The Pacing Strategy - To Race or Pace?

What an interesting discussion point, the ‘pacing strategy’ (!!!!!!) How do you cycle the phenomenal distance of 3000 miles (4828 km or 5,280,000 yards or 15,840,000 feet or 190,080,000 inches!!) in under 12 days?

The race rules indicate that all solo riders must complete the race within 12 (288 hours) therefore the design, implementation and adherence to the pacing strategy is vital for successful completion...

 When looking at the history of RAAM and analysing previous riders and their strategies throughout the race (well done Catherine for that arduous task!) these vary considerably, possibly due to the range of abilities, experience and support provided to those riders lining up in Oceanside.

RAAM Race Route

It is clear that those riders who aim to complete this event in the shortest time possible undergo severe sleep deprivation ight from the start, often going 30+ hours before stopping for their first proper sleep (longer than a couple of hours)... Is this a strategy that we should be advocating for Chris, or is there a better alternative to flogging Chris right from the start? What would be the most scientific approach to our pacing strategy? How do we control Chris when he is riding if we think he is riding off too fast, too soon?? All of these questions have been asked among the Crew at some stage and some things have been easier to address than others!

A paper published in 2010 (in Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, reference below) (http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/13356481/2102522185/name/article+2.pdf) documented an alternative approach to achieving a finish in the Race Across America. An extract from the paper’s abstract is below, highlighting an ‘alternative’ approach:

“The athlete used a race strategy with regular sleeping breaks (total rest = 91 h, 45 h of sleep). Contrasting conventional racing strategies for the Race Across America, which aim at minimizing sleep and maximizing ride time, our case demonstrates that by emphasizing regular recovery and sleep, such alternative strategy might lead an equally successful race result.”

They define a ‘successful race result’ as finishing the race in seventh place after 10 d, 22 h, and 53 min and an average speed of 18.34 km/hr....after all, completing RAAM is a success in itself, and finishing positioning is really just a bonus!

In addition, the health and performance benefits of a better rested rider are touched upon in the conclusion of the paper;

“...such alternative strategy might lead to higher race speeds and an equally successful race. From a health perspective, this approach might be preferential as well because health risks arising from sleep deprivation are minimized. Furthermore, it raises the question of the extent to which sleep deprivation contributes to unnecessary fatigue in this race.”

RAAM Climbing Chart

Climbing Chart - Bars demonstrate percentage of total climb between each time station and blue lines show relative difficulty of climbs between each time station.

Note: time station 49 - 150% above average race effort (100% = average) on the final day of riding, another reason for a good pacing strategy!

So our strategy...

...now that would be giving it away!!!

CM

SCHUMACHER, Y. O., AHLGRIM, C., PRETTIN, S. & POTTGIESSER, T. 2011. Physiology, power output, and racing strategy of a Race Across America finisher. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 43, 885-9.