Are RAAM riders tested?

[BroDeal]

I'd love to see you race against those Freds

Sorry, sleep deprivation contests on public roads, thus endangering other people, are not my thing. It's only a matter of time before a rider veers into traffic and kills someone other than himself. It should be illegal.

 

[rattler]

ya, but we are bicycyle riders, are we not ??
and the barney or fred factor is much higher among our lot, than in other sports. RAAM is just one example. i'm ok with all of it.

 

[Polish]

Paris-Brest-Paris is a throw back to the early TdF's.
So is RAAM. But RAAM is a bit too stupid hard.
Hard to understand.

Not quite the "Convicts of the Road" as far as drug consumption.
Road surfaces are better.
Bike technology has improved.
Support is allowed.
Smaller field.

But RAAM is closer to the spirit of early TdF's than the current TdF's are.

 

[9000ft]

Sorry, sleep deprivation contests on public roads, thus endangering other people, are not my thing. It's only a matter of time before a rider veers into traffic and kills someone other than himself. It should be illegal.

LOL! Nice dodge.

Endangering other people. Oh yeah, it's death race 2010 out there during RAAM. A real trail of broken vehicle parts, blood and guts from coast to coast. I'd take a wild guess and say that a RAAM racer with their support vehicle behind them isn't endangering others any more than a pack of guys from the local club pack riding or blowing though stop signs, or weaving through traffic. Or a crit or road race with spectators right at the side of the road where one mistake could have a buch of guys plowing into Mom, Dad, Grandma, and little Sarah (she's so cute) at 35MPH (should be illegal!)

I know a couple people who have done the race (none solo, all on teams) and they are all studs and studettes. All where/are top notch bike racers looking for a different type of challenge. It's a different scene and type of athleticism than standard road racing for sure, but so what?

 

[santacruz]

the point is that Euro-Pros are on a whole different level--even the weakest domestique is a far better athlete than a RAAM winner. And I could kick your as$.

yah a whole different level called awesome and expensive doping plans.. RAAM riders are mentally far tougher than euro pros, by like a mile. Easy on the roids old timer, lol.

 

[BroDeal]

Endangering other people. Oh yeah, it's death race 2010 out there during RAAM. A real trail of broken vehicle parts, blood and guts from coast to coast. I'd take a wild guess and say that a RAAM racer with their support vehicle behind them isn't endangering others any more than a pack of guys from the local club pack riding or blowing though stop signs, or weaving through traffic. Or a crit or road race with spectators right at the side of the road where one mistake could have a buch of guys plowing into Mom, Dad, Grandma, and little Sarah (she's so cute) at 35MPH (should be illegal!)

I must have missed the crits that are raced on open roads by sleep deprived riders being followed by vans driven by sleep deprived crew. From the very beginning of FRAAM, the race has resulted in stories of riders hallucinating while riding, riding off the road, and crashing. A couple have already killed themselves. All it will take to kill an innocent person is for a rider or his crew to veer into the path of a vehicle, causing that vehicle to crash while trying to avoid the situation. It does not take much sleep deprivation to reduce reflexes and thought processes to that of a drunk. The race has been irresponsible from the very start.

If someome wants to hold a sleep deprived riding contest then it should be held on closed roads, perhaps even on a velodrome over six days.

 

[santacruz]

Perhaps RAAM should start enforcing a rule that forces riders to sleep a certain number of hours per day? It would still be an awesome and grueling race... but it would perhaps require a lot more organization and helpers to keep track of people and set up sleeping zones?? hmm, i think my suggestion just broke their puny budget.. oh well..

 

[9000ft]

I must have missed the crits that are raced on open roads by sleep deprived riders being followed by vans driven by sleep deprived crew. From the very beginning of FRAAM, the race has resulted in stories of riders hallucinating while riding, riding off the road, and crashing. A couple have already killed themselves. All it will take to kill an innocent person is for a rider or his crew to veer into the path of a vehicle, causing that vehicle to crash while trying to avoid the situation. It does not take much sleep deprivation to reduce reflexes and thought processes to that of a drunk. The race has been irresponsible from the very start.

