Southwest Ohio RAAM
Newsletter
Oxford - Trenton - Lebanon - Blanchester
Race Across America - The
World's Toughest Bicycle Race
www.ohioraam.org |
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January 2010
140 Days to the start
of RAAM 2010! |
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In This Issue
- Welcome to the first
2010 newsletter!
- Time Station Changes
- Community Service Activity
- Sponsorship/Volunteers
- Sponsor a Racer or
Team
- RAAM on Netflix
- How to unsubscribe
or subscribe.
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Welcome to the first 2010 newsletter!
The 2010 Race Across America (RAAM) is underway and
will soon be here. The race begins in Oceanside, California and
ends 3000 miles later in Annapolis, Maryland. Starting order:
Women & Men over 60 Solo-June 8; Men Solo-June 9 and Teams-June
12.
Based on many years of experience, we expect the racers through
Southwest Ohio starting shortly after midnight on June 16 and
the last passing in the early morning hours of June 19.
The 2010 race will have racers from 16 countries. Austria, Australia,
Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein,
Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates,
and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States. For the
first time, the United Arab Emirates will have a representative
from Dubai in the team category.
Returning veteran solo racers for this year race are Julian Sanz
Garcia (Spain), Kevin Kaiser (United States), Dr. Michael Nehls
(Germany), Mark Pattinson (United States), Franz Preihs (Austria),
and Michele Santilhano (South Africa). We will also have three
solo racers on recumbent bicycles. Barbara Bautois (France) and
Sandy Earl (United States) will attempt to be the first woman
to ever finish on a recumbent. Tim Woudenberg (United States)
will be the sole man. In the team category, there are three 2
person teams, twenty-one 4 person teams, and seven 8 person teams.
Be sure to check out our recently added Race Roster and Racer Profile tabs on our website
for the 2010 race and more details on the racers.
Time Station Changes
We want to welcome new time station volunteers. Jim
Lawyer will be the new Oxford time station manager. Tom
Brane did a fantastic job in 2009. Thanks Tom! Tom will be
preparing to devote his time for a missionary expedition to West
Africa. Amy McFadden will assist at the Blanchester time
station this year. Amy resides in Blanchester and was actively
involved last year. Welcome, Jim and Amy!
There will be new time station numbers for 2010. Due to
changes of time stations in the Western US, in 2010 Oxford will
become TS41 and Blanchester TS42. Otherwise the route remains
unchanged in Southwest Ohio.
Community
Service Activity
For the 2010 race, we are pleased to announce that
Blanchester High School and Covington Latin High School
have added the time stations as a community service activity
for their students to get their required community service hours
for the school year. We hope many students will sign up and see
the event first hand and feel how unique of an experience that
it is. Staff and parents are also welcomed. If you are involved
with a school group and feel that they would be interested, please
let us know. We never have too many volunteers.
Sponsorship/Volunteers
If you were a sponsor last year and we have not heard
from you yet, please let us know if you plan to do so again for
this year and in what way you would like to play a part, whether
through a contribution to time station of supplies, money, time
station volunteers, or advertising at your place of business.
We will provide the signs that you can post if you are willing
to help us advertise. If your group or business organization
would like to be a new sponsor, we welcome you to join us and
would like to add your logo and web link to our website.
Individuals - Time schedules are already posted to our website,
so feel free to sign up as soon as possible! We could also use
photographers, videographers, cheerleaders, and those who have
special skills that you feel they could be of use at the time
stations.
Sponsor a Racer
or Team
Although RAAM is the experience of a lifetime, it
is also a very expensive undertaking. Many racers have qualified
but have a difficult time raising the necessary funds to support
a crew. They could use your help in any way possible. Sponsorship
doesn't have to be in the form of money but could be as simple
as a gas card, food, or cell phone cards, use of frequent flyer
miles, survival packages for the crews or racers when they pass
through the time stations, etc…the list is endless. Most
important, they could use your moral support when they ride through
the time stations. Most of the time stations in the west go unstaffed.
Many racers are extremely fatigued and morally beat when they
reach Ohio. Having a huge fan base at our time stations cheering
on the racers can have a tremendous impact; helping a racer make
it to the end. Please let us know if you would like our help
in connecting you or your group with a racer or team.
RAAM on Netflix
Want a little RAAM warm up? Considering adding award
winning film Bicycle Dreams to your queue. The
film is based on the 2004 race. It is well done and provides
good coverage of what goes on during the race from a crew and
racer's prospective. Also of course, consider buying the DVD from the RAAM store
if you would like a more permanent copy for your library. Bicycle
Dreams has won first prize for a documentary film in 19 film
festivals in the US and abroad.
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Our Sponsors and Supporters
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- 7 Hills Racing
- Baymont Inn & Suite - Oxford
- Beckmeyer Designs
- Bikewise - Oxford
- BJ's Bikes and Kayaks
- Campus Cyclery - Cincinnati
- Cincinnati Sports Club
- City of Blanchester
- City of Oxford
- Covington Latin School
- Cowan Lake State Park
- Hannon's Camp America
- Japanese Karate Do of Cincinnati
- K&G Bike Centers Xenia-Centerville-Kettering
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- LOL Cyclists
- Kroger's - Blanchester
- Kroger's - Oxford
- Letterman Printing - Oxford
- McDonald's - Blanchester
- McDonald's - Oxford
- Miami University Recreation & Sports Center
- Skipper's Pub
- Smitty's Cyclery
- Trek Bicycle Store - Cincinnati
- VBL Photography
- Walgreen's - Oxford
- YWCA Greater Cincinnati
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add a new address use this form
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Barbara Buatois (France) known as "The
World's Fastest Woman" will race with her recumbent in RAAM
2010. She holds the World Female HPV (Human Powered Vehicle)
record: riding 52 miles in one hour.
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