Team Type 1 Still Leads RAAM; Team Type 2 Increases Pace

Crossing The Mississippi River – As Team Type 1 made short work of Kansas and Missouri to grow its lead to nearly four hours early Wednesday, Team Type 2 increased its average speed in the Race Across America (RAAM).

Team Type 1 crossed the Mississippi River shortly before 8 a.m. EDT Wednesday, having completed more than 2,000 of the 3,021-mile (4,861 km) non-stop race that began in Oceanside, Calif., and finishes in Annapolis, Md. The second-place team in the eight-rider division, Team ViaSat, was riding three hours and 59 minutes behind the squad that is comprised entirely of athletes with Type 1 diabetes.

“We’re trying to stay ahead of our time from last year,” Team Type 1 General Manager Tom Schuler said from the support car following rider Tom Kingery. “Our speed dropped a bit overnight when we hit a nasty headwind going through the Ozarks and we thought we were going to get caught up in some thunderstorms, but the rain ended up going around us.”

By averaging nearly 24 mph, Team Type 1 remains on pace to better the existing RAAM record of five days, nine hours and 43 minutes, established last year by the Norwegian Byggkjøp presented by BMC Cycling Team.

Bob Schrank, who has been part of Team Type 1’s past two RAAM squads, said fatigue has started to set in. But he remains optimistic the squad can maintain its record pace as it heads through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

“We’re riding great and the crew is doing everything it possibly can to make sure that is all we are doing – just riding,” Schrank said.

Team Type 2, which consists of eight riders who all have Type 2 diabetes, continued its strategy of utilizing short rider shifts – 3 to 4-mile pulls – to fight off stiff crosswinds that buffeted them across central Kansas.

"It’s nice to have the breeze when it’s more than 90 degrees out, but the wind is also beating the crap out of us," Team Type 2’s Bob Chaisson said. "It is definitely adding to the challenge."

Temperatures hovered near the century mark Tuesday, which made for some of the most brutal riding conditions to date. Staying hydrated while seeing that all the riders properly managed their blood sugar was tasked to Dr. Bill Russell, the team’s endocrinologist.


“One of the things that has helped Team Type 1 the most has been the experience from the guys who are returning from last year,” Dr. Russell said. “Every day on the ride is a different day in terms of what their basal rates need to be and how much Apidra or Lantus they need to keep their blood sugar under control. It seems like initially they need to cut back considerably on their insulin and then it slowly rises as they go on further.”

Follow the progress of Team Type 1 and Team Type 2 during RAAM by going to teamtype1.org or on Twitter by following @teamtype1 and @teamtype2.

Photos: Courtesy Race Across America (top - Team Type 2's Bob Chaisson cruises through New Mexico); Courtesy Michael Scholl (Simon Bennett of Team Type 1 powers across the Kansas plains near El Dorado Tuesday).