding around." ....
                    Jonathon Boyer on Day 5 of the 1985 RAAM

"I did it my way.  I'm really happy I could do it.  I was confident that I
could do it and that's what I proved.
I love this race.  I really like it ... I had no idea what experience it
would be.  I loved the experience and I will never forget it."
                    Jonathon Boyer at the Finish of the 1985 RAAM

In 1985, RAAM was changed forever by the entry of Jonathon Boyer, one of two
of the most accomplished Road Racing Cyclists in America at that time.
Jonathon was the first American to race in the Tour de France!!  In 1985, 
there was an epic battle that occurred between Boyer and Michael Secrest. 
Secrest lead all the way out to Day 5 by 38 Miles ahead of Boyer -- it was
very, very close.  Only at the Blue Ridge Parkway where foggy and wet
conditions prevailed, did Boyer open a large lead over Secrest who found
it just too dangerous.  History now records that Boyer made to the finish
in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 9 Days and 2 Hours, which was the fastest
Coast-To-Coast Bicycle Crossing up to that point.  Secrest was very close
behind -- only 4 hours back after completing the last 420 miles in 24 hours
and he also passed the previous transcontinental record!!  

The ABC Wide World of Sports won an Emmy Award for their coverage of the 1985
Race Across America -- and after watching this video again, I can see why:
it's
really outstanding!!  To order your copy, go to:
http://www.CalTripleCrown.com
then to the 1998 Race Across America Hot Items Updates.
Jim Lampley and the ABC Crew really did well on that one!!

Lon Haldeman is currently on the RAAM Route having started a group of PAC Tour
RAAM Riders who are riding 190 Miles a day for 15 days.  Riders completing the
entire tour will qualify for RAAM next year.  They started on July 18th so
they had a 5 day head start on the Solo RAAM Riders.  As of now, Lon and his
group should be 13 Days x 190 = 2470 Miles into the course and Gerry Tatrai
should be seeing them soon.  

Anyway, back to the 1998 Race ...

Hot Item -- Gerry Tatrai, The Wonder From Down Under (Australia), continues to
lead the Solo RAAM.  However, there has been a major change in 2nd Place:
Wolfgang Fasching, last year's winner, has now rolled into 2nd Place!!  On the
last report, Gerry had a 6 Hour lead on Rob Kish who was then in 2nd place.
Now Gerry has a 9 Hour lead on Wolfgang in 2nd place at Time Station 39
(Chesterfield, TN) which is 2,227 miles into the race.  Gerry is actually
through TS 43 (Lewisburg, TN) which is 2,373 miles into the race so Gerry has
a 146 mile lead on Wolfgang!!  

Hot Item -- In my previous E-Mail, I was comparing Gerry Tatrai's Stellar
performance here to Pete Penesyre's 1986 RAAM where he had a Total Average
Speed of 15.4 MPH.  Since the last update, Gerry has ridden another 146 Miles
and his Total Average Speed has increased from 14.4 to 14.5 which is
incredible when you think about it after 2,372 miles.  Don't forget: no one
except for Pete has broken the 15.0 barrier. 

Hot Item -- So when will Gerry get to Savannah?  This year's Route is 2,907
miles and Gerry has cover 2,373 so he has 564 miles to go.  At his current
Total Average Speed of 14.5, he should get there 39 Hours from 7/30/98
7:45 A.M.  Therefore, Gerry should make it to the Finish on Friday 7/31/98
at about 11:00 P.M. EST which would be a 8 Day, 11 Hour Transcontinental
Crossing.

Hot Item -- Overall Position numbers on these reports are based on the
following
Race Categories:
Solo RAAM, Men and Women, Numbers 1 ... 20
2 Man Relay Team & 70 Plus Teams that started with Solo RAAM, Numbers 1 ... 3
Team RAAM and Human Powered Vehicle, Numbers 1 ... 11 

Hot Item -- Last Year's Men's Champion Wolfgang Fasching has more than
recovered from his earlier problems as he has moved up from 10th to 9th to
6th to 3rd and is now in 2nd place.  He has passed Rob Kish as of this
report.

