In 1884 — yes, '84 — Thomas Stevens rode his penny farthing bicycle from Oakland, CA to Boston, MA in 104 days 6 hours. Including time off the bike he averaged 1.36 mph!

In the next 90 years my files show only four more transcontinental records. Then in 1978 John Marino raced from Santa Monica, CA to New York, NY in 13 days 1 hour 20 minutes. In 1980 he did it again in 12d 3h 41m.

That same year Michael Shermer rode from Seattle, WA to San Diego, CA in 7d 8h 28m. In June of 1981 Doug Steward cut the time to 4d 22h and just 17 days later Clint Worthington took 3.5 hours off the record, finishing in 4d 18h 29m. That August Michael took the record back: 4d 14h 15.

In October 1974 Victor Vincente of America had ridden from Santa Monica, CA to Atlantic City, NJ and back in 36d 8h. In July of 1981 Lon Haldeman dropped the double transcon record to 24d 2h 34m. As an historical note Lon told me his entire route fit on one sheet of paper! That'll be a great UltraLore to publish.

While all of this was going on, John and Michael were training together in southern California. They had the vision and desire to establish ultracycling as a sport, not just a few guys setting records. They founded the UMCA to be the governing body for ultracycling.

In 1982 they organized the Great American Bike Race, which Lon won, and in 1983 it became the Race Across AMerica, which Lon won again.

In 1983 the UMCA organized the first race to qualify for RAAM: the John Marino Open, 700 miles on a looped course out of Hemet, CA.

About the same time they started the National Century Challenge, which became the National Points Challenge, then the UMCA Mileage Challenge and now the Year-Rounder Challenge.

Why is this history important? John, Michael and others who built the UMCA were visionaries and the UMCA still rests on their foundations:

• From the beginning the directors of the UMCA and RAAM had a shared vision of the sport.
• The UMCA used a broad definition of ultracycling, ranging from centuries to records to transcontinental races.
• RAAM was not a stand-alone event; it was programmatically connected to other UMCA events.
• In 1967 John had been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two years later while attempting to dead lift 525 pounds, Marino compressed his lumbar vertebra. When John started the UMCA he understood the value of the farm system and adapted it to the new sport. Ultracycling starts with century rides.

John, Michael and Lon each owned 1/3 of the RAAM/UMCA organization. John was the first RAAM director and Michael succeeded him in 1991.

In 1994 they took an important step: they appointed Nick Gerlich as director of the UMCA with the right to run the UMCA as a stand-alone business. Until then, RAAM and the UMCA had been financially interdependent. The tradition of strong programmatic cooperation continued; however, from 1994 on each business had to be self-sufficient.

In November 1997 I came in sweaty from a mountain bike ride and found a message from Michael. I called him back: Nick had resigned and Michael and Lon asked me to become the new UMCA director with the same arrangement as Nick. They'd license to me the right to run the UMCA independently. I knew Lon well from three PACTours and, after consulting with him, I accepted their offer.

Michael continued as RAAM director; he and I worked closely on putting the program together, promoting and then reporting on the race.

In 2001 Michael and John sold their ownership shares of RAAM and the UMCA to Jim Pitre. Jim, Lon and I continued the same relationship: programmatic cooperation and financial independence.

I've spent my entire life in the not-for-profit world. My Dad was a Baptist minister and I spent 24 years at Stanford University, primarily as a finance and budget officer. It was obvious to me that the UMCA should be a member-controlled not-for-profit rather than a for-profit business.

At the end of 2002 we took the next important organizational step. Jim, Lon and I agreed that the UMCA should become a not-for-profit and that they would donate their ownership interests. I filed the Articles of Incorporation with the state of Colorado. Now RAAM and the UMCA were both legally and financially independent.

The members elected a Board, the Board and members approved the UMCA Constitution and the Board approved the By-laws. There are two key principles in both documents:

• The UMCA runs programs, but does not produce events.
• All UMCA-sanctioned events are financially and legally independent of the UMCA.

I then filed the paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service for the UMCA to become a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt (not-for-profit) organization, which was approved by the IRS.

In 2006 Jim and Lon decided to sell their ownership interest in RAAM. In a transaction approved 13-0 by the UMCA Board of Directors, the UMCA purchased title to the race effective 12/31/2006, using only gift funds restricted to this sole purpose. At the same time, Fred Boethling formed a new company, Race Across AMerica, LLC, which purchased the physical assets of RAAM and will produce the race.

We are continuing the tradition of strong programmatic cooperation between RAAM and the UMCA, a tradition that goes back to the founders, John, Michael and Lon. True to the Constitution, RAAM, LLC is a legally and financially separate organization from the UMCA.

The first 15 pages of the new UltraCycling magazine are devoted to RAAM and the UMCA:

• My vision for the UMCA
• Fred's vision for RAAM
• Frequently asked questions and answers about the UMCA and RAAM
• The new RAAM organization
• Key facts for RAAM 2007
• Minutes of the 12/3/2006 UMCA Board of Director's meeting when the Board approved 13-0 the proposed RAAM - UMCA business arrangements.