Riding on through again

File photo Members of Team Type I tag up for a relay during the 2007 Race Across America cross-country bicycle endurance race as it passed through Fort Scott. The 2008 RAAM began this morning in Oceanside, Calif., with riders expected to begin passing through the area starting Thursday evening. Team Type I won the eight-person division last year, breaking its own record in the progress. [Click to enlarge]

Local support ensures cross-country bicycle race will pass through area once moreBy Scott Nuzum

Herald-Tribune

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- The annual Race Across America (RAMM) started here this morning, once again with about 250 entrants seeking to complete a 3,000-plus-mile cross-country journey to Annapolis, Md. This course is longer than the total distance riders travel in the more-famous Tour de France.

The race itself has been held since 1982 but has passed through the Fort Scott-Nevada area for the past six years. Local bicycle enthusiasts have been very supportive of the race, especially since Fort Scott is one of the 54 time stations along the route.

As a time station, Fort Scott is a key location in the race. Riders must stop in and report where they are and when they arrived and left a time station. For solo division riders, time stations are places where they can choose to get in some of the mandatory off-course time. If the riders do not check in, they risk being penalized.

"Time Stations are great places to watch racers come through and cheer them on," the RAAM Web site says. "Time station locations vary from someone's home, to bike shops, to city parks, to the Capital Building in Jefferson City, Mo., to the McDonald's in Pratt, Kan.

"About half of the time stations are staffed. This staff is invaluable in building awareness of the race in the local communities along the course. As racers pass through, the time station staff is the cheering section and most importantly there to help racers and crews find services in town."

Support of fans in towns along the route between Pratt and Effingham, Ill., is one of the main reasons RAAM decided not to change the route between those towns this year. Other changes in routing were made to avoid stretches of Interstate highways in Arizona and to have the race dip into New Mexico and cross the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles before entering Kansas. In the past few years, riders went into Kansas directly from Colorado. This year, the teams will enter Kansas at Elkhart instead of Johnson City, which is about 30 miles to the north.

Riders will also pass through Nevada on their way to the next time station at Collins, Mo., the 30th of 53 between Oceanside and Annapolis.

"We have great Time Station support in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois which we hope to continue," the web site said.

RAAM is not run in stages as the Tour de France is. The race is continuous, save for the mandatory stops the solo division riders must take. Even then, those riders typically rest for only an hour before resuming. Some solo riders sleep for as little as 90 minutes a day and none can afford to sleep more than four hours a day if they want to finish the race within the 12-day limit.

There are solo, two-person, four-person and eight-person divisions for cyclists to enter. There are divisions for women, but not many choose to enter. Those that do usually enter solo or four-woman divisions. There are also age divisions within each division, with the exception of the eight-person division, which does not have either gender or age divisions. The four-person division is unique for having a mixed-gender division.

The race attracts riders from around the world. A check of the race roster Friday morning shows that Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Italy, France, Ireland, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Portugal and Norway will be represented in this race.

Solo riders began racing this morning. They will take longer to cross the country because they have more mandatory stops along the tour. Team riders will begin Tuesday. Because of the fact that they can ride in shifts, many of the teams will arrive at the Fort Scott time station before some of the solo riders do. The race will be in progress 24 hours a day for the next 12 days. Many riders who pass through the area will be coming through during the wee hours of the morning.

Some of the teams race to raise awareness for a cause. Perhaps the most accomplished of those teams is Team Type I, profiled in this publication when it passed through last year. Every member of the team has Type I diabetes. Team Type I won the eight-person division in 2006, setting a new record in the process. The team's goal was to break that record last year, which they accomplished.

"Team Type 1's goal is to prove that by using the tools provided to manage diabetes, exercise and healthy living, a person with diabetes can do the same as a normal person--only better," says team founder and rider Phil Southerland on his team's web site.

Other teams hope to raise awareness for cancer, the environment or injured soldiers.

It is expected that if riders carry on at the same pace as last year, the first riders will pass through the area Thursday evening, although Friday evening into Saturday morning is expected to be the busiest time.

Some of the Web sites that allow those interested in the progress of the riders to follow the race include:

* www.raceacrossamerica.org. Every racer and every stop will be tracked here. The site also has more information about the history of the race.

* www.teamtype1.org. This is the web site for Team Type I, one of the teams racing to raise awareness about diabetes.

* www.adventuresforthecure.com. Another team riding for diabetes awareness.

* www.kaisercycling.com. Team Gran Fondo Fixies, a two-man team riding "48 x 17 fixed gear bikes," according to info on the site. "This means we will be going coast to coast across America with no coasting."

* www.xtreme4.com. Xtreme4 is trying to "spread the green message," according to its Web site. This site not only offers information about the team but also offers advice on how to help the environment by driving less or driving smarter, walking or riding a bicycle when possible.

* www.360cycling.com is for Team Magic Water, riding to fight pediatric cancer.

* www.tsf-raw.com. This is Team Semper Fi, a group riding to raise funds for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, an organization dedicated to supporting returning wounded Marines and their families. The team site says that 100-percent of all donations go directly to the fund.

* www.teaminspiration.co.uk. A website for a team from the UK that will have three entries in different divisions, riding to raise money for the Bobby Moore Cancer Fund.

* www.teambackup.co.uk. Another British team riding for cancer awareness. Its founder, Andy Griffin, is a rider and a cancer survivor. You may see them listed as either Team Backup UK for Cancer, Team Backup or Team BUKC.

* www.spokeimpact.com. A site for Canada's Arvid Loewen, who is riding for Mully Children's Family, an orphanage in Kenya.

Solo riders also have Websites, such as Americans Rob Morlock (teammorlock.com) and Canadian Ryan Correy (www.ryansdream.com). A few of the foreign riders also have Web sites in their native languages.