Hot Item -- Rob Kish in 3rd place follows Wolfgang Fasching by about 1 hour.

Extremely Hot Item -- The battle for 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th place is really
HEATING UP with all of these cyclists separated by only 3 hours!!

Extremely Hot Item -- Danny Chew continues in 4th place.

Hot Item -- Tom Buckley continues in 5th place.

Hot Item -- Fabio Biasiolo continues in 6th place.

Hot Item -- Andreas Clavedetscher has dropped all the way from 7th to 10th
place.

Hot Item -- Steve Born has moved up from 11th to 9th place.

Hot Item -- Seana Hogan has moved up from 15th to 14th place, having passed
Giovanni Zilioli.  

Hot Item -- I was side tracked in my project to upload my RAAM Start Line
Photos.  Instead, I spent the time to put all of these updates online so you
can easily go back and see anything you missed.  Go to:
http://www.CalTripleCrown.com
then to 1998 Race Across America Hot Item Updates.
Also, you can order the RAAM Videos from there!!

Don't forget Nick's masterpiece photos at:
http://www.RAAMOnline.com

Hot Item -- Let's talk about the Rookies.  

Mark Patten is from Saratoga, California continues in 8th place.

Harold Trease from Jemez Springs, New Mexico has moved up from 9th to 7th
place, having passed Mark Patten and Andreas Clavedetscher.
 
Andreas Clavedetscher from Liechenstein has dropped from 7th to 10th place. 

Andrew Bohannon from Sunnyvale, California has dropped back from 10th to 11th
place.

Rick Anderson from Woodside, California continues in 12th place.

Hansgeorg Haus from Permasens, Germany, continues in 16th place.  

Tim Kinkeade from Moscow, Idaho has dropped back from 16th to 17th place.

Charlie Liskey from Somis, California continues in 18th place.

Bernie Comeau from Ottawa, Canada continues in 19th place.
  
Hot Item -- 1989 Winner Paul Solon has dropped from 12th to 13th place.

Hot Item -- In the 70+ Division, Team Secure Horizons continues with a lead of
12 Hours over Team 70+. 

Interesting Item -- Team Secure Horizons has now passed all of the Solo Riders
including Tatrai. EXCEPT, Gerry has now passed the 70 Year Old guys back and
Gerry went through TS43 about 1 hour ahead of Team Secure Horizons.  There's
some good competition going on here!!  Can these 70 year old guys roll into
Savannah before those Solo Young Whipper Snappers?  (Go Guido and buddies)
These 70 year young guys are a major inspiration to all of us young whipper
snappers!!

Hot Item -- Team Action Sports beat Team Pacificare to Time Station 34 by 30
minutes.  They need a Total Average Speed of over 23.0 in order to beat the
Team Kern Wheelmen's 1995 Record and at this point, the Action Sports guys continue
to have a Total Average Speed of 22.6 MPH.

Hot Item -- The 4 Man Teams that started Sunday, 3 days after the Solo Riders
are now passing the Solo Riders.  Team Action Sports is now behind Andrew
Bohannon on the road.

Hot Item -- Team Gustavo Rmo Franca is a two man Team from Brazil that just
continues to Rock and Roll.  Their Total Average Speed has dropped
significantly from 16.8 to 16.4 MPH and they are in Georgia, having covered 2681 Miles.

All Rider Web pages were searched for Notes and Time Penalties and nothing new
was found.

Technical Note -- As you may have found, this report is difficult to print
well. In the prior few E-Mails, there are instructions on how to print it with nice
columns.  Let me know if you need these instructions again.

