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Christoph Strasser smashes records in 3rd RAAM win; GB's Mike Hall leads Trans Am Bike Race

UK's Mark Pattinson currently 2nd in RAAM men's solo; Pippa Middleton's team nearly two thirds of the way...

Austrian cyclist Christoph Strasser has won the men’s solo category in the Race Across America (RAAM) for the third time in three years, in the process setting the fastest speed ever for the coast-to-coast event’s history.

British rider Mark Pattinson currently lies second, but still has nearly 500 miles to ride. Meanwhile, another Briton, Mike Hall, is leading the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race, which unlike RAAM is unsupported and covers a longer distance.

The distance of RAAM, first raced in 1982, has varied from 2,901 miles in 1994 to 3,170 miles in 1983, but no-one has completed it in a shorter time than Strasser, who previously won the race in 2011 and 2013, has this year.

The 32-year-old rode the 3,020 route from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland in 7 days 15 hours 56 minutes – that’s 6 hours 56 minutes than he did last year, when the course was 26.7 miles shorter – at an average speed of 16.42 miles an hour.

Pattinson, in second place, has now passed the 44th of the race’s 55 checkpoints, while his closest challenger, the Italian Nico Valsesia, has been through 43 of them so far.

The other British entrant in the men’s solo category, Chris ‘Hoppo’ Hopkinson, currently lies eighth, while in the women’s race, which is being led by the American Janice Sheufelt, the UK’s Shusanah Pillinger is fourth of the five cyclists still riding.

RAAM has attracted an unusual amount of attention in the mainstream press this year in the UK and abroad due to the presence in the team race of the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister, Pippa Middleton.

The Michael Matthews Foundation Team she and her brother James are riding for is currently fifth among the eight entrants in the eight-person team category, having ridden 1,843.7 miles in less than four days at an average speed of 18.88 miles and hour, the relay format explaining the higher average speed compared to the solo events.

You can keep up to date with all the latest information about the race on its website.

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org

Meanwhile, Yorkshireman Hall – winner in 2012 of the World Cycle Racing Grand Tour – has just passed Springfield, Missouri having completed more than 2,900 miles of the 4,233 mile route from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia.

He’s almost 80 miles ahead of the second placed rider, the Canadian Jason Lane, and you can check the riders’ progress through the Trans Am Bike Race website, and Hall is also providing updates on Twitter.

http://www.transambikerace.com/

https://twitter.com/Normally_Human

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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13 comments

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Beaufort | 9 years ago
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Sad to see that Shu Pillinger is out of RAAM after breaking her collarbone near checkpoint 37.

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Spinout replied to Beaufort | 9 years ago
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Beaufort wrote:

Sad to see that Shu Pillinger is out of RAAM after breaking her collarbone near checkpoint 37.

Indeed, she was doing well! Big disappointment for her and her team but I'm sure she'll be back.

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james-o | 9 years ago
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I've never done a charity ride but last weekend I was able to take a vacated spot on a 300km ride with a group of riders who were supporting a charity (Cyclists Fighting Cancer, CFC). I was really impressed by what CFC do, the way they went about doing it, what the riders had done to add a fundraising nature to their passion for cycling and how they coped with a big-mile ride - a good number of them weren't regular riders.
I don't see how there can be anything but positives for anyone doing anything similar. You could easily accuse a celeb of ulterior motives but if money or publicity is raised for a good cause doesn't that stand well above any ego-related accusations that may be a long way from the reality? Should only unknown riders ride for charity and never promote the charity? Of course not.

Sarayer's blog is quite a read. I relate to riding for nothing but the love of it but I don't think that post has anything to do with someone doing a bike ride as a vehicle to promote giving to a cause close to them. eg here -
http://www.michaelmatthewsfoundation.com/index.php/home
I wasn't aware of them until recently and I know someone who has given a lot of his life to doing similar work, so score 1 for the team doing RAAM and the MMF.

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enigmaman | 9 years ago
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Charity giving should be a private thing as your motives are then purely altruistic and not for any sense of personal gain, moral or financial. All this "hey, look at me, aren't I great in giving something of myself for less fortunate others" stuff undermines any purer motives. I accept it's all part of the wider celebrity culture as we're bombarded by it from pretty much every form of media. It would just be nice to be spared when I'm perusing a cycling website.

