What do all these numbers on the RAAM website mean?
Hello,
I have been actively following the race by reading the RAAM websites postings for times at the different time stations. The race is broken up into legs between time stations, they are not all the same distance or the same geographically. Some legs will have alot of climbing others will be flatter. The total distance of the race is 3021 miles, the allowed time to complete is 12 days. So if you do the math the minimum speed to complete is just about 10.5 mph. This may not seem like much but the clock does not stop running so rest/sleep breaks are factored into this average speed. The way I look at it is that Michele needs to do about 250 miles per day, now some days will be easier with less elevation gain and others as she ascends the Rockies or makes her way across West Virginia will be harder. So if she gets good days in the flatter states she creates a time cushion for herself for the nastier days. Don't worry if you see her speed between time stations looking slow, it is probably that she had some off bike time which drags that number down. The plan is for her to only be off the bike 4 hrs maximum per 24 hrs. This is an aggressive plan and surprises will come up requiring her to sometimes go over this number. Right now I am liking her progress, this part of the race is tough, she just completed a pretty hard climb to TS #8. All the times in RAAM are in Eastern Standard Time from the very beginning, so no need to do any math there. The official start time for those doing their own calculations was Tuesday the 16th at 15:47 (that is 3:47pm for you non 24 hr clock folks). There are some cut off times along this course since it is understood that if a rider does not get to a certain point within a proscribed amount of time it is unlikely they will finish within the 12 days. We will keep a close eye on these and I will fill you in later on how that is going. David is extremely knowledgeable about this also, so he may chime in with his own read on things or correct me if I have made a mistake in my explanation. One of Michele's crew accidentally called me at 5 AM this morning looking to find out if I had procured the water heater coil (no idea what that was about-hopefully nothing serious)? I am pretty sure Michele doesn't have one of those on her bike despite it being very well outfitted. This really two races, one is a race against the clock and of course the other is against your competitors who in reality start to feel like family and comrades even though you would love to beat them to the line. To finish the race within the alotted time is a major accomplishment, the reality being that most starters do not finish. The race between racers is a carrot on the course to keep you going and makes it more fun for all of us watching from afar. Check out the men's race on the RAAM site, it is shaping up to be a fast one.
ciao for now,
GO MICHELE!
robert
I have been actively following the race by reading the RAAM websites postings for times at the different time stations. The race is broken up into legs between time stations, they are not all the same distance or the same geographically. Some legs will have alot of climbing others will be flatter. The total distance of the race is 3021 miles, the allowed time to complete is 12 days. So if you do the math the minimum speed to complete is just about 10.5 mph. This may not seem like much but the clock does not stop running so rest/sleep breaks are factored into this average speed. The way I look at it is that Michele needs to do about 250 miles per day, now some days will be easier with less elevation gain and others as she ascends the Rockies or makes her way across West Virginia will be harder. So if she gets good days in the flatter states she creates a time cushion for herself for the nastier days. Don't worry if you see her speed between time stations looking slow, it is probably that she had some off bike time which drags that number down. The plan is for her to only be off the bike 4 hrs maximum per 24 hrs. This is an aggressive plan and surprises will come up requiring her to sometimes go over this number. Right now I am liking her progress, this part of the race is tough, she just completed a pretty hard climb to TS #8. All the times in RAAM are in Eastern Standard Time from the very beginning, so no need to do any math there. The official start time for those doing their own calculations was Tuesday the 16th at 15:47 (that is 3:47pm for you non 24 hr clock folks). There are some cut off times along this course since it is understood that if a rider does not get to a certain point within a proscribed amount of time it is unlikely they will finish within the 12 days. We will keep a close eye on these and I will fill you in later on how that is going. David is extremely knowledgeable about this also, so he may chime in with his own read on things or correct me if I have made a mistake in my explanation. One of Michele's crew accidentally called me at 5 AM this morning looking to find out if I had procured the water heater coil (no idea what that was about-hopefully nothing serious)? I am pretty sure Michele doesn't have one of those on her bike despite it being very well outfitted. This really two races, one is a race against the clock and of course the other is against your competitors who in reality start to feel like family and comrades even though you would love to beat them to the line. To finish the race within the alotted time is a major accomplishment, the reality being that most starters do not finish. The race between racers is a carrot on the course to keep you going and makes it more fun for all of us watching from afar. Check out the men's race on the RAAM site, it is shaping up to be a fast one.
ciao for now,
GO MICHELE!
robert
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I pray that out of His glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being. Eph3:16
He loves you, He is riding with you...and so am I.
love, me