Hi RAAM Fans ...
"I see this whole thing as a team sport - I just happen to be riding the bike.
They wouldn't go if I wasn't riding and
I wouldn't have gotten out of the State of California if it wasn't for them."
Elaine Mariolle
1986 Race Across America Women's Winner
ABC Wide World of Sports Coverage
"Probably that's the least understand thing about this event:
That it takes a tremendous sacrifice ...
during and before the event
To get a rider across the country
It's not easily documented on film but
It takes a lot of love and caring ...
to get behind a person to do this."
Joanne Penseyres
Generally agreed to be the Number 1 RAAM Crew Chief, ever
Pete's Wife
1986 Race Across America
ABC Wide World of Sports Coverage
"The Race is made up of 200 hours or more of Peaks and Valleys.
The subtle chemistry between the body on the bike seat
and the hearts and the minds of the people that are
watching him,
feeding him, and
urging him on
can ultimately be the difference between victory or defeat.
No group understood that more than the Penseyres family.
No rider had more reason to appreciate it than Pete."
Jim Lampley
1986 Race Across America
ABC Wide World of Sports Coverage
"Your crew can't win the race, but they sure can lose it for you."
Pete Penseyres, I think
This update is dedicated to the crews of all of the cyclists out there. Each
solo rider typically has 10 crew members who unselfishly sacrifice themselves
to "watch, feed, and urge on" their riders. There are 20 Solo Cyclists out
there times 10 crew members each or a total of 200 crew members -- and
that's just for the Solo Cyclists alone!! A tip of the hat to you for
keeping an unprecedented 20 out of 22 starters still on the road after
7 full days of grueling heat and humidity!!
And if you think the logistics of keeping a Solo Cyclist out there are
complicated, you should try a Team of 4 guys smoking the highways of America
at anywhere from 16 to 22 MPH!! I believe Team Bicycling from 1996 had a
total of 20 Crew Members in their record setting Transcontinental. There
are 13 Teams with 20 crew members each or a total of 260 crew members. A
tip of the hat to you for keeping those Teams rockin' down the highway.
I have just viewed the 1986 Race Across America video which was the last of
five consecutive years where ABC Wide World of Sports produced coverage for this
event. Even though the 1986 show apparently didn't win an Emmy, I am totally
amazed at how excellent this show was. I think it's better than 1985!! It
has some outstanding footage on what it takes to have an excellent Crew. To
order your video, go to:
http://www.CalTripleCrown.com
then to the 1998 Race Across America Hot Items Updates.
This year, 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 14 Days x 190 = 2660 Miles into the course and
the first three Solo riders have probably seen them.
Anyway, back to the 1998 Race ...
Hot Item -- Team Gustavo Rmo Franca is a two man Team from Brazil and have
completed their Transcontinental Race. Their Total Average Speed dropped from
16.4 to 16.3 MPH by the finish in Savannah, Georgia. They finished on 7/30/98
at 11:04 PM making their time 7 Days and 10 Hours. Only one other 2 Man Team
had competed in RAAM and that was Team Dagger, a 2 Man Mountain Bike Team from
last year who crossed the country in 9 Days and 17 Hours -- so Team Gustavo
Rmo Franca should be very proud of knocking 2 Days and 7 Hours off the
previous record!!
Hot Item -- Gerry Tatrai, The Wonder From Down Under (Australia), continues to
lead the Solo RAAM. However, there has been another major change in 2nd
Place: Rob Kish, 3 Time RAAM Winner, has been passed by Wolfgang Fasching,
last year's RAAM Winner who is now in 2nd Place!! On the last report, Gerry
had a 7 Hour lead on Rob who was then in 2nd place. Now Gerry has a 8 Hour
lead on Wolfgang in 2nd place at Time Station 47 (Resaca, GA) which is 2,552
miles into the race. Gerry is actually through TS 49 (Gainesville, GA) which
is 2,636 miles into the race so Gerry has about a 84 mile lead on Rob!!
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 138 Miles
and his Total Average Speed has decreased from 14.2 to 14.1.
