I am going to be participating in RAAM 2007 with 3 other guys as a relay. Just curious if any STers (since you are all so badass) have any experience with this event. Opinions I know I will get, but looking for thoughts on race/training strategy, equipment, support needs etc…
Thanks
daved
Paul Thomas might be able to give you some insights. He and Kenny seem to hang out together a lot…
I’m envious. While I don’t have any direct experience with the event, I have seen some power files and overheard some comments from a number of coaches that suggest that you might consider having the team practice switching riders much more often than you (certainly, I) might otherwise expect.
-jeff
I’ve crewed it twice…
One of the biggest things is to make sure that you have a solid, even-keeled crew that’s able to deal well with stress and no sleep.
Logistically, the relay teams are much more difficult than the solo guys.
I have a good friend in the relay last year and probaly going back. I’d love to join, but it doesn’t quite fit with my ADD.
Echo’d what is already said, but it’s important to know your teammates and crew VERY well. They had some fall-outs and crappy situations which seemed to take some of the “enjoyment” out of the event.
I back-tracked 125 miles of the course and talked to 6-8 teams. Amazing folks…but I’m actually more impressed with the crew members!!!
Good luck and give us a link to your site if you’re building one!!!
MTS-
We are finding that out right now! You interested in crewing again? Did you crew for a team or a solo?
daved
I’m working on a assembling a group for 2008 4man relay. No input, still gathering info, but good thread. Good luck!
Word on the street says it is a long race - but that could be rumour.
Dave,
Will share all we learn…AFTER the event! Kidding of course. Thanks.
And yes, RIP the HOTTIE Thread…just wanted to second that for a while.
daved
I crewed for two, two-person teams. The second year was absolute hell–found out we had a drug addict (rider’s brother) who basically lost it about 36 hours from the finish (he was abstaining from his substances during the race).
I’d happily talk with you on what worked well and what didn’t. Probably could get my friend who rode both on the horn too.
(Un)fortunately, I can’t crew this year–getting married this summer.
Matt
MTS…
Email me davedornausataoldotcom and lets find a time to chat. We have interviewed a few crew members and racers out here (boston area) over the past few months, but the more the merrier! Thanks.
DaveD
And Congrats on getting married…sorry I left that off.
daved
Crewed for an Enduro rider this year. In addition to the other responses, make sure that NOBODY touches food, Bottles, etc… without washing their hands first. It is so easy to spread a bug around in those tight living spaces. We kept hand sanitizers everywhere in addition to baby/hand wipes. And, ALWAYS wash bottles out before re-using them.
(Since I drove, wrenched, and did bodywork, my hands were touching all kinds of germs. I was washing my hands like crazy)
We were shuffling about 100 H20 bottles around for one rider. It’s very easy to accidentally re-use a bottle with some very old muscle-milk batter growing some funky shit in the bottom. Our rider was already hallucinating; no need to contribute to it some more 
Make sure that crew and riders are “trying” to eat a balanced diet most of the time. I ate very very clean and it definitely helped with my endurance driving during the middle of the night without “crashing”(sugar crashes, I mean)
Also, check/shake out your shoes, clothes, sleeping bags, etc… before sleeping or sitting for long amounts of times. I got two nasty spider bites on my left foot while taking a nap in the motorhome on the last day. Kicked my ass bad…
Thanks for the feedback I will pass that along! Sider bites huh? that must have sucked.
Good advice about keeping things clean!
dave
I’ve never done a RAAM, but I’ve thought about it. The main limiting factoe for me would be how long i could remain in a conventinal bike position. After several hours, there are aches, pains, in the shoulders and nexk.
Have you thought about doing it on a recumbent? It would certainly be a much more comfortable ride.
 Phil Plath of Team ALS-Bacchetta  Neil Fleming of Team JDRF VeloKraft
**Team Spotlight – Get 'Bent! A Tale of Recumbent Rivalry **
Like a phantom locomotive, last year’s Human Powered Vehicle team ALS-Lightning became the first team to slip across the finish line with a time of 5 days 06:58. With speeds reaching 32 mph and averaging somewhere in the mid 20s, it was no surprise when the recumbent team arrived in Atlantic City hours before the #2 team. Yet uncontested in its category, ALS Lighting’s achievement met with all the fanfare of a funeral procession.
This year will see two teams, ALS-Bacchetta and JDRF VeloKraft, battling each other for victory in the HPV category. Ladies and gentleman, get ready for a white hot race between two formidable teams racing on rivalry bikes.
Team ALS-Bacchetta lead by RAAM veteran Tim Woudenberg and introducing John Quarterman, Karta Purkh Atehortua and Phil Plath will ride in support of ALS March of Faces, a nonprofit organization of patients and caregivers that promotes awareness of and advocacy for issues related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Should they win their race, the team has pledged to donate the $25,000 purse to ALS March of Faces.
The team will use the Bacchetta recumbent bicycle, which is made in St. Petersburg, Florida, from all-American parts. With a titanium frame, carbon-fiber crankset and forks, light foam seat, and disk wheels, the machine weighs about 21 pounds. The team will carry a complement of six bicycles–three set up with gearing for flatlands, and three for hills–that the members will use alternately to complete various legs of the course, each of which is designed for about 40 minutes of riding.
Their opponent, Team JDRF VeloKraft, rides to raise funds and awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The JDFR’s focus on a single goal–accelerating research progress to cure diabetes and its complications, has led the JDFR to spend more money for diabetes research than any other charitable organization–more than $800 million since its founding in 1970.
Coming from the carbon fiber camp, VeloKraft’s apparent monocoque carbon fiber frame will be the tool of choice for the team. Based in Krakow, Poland and a relative newcomer to 'bent manufacturing, VeloKraft borrows the technologies and materials from the aerospace industry to craft their distinct brand of recumbent.
What both teams will have in common, aside from charitable contributions and pursuit of victory, is speed. Recumbents, with their aerodynamic design and low center of gravity, can go farther faster, as proven by last year’s HPV team which outpaced not one, but two teams of pro “upright” racers.
“The look that people gave us when this thing went by them at 70 mph was totally worth it,” said Bob Fourney of ALS-Lightning just after crossing the finish line in last year’s RAAM.
To view team biographies or to size up this year’s competition, visit: www.raceacrossamerica.org/Default.aspx?tabid=30