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Thursday, February 2, 2012
RAAM qualifier coming to Central Texas
The crazy folks who put on the Race Across America, that coast-to-coast biking jaunt otherwise known as RAAM, have announced a new series of (shorter!) races, and it includes a stop near Austin.
A March 17 Gran Fondo race in Marble Falls will kick off the 2012 RAAM Cycling Challenge. It’s one of nine races slated for across the country. Other stops are Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Northern California, Ohio, Southern California and Florida.
The event will feature a 120-mile race as the main attraction, plus 30-mile and 60-mile recreational rides and 200-mile and 400-mile races. The 400-mile race is an official qualifying race for the solo category of the annual 3,000-mile Race Across America in June.
“Locations for our Gran Fondo events were chosen for their strong cycling community as well as the opportunity for beautiful views from the bike,” says Rick Boethling, executive director of the RAAM Cycling Challenge.
For more information and to register, go here.
In related news, the award-winning documentary about RAAM, “Bicycle Dreams,” will be shown at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. The screening is a benefit for the Austin Cycling Association.
I’ve seen the film, an excruciating look at the sleep deprivation, pain and emotion that the cyclists goe through during the ride.
Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Tickets are available online here.
RAAM president Fred Boethling will attend the showing, and local RAAM veteran Susan Farago will speak at the event.
For more information about the film, go here.
Read a story I wrote about Farago and her team of Austin women who finished RAAM last year here.
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