Athletes Racing for Charity - RAAM '07

After finishing the Race Across America (http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/) at an incredible second place in a 4-man Team in 2006, I decided to try to finish what I’ve started in 2005, meaning crossing the finish line of RAAM as a solo rider in 2007. I know, it sounds crazy (if not stupid!) to punish himself that way by riding 3,100 miles with barely no sleep for 12 days. But at the same time, I have a huge unfinished business with RAAM, and I won’t get any rest until I get at least another try. Of course, we’ll do again a fundraising campaign.

Please, find below some details about the project ’07:

- The new website @ http://www.patrickautissier.org/ will be completely updated on January 2007
- The fundraising campaign will start in January 2007.
- The 2 beneficiaries will be Partners In Health (http://www.pih.org/), which provides health care to poor people around the world, and Nashoba Learning Group (http://www.nashobalearninggroup.org/), a school for children with autism.
- The start location of RAAM will be in Oceanside, CA, on June 10th, 2007
- The finish location is not yet finalized (would be great if Boston is the chosen one!).
- RAAM, the world’s toughest bike race, is a single stage race, meaning there is no stop required!
- 3,100 miles to ride in 12 days maximum!
- Amount of sleep per day: usually 3 hours.

The project 2007 is well underway, and I hope I’ll get all the details worked out by the end of the year. As of now, this is where I am:

- The crew team is almost complete: 7 people will be at the start, and 2 more will join us by the end of the first week.
- The training (bike and sleep deprivation) is going very well, since 3 months now.
- The sponsors already committed are: Axel Johnson (for the third year in a row!), Coherent (second year) and Spiz (second year as well). However, I still need to find some other sponsors…

An article about the “young” history of Athletes Racing for Charity has been published on September in the UltraCycling magazine. Here is the link to the article, and you’ll find it as well on my website (http://www.patrickautissier.org/) under News & Communications.

Finally, since we’re at the end of the tax year, please consider making a donation to PIH or NLG,…or both.

I wish you in advance a great holiday and you can expect to receive more news at the beginning of the year 2007.

Best regards,
Patrick Autissier
http://www.patrickautissier.org/