The four-person RAAM team "Buchholz goes America" spent 6 days, 13 hours, 57 minutes in the saddle to cross the USA non-stop by road bike. With this time, they once again secured victory in the "4-person teams over 50 mixed" category. At the same time, the team set a new course record. The record from 2006 was improved by six hours and two minutes. Rolf and Waltraud Nett, Gerry Hoffmann and Klaus Käfer covered exactly 4,810.11 kilometres at an average speed of 30.46 km/h. The race tactic was to deploy riders in two shifts of around 12 hours.
It was impressive for everyone to cycle through the different landscapes and climate zones of America in the shortest possible time, in fast motion so to speak. Compared to the race in 2009, when the team competed for the first time, the temperatures were somewhat more moderate according to the participants. During the day, the summer in the USA could be felt at 30 degrees Celsius, but at night the temperatures dropped rapidly and were very cool. Rolf Nett had to complete the night-time descent from the third three-thousand metre peak in the Rocky Mountains at four degrees Celsius and in warm clothing.
The Buchholz team rated the wind conditions as extremely treacherous: "At best, the cyclists were blessed with a tailwind. Often, however, an extremely strong crosswind made for arduous progress. The sporting plan was to use disc bikes as often as possible, which promised a faster hourly average." This tactic was often impossible to implement, even on flat passages. The pressure waves from the trucks travelling at speeds of up to 135 km/h, which the cyclists passed, even made the use of the wheels life-threatening. "On one fast descent, the unpredictable gusts simply moved me almost two metres from the centre of the road to the opposite lane," says Klaus Käfer.
The team already knew about the country's abundance of wildlife from 2009 and this once again provided a variety of experiences. Armadillos, possums and coyotes accompanied the night drivers and provided variety during the monotonous night shift. After a few near misses with wapiti deer during the night, the drivers were particularly vigilant.
Further information under: www.raam-buchholz.de