All credit for this work should go to RAAM Headquarters manned by the SCOR
Club and headed by Larry Mahrenholtz.  The Web Site is totally awesome and if
you don't have Internet Access, you need to get it in order to really see what
each rider is doing through each time station, etc.  Check out:
http://www.RAAMOnline.com

Chuck Bramwell
California Triple Crown Guy
RAAM Web Page Transcriptionist


RAAM Route Individual Standings (1998)
Created on Thursday, July 30, 1998 at 8:43 am (est)
*****************************************************************************
*
*
*  DIVISION REPORT - Solo Divisions
*
*
*****************************************************************************
Division: Solo, Men
Division Leader:
Rider #150 (Gerry Tatrai) passed through station 43 (Lewisburg, TN) at 7:45:00
AM (EDT) on Thursday, July 30, 1998, 2372.86 miles into the race.
                                           Total  Total  Ave  Ave  Mi  Hr.
    Rider         Station Time/Day        Hrs.   Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
150 Gerry Tatrai     43 7/30/98  7:45 AM 163.50 2372.86 348 14.5 0.0 0.00 1
201 Wolfgang Fasching39 7/30/98  7:40 AM 163.42 2226.52 327 13.6          2
39 Rob Kish          39 7/30/98  8:30 AM 164.25 2226.52 325 13.6          3
129 Danny Chew       37 7/30/98  7:23 AM 163.13 2163.29 318 13.3          4
196 Tom Buckley      37 7/30/98  8:21 AM 164.10 2163.29 316 13.2          5
210 Fabio Biasiolo   36 7/30/98  5:25 AM 161.17 2117.46 315 13.1          6
231 Harold Trease    36 7/30/98  7:30 AM 163.25 2117.46 311 13.0          7
229 Mark Patten      35 7/30/98  7:56 AM 163.68 2095.42 307 12.8          8
97 Steve Born        35 7/30/98  8:00 AM 163.75 2095.42 307 12.8          9
223 Andreas Clavedets35 7/30/98  8:14 AM 163.98 2095.42 307 12.8         10
222 Andrew Bohannon  34 7/30/98  2:16 AM 158.02 2031.05 308 12.9         11
220 Rick Anderson    33 7/30/98  1:01 AM 156.77 1942.10 297 12.4         12
80 Paul Solon        33 7/30/98  1:15 AM 157.00 1942.10 297 12.4         13
161 Seana Hogan      31 7/30/98  4:51 AM 160.60 1867.95 279 11.6         14
219 Giovanni Zilioli 31 7/30/98  7:15 AM 163.00 1867.95 275 11.5         15
225 Hansgeorg Haus   31 7/30/98  7:50 AM 163.58 1867.95 274 11.4         16
226 Tim Kinkeade     30 7/30/98  7:57 AM 163.70 1819.75 267 11.1         17
227 Charles Liskey   27 7/30/98  4:56 AM 160.68 1668.25 249 10.4         18
224 Bernie Comeau    24 7/29/98 11:12 PM 154.95 1523.20 236  9.8         19
114 Aldo Calandro    22 7/30/98  3:20 AM 159.08 1438.70 217  9.0         20

**** Did Not Finish ****
230 Bob Kimber        8 7/25/98  6:10 PM  53.92  512.50 228  9.5        DNF
221 Tomas Celta       1 7/23/98  5:17 PM   5.03   83.96 400 16.7        DNF

Division: - 2 Man Relay Team
Division Leader:
Rider #TM57 (Team Gustavo Rmo Franca) passed through station 50 (Royston,
GA) at 7:30:00 AM (EDT) on Thursday, July 30, 1998, 2681.63 miles into the 
race.
                                          Total  Total  Ave  Ave  Mi  Hr.
    Rider         Station Time/Day        Hrs.   Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
TM57 Team Gustavo Rmo50 7/30/98  7:30 AM 163.25 2681.63 394 16.4 0.0 0.00 1