Hot Item -- So when will Gerry get to Savannah? This year's Route is 2,907
miles and Gerry has covered 2,635 so he has 272 miles to go. At his current
Total Average Speed of 14.1, he should get there 19 Hours from 7/31/98 7:25
A.M. Therefore, Gerry should make it to the Finish on Saturday 8/1/98 at
about 2:00 A.M. EST which would be a 8 Day, 14 Hour Transcontinental
Crossing. Ensure will be awarding $10,000 to the 1st Place Solo Man.
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 to 2nd to 3rd and back to 2nd place. Rob Kish now follows
Wolfgang by only about 1 hour -- so this is going to be neck and neck.
Ensure will be awarding $5,000 to the 2nd Place and $2,000 to the 3rd Place
Solo Man.
All Rider Web pages were searched for Notes and Time Penalties and the
following was found:
Hot Item -- Wolfgang Fasching received a 20 minute credit, given by Michael
Shermer. Reason is unknown as of now. Note: THIS COULD BE SIGNIFICANT WITH
THE CURRENT BATTLE BETWEEN WOLFGANG AND ROB KISH FOR 2ND AND 3RD PLACE!!
Hot Item -- Danny Chew continues in 4th place but is only 2 hours behind Rob.
Hot Item -- Tom Buckley continues has dropped from 5th to 7th place.
Hot Item -- Fabio Biasiolo has moved up from 6th to 5th place.
Hot Item -- Andreas Clavedetscher has moved up from 7th to 6th place.
Hot Item -- Steve Born has moved all the way up from 10th to 8th place.
Hot Item -- Seana Hogan has moved back from 15th to 14th place, having passed
Giovanni Zilioli. Ensure will be awarding $10,000 to the 1st place Woman so
if Seana makes it to Savannah, she will win that award.
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 has moved up from 11th to 10th place.
Harold Trease from Jemez Springs, New Mexico has dropped from 8th to 9th
place.
Andreas Clavedetscher from Liechenstein has moved back from 7th to 6th place.
Andrew Bohannon from Sunnyvale, California continues in 11th place.
Rick Anderson from Woodside, California continues in 13th place.
Hansgeorg Haus from Permasens, Germany, continues in 16th.
Tim Kinkeade from Moscow, Idaho continues in 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 continues in 12th place.
Hot Item -- In the 70+ Division, Team Secure Horizons has increased their lead
over Team 70+ from 12 to 13 Hours. Ensure will award $3,000 to the 1st Place
Over 70 Team.
Interesting Item -- Team Secure Horizons has now passed all of the Solo Riders
including Tatrai. And now they continue their lead over Gerry Tatrai on the
road -- leading him by 3 hours. 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 1
Hour and 25 minutes. Some major happened during this time frame because the
previous gap was only 47 minutes and the gap had only been increasing very
slowly. 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
have dropped their Total Average Speed from 22.5 to 22.2 MPH. Ensure will
award $10,000 to the First Place Team and $5,000 to the Second Place Team.
Hot Item -- Team Austria follows Team Pacificare by about 10 hours and is in
3rd place. They have a 4 hour lead over Team Colorado who is in 4th place.
Ensure will award $3,000 to the 3rd Place Team.
Hot Item -- The 4 Man Teams that started Sunday, 3 days after the Solo Riders
are now passing the Solo Riders. Team Action Sports has moved all the way up
the field from Danny Chew to now Gerry Tatrai on the road.
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 Friday, July 31, 1998 at 10:16 am (est)
*****************************************************************************
*
*
* DIVISION REPORT - Solo Divisions
*
*
*****************************************************************************
Division: Solo, Men
Division Leader:
Rider #150 (Gerry Tatrai) passed through station 49 (Gainesville, GA) at
7:25:00 AM (EDT) on Friday, July 31, 1998, 2635.93 miles into the race.
Total Total Ave Ave Mi Hr.
