Created in 1982, the Race Across America (RAAM) is now the longest running ultra-distance bicycle endurance competition in the world. This is not a stage race like the Tour de France, where each day a set distance is covered. In RAAM the gun fires somewhere on the West Coast (Oceanside, CA in 2006) and the finishing line is over 3000 miles away, on the other side of the continent.
The Race Across America is about generating maximum wattage paced over day and night riding, delicately balanced with managing pain, sleep and nutrition. Overcoming fatigue and correct nutritional intake are the defining features of the solo competition in RAAM, and these are what makes the event so unusually difficult. Athletes in the solo divisions push body and sinew to points far beyond anything they thought themselves capable of - and emerge from the race with a newfound sense of their own capability. Riders consume 6,000-8,000 calories a day of food and take in 400-520 ounces of fluid (3.1 - 4 gallons).
The tactic of pushing endurance into the realms of ultra-endurance was introduced in the first year of the race by Lon Haldeman. When working in the support crew for his long-distance cycling wife-to-be, Susan Notorangelo, he learned it is possible to ride hard through the night and then keep going through the following day. The Notorangelo/Haldeman tactic was regarded as unbeatable in RAAM, and for almost 25 years serious solo contenders planned to average of 90-120 minutes sleep in each 24-hour period during their ride.