If someome wants to hold a sleep deprived riding contest then it should be held on closed roads, perhaps even on a velodrome over six days.

You know, what you describe could happen just like you said, but with a support vehicle and crew behind the rider with flashers on make it a lot less likely.

You or I could be riding our bike down a public road and due to a mechanical, lack of concentration, (lack of sleep?) road hazard, or just plain bonehead manuver, veer into the path of an auto causing them to crash. An accident could happen just like my scenario with club pack riders or stop sign runners. Organized rides like Ride the Rockies et al could cause an accident on public roads (or maybe/probably have although I don't know for sure one way or another). So should we ban all those activities because what could happen?

The public roads might be safer if all those things where banned I suppose but how far do you want to take that? We all do things that have potintial to cause harm to ourselves and others. We take what we think to be reasonable precautions. Somethings are beyond reason and a danger to everyone like driving a car with no brakes, speed limits, etc and require regulation. We can't eleminate all risk to ourselves or to others without completely taking the living out of life.

Anyway, IMO, your stance has more to do with your opinion of RAAM racers being "Freds" and thus not worthy any real concern for public safety.

 

[usedtobefast]

it seems some people have self esteem issues when it come to bike riding and what is cool. "what is hep? tell me,tell me, so you think you know?"

 

[usedtobefast]

look out, here comes Fred, not
Barney...

 

[Morgazano]

If we cancel every event/sport that has involved people dying then there probably wouldn't be any left!!!

BroDeal shouldn't you be off somewhere pretending to know all of Lance's doping details?

 

[BroDeal]

You know, what you describe could happen just like you said, but with a support vehicle and crew behind the rider with flashers on make it a lot less likely.

You or I could be riding our bike down a public road and due to a mechanical, lack of concentration, (lack of sleep?) road hazard, or just plain bonehead manuver, veer into the path of an auto causing them to crash. An accident could happen just like my scenario with club pack riders or stop sign runners. Organized rides like Ride the Rockies et al could cause an accident on public roads (or maybe/probably have although I don't know for sure one way or another). So should we ban all those activities because what could happen?

The public roads might be safer if all those things where banned I suppose but how far do you want to take that? We all do things that have potintial to cause harm to ourselves and others. We take what we think to be reasonable precautions. Somethings are beyond reason and a danger to everyone like driving a car with no brakes, speed limits, etc and require regulation. We can't eleminate all risk to ourselves or to others without completely taking the living out of life.

Maybe we shoud allow drunk driving. A drunk could crash and kill someone, but he could make it home okay. No reason to ban drunk driving for something that could happen. Heck, it should be okay to drive down the road while sipping from a 64 oz. mug of Jim Beam. Why ban anything for what could happen?

It's called gross negligence, Francis. Holding a contest that puts impaired operators of vehicles on public roads is reckless disregard for the safety of others. Aside from studies showing that even moderate (let alone more than a week's worth of) sleep deprivation has similar effects as drunkeness, the event itself has proven the point with two dead riders, a paralyzed one, crashes with cars, and many riders running off the road after falling asleep in the saddle.

As I said before, if they want to hold a sleep deprivation contest then hold it on a closed course.

 

[BroDeal]

If we cancel every event/sport that has involved people dying then there probably wouldn't be any left!!!

BroDeal shouldn't you be off somewhere pretending to know all of Lance's doping details?

Shouldn't you be advocating the rights of drunks at a Mothers Against Drunk Driving meeting?

 

[9000ft]

A person operating a 4000+ lb motor vehicle while drunk with no warning to anyone else around him.

A person operating a bicycle while under the supervision of a support crew while protected by that support crew who may be somewhat impaired due to sleep deprivation.

Nice comparison Bro.

I'd say all that time you spend in the LA haters circle jerk is clouding your judgement.

 

[MacRoadie]

A person operating a 4000+ lb motor vehicle while drunk with no warning to anyone else around him.

A person operating a bicycle while under the supervision of a support crew while protected by that support crew who may be somewhat impaired due to sleep deprivation.

