When I hear “RAAM”, a bighorn sheep is what I think of first.  Since the route goes through the Rockies, maybe the riders will glimpse one of these sheep.

Merely qualifying to take part in RAAM in the first place is no mean feat, it seems. Be able to average 10.5 mph? Sure, I can ride at that pace; but not for hours every day, day after day. And I most certainly can’t climb that fast! The route crosses several mountain ranges; and I suspect there would be some killer grades.

If I were to tackle RAAM, I might well want a lighter-weight bike. And one with a triple crankset, with chain rings smaller than the crankset I currently have on my road bike.

Whoa, there!  I’m getting far, far ahead of  myself. I’ve never done a single race; and I’m envisioning myself doing the Race Across America? How does one prepare? Where would I find a crew? Spend $5000 to ride across the country? I haven’t got money like that.

Ride up to twelve days on as little as 1.5 hours of sleep per night? RAAM has been called “a contest of sleep deprivation”; and that aspect of the race sounds like a real drag.

But if I could stay awake, it might actually be fun to “ram” my way across the country.