If you think we're nuts, try RAAM...

Ah, I love this time of year. At last, there’s a crew on the road way nuttier than us randonneurs.

I’m talking about the annual insanity known as RAAM, or the Race Across America. The 3,000 mile event is modestly described on RAAM’s Web site as “the world’s toughest bicycle race.” No argument here.

The guys at the front of the heap average something like 600K for eight days straight. Just thinking about that makes my saddle sore.

As you might expect, the race attracts monster international athletes who’ve learned that suffering is the purest form of performance art. Sometimes the physical demands of RAAM, combined with a lack of sleep, send riders off a mental cliff.

There’s no better example than the 42-year-old Slovene racer Jure Robic, who won the men’s event in 2005.

Jure was brilliantly profiled in a 2006 New York Times article, “That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stranger,” by Daniel Coyle. Here’s one of many compelling quotes from that article:

‘‘He pushes himself into madness,’’ says Tomaz Kovsca, a journalist for Slovene television. ‘‘He pushes too far.’’ Rajko Petek, a 35-year-old fellow soldier and friend who is on Robic’s support crew, says: ‘‘What Jure does is frightening. Sometimes during races he gets off his bike and walks toward us in the follow car, very angry.’’

What do you do then?
Petek glances carefully at Robic, standing a few yards off. ‘‘We lock the doors,’’ he whispers.

The entire article is well worth a read here although you may have to register on the NYT site.

Jure is currently leading this year’s race. Get em, Jure!

I’m proud to count a RAAM competitor, John “GameFace” D’Elia, as a friend and teammate. He has competed in RAAM twice -- once on a team and once as a solo rider.

GameFace was our certified ringer on Team Fleche Wound in 2004.

He also signed on this year when the Wound reassembled for a reunion tour. Which goes to show that the guy truly is nuts.