The Race Across America is one of the toughest cycling races in the world. 5,000 kilometres from the west coast to the east coast of the USA. The route includes the Rocky Mountains, the Mojawe Desert and the Great Plains. A race with a special challenge. On 15 June 2013, the German team "4Athletes powered by gateprotect" also took to the start line in Oceanside/California.
The gateprotect team was entered in the 4-man team category, which means that one of the four riders is on the bike at all times during the race. The team's tactic was to give each individual rider as long a recovery period as possible between their individual rides and at the same time minimise the strain on the rider currently involved in the race. For this reason, the team was divided into two teams of two in advance and assigned to the accompanying motorhomes.
During the day, the tactic was that each team of two had to complete a four-hour shift. At night, these shifts were extended to six hours to give the resting team the opportunity to sleep for a few hours. Within the shifts, the individual rider was in the saddle for about an hour and then switched to the second rider in the team.
Over the course of the entire race, around 150 changes were made. Each racer had to ride more than 200 kilometres a day in order to achieve the goal of staying under six days. An extreme challenge. A total of 74 teams and solo riders took part, including ten "4-man teams". After the first day, it was already clear who would be the biggest rivals for the "4Athletes powered by gateprotect" in the coming days. The "Fireflies", a team of English firefighters. A gripping duel developed over the next 3,000 kilometres. For days, they were only minutes apart, and at night, heated one-on-one duels were fought in the beams of the accompanying pace cars. The lead changed constantly. "I would never have thought it possible to ride such a duel in a race like the RAAM, which is over 5,000 kilometres long. I really gave my all in every duel and in the end it paid off," says Frank Vytrisal, former triathlon pro.
The finish line was reached after 5 days, 21 hours and 7 minutes. The "Fireflies" from England followed one hour and 27 minutes later.
