The Race Across AMerica may be the craziest bike race ever. From the Pacific to the Atlantic, from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland (this year's route). The record for the solo men's division is a little over eight days.
Steven Perezluha, the friend of whom I've written before (biking to Alaska, and racing up Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning), is making his RAAM debut, his substantial crew led by his uncle, Danny Chew, himself a two-time RAAM winner. From today's VeloNews article:
The youngest rider in the field is 20-year-old Steven Perezluha, nephew of 2-time RAAM winner Danny Chew. “My goal is to finish, hopefully in ten days as the top American finisher,” the youngster declared in Oceanside, “I’m going to try to be conservative at the beginning and not blow up,” he added. Yet it was Perezluha who was first to Time Station 1, 50 miles into the race at Lake Henshaw. In the next 20 miles he was passed by Strasser before reaching the “Glass Elevator,” a fast and winding descent down to the desert floor where temperatures approaching 100 degrees awaited the riders. While it is unknown whether Perezluha did indeed “blow up,” what is certain is that he’s slowed considerably, dropping from being the early leader down to 19th overnight.
Taking it easy, if somewhat oxymoronic to say about such a race, will be the smart thing for Steven to do: there's no percentage in abusing his still-developing body when he has so many more years to hit his peak. But he's such a competitor ... who knows what he might accomplish?
Here are some links if you want to follow his progress:
(added 6/17) Very cool page with animated map and stats, great for following the athletes' progress
Live stream (I include this because it has the potential to be interesting, at least for us, although at the time of writing the stops and starts of video and audio make it too painful to listen to for long.)
Steven's website (hosted by Lime Daley!)
Go, Steven! Finish the race! Do well, but don't overdo it!
Next stop, Missouri! I guess they must have dodged the tornadoes that forced them to detour.
Steven just crossed the Mississippi River.
Never did I imagine that following a sporting event could be so much fun. The Olympics have nothing on this, for me. I really enjoy watching and listening via the webcam on the support vehicle's dash. Fortunately, the coverage has been spotty, so there's no point in being glued to the screen. I'm sure I'd get tired of it if it were nonstop, but a bit at a time it is very cool. I just managed to catch Steven crossing the Ohio River into West Virginia.
The winner, Christoph Strasser of Austria, sailed into the final stop in Annapolis, Maryland at three minutes past midnight this morning, crossing the USA in an incredible eight days, eight hours, and six minutes. It may be lonely at the top—the second-place rider is still on the road 13 hours later.
The only problem with watching the video stream is that the crew and I have, shall we say, very different tastes in music.
With less than 50 miles to go, Steven is in 9th place and the next in line to finish the race, though he has another rider hot on his tail. Go, Steven! A top-ten finish would be so awesome.
Steven and the crew are no doubt severely sleep-deprived, but that doesn't mean I need to be. I had hoped to watch him reach the finish, but it will be after midnight, and dark, and the webcam hasn't been working for most of the day, so I'm going to bed, hoping to awaken to good news.
It's official: Number nine to the finish line! Steven biked across America in ten days and eight hours, exactly!
Congratulations to Steven and his incredible crew!
