RAAM

vs

So Christoph Strasser has finished in 8 days 8 hours for 2990 miles - with 70 minutes of sleep a night, average speed 15 mph. Inspiring stuff.

Tusher

I wish the RAAM had more coverage.

RichN95.

I wish it got banned, or at least more regulated. Nine days cycling with just over an hour's sleep per day is an invitation to death.
But if some guy who has slept four hours in the last 72 gets hit by a truck driver, it's the truck driver's fault, right?

Tusher

Right

Tusher

Note to self- must learn to use emoticons correctly

tailwindhome

RichN95 wrote:

I wish it got banned, or at least more regulated. Nine days cycling with just over an hour's sleep per day is an invitation to death.

Ban procycling too. Riding down a mountain on a bike is also 'an invitation to death'

But if some guy who has slept four hours in the last 72 gets hit by a truck driver, it's the truck driver's fault, right?

Depends wether or not it's the driver's fault really.


You were being serious, right?

RichN95.

TailWindHome wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

I wish it got banned, or at least more regulated. Nine days cycling with just over an hour's sleep per day is an invitation to death.

Ban procycling too. Riding down a mountain on a bike is also 'an invitation to death'

But if some guy who has slept four hours in the last 72 gets hit by a truck driver, it's the truck driver's fault, right?

Depends wether or not it's the driver's fault really.


You were being serious, right?

Yeah, I'm being serious. No matter who you are, cycling for 22 hours and sleeping for just over an hour does not make for sensible cycling. Accidents will happen. These aren't closed roads, they're busy highways.

I'm a chronic insomniac. I know what lack of sleep can do to you. You can control it mostly, but there's always times where it gets a little bit weird and I don't know if I'm asleep or awake.

cajun_cyclist

RichN95 wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

I wish it got banned, or at least more regulated. Nine days cycling with just over an hour's sleep per day is an invitation to death.

Ban procycling too. Riding down a mountain on a bike is also 'an invitation to death'

But if some guy who has slept four hours in the last 72 gets hit by a truck driver, it's the truck driver's fault, right?

Depends wether or not it's the driver's fault really.

You were being serious, right?

Yeah, I'm being serious. No matter who you are, cycling for 22 hours and sleeping for just over an hour does not make for sensible cycling. Accidents will happen. These aren't closed roads, they're busy highways.

I'm a chronic insomniac. I know what lack of sleep can do to you. You can control it mostly, but there's always times where it gets a little bit weird and I don't know if I'm asleep or awake.

RichN95 is right. No one died in the RAAM until the 2000s. The race was started in the early '80s. In the last decade, 2 riders got killed, another got paralysed from the waist down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Across_America

The Tour de France is an ultra event I would suppose, test of endurance.

But they've had their problems and furthermore, it's not fair to motorists if some sleep cheating cyclist ends up under their wheels, so the organisers started making breaks mandatory. I don't think they have everything cordoned off like in the Tour or Giro.

This paragraph shows you it's sort of a slaughter of one's sensibilities.

Having to ride continuously for days with little to no sleep puts this event in the ultramarathon category. The continuous physical output places considerable strain on the competitors as well as their support crews. As many as 50% of solo participants drop out due to exhaustion or for medical reasons.

It's kind of a suicide event.

Nowadays, we have the Madison at the Olympics, styled on the old six day races at Madison Square Garden, NY. Now, I'm not clear on this but I think at one time, for six days and maybe changing partners some, they would constantly race for six days, can you imagine? And then they watered it down. I want to read a book on it that is out there on those races.

But see, from what I know, the original six day races were similar, too much exhaustion.

As the RAAM is still being run, I guess, I would say it should be prohibited still unless it was really cleaned up. Yeah, the former Yugoslav soldier Robic won it a few times, rest in peace, he only passed away on a training ride in Slovenia I believe, tough as nails but that race is a bit too extreme.

I know from the article listed who John Marino was, it says he helped organise it originally, maybe back in the '80s it was more palatable. I don't know at all.

Tusher

I think but don't know for sure that the RAA grew as the ultramarathons and ultra- triathlons grew in popularity, so in the 80s it wasn't expected that a rider would ride almost continually.

The use of teams is new though, and possibly the way forward, but as long as the ultra fashion is with us, so will the RAA and times such as these.

cajun_cyclist

Back to those 6 day races, I found this online:

The original six's were an American innovation and started out as individual events. The original format was a points race which ran, non stop for six days and seven evening "jam" secessions with the winner being determined by who had the most laps and, if two or more riders were on the same lap at the end of the 7th jam secession, then the tie was broken by the points earned in sprints during the jam secessions. The last time I checked, the existing record for most miles ridden on a bicycle without stopping was still from a pro six day race in the late 19th Century at 1,256 miles.

http://www.coachcarl.com/training_articles/sixday.htm

As I said, I think they changed the Madison format eventually, these fellows were meat out there, Major Taylor rode some but his handlers and others thought it was really below him.

I think the way I look at it is these riders get too fatigued, I can go along with a well-organised race.

Now, I think the Wikipedia article was saying they have to take off 40 hours mandatory riding across the country, so they seem to ride across the country let's say the winner it looks like at around 9 days, that is clearly less than 5 hours a day. That is not enough time off the bike. It sounds too exhausting and fatiguing.

No_Ta_Doctor

I can remember seeing at documentary about the RAAM a few years back. What struck me was the support crew driving just behind the cyclist, with a loudhailer on top of the van, shouting at him to wake him up.

If you're falling asleep on your bike while you're riding it, and I mean proper nodding off, not just lack of focus, you should probably stop...

LeDomestiqueTours

Restarting an old topic, but having taken part in RAAM in 2011 as a rider in a team, I'd have to say that the major danger comes in the form of the support crew being exhausted. Sure the riders are tired but most of the time the support crews are going on even less sleep and are tasked with following a rider at 18mph (or less...) all night without any breaks! Every team has stories about near misses etc.

andrewjoseph

I believe one rider was seriously injured when his support driver fell asleep at the wheel and ran him down.

many others report hallucinations while riding.

rebs

It's an incredable acheivement that guys do.

But I do agree with Rich & No tA Doctor. If you are needing the support of someone just to keep you awake to keep going it cant be a good sign. I wouldn't have a prob if this was on closed roads I guess (much the comparison to the TDF).

I'd like to know more about it (live coverage I'd imagine would be boring. But a small series of a long documentry I'd be interested in watching. But I do think it would have to be regulated much better then it currently is.

No_Ta_Doctor

Aside from the chances of a nasty accident from falling asleep on your bike there is absolutely no way that level of endurance can be in any way healthy.

Tusher

They shoot horses, don't they?

amaferanga

Jure Robič survived and won the RAAM 5 times. He was killed last year while out riding his bike at home in Slovenia....

Do the same people that want RAAM banned also want audax events >~400km banned (e.g. Paris-Brest-Paris, London-Edinburgh-London)?

rebs

Dont think anyone said anything about wanting them banned. Just everyone is really want a way for them to be much much safer

socrates

I believe there is a dvd of the race. It's called Bicycle Dreams. have always meant to buy it never got round to it. Some day.