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The Race Across America is an Adventure We tell the story of our RAAM adventure in 2014. Does this mean explaining how to ride a bike for a long time? Not quite. RAAM involves one million pedal strokes and a thousand decisions to keep the racer and crew efficiently moving up the road. This book tackles the complex organizational challenge that RAAM requires each racer and crew to face. |
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What readers are saying:
Received your book and read it all in one go. It is awesome! Very well written, and gives a great feel for the difficulty for both the racer and the crew. This is the book I've been looking for! The quiz was a great idea, and I really dug the formulas for calculating speeds, etc. Thanks for putting this together.—Bobbie Rothen
Here's a new book that's a must-read for the many RAAM and RAW racers and crew members busily getting themselves ready for June.—Vic Armijo
There have been quite a few requests for the list of things that we took on RAAM. The link below shows the two appendices of the book that list these items.The paperback version of our book is still available. Since we have covered our costs for the book and only have a few copies left, and we don't want to deal with filing taxes for the book anymore, we will send you a free signed copy (supplies limited). Use the contact form above to request a copy and give us your name and address. We are also releasing the pdf version as a free download: One Million Pedal Strokes (45 MB).
One Million Pedal Strokes
A Successful Approach to RAAM
The Race Across America (RAAM) is a nonstop, 3,000-mile bicycle race with a twelve-day limit. The route traverses deserts and mountains in all kinds of conditions including extreme temperatures, wind, rain, and fog. Racers typically sleep less than four hours per day.
The Race Across America is the toughest ultracycling race in the world. It requires physical and mental toughness, but also organization, planning, and an efficient, dedicated, well-trained crew. One Million Pedal Strokes tells the story of how rookie Keith Wolcott and his rookie crew of twelve completed RAAM in 2014, with his wife Ellen as his crew chief.
- Racer, crew chief, and crew perspectives
- Details about planning and decisions
- Strategy
- Training
- The mental aspect
- Setting a goal pace
- Crew training
- Nutrition
- Clothing
- Equipment
- Potential problems
- Recovery
There are fifteen chapters which can be seen in the Table of Contents to the left. For example, "RAAM by the Numbers" contains details such as Keith cycled for 17 hours and 55 minutes per day and stopped a total of 160 times. He consumed 104,000 calories, including 29 milkshakes. The chapter also lists all official solo RAAM finishers (35 women and 252 men) and all solo performances (54 female finishes and 458 male finishes). Seana Hogan and Christoph Strasser both top the lists and both own 4 of the top 7 performances.
© January 2015. Paperback, 359 pages. 71 pages of color photos (97 color photos).
ISBN: 978-0-9862475-0-7
About the authors:
Keith Wolcott has been an ultracyclist since 2004 and regularly competes in 24–hour cycling races. He completed the Race Across America in 2014 in 11 days, 19 hours, and 18 minutes.
Ellen Wolcott has been an ultracyclist since 2010. She has been married to Keith Wolcott since 1980 and they have two children.