Race Across America, 15th June

emtroche

Right lads, i'm off to the USA in the morning in support of Donncha Cuttriss in the Race Across America (RAAM). The Race is regarded as the worlds toughest sporting event and Donncha is the 1st ever Irish solo entrant in the 30 year history of the Race. He's been training full time since last September for the Race and is ready to go.

During the race he'll be supported by:
Alan Heary (Crew Chief)
Emmet Roche (Myself!) (Navigation)
Darren Rubotham (Chef)
Matt Smyth (Medic)
Marie Byrne (Media)
Anthony Harrington (Mechanic)
Kevin Corcoran (Masseuse)
And we'll be picking up experienced American RAAM racer Tim Case in Durango, Colorado.

The Race starts in Oceanside, California on the 15th of June and finishes in Annapolis, Maryland. There is a 12 day time limit to complete the 3,000 miles of the Race which passes through California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

I hope to be able to give some updates as the Race goes on, however this might not be so easy. Any of the boardsies who took part in the Race Around Ireland last year will agree i'm sure!

You can also track Donnchas progress in realtime here http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/animatedmap.php

Donncha is racing in support of Aisling Group International and if you'd like to donate you can click here http://www.aislinggroupinternational.ie/donate-donncha-cuttriss.asp

Donncha's training blog is here http://donnchacuttrissraam2011.blogspot.com/

If you don't know anything about the Race i suggest you have look at some of the clips on youtube to get an idea of how insanely challenging it is.

Anyway like i said i hope to be able to keep you posted on how things are going and pass on any messages of goodwill to Donncha when we're out on the road.

Pat Kavanagh

I'll be with ye every click of the way.
Retirement looms in a few years, and then I'll hopefully be able to give a hand to the likes of Donnacha. It's amazing what the body can do ....

Beasty

Best of luck to Donncha and all the support crew on this "little" adventure

Please keep us posted of progress - as you're in charge of "navigation" I can't see what could possibly go wrong. I'm sure the RAI guys where on the right track every revolution of the way;)

Lemag

Hope it all goes well for Donncha. Good luck to Team Youghal who will also be participating in the event.

100Suns

The magnitude of the challenge can't be overstated-the very best of luck to Donnacha and his crew. People who have conquered Everest and taken on RAAM solo say they don't compare. Can't wait to read the blogs and posts and to see the pictures of Donnacha rolling into Annapolis as RAAM finisher and Rookie of the year .

Donnacha has a great team with a good spread of expertise and endurance cycling knowledge. I know ye are the right crew to keep him upright, on course and safe. We are all routing for you guys.

Caroline_ie

Best of luck guys Will be following the race.

Esroh

Go neiri an Bothair Libh,

Lumen

Wicklow 200 before lunch. Wicklow 200 after lunch. Repeat for almost two weeks.

Does. Not. Compute.

Good luck to all! Try not to prang any support vehicles. :pac:

Hail 2 Da Thief

Good luck to him & his team. Looking forward to monitoring his progress!

Lumen wrote: »

Wicklow 200 before lunch. Wicklow 200 after lunch. Repeat for almost two weeks.

Jesus that really puts it into perspective :eek:.

100Suns

Hail 2 Da Thief wrote: »

Jesus that really puts it into perspective :eek:.

Rob Kish has the record at 8 days, 3 hours. 5000 km. Averages around 620 km per day. Climbing is equivalent to 3 Mt Everests. On a bike. Temperature range is 55 C to below freezing. Takes a special kind of individual.

Pat Kavanagh

Hail 2 Da Thief wrote: »

Good luck to him & his team. Looking forward to monitoring his progress!




Jesus that really puts it into perspective :eek:.

Not really - then there's the Wicklow 200 starting when it starts to get dark, and that one is finished before it gets bright again.

emtroche

2 days to go here in Oceanside and we're all nearly good to go. Lots to do before the start but its all moving along well and we're ironing out any problems. Everybody getting on brilliantly. Looks like we have a great crew around us. Everybody pulling together and getting stuck in. Funniest moment so far was probably when the jump leads went on fire! Funny because the 3 crew members responsible consisted of 2 mechanics and a fireman!!

Donncha is in fanastic form and is as ready as anybody can be. His spare bike arrived a day after the rest of us but it got here nontheless He did a few hours on the bike yesterday into the desert. Not a bother on him. The change in temperature was unbelievable. Out through the mountains and the meseta from Oceanside it was about 20 to 23 degrees. Theres a road called the glass elevator which drops out of the mountains into the great wide open desert. At the top it was 23 degrees. After the 9 mile descent it was 36! And savagely windy like a hair dryer. Not a bother on Donncha though. He handles this kind of heat very well after being in the Lebanon many times and places like Chad and Liberia.

Off out now for our inspections and stuff. Plenty of shopping to do later.

He really appreciates all the support he's getting from home and i'm sure it'll make a big difference during the low points which are sure to come over the next 2 weeks.

Caroline_ie

This is mad ... I am really looking forward to this. A good few women are racing this as well.

J Madone

Best of luck also to Mick Walsh the other Irish solo entrant.
He has been living in the states for a few years and I believe he was also the first Irish Ironman
He was a top Irish amateur cyclist when he was still living here
Good luck to Donnacha and Mick

section49

hi emmet , nice to hear from the crew side of things, there's a book in there i'd say ,well done .

regards

darren

100Suns

Looks like a good day one in the bag. 395 miles (c600 kms) in 23 hours 3 mins through time station 6. Speed 17+ mph (c28 km/h). Placed in top 10. Temperatures were in the 90s.