Rider Station Time/Day Hrs. Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
150 Gerry Tatrai 49 7/31/98 7:25 AM 187.17 2635.93 338 14.1 0.0 0.00 1
201 Wolfgang Fasching47 7/31/98 7:30 AM 187.25 2551.95 327 13.6 2
39 Rob Kish 47 7/31/98 8:35 AM 188.33 2551.95 325 13.6 3
129 Danny Chew 46 7/31/98 7:09 AM 186.90 2497.24 321 13.4 4
210 Fabio Biasiolo 44 7/31/98 8:03 AM 187.80 2432.99 311 13.0 5
223 Andreas Clavedets44 7/31/98 9:03 AM 188.80 2432.99 309 12.9 6
196 Tom Buckley 44 7/31/98 9:07 AM 188.87 2432.99 309 12.9 7
97 Steve Born 43 7/31/98 8:59 AM 188.73 2372.86 302 12.6 8
231 Harold Trease 42 7/31/98 5:30 AM 185.25 2337.16 303 12.6 9
229 Mark Patten 42 7/31/98 9:40 AM 189.42 2337.16 296 12.3 10
222 Andrew Bohannon 41 7/31/98 6:22 AM 186.12 2295.16 296 12.3 11
80 Paul Solon 40 7/31/98 8:15 AM 188.00 2259.46 288 12.0 12
220 Rick Anderson 39 7/31/98 8:36 AM 188.35 2226.52 284 11.8 13
161 Seana Hogan 37 7/31/98 8:44 AM 188.48 2163.29 275 11.5 14
219 Giovanni Zilioli 37 7/31/98 9:40 AM 189.42 2163.29 274 11.4 15
225 Hansgeorg Haus 36 7/31/98 6:54 AM 186.65 2117.46 272 11.3 16
226 Tim Kinkeade 34 7/31/98 5:00 AM 184.75 2031.05 264 11.0 17
227 Charles Liskey 33 7/31/98 9:49 AM 189.57 1942.10 246 10.2 18
224 Bernie Comeau 30 7/31/98 3:55 AM 183.67 1819.75 238 9.9 19
114 Aldo Calandro 27 7/31/98 8:13 AM 187.97 1668.25 213 8.9 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 56
(Savannah, GA) at 10:15:00 PM (EDT) on Thursday, July 30, 1998, 2906.69
miles into the race.
Total Total Ave Ave Mi Hr.
Rider Station Time/Day Hrs. Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
TM57 Team Gustavo Rmo56 7/30/98 10:15 PM 178.00 2906.69 392 16.3 0.0 0.00 1
Division: - 70 Plus Teams
Division Leader:
Rider #TM19 (Team Secure Horizons/SCOR) passed through station 50
(Royston, GA) at 7:12:00 AM (EDT) on Friday, July 31, 1998, 2681.63 miles
into the race.
Total Total Ave Ave Mi Hr.
Rider Station Time/Day Hrs. Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
TM19 Team Secure 50 7/31/98 7:12 AM 186.95 2681.63 344 14.3 0.0 0.00 2
TM36 Team 70+ 46 7/31/98 7:05 AM 186.83 2497.24 321 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: 7/31/98 10:16 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
NOTES
Date: 7/31/98 Time: 12:19 AM Note: Rider 201 will get a 20 minute credit,
given by Michael Shermer
******************************************************************************
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
NOTES
Date: 7/30/98 Time: 11:04 PM
Note: Team 57 finish time is, 7 Days 10 hours
******************************************************************************
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 48 (Dawson County,
GA) at 9:19:00 AM (EDT) on Friday, July 31, 1998, 2602.83 miles into the
race.
Total Total Ave Ave Mi Hr.
Rider Station Time/Day Hrs. Mile Mi/Day MPH Back Back
TM37 Team Action Spor48 7/31/98 9:19 AM 117.32 2602.83 532 22.2 0.0 0.00 1
TM9 Team Pacificcare 47 7/31/98 7:48 AM 115.80 2551.95 529 22.0 2
TM58 Team Austria 43 7/31/98 8:35 AM 116.58 2372.86 488 20.4 3
TM42 Team Colorado 41 7/31/98 8:44 AM 116.73 2295.16 472 19.7 4
TM61 Team Coast Guard40 7/31/98 8:27 AM 116.45 2259.46 466 19.4 5
TM60 Team Adventure C36 7/31/98 8:08 AM 116.13 2117.46 438 18.2 6
TM56 Team Tyler 36 7/31/98 9:16 AM 117.27 2117.46 433 18.1 7
TM53 Team Men In Moti35 7/31/98 10:02 AM 118.03 2095.42 426 17.8 8
TM54 Team New York 33 7/31/98 6:08 AM 114.13 1942.10 408 17.0 9
TM59 Team Jimmy 32 7/31/98 8:25 AM 116.42 1898.35 391 16.3 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: 7/31/98 10:16 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
Return to 1998 Race
Across America Hot Item Updates