The 2006 RAAM Animated

What is RAAM?

Created in 1982, the Race Across America (RAAM) is now the longest running ultra-distance bicycle endurance competition in the world. This is not a stage race like the Tour de France, where each day a set distance is covered. In RAAM the gun fires somewhere on the West Coast (Oceanside, CA in 2006 & 2007) and the finishing line is over 3000 miles away, on the other side of the continent.

Fun Facts

• The 2006 Race Across America route is about 3,043 miles long. Collectively, the 2006 Solo finishers will travel a combined distance equivalent to circling the Earth at the equator four times.

• This year's 25th Anniversary edition of the race spans a wider range of elevations than it has for nearly 20 years. Riders descend to 170 feet below sea level (in Mecca, California) and climb to 10,550 feet above sea level (Wolf Creek Pass in central Colorado). This elevation range exceeds two vertical miles.

• Each solo RAAM finisher climbs nearly 108,600 feet, which is roughly the distance from the ground to the edge of space, three times the altitude flown by commercial jetliners and almost four times the altitude of Mt Everest

2007 RAAM Elevation Chart