The world’s toughest cycling race has come to the end for another year. The race that takes riders over 3000 miles from one coast of the US to the other is a real test of a “hard man”.
Although it is extremely tough. There are a number of good reasons why RAAM would be a better choice than many other sporting events.
1. Very Few Competitors
This goes hand in hand with the early mover advantage.
Although gaining in popularity, this is still a small sport. That means there is room for the surprise newbie.
Breaking into a major sport like basketball with it’s huge amount of money and professional athletes is extremely difficult. In ultracycling the field is much smaller.
In RAAM 2012 there were a total of 45 individual entries. 41 men and 4 women. Just finishing makes you awesome.
2. No Pros
When professional athletes enter a sport, all bets are off.
There no room for the little guy even in big cycling events with teams and physicians and coaches.
This is still mostly an enthusiast sport. The approach is professional, but the big bucks are not there and very few make a living from doing it.
Sure, there are people who put in the effort of professionals, but almost all competitors still have other jobs to pay the bills.
3. Relatively Easy Entry
Okay, it’s not easy.
But it’s not complicated. You don’t need to work your way up a league or anything like that. Just do some really huge rides in a pretty decent time.
Some of the examples include…
- Finishing a 2 or 4 person team in RAAM
- 400 miles in 24 hrs
- RAAM style races of 350 miles or more
Nothing too heavy, just stuff similar to actual RAAM, just usually shorter.
Official details at the RAAM site here.
4. See the US from a bike
Only applies to non-US types.
But that’s me! And 95% of the world.
I don’t think there is any other way I would rather see a new country that from the seat of a bicycle.
It’s a great way to take in the whole spectrum of American scenery in the same time it would take people on a normal tour.
5. It’s Legendary
Finally, there is nothing better than completing the toughest race in the world.
There are few sporting events that take more of a toll on a person’s body both physically and mentally than this.