Planning for Race Across America 2021
In addition to collectively riding over 20,000 miles in training during the first six months of 2020 in preparation for RAAM 2020 that eventually was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Team Suicide Prevention has also spent a great deal of time planning for the logistics of the event as well. The event will now take place in June 2021. The team will cover 3,000 miles over a nine day period with one of the eight riders in the saddle at all times. On June 19, 2021, the race starts in Oceanside, California and finishes in Annapolis Maryland nine days later. There will be four support vehicles each with two riders and two support crew members with two of these vehicles (Crew A or Crew B) active during each twelve hour interval. The handoff between the two Crews will occur at 12:00AM and 12:00PM each day. While one crew is active, the other crew will be positioned 180 to 200 miles up ahead on the course resting, eating, or provisioning. As you can imagine, there are many moving parts to this operation. We’ve built a spreadsheet that will assist us in coordinating these logistics that calculates our location on the course based on a predicted average speed between each of the 55 Time Station segments on the course. While the bike riding is the major element of the race, the work that the crew members do is equally important to the success of Team Suicide Prevention getting successfully to the finish line in Annapolis, Maryland nine days or less after the start.
So what does a rider in RAAM typically need?
Navigation: Guidance through busy areas.
Food and drink: Nourishment while on the bike.
Mechanical assistance: Repair skills and quick tire and bike exchanges.
Medical assistance: First aid for saddle sores, blisters, and other ailments, and creativity by the medical person to solve the medical contingencies.
Sleeping arrangements: van, hotel room, or the side of the road.
A place to wash and a place to respond to Mother Nature's calls.
Change of clothing during the ride: Gloves for the cold, arm and leg warmers at the top of hills.
Information: Rider split times, location of the competition, average speed, and advice to augment the rider's efficiency
Motivation: If necessary.
Let’s not forget what the RAAM crew needs.
A place to comfortably sleep during the day or night. Just like the rider, quality sleep for the crew members is essential.
Food, drink and nourishment throughout the trip. Wash and restroom facilities.
A comfortable and safe place to sit while traveling in a vehicle.
A place for a bicycle mechanic to make necessary adjustments and repairs.
A place to store all the supplies needed during the ride.
Communication with crew members in other vehicles.
A place to conduct first aid and medical procedures.
A place to wash clothes (crew and rider's clothes).
So as you see, this effort involves a great deal of planning, hard work, hard training, teamwork, and efficiency in execution for a successful race.
We welcome your financial and moral support in our efforts to raise funds for organizations that support suicide prevention as we race across America to spread hope and be in the race to help save lives. Check out our Donation page for how to contribute to our efforts.
Team Suicide Prevention will be ready for the challenge. Thank You
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