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 RAAM Weather Forecastby Dave Speelman, Meteorologist KAMR NBC Channel 4, Amarillo TX Warm and muggy Thursday in Tennessee, with scattered thundershowers. Highs in the 80s.
The 1998 Ensure Race Across AMerica is nearly one week old. It's the "dog daze" of RAAM, a phenomenon that happens every year: riders and crew are incredibly tired, miles stretch out farther and farther, hills get steeper, time drags on, and things just get more tedious. One can almost "smell the barn" in Savannah, but with 800 more miles to go, it's still a little premature to start readying for the Finish Line podium.
One thing is for sure: everyone involved in RAAM lost some blood the last 24 hours. The mosquitoes of Arkansas are bold, brazen, and now well-fed. No amount of repellant could repel, and changed teams' sleep strategies. Sleeping on the side of the road now became a dangerous proposition.
Also adding to the general discomfort was the insanely high humidity. Heat indices in central Arkansas were once again hovering around 110-degrees. As riders moved toward Tennessee, though, the temps began to drop as a stationary weather front stalled out over the area. In fact, the mid-80s felt east of Memphis in late afternoon were the coolest hghs of the entire race, but the humidity kept anyone from enjoying themselves.
Arkansas saw the battle between Gerry Tatrai and Rob Kish turn into a seesaw, with Tatrai building and losing leads again. Yesterday, he had built a lead that exceeded eight hours, but his intense efforts brought on night-time fatigue that saw him struggling. His lead then dropped to four hours, which was held throughout today.
The flat terrain of central and eastern Arkansas was quickly replaced by a gradual uphill grind, punctuated by an increasing number of hills in Tennessee. As soon as riders take the shuttle across the freeway bridge, elevation climbs slowly until riders are in the Appalachian Mountains.
Behind Kish, Danny Chew and Wolfgang Fasching were battling for third place, with Fabio Biasiolo and Tom Buckley hanging in close behind. This is Fabio's best RAAM to date, and he has a solid chance of scoring a top-five finish. In two previous RAAM's, Fabio was forced out because of logistical problems, but now this strong Italian is showing what he is really capable of doing.
Farther back, RAAM vets Steve Born and Paul Solon are making solid progress, with each mile now a personal victory as they overcome past jinxes that kept them from making it across in recent years. Both should finish with very respectable times.
The battle for Rookie of the Year appears to be between Andreas Clavedetscher, Mark Patten, Harold Trease, and Andrew Bohannon. Of these, Clavedetscher has consistently been in the top five or six overall.
Bob Forney, RAAM's first solo HPV entrant, withdrew from the race today after 1003 miles. The two-time RAAM winner was plagued with heat exhaustion, thereby leaving open a line in the Record Book for anyone willing to tackle RAAM on an HPV in the future.
Among the three relay teams that started with the Solo Division, Team Gustavo RMO Franca, the two-man team from Brazil, continued to roll toward Savannah. Averaging 402 miles perday at 16.8 mph, the pair sped past Time Station #47 at 8:28 pm today, and is expected to finish the race tomorrow afternoon.
The two 70-up teams continue to ride strongly. Secure Horizons rolled through Time Station #39 at 9:40, while Team 70+ was at TS#34 at 6:33. Secure Horizons has an excellent shot at a new RAAM record for their age division.
Among the 10 teams that started this last Sunday, the battle is between Action Sports and Pacificare. The former blew through TS#30 at 8:31, with the latter in close pursuit there at 8:59. The two teams have been running nip-and-tuck since the start of the race.
With time (and miles) running out in the Solo Division race, several important questions must now be asked: Can Tatrai keep his lead? Who will sleep, and when? And what about Chew and Fasching? Can they be counted out? Finally, what effect will "Team Surfing" have on the solo leaders as the teams blast past?
Tune in tomorrow for the latest from the Race Across AMerica!
 Gerry Tatrai continued to be the star of RAAM, clinging to a lead he established during the first night of the race. Late Wednesday evening stats, with rider name, last Time Station in (), and their time of arrival.
Solo Riders
Relay Teams that started Sunday
Relay Teams That Started Thursday
Use the menu below to check the updates posted each night during the race!
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