Division: - 70 Plus Teams
Division Leader:
Rider #TM19 (Team Secure Horizons/SCOR) passed through station 43 
(Lewisburg, TN) at 8:32:00 AM (EDT) on Thursday, July 30, 1998, 2372.86 
miles into the race.
                                          Total  Total  Ave  Ave  Mi  Hr.
    Rider         Station Time/Day        Hrs.   Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
TM19 Team Secure     43 7/30/98  8:32 AM 164.28 2372.86 347 14.4 0.0 0.00 2
TM36 Team 70+        38 7/30/98  7:16 AM 163.02 2191.63 323 13.4          3
*****************************************************************************
*
*
*  TIME PENALTIES and NOTES -- All Solo Riders and Teams that Started Thursday
*                              With The Solo Riders
*
*  Listed in order of Rider's Last Name
*
*  Last Updated: 7/30/98 8:43 A.M. EST by Chuck Bramwell from each
*                        Rider's Web Page
*
*
*****************************************************************************
Anderson, Rick
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Biasiolo, Fabio
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Bohannon, Andrew
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Born, Steve
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Buckley, Tom
     Date: 7/26/98 Time: 10:56 AM
     Note: 7/25/98 11:27 PM 7 milesafter RP 309. Detained 11 minutes by
police.
     Date: 7/27/98 Time: 2:18 AM Note: Per Mike Shermer to receive a credit of
11 minutes for being detained for 11 minutes by the police.
     Date: 7/28/98 Time: 2:45 AM Note: Today is his 44th Birthday--Happy
Birthday

******************************************************************************
Calandro, Aldo
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 15 min.
     Time: 15 min. Reason: Failed to stop at stop sign RP#51, called in by
Mike Roark

******************************************************************************
Celta, Tomas
     Date: 7/25/98 Time: 11:01 AM Note: Rider dropped out due to Heat
Exhaustion, location was not given.

******************************************************************************
Chew, Danny
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Clavedetscher, Andreas
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Comeau, Bernie
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Fasching, Wolfgang
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 0 min.
     Time: 0 min. Reason: Warning given by Tracie Holmes for excess time next
to pace vehicle

******************************************************************************
Haus, Hansgeorg
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 0 min.
     Time: 0 min. Reason: warning given by Tracie Holmes, did not pull vehicle
completely off road when assisting rider

******************************************************************************
Hogan, Seana
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Kimber, Bob
     Date: 7/25/98 Time: 6:25 PM Note: Dropped out at RP 191. 6:10 PM 7/25/98.

******************************************************************************
Kinkeade, Tim
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Kish, Rob 
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Liskey, Charles
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Patten, Mark
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 15 min.
     Time: 15 min. Reason: Tracy Holmes called in at 3:30 am 7/25/98 Jockeying
for position rider could not pass.

******************************************************************************
Solon, Paul
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 5 min.
     Time: 5 min. Reason: Tracy Holmes called in at 3:30 am 7/25/98 Not
displaying slow bicycle ahead triangle.

******************************************************************************
Tatrai, Gerry 
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 0 min.
     Time: 0 min. Reason: Warning at RP# 040 urinating while on the bike

******************************************************************************
Team Gustavo Rmo 
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 20 min.
     Time: 15 min. Reason: Caravanning vehicles behind rider on narrow road,
given by Lannie Smith
     Time: 5 min. Reason: Crew penalty for following rider in Arizona during
day time, given by Lannie Smith

******************************************************************************
Team Secure Horizons
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 15 min.
     Time: 15 min.  Reason: Tracy Holmes Headlight was not on bike before TS
#8

******************************************************************************
Team 70+
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Trease, Harold
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Zilioli, Giovanni
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 45 min.
     Time: 30 min. Reason: Failed to stop at a red stop light at RP# 042,
called in by Mike Roark
     Time: 15 min. Reason: Failed to stop at stop sign at RP# 038, called in
by Mike Roark

******************************************************************************

*****************************************************************************
*
*
*  DIVISION REPORT - Team Divisions
*
*
*****************************************************************************
Division: Team RAAM
Division Leader:
Rider #TM37 (Team Action Sports) passed through station 34 (Brinkley, AR) at
5:52:00 AM (EDT) on Thursday, July 30, 1998, 2031 miles into the race.

