# Christophe Strasser On Track For New RAAM Record



## Big-foot (Dec 14, 2002)

* WE FOUND STRASSER *


*
Vic Armijo* / Time Station 39, Bloomington, IN
June 21, 2011

*“Good, good.I feel good. **Everything is good.”*​ The crew in the *Mighty RAAM Media 1 van* found* Christoph Strasser *today, on his way in to time station 39 in Bloomington, Indiana. His arrival there at 3:36pm EST today marked his 2263<sup>rd</sup> mile. 
The big news is that Strasser, with a current overall average speed of 16.22mph, continues to have the long-standing RAAM record of 15.4mph in his grasp. If he can continue to hold his pace for the remaining 726 miles, he’ll be the fastest since *Pete Penseyres* way back in 1986. But within those remaining miles are some of the toughest in RAAM. The Appalachians of West Virginia are especially daunting. Unlike the sustained climbs of the western states where a racer can develop a rhythm and where there are long descents where a rider can recover, the hills of West Virginia and into Maryland, with one climb after another, are like doing hill repeats for 200 miles.

We hadn’t seen RAAM solo male leader since Montezuma, Kansas, over 700 miles ago. And he seemed genuinely happy to see us as we pulled alongside and asked how he was feeling. His response was emphatic, “Good, good. I feel good. Everything is good.” And we sincerely believe him. 
He looks like someone out on weekend ride. His cadence is high; he’s solid in the saddle and not drooping over the bike as many *RAAM* riders are by this distance into the race. And it’s evident that he’s doing everything that he can to trim those crucial seconds; he stands and powers over the tops of the climbs, he tucks in tight to the bike on the descents, and he shifts up and pedals hard on those descents—everything that a racer would do in a “normal” race. This isn’t to say that he’s immune to fatigue, “A little bit sore, yeah,” He admitted, “Some saddle-sores, the legs of course, the feet. But not too much. Everything is within the normal range for such an event.” 

To keep such a pace means minimizing his off-the-bike time. Strasser explained how manages that aspect, “I sleep for about one hour twenty minutes per night. My crew is so good trained and working well. I don’t do anything, I lay myself down and when I wake up everything is done. I am prepared. They put the clothing on. They do everything for me. I just have to go up and ride.” 

There you have it. Strasser is proven to have the speed to win RAAM 2011 and to possibly break the speed record. He certainly has the crew. And what he has accomplished so far shows that he has the sheer determination for the job. In setting his 1986 record, everything came together in sync for Penseyres; his fitness, his equipment, the weather and that dash of luck that is always a part of racing, all came together in what Penseyres described as “the perfect storm.” Whether fortune is kind to Strasser remains to be seen. But as I sit here clicking away on my lap top in Bloomington, Strasser has been gone for about ninety minutes. And the wind, showers and possible thunderstorms that the National Weather Service promised us this morning seem to be arriving. The next 24 hours will be crucial for Strasser. We here in the Mighty Media 1 van will do our very best to keep you fans posted.


----------



## Big-foot (Dec 14, 2002)

* CHRISTOPH STRASSER: "When I am on the bike I just feel happy!" *





*Vic Armijo* / Headed toward Mt. Airy, Maryland
June 23, 2011 4:45pm EST

The crew of the Mighty *RAAM Media 1 van* was truly impressed when we caught up with solo male leader *Christoph Strasser* yesterday morning. We found him talking on the phone with his girlfriend Sabine back in Australia. He was smiling, jovial, and aside from being sunburned and having stubble on his chin, he looked about as fresh as he did eight days ago in Oceanside, California.

For the rest of the day and into the wee hours of this morning, we shot photos and videos and interviewed Strasser in repeated drive-bys. Again we were impressed with the 29 year old; he climbed some of the steepest grades at nearly 10 mph while managing to keep smiling as he took on what many have called the toughest miles of RAAM. Most riders dread the Appalachians; where steep grades are lined up one after another, some with elevation gains of as much as 1000’, followed by a short descent and yet another climb with no time for recovery from the previous. 5-time RAAM winner Jure Robic often said that he looked forward to the Appalachians. For the late champion, who’s strength was often most evident in the waning mile of RAAM, these torturous inclines were an opportunity to reinforce his position, or drop those who dared chase. Yesterday, before reaching these legendary climbs, we asked Strasser—a rider who Robic touted to be a future contender—how he expected to do in the Appalachians. “I don’t know, I’ve never been this far. We shall see. 

The *Media 1* crew left Strasser at 1:00am this morning, (for unlike him we need *some *sleep) and found him again at daybreak. So how was *Strasser*’s first encounter with the Appalachians? “Much better than I had expected,” he said, “I was prepared for that in my head. You know, in Austria and generally in Europe, we are used to such mountains which are very steep. The Rocky Mountains (for instance), they are very easy for us that are from Europe. That is what we know from back home.” 

Still, overnight those relentless Appalachian climbs had taken a big chunk out of Strasser’s overall speed average. This morning his overall had dropped to 15.11mph, just short of Pete Penseyres’ 15.4mph record. But with the tough climbing behind him and plenty of level roads ahead, there’s a very real chance that Strasser can bring that average back up, or at least finish at better than 15mph, something accomplished only by Penseyres and by Danny Wyss in 2009 (15.28mph). 

To be this close to joining the ranks of such luminaries is the result of seeing to every detail of his race, from having the right equipment, to having an experienced and efficient crew; and as we’ve seen in recent days when Strasser stood and climbed when others might sit, and when he shifted up and pedaled when others might coast, “I tried to make very good speed on all of the sections even when I was already very far in the lead,” he said this morning, “Just because it’s RAAM. When you do RAAM you should give 100 per cent every time. This is the very most important race.”
That important race will soon be over for Strasser, who we just saw Strasser ride through historic Gettysburg on his way to time station #51 in Hanover, PA., From there he’ll head to the famed Mt. Airy bicycle shop—it’s part museum, part bike shop and entirely fun. And then it’s “just’ 54.6 mile to the finish. Strasser had a hard time dealing with his DNF of the 2009 Race Across America. It took a while for him to come to terms with having failed at his dream of doing well in RAAM. By tonight, the young Austrian will have truly earned his redemption. “I just love cycling,” he said this morning *while* he was powering up a steep climb, “And I love this race, and I love other races. When I am on the bike I just feel happy. It’s no problem when it is past eight days or more. I still love it."





STEEPER THAN IT LOOKS: It's a well-known phenomenon that photographs are lousy at conveying the steepness of hills. See how steep this looks? It's actually much steeper...really.


----------