Nice comparison Bro.

I'd say all that time you spend in the LA haters circle jerk is clouding your judgement.

So, as long as the two fighters are in the cage and no one else can get hurt, it's all good...and great entertainment.

 

[BroDeal]

A person operating a 4000+ lb motor vehicle while drunk with no warning to anyone else around him.

A person operating a bicycle while under the supervision of a support crew while protected by that support crew who may be somewhat impaired due to sleep deprivation.

Nice comparison Bro.

I'd say all that time you spend in the LA haters circle jerk is clouding your judgement.

Obviously your answer to drunk driving is not to not drive drunk but to have your bros follow you in a van.

Sounds like all that LA crotch sniffing finally rotted what little brain you had.
.
I'm sure this guy, after a week of sleep deprivation and the inability to look sideways, will be aware of what is going on around him.

 

[9000ft]

Never mind Bro. I have no desire to get wrapped up into some useless thread that goes on and on. I hope you're getting plenty of sleep and get in a nice ride today, without endangering anyone on the public roads that is.

Back to the OP: I have no idea what the testing protocal for RAAM is or what substances the RAAM people put in their body. All I can say is that chit is nuts! None the less, I admire them for what they put into it.

 

[Morgazano]

Only 2 people have ever died in RAAM, one was in 4-man team and one was solo. More have died in the tour and more innocent people not racing have died during it.

Comparing drink driving to RAAM? Riiiigggghhhhttttttt.

 

[BroDeal]

Only 2 people have ever died in RAAM, one was in 4-man team and one was solo. More have died in the tour and more innocent people not racing have died during it.

Comparing drink driving to RAAM? Riiiigggghhhhttttttt.

Sorry, Skippy, but research at Standford shows that moderate sleep deprivation produces raction times equivalent to driving drunk. Too bad they did not test people who had been awake for a week. Barney Gumble would probably have better reaction times than the typical FRAAM rider.

http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/1999/sepreleases/reaction.html

You seem to have conveniently left out the rider who was crippled and all the others who have crashed, ridden off the road, and just plain fallen off their bikes. Funny, but I don't recall a TdF rider ever falling asleep in the saddle and running off the road. The TdF is also run on CLOSED roads. You fail again.

 

[Morgazano]

There has been more Tour related deaths and accidents. Even with closed roads. Im not sure what your point is?

So much for talking about doping in the RAAM...

 

[craig1985]

If I'm not going to be tested then I'm sure as hell going to take EPO for this.

 

[steevo]

- The edition of RAAM that Tinker did, in fact mandated sleep. "Enduro RAAM". I dont think it is a category any longer.

- The one person I know to finish RAAM a bunch of times and win it a few times in fact was on the caliber of a euro pro. He was invited to go race with the National Team, but turned it down. He was a national level racer.

- He also, on a bet from his older brother, completed the race without any caffeine. And won.

I am sorry, to make fun of RAAM because it is not your cup of tea is like me being a highschool dropout and making fun of doctors for spending so much time in school.

 

[BroDeal]

There has been more Tour related deaths and accidents. Even with closed roads. Im not sure what your point is?

Your point appears to be that we should allow drunk driving because people also die while driving sober.

I don't recall seeing a rider at the TdF crash because he fell asleep in the saddle. I also do not recall seeing a rider crash because he was hallucinating that he was being chased by bears or pink elephants.

 

[Black-Balled]

Sorry, sleep deprivation contests on public roads, thus endangering other people, are not my thing. It's only a matter of time before a rider veers into traffic and kills someone other than himself. It should be illegal.

Hahaha! How does a sleeping bike rider do that to a vehicle's driver?!?!

 

[BroDeal]

Hahaha! How does a sleeping bike rider do that to a vehicle's driver?!?!

Use your brain--if you have one. People die hitting deer because the deer can smash through the windshield. People die when they swerve to avoid hitting small animals and crash. You can bet that people will do a heck of a lot more swerving to avoid hitting a person. The SUVs favored by fat Americans tend to roll over in such situations.