RAAM (race across america) - Zwischenstände - Robic führt

[HAL9000]

ok, dritter ist er geworden diesesmal... - wahrscheinlich hat er sich

wegen der salzkammergut-trophy schon a bissl ausgerastet, als er

gesehen hat, dass ihm der robic zu schnell ist...

 

CU,

HAL9000

[mankra]

3. Platz ist natürlich auch wieder ne tolle Leistung. Gratuliere.

[Matthias]

Original geschrieben von mankra

3. Platz ist natürlich auch wieder ne tolle Leistung. Gratuliere.

 

Sicherlich, jeder der das Rennen ausfährt, verdient große Anerkennung!

 

Und, 3. war der Fasching ja schon mal, gleich bei seinem 1. Antreten beim RAAM.

[tiktak]

trotzdem grats. war eine tolle leistung - mit solchen problemen am anfang noch dritter werden ist gewaltig !

[NoWin]

Auch meinerseits Gratulation, aber die Vorbereitung vom Jure bei den 24h von Theiß war sicherlich ausschlaggebend

[jpi]

Original geschrieben von NoWin

....aber die Vorbereitung vom Jure bei den 24h von Theiß war sicherlich ausschlaggebend

 

ganz genau, wannst 24h mit so an haufen chaoten überstehst, kann di beim raam goar nyx mehr erschüttern!

 

 

respekt vor allen finishern

[nestor]

TREVINO HANGS TOUGH AFTER MID-RACE CONTROVERSY

Race Administration Unsympathetic to Either Side in the Matter

 

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (June 29, 2004) – Four days after the flare-up, the dust began to settle on a controversy that raged during the middle of the race, possibly effected the outcome, and certainly made the newcomers Jure Robic (Slovenia) and Mike Trevino (San Diego, Calif.) acutely aware of the psychological warfare that is a traditional part of the Insight Race Across America (RAAM).

 

It is nothing new for one rider in RAAM to be disbelieving of another rider’s average speed over a particular stretch of the country, and by the half-way point the Robic camp – competing in only their second RAAM – found themselves puzzling over the way rookie Mike Trevino was tenaciously able to hang on and remain in contention with the Slovenian former road-race cycling champion.

 

Accusations soon started flying. Robic – representing the Slovenian military – deployed one of his support vehicles to spy on Trevino, and the problem was compounded when the race officials monitoring these two riders had problems with the brakes in their van and withdrew from the race for 18 hours while repairs were made, leaving the two riders unmarshalled for a period of a few hours.

 

The organization acted within an hour of hearing about the problems to bring in extra officials, but different circumstances worked against the situation, and distances to be covered were as much as 300 miles. Within 24 hours both of the two leading riders in the elite Solo category were under the watchful eye of an official.

 

Meanwhile tension within the Robic and Trevino camps was reaching boiling point. Trevino responded to Robic’s spy car by enlisting one of his own – a move permitted within the rules of RAAM. Several hours later an official caught up with the Robic spy car and issued the team a 15-minute penalty (added to Robic’s finishing time) for ‘caravanning’ which is when cars from two teams get too close to one another and cause a potential obstruction to passing road traffic.

 

Fatigue blended with stress and frustration to create a bitter cocktail. Angry messages were posted to the Robic team web site by team members who were concerned the organization was biased against them. Hate mail started coming into the race administration from fans of Robic.

 

The race organization moved to bring matters under control by informing the Robic camp of a rule that prevents teams from denigrating the race. Once they learned that official vehicles had been dispatched to both theirs and Trevino’s team, the Slovenians were satisfied that appropriate action had been taken and a retraction appeared on the Robic web site. His crew members later admitted that they might have acted too hastily in the heat of the moment.

 

The controversy, however, was not over. Meanwhile, in the Trevino camp at roughly the same time, a reporter for the race’s in-house television crew asked Trevino to comment on the allegations of cheating made by the Robic team. This was more than the San Diego software developer was prepared to take, and the team imposed a media ban that remained in effect until the run into Atlantic City.

 

The incident with the journalist was the last straw for Trevino, a former high school wrestler and line-backer in his college football team, who then became an ultra-distance runner before stepping up to RAAM. Struggling with his motivation to stay in the race, on Friday evening, June 25, he climbed off his bicycle and went for a 20-minute run to ground him while he reflected on the situation. On return to his team car Trevino remounted continued to Atlantic City – although his tussle with Robic for line honors was by then long over.

 

Trevino’s result – second place in the Solo Men’s category – identifies him as a remarkable athlete who pulled off an impressive feat. This is the result that several great RAAM champions have gotten in their first year of the race. The determination he showed in staying with Robic for the first half of the race made Trevino’s 2004 campaign all the more impressive. However, after his 2004 experience Trevino – while admitting that the complexity of the race was fascinating – would not immediately commit to entering again.

 

Of course RAAM veteran and co-owner Lon Haldeman has seen it all before – and he permitted himself a wry chuckle and a demure lowering of the eyes on hearing accounts of the events. Haldeman recounted stories from his days of racing RAAM, where he committed acts of trickery with the express purpose of inducing paranoia in his rivals, playing on their frayed nerves and tired minds. “We used to get up to all sorts of things, far worse that that,” Said Haldeman with a smile.

