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A RAAM for the record books

A member of Team Can Be Venture passed through Oxford Race Across America Time Station 40 located at McDonald's on Locust Street at 6:51 a.m. June 27. The team of hand cyclists marked the last of the event’s competitors to pass through Oxford and closed the time station. Contributed Photo by Lee Kreider

Contributed Photo A member of Team Can Be Venture passed through Oxford Race Across America Time Station 40 located at McDonald's on Locust Street at 6:51 a.m. June 27. The team of hand cyclists marked the last of the event’s competitors to pass through Oxford and closed the time station. Contributed Photo by Lee Kreider

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By Erin Fischesser, Contributing Writer 3:50 PM Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The 2009 Race Across America was historic not only because it was the first time that Oxford hosted a time station, but because of the many amazing performances that were a part of the event.

As racers passed through the city of Oxford, they prepared for the last 600 miles before they reached their finish in Annapolis, Md. At this point, racers were fighting fatigue as they had already traveled 2,408 miles from Oceanside, Calif.

The majority of cyclists whizzed past the time station located between the old Walmart parking lot and McDonald’s on Locust Street without missing a beat, while some took a few minutes or even hours to rest and catch their breath and a number of teams made a rider switch.

Time station workers anxiously awaited the arrival of the next rider as they aided crew members in finding necessary services and answering questions around the clock.

Men’s solo and team leaders passed through the time station in the early morning June 24, while the floodgates opened and many teams and solo riders passed through the area June 26 and 27.

While riders in the area were forced off of the road during a storm on June 25, time station worker and long-time RAAM enthusiast Lee Kreider remained at his post and tried to keep things dry, despite the closing of Locust Street that resulted from flooding.

By Friday morning, however, Locust Street was re-opened and racers were back on the road, pushing themselves to reach Annapolis as quickly as possible.

The final team, Team Can Be Venture, made up of four hand cyclists, came through Oxford on Saturday morning at 6:51 a.m., bringing the time station to a close.

According to Kreider, the Oxford time station was much better than the one located near Hamilton last year because there were more services nearby, including 24-hour gas stations and Kroger.

Crews that stopped at the time station enjoyed meals from McDonald’s and found everything that they needed conveniently nearby. Even race officials commented on how well the new time station was working out for cyclists and crews.

According to Kreider, the involvement of local businesses and the community as a whole can make a time station successful and the time station was moved to Oxford in part to gain more community support.

“We’re really excited about being in Oxford and we hope we can stay here for a number of years to come,” Kreider said.

According to Kreider, the people of Oxford were great to work with and very supportive of the race.

Kreider said that he hopes to see more volunteers at the time station next year.

In addition to the excitement in Oxford, there were many aspects of the race for which 2009 will be remembered.

Male solo rider Dani Wyss won his second RAAM, narrowly defeating four-time winner Jure Robic after both served penalty time before the finish. Wyss, a Swiss rider, finished the race in eight days five hours and 45 minutes, the second fastest RAAM finish in history.

Women’s solo winner Daniela Figueiredo Genovesi of Brazil made one of the greatest comeback victories in race history after passing second-place finisher Janet Christiansen before reaching Oxford to win by a large margin.

Team Type I, an eight-person team, won their division and set a new average speed record of 23.41 miles per hour after finishing the race in five days nine hours and five minutes.

The Great Grand PAC Masters were the oldest participants in the event, entering the four-person 75+ category and finishing in eight days 14 hours and 49 minutes.

American Christopher Gottwald was named Rookie of the Year after finishing his ride supporting Miles for Mentoring in 10 days 12 hours and 46 minutes.

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