And don't get me started on Soccer Aid; 38 multi millionaires having a kick about, and we're emotionally blackmailled to pay to watch them? Just pay your taxes, or perhaps go and do some local volunteer work.

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zanf replied to enigmaman | 9 years ago
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enigmaman wrote:

Charity giving should be a private thing as your motives are then purely altruistic and not for any sense of personal gain, moral or financial. All this "hey, look at me, aren't I great in giving something of myself for less fortunate others" stuff undermines any purer motives. I accept it's all part of the wider celebrity culture as we're bombarded by it from pretty much every form of media. It would just be nice to be spared when I'm perusing a cycling website.

And don't get me started on Soccer Aid; 38 multi millionaires having a kick about, and we're emotionally blackmailled to pay to watch them? Just pay your taxes, or perhaps go and do some local volunteer work.

But theyre doing a lot of work for charitee mate, but they dont like to talk about it!

//i.imgur.com/eR09YUZ.jpg)

Im with Julian Sayerer on his views about charity rides

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RobD | 9 years ago
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'Oh, and if you weren't aware, charity should be a private thing'

Not sure why charity should be a private thing, surely the more people who are aware of it the more they're likely to support the charity.
If Pippa wants to take part and raise money then it's certainly doing more than a lot of celebrities do to get in a newspaper so I say why not.

Does anyone know how much/little sleep Strasser actually gets when he's doing this? He's some kind of machine.

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themartincox replied to RobD | 9 years ago
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RobD

last year he got about 5 hours in total I think, he sleeps in 20 minute bursts when he absolutely has to.

phenomenal in every way!

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Beaufort | 9 years ago
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Strasser is incredible. His average speed is difficult to comprehend over such a distance.

Everyone competing has my full admiration.

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crazy-legs | 9 years ago
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Quote:

I couldn't give a flying feck about Pippa Middleton.

Clearly you give enough of a flying feck to post on here telling everyone you don't give a flying feck... Some sort of logic fail there I feel...

So a minor celebrity is out there doing something amazing - riding across a continent, raising money for charity and, just possibly, inspiring a few people along the way to actually get on a bike. Generating a few column inches about the event and about the charity.

Do feel free to inform the good people of road.cc of your contributions to the world of endurance cycle events and charity fundraising while you're at it.

Meanwhile, Christoph Strasser - WOW!

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enigmaman replied to crazy-legs | 9 years ago
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"something amazing", crazy-legs? An all expenses paid trip to America to ride a bike for three hours a day? I'm in.

Oh, and if you weren't aware, charity should be a private thing.

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JeevesBath replied to crazy-legs | 9 years ago
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crazy-legs wrote:
Quote:

I couldn't give a flying feck about Pippa Middleton.

Clearly you give enough of a flying feck to post on here telling everyone you don't give a flying feck... Some sort of logic fail there I feel...

So a minor celebrity is out there doing something amazing - riding across a continent, raising money for charity and, just possibly, inspiring a few people along the way to actually get on a bike. Generating a few column inches about the event and about the charity.

Do feel free to inform the good people of road.cc of your contributions to the world of endurance cycle events and charity fundraising while you're at it.

Meanwhile, Christoph Strasser - WOW!

I have no problem with Pippa taking part in the race, her past history of achievements (climbing Mont Blanc etc) shows she has some form and is doing it for charity, so fair enough.
What is annoying though, is having regularly googled RAAM for the past few days to try and find out how Strasser was doing all I can find are news articles about PM and what her bum must look like in lycra.

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bobbinogs | 9 years ago
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"Pippa Middleton's team nearly two thirds of the way"

I couldn't give a flying feck about Pippa Middleton.

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Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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Don't forget about RAW (Race Across the West)

Marko Baloh, Multiple RAAM finisher, he had issues surrounding funding to get to RAAM this year, so took on RAW for the first time, with only a 2 man crew to back him up.

He finished the 878.70 miles in 2 days and 33 minutes.

Just to give you an idea, that is Lands End to John O'Groats

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