                                          Total  Total  Ave  Ave  Mi  Hr.
    Rider         Station Time/Day        Hrs.   Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
TM37 Team Action Spor34 7/30/98  5:52 AM  89.87 2031.05 542 22.6 0.0 0.00  1
TM9 Team Pacificcare 34 7/30/98  6:22 AM  90.37 2031.05 539 22.5 0.0 0.50  2
TM58 Team Austria    30 7/30/98  4:55 AM  88.92 1819.75 491 20.5           3
TM42 Team Colorado   30 7/30/98  8:30 AM  92.50 1819.75 472 19.7           4
TM61 Team Coast Guard28 7/30/98  5:16 AM  89.27 1718.75 462 19.3           5
TM60 Team Adventure C27 7/30/98  8:15 AM  92.25 1668.25 434 18.1           6
TM56 Team Tyler      26 7/30/98  7:49 AM  91.82 1640.00 429 17.9           7
TM53 Team Men In Moti25 7/30/98  4:40 AM  88.67 1554.10 421 17.5           8
TM54 Team New York   24 7/30/98  7:42 AM  91.70 1523.20 399 16.6           9
TM59 Team Jimmy      23 7/30/98  7:39 AM  91.65 1477.00 387 16.1          10

Division: Human-Powered Vehicle
Division Leader:
Rider #H1 (Bob Forney) passed through station 16 (Roswell, NM) at 4:47:00 
AM (EDT) on Wednesday, July 29, 1998, 1003.1 miles into the race.
                                          Total  Total  Ave  Ave  Mi  Hr.
    Rider         Station Time/Day        Hrs.   Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
H1 Bob Forney        16 7/29/98  4:47 AM  64.78 1003.10 372 15.5 0.0 0.00 DNF
*****************************************************************************
*
*
*  TIME PENALTIES and NOTES -- All Teams and Bob Forney who Started Sunday
*
*  Listed in order of Rider's Last Name
*
*  Last Updated: 7/30/98 8:43 A.M. EST by Chuck Bramwell from each
*                        Rider's Web Page
*
*
*****************************************************************************
Forney, Bob
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 15 min.
     Time: 10 min. Reason: 7/26/98 @ 6:40 PM TS 2. Ran Stop Sign. Reported by
Mike Shermer.
     Time:  5 min. Reason: Reported by Mike Shermer @ Holtville just after TS
3 a 5min penalty no details
     NOTES
     Date: 7/29/98 Time: 12:09 PM Note: Rider dropped out due to overheating
East of Roswell, NM.

******************************************************************************
Team Action Sports
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 5 min.
     Time: 5 min. Reason: Penalty by Mike Shermer Parking on shoulder of
freeway and forcing the rider into the lane of traffic on the freeway. Between RP 271
& 272
     Time: 0 min. Reason: WARNING by Mike Shermer Parking on shoulder of
freeway and forcing the rider into the lane of traffic on the freeway

******************************************************************************
Team Adventure Cycles
     No Notes or Time Penalties
******************************************************************************
Team Austria
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 15 min.
     Time: 5 min. Reason: Reported by Mike Shermer failed to stop at stop sign
at Holtville just after TS 3
     Time: 10 min. Reason: Reported by Bruce Hartley. Urinating in public. RP
309 8:10 AM 7/28/98.

******************************************************************************
Team Coast Guard
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Team Colorado
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Team Jimmy
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 15 min.
     Time: 15 min. Reason: 7/26/98 Run Stop Sign @ Start. Reported by Kurt.

******************************************************************************
Team Men in Motion
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Team New York 
     TOTAL PENALTIES = 0 min.
     Time: 0 min.  Reason: (Warning) From Booth Hartley Team 54 @ Route Point
84 Pace Vehicle parked in driving lane during transition. Warning only.

******************************************************************************
Team Pacificcare 
     No Notes or Time Penalties

******************************************************************************
Team Tyler 
     No Notes or Time Penalties

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