100Suns

Still rolling. Average speeds have dropped dramatically in the mountains.

Linky to leader board:

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/rcrank.php?s_N_category_group=1&s_N_Race_ID=1

Beasty

Spooky - Donncha is Number 410:)

What more inspiration could he need;)

on_the_nickel

Missus just back from the States. There was a gang from Youghal on her flight to Heathrow on Monday doing this. Average age was 54. Sounds like a plan to me!

100Suns

Day 7. Donnacha is going great. There is a great video interview with him on the RAAM site:

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/raamfp.php?N_webcat_id=109

He's talking positive and looking remarkably good considering he's covered 3200 odd km in 7 days.

Hail 2 Da Thief

That Austrian guy is really flying it! His average speed is 1.1mph faster than the guy in second yet there's only 0.07mph between 2nd & 4th!

Lumen

Hail 2 Da Thief wrote: »

That Austrian guy is really flying it! His average speed is 1.1mph faster than the guy in second yet there's only 0.07mph between 2nd & 4th!

Wait. His crew sponge bath and dress him whilst he is asleep?

Raam

Lumen wrote: »

Wait. His crew sponge bath and dress him whilst he is asleep?

Why didn't you do that for me?

niceonetom

Raam wrote: »

Why didn't you do that for me?

He did. :eek:

100Suns

Chappeau to Donnacha on a magnificent achievement-the first Irish RAAM Finisher. He finished it 3 minutes shy of 11 days which is well ahead of his target (IIRC).

Also a huge achievement for his crew-congratulations and well done on keeping him upright, safe and in perpetual forward motion.

Link to website:

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/rcrank.php?s_N_category_group=1&s_N_Race_ID=1&N_webcat_id=109

superlav

Fantastic achievment by Donnacha and the crew.

Did Team RAAM in 2008 and it definitely doesn't compare to what the soloists go through. Mentally you think that after the Rockies you have the worst of the climbing over with, but whilst the climbs in the Appalachians are not as long the graedients tended to be more sever and you would have 3 back to back as you crossed a series of valleys. It was tough for us after 5 days, I can't imagines what it would be like for a soloist after about 10 days hitting these hills.

Also, enough can't be said about the crew for this event. They are every bit as important as the riders. In our case the crew were more wrecked that the riders at the end.

Congrats to all involved.

Lumen

Just found this via BikeSnob/Velonews:



While his neck muscles have given out, the rest of Alberto Blanco is obviously fine as he continues on in third place. His head is being supported by a cobbled together device made out of a back-pack frame, some straps and liberal amounts of duct tape. Photo: Vic Armijo

100Suns

Commonly referred to in those parts as 'Shermer's Neck', I believe. Shermer is primarily to blame for the barbarism that is the annual RAAM sufferfest, hence the aptness of the eponymous headpiece so delightfully modeled by Mr Blanco.

niceonetom

One thing you notice if you look through RAAM photos is a disproportionate number of shots of riders standing. It seems strange that they would choose such an uneconomical way to ride until you think about it for a minute. If that photo above is representative of what can happen to your neck during this kind of challenge, spare a thought for the condition of some other parts of the body.

On the RAI I passed one of the soloists, the Swiss guy I think, on the road coming out Wexford. He was standing and pushing a big gear at about 50rpm - he told me he hadn't been able to sit down since Cork.

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

One thing you notice if you look through RAAM photos is a disproportionate number of shots of riders standing. It seems strange that they would choose such an uneconomical way to ride until you think about it for a minute. If that photo above is representative of what can happen to your neck during this kind of challenge, spare a thought for the condition of some other parts of the body.

On the RAI I passed one of the soloists, the Swiss guy I think, on the road coming out Wexford. He was standing and pushing a big gear at about 50rpm - he told me he hadn't been able to sit down since Cork.

Or they're standing to look better in the photograph

niceonetom

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Or they're standing to look better in the photograph

Look again at that photo.

Do you think vanity had any part in it?

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

Look again at that photo.

Do you think vanity had any part in it?

He's clearly got his game face on, and tarted up the brace with some fake hair (or a plastic bag), so I'm going with "yes"

SHOVELLER

Best of luck with this.

Someday I want to do the same across the states but it wont be a race!

emtroche

Just got home last night. Still absolutely banjaxed! As i kind of expected i wasnt able to give updates as the race went on. I'm sure you all enjoyed reading the blog :eek: I'm not going to comment on the blog! Will try and give a run down of how the race went at a later stage. My brain is fairly frazzled and it may take some time to piece everything together.

All i can say is it was a bonkers experience! It really was an expedition and i'm proud to have been part of the first ever irish solo attempt and completion. Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more irish people in the race over the next few years although it is most definitely for the faint hearted!

Also congrats to team youghal on being the first ever irish 8-person tem to do the race. Although they only started with 7 as they lost team member Tommy Roche to an accident just before the race. Best wishes to him as it was quite a seriuos accident which saw him air-lifted to hospital in San Diego. As far as i know he is recovering well and should make a full recovery.

As i said i'll try and do up a bit of a report but it aint gonna be easy! If anybody has any questions fire ahead.