 

RAAM race director, Jim Pitre, himself a record-setting winner of the two-person team division was not overly sympathetic for either the Trevino or the Robic camps, and said: “There was no proof of any cheating. With proof we’d take a different view of the matter. People do not take into account that in any kind of racing mind games are played. This just happens to be a more drawn-out saga, and there are other factors such as sleep deprivation thrown into to complicate it further. This is a perfect example of how people’s minds get set sideways by the race. I see this kind of thing as just a part of RAAM. They’re big boys, I say ‘get over it’.”

 

Almost six hours after Trevino’s eagerly-awaited arrival in Atlantic City, three-time winner Wolfgang Fasching of Austria pedaled a tired cadence along the Atlantic Expressway to complete his seventh RAAM. For Fasching, who counts Robic among his personal friends, this had not quite been his year. Lack of proper training was one reason he gave for never managing to mount a challenge to the leaders – having decided to compete in the 2004 race as late as April.

Around lunchtime in Atlantic City, the extraordinary and ebullient Grand Pac Masters team rolled gleefully onto the legendary Boardwalk to complete a record breaking ride in their age division, of 7 days, 6 hours and 31 minutes.

 

As the evening came, the wife and husband team of Terri Gooch and George Thomas riding for VeloWear/Co-Motion, from Corvallis, Oregon, completed their trek in the Two-Person Mixed category, in 7 days, 18 hours, 5 minutes. Thomas, a six-time veteran of RAAM, has now ridden the race as a Solo, with Gooch on a tandem, and now with Gooch in a mixed team.

 

A few minutes later, Germany’s Team Frauleins rolled triumphantly up the boards to complete their first RAAM and take second place in the 4-Person Women’s category with a time of 8 days, 4 hours, 40 minutes.

 

Quotes follow.

 

All race times are in EST; stay tuned to http://www.raceacrossamerica.org for up-to-the-minute race status.

 

Quotes:

 

Michael Trevino, solo, 8 days 21:06 – 2nd place

 

“My result confirms my belief that I can compete with cyclists at this level. I didn’t have any background in cycling before about a year ago. It is exciting, but humbling also. It is great to be able to aspire to something like winning RAAM.

 

“The allegations (of cheating, made by the Jure Robic camp) hurt me. It was tough. People who know me would know it would insult me to even ask that question. In hindsight, as you say I’m the dark horse and I should’ve been prepared for some skepticism. It was flattering at first, but then I got a bit sick of it.

 

“I feel a huge sense of relief that it is over. My reasons for being here and being part of the event had been polluted. At one time I felt I should walk away from the event.”

 

Wolfgang Fasching, solo, 9 days 02:45 – 3nd place

“I had no problems this year. I felt good all the way, except for Day One when I had a stomach upset. The only problem I had is I wasn’t fast enough! I am just happy that Jure Robic did not do more damage to (my relative finishing time).”

“Climbing Mount Everest is more dangerous, but mentally RAAM is more difficult.”

“I hate the final 15 miles. It is always the hardest.”

 

Enrico de Angeli, solo, 9 days 09:08 – 4th place

“I didn’t expect to finish so fast. I planned to finish in ten days and I finished in nine days; I am very happy.”

“The highest point for me was when I saw Nico, Rob, and the other riders and I overtook them within two hours.”

“I was sorry to see Nico drop out because he lives about 20 kilometers away from me in Italy.”

 

 

 

 

Fräuleins, four-person, all women, 8 days 04:40 – 2nd place

-Susan Hafermalz: ”The hardest part for me was when my chain broke on the last night. I was all alone, in the dark, riding by myself.”

“My teammates and I climbed Kilimanjaro not so long ago. I started riding a bike two years ago and compared to Kilimanjaro, RAAM is harder.”

-Rosemarie Gfatter: “I was well prepared with a box of medical supplies to treat just about anything but it’s like the umbrella story, if you have an umbrella, it doesn’t rain. We didn’t have any troubles.”

“The worst part was I had an attack by dogs and the hardest part was with the dogs, they ran so fast behind the pace car and nearly caught me but I survived.”

-Sabine Dopleb: “I will really remember being at the highest point of the race, knowing how far we had ridden, well at the same seeing“Its really hard, to prepare for and ride. Eight days seems like a really long time when only sleeping 3 hours a day and cycling for six” how far we still had to go”

“I will always remember the crew, who had everything taken care of so all we did was ride and sleep.”

“I want to do a few things now. I want to go swim in the ocean, call home, drink beer, and find some American style.”

Renate Schwarz: “A major moment along the way was meeting Rob Kish. Rob Kish, I really was inspired by that.”

“Before I had been in a car following my husband in his 3 solo RAAMs, but now I got to ride it myself. When you ride RAAM for yourself you really feel the country physically, with all your senses, its unforgettable.

