Have you seen the RAAM Vans?
(June 11, 2019) Over the next several days you will begin to see vehicles covered in stickers and decals, some even with speakers attached to the roof of the vehicles. You may ask yourself what is going on?, but have no fear! These are the RAAM vans! They are the support vehicles for the participants of Race Across America (RAAM) and Race Across the West (RAW) and will be traveling with the riders as they make their way from Oceanside, CA to their final destinations of either Annapolis, MD or Durango, CO. The support vehicles carry the food, water, gear, and tool kits for the athletes, so that they don’t have to worry about anything except riding as fast as they can to the finish line. For the safety of the riders, the vehicles are required to be clearly marked with the team’s name, participation number, event decals, etc.
RAAM draws in some of the toughest endurance bicyclists from around the world, with over a dozen different countries represented by individuals and teams participating in the event. The cyclists are traveling to Oceanside from as far away as Austria, Europe, Brazil, Russia, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, and more!
Featured in the image below is the chase vehicle from a previous years Team Oceanside, an 8-person team that included the Oceanside Police Department’s Captain Fred Armijo, Officer Steven Peppard, and Former Sergeant Kelan Poorman as well as Beach Lifeguard Sergeant Mason Turvey. Team Oceanside rode for Rady’s Childrens Hospital. Click here to see the official Race Roster listing all of the athletes and the countries they represent.
If you are interested in learning more about this year’s participants, press conferences will be held on Monday, June 10th at 11am for RAAM solo racers and 12:30pm for RAW racers. The final press conference featuring the RAAM team riders will be held on Friday, June 14th at 11:30am. All press conferences will be held within the Oceanside Pier Plaza.
Race Across America (RAAM) and Race Across the West (RAW) will officially kick-off on June 11th and June 15th, 2019.
Oceanside visitors and locals are welcome to gather at the Oceanside Pier on June 11th at 12pm and June 15th at 12pm to cheer on and wave goodbye to the hundreds of participating athletes as they begin their journey towards the East. RAAM solo riders and all RAW participants will be departing on June 11th. RAAM team riders will be departing on June 15th.
Race Across America (RAAM) is a 3,000-mile coast-to-coast race across the United States. RAAM is widely recognized as the world’s toughest endurance bicycle race. The Race Across the West (RAW) is one of the world’s top RAAM Qualifying events from Oceanside, CA to Durango, CO; 860 miles across the rugged American West.
Click here to learn more about Race Across America (RAAM) and Race Across the West (RAW).
