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The first 88.3 miles of RAW are an amazing variety of terrain and scenery. The race starts on The Strand, in downtown Oceanside CA, right on the pier. The RAW riders start first, at 12:00 noon, followed by the RAAM riders. Riders depart at one minute intervals, just like a "normal" time trial. We should all be out of Oceanside and en-route by 1:00 pm. We start on the pier, ride parallel to the beach for 0.2 miles until turning right up Surfrider Way and the first climb on the RAW. That first block is a steep one, 10% according to the map, but brief--we quickly get the first 50 feet of the 47,673 feet of climbing in RAW out of the way. As we turn left towards the San Luis Rey Bike Path, our crew vehicles continue straight, and head via a different route to the our first support point 24 miles away out in Valley Center CA.
After entering the bike path, we have a 8 mile "Parade Zone", with racing starting as we exit the bike path onto College Blvd. These 24 miles are unsupported, as we exit the busy urban coastal environment through the coastal mountains, and towards the Mojave Desert. Start-TS01 has three significant climbs, including the final climb to the top of the famous "Glass Elevator" descent into Borrego Springs and TS01.
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Climbs
Descents
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The first climb of RAW the 50' bump up from The Strand on Surfrider Way. The classic RAW/RAAM start photos are taken here. Only 930.3 miles to go.
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Half way down the Glass Elevator at the Montezuma Valley Overlook. From here there is another 6.3 miles of descending at an average grade of 6%. The temperature at the top of the climb will likely be mid to high 80s. At the bottom, 105 deg. We should start down the Elevator at about 5 pm.
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Planned Support Points This is the first opportunity for support, and about 1;30 out from Oceanside. We expect this location will be crazy with all of the RAW and RAAM solo crews heading to the same spot. Our plan is to establish cell phone contact, and delay feeding to Lilac Foods 6 miles later unless I have an urgent need for something.
All vehicles need to fill gas tanks here! I take on two iced bottles, the cooling vest, and any other desert wear we can think of and begin the crossing of the desert. The next several hours will be wicked hot. |
The view of Lake Henshaw from the parking lot of the Round Up Grill at the resort.
Welcome to Borrego Springs... follow the rotary to the right for 200 miles of riding through the Mojave Desert.
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