 

 

 

VeloWear/Co-Motion, two-person mixed, 7 days 18:05 – 1st place

Terri Gooch: “The last two days, with all that terrible climbing, I was just glad we weren’t on a tandem.” (Gooch and Thomas raced RAAM on a tandem in 2002)

“The last 100 miles we were doing shorter pulls of twenty miles, twenty miles so it was very short and easier to manage.”

“You always have problems; the crew each has their own problems. The thing this year is that it all worked out.”

“We were eating all liquid by the end but the crew would sometimes give us little treats. My treats were actually seeing George. We took little kissy breaks. Those for me were kinda’ my treats, seeing George.”

-George Thomas: “All I kept thinking during our race was I can’t believe I did this solo and on a tandem, this is so hard.”

“I don’t think Terri gets enough credit for her share of the work. This was a 50/50 effort all the way.”

“Each time I finish RAAM and it was time to start over, I had this void and thought I’d have to fill it. I didn’t feel that this time.”

 

 

Grand PAC Masters, four-man 70+, 7 days 16:31 – 1st place

-Ron Bell: “How was it? I just followed my younger partners.” (Bell, at 72, is the most senior member of the team)

“About every second day, I called my mother who is 102 and she asked me, ’Are you riding as fast as you can?’ One day my mother asked me, ‘How far did you ride today?’ ’40 miles,’ I said and she said, ‘That’s all?’”

-Robert Kash: “People at home thought that this was interesting—some with raised eyebrows, some that thought I should be at home, in a recliner, reading the Good Book.”

-Lee Mitchell: “I think if our crew was crewing for the team that came in second in the four-man category (Vail – Go Fast), they would’ve won.”

-Chris Stauffer: Advice for folks in the 50-70 age group:

“I would just say: don’t waste your youth. Youth is up to 60. That’s when I started riding a bike. Don’t waste your youth with inactivity.”

“I’m no super-athlete. I’m just a boy who grew up on a farm. Set your mind to something and stick with it. If you do that you can achieve a lot more than you might think yourself capable of.

”I’ve never seen any part of RAAM other than on television. It’s very emotional; it’s bigger than anything you can imagine.”

 

 

 

About Insight

Insight North America Inc. ("Insight"), title sponsor of the Insight Bowl and the Insight Race Across America, is a leading single source provider of IT products and services to businesses, government and educational institutions in the United States and Canada. Insight's offerings span the entire IT lifecycle with more than 200,000 name-brand hardware, software and peripherals -- the largest selection in the industry -- along with a full line of services tailored to support the changing and unique neeeds of technology buyers. Insight is a wholly owned subsidiary of Insight Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq:NSIT), ranked No. 537 on Fortune Magazine's 2004 "Fortune 1000" list. For additional information, call 480-902-1001 or visit http://www.insight.com.

 

About Insight Race Across America

The Insight Race Across America has run every year since 1982, and since 2003 has followed its current route from San Diego, California to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Outside Magazine has called it “The World's Toughest Race”, and others have described it as “The Tour de France done the American way". Top individual racers pedal roughly 350 miles per day, burning 9,000+ calories and sleeping just 90 minutes. Two-person and four-person relays comprising men and women race non-stop, covering over 500 miles per day. The race’s senior management and ownership is in the hands of Race Director Jim Pitre, current co-holder of the 2-person 55+ Team record, and Head Official Lon Haldeman, two-time solo winner in 1982 and 1983. For further background and race history, please visit http://www.raceacrossamerica.org.

 

-30-

 

 

 

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[nestor]

Tuesday afternoon three-time solo RAAM winner Wolfgang Fasching finished his seventh

RAAM in 9 days 02:45, over five hours behind Rookie-of-the-Year, Michael Trevino, and almost 17 hours behind winner Robic.

Fasching proved what a classy rider he is by graciously accepting defeat. He

climbed up onto the finish stage looking very fit with the skin on his upper

arms peeling off. He said he had no real problems other than the heat on

the first day, and not riding fast enough. He said he felt the best at the

finish line this year out of all seven RAAMs he has done. He said he doesn't do

specific sleep deprivation training like Robic does. If he didn't have heat

trouble on the first day in the desert, he would have finished second. Except for

his wife Doris, he had pretty much a new crew this year.

Doris said she can't feel emotionally for Wolfgang during the race. Without

anybody on his crew telling him how he was doing, he knew he was in third place

and was OK with it. He realizes that winning might not come that easily to him

anymore. He might come back. In sports it is said that you should quit while

on top (like John Elway did winning two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos),

but how does a person know their best years are behind them unless they start

declining in performance?

 

Fasching helped Robic prepare for the RAAM a lot this year, but he doesn't have

time to train with Robic in Europe. Wolfgang only began training for RAAM in

April which was not enough time. When I asked Fasching if he thought 2001 RAAM

winner Andre Clavadetscher could have won RAAM this year, Wolfgang said Andre

only cares about beating him in RAAM. Fasching hopes that more American riders

start racing in European ultra races. He said once a rider gets so far ahead

or behind you in RAAM, time differences become unimportant. Wolfgang says he

doesn't care about being called the best ultracyclist in the world. He still

has a lot of respect for Kish. He is writing books and marketing himself well

in Austria.