Please allow me to introduce myself

I realised that in my excitement at having a blog up and running (yes, I realise that I am perhaps the last person on earth to have a blog) I very rudely neglected to introduce myself.

I'm a mild mannered international civil servant by day... and a mild mannered international cyclist by night (and day).

Late in 2008 I decided to attempt the Race Across America (RAAM). RAAM is, in essence, a very long time trial. The race starts on the Pacific coast in California and finishes 3,000 miles later on the Atlantic coast in Maryland. The clock runs continuously, and riders are not allowed to draft.

I first heard of RAAM when I was in my early 20s. This was around the time I started racing bikes- first mountain bikes and then on the road. One to two hour cross-country races and criteriums were a world away from ultradistance cycling. I couldn't fathon how anyone could complete RAAM, let alone be competetive in it. I thought that RAAM racers must be incredibly gifted athletes, and, of course, completely insane.

Over the years I naturally progressed though endurance sports. Bike racing was always a mainstay, but I also did some adventure racing, then some marathons, which lead to ironman triathlon. As I completed more races, and gradually got faster, I realised that the majority of the performance differences between non-professional endurance athlets are the result of application, not ability.

So, 15 years after first hearing of RAAM I got to thinking about it again, in a new light. Cycling is what I really love doing, and rather than keep training for ironman, perhaps I could use RAAM as an excuse to focus just on riding my bike. A lot.

With the acquesience of my partner, Karolina, I decided to enter the 2010 edition of RAAM. First though I needed to qualify. In July 2009 I entered the Swiss Radmarathon, a 720km race around Switzerland. Up to that point my longest ride had been around 250km. Supported by Karolina and sandwiches I finished 10th and qualified. To get a little more experience later that summer I did the 1070km Swiss Tortour, and finished 8th. My final preparation race was a time trial in Italy, the 24 hours of Montello, which I won. I was now ready for RAAM.

As the banner says, I placed 3rd, and was awarded the Rookie of the year, King of the Mountains and King of the Praeries prizes.... but I'll save the details of that for another post.