Dan Crain starting the record attempt.

What better way to prepare for two-man RAAM than to do a two-man relay event? Or better yet, several events! Fred Boethling, 60, Boulder, CA and Dan Crain, 60, Irvine, CA are competing in two-man RAAM as Team 60+, starting in San Diego on Tuesday, June 21, 2005. They rode the Davis 24-Hour on April 9 and set a two-man relay record of 424.7 miles.

As Fred's coach, for the last six weeks I programmed training that is specific to two-man RAAM: hard 30 minute pulls with about 30 minute off the bike between each pull. Fred warms up, races to a coffee shop in Boulder valley, has a cup of java, and races off to the next coffee shop.

The java repeats are working! On May 28 Fred and Dan raced from south to north across Utah to set a new record of 21 hours 47 minutes. The record attempt started on the AZ/UT state line on US 89A three miles south of Kanab, UT at 12:28 p.m.

A smooth rider exchange.

Dan took the first pull, racing 28 minutes at 20.6 mph. Then Fred took off and got to climb 1,000 feet in his hard 25 minutes. Their pulls averaged about 20 minutes; however, some were as short as 12 - 13 minutes. The record attempt let them practice rider exchanges, experiment with the length of the pulls, and work out all the details of two-man RAAM. Inevitably, there were problems and Dan and Fred each did a double (40 minute) pull to allow the other rider and crew more time to solve a problem.

The official, Ryan Pohanic, reported at the start the "traffic was moderate and the weather was excellent, light winds and sunny, temp in the 80s. . . Over the next few hours the riders went over moderate hills and encountered shifting winds amid an exquisite natural backdrop of windswept rock formations."

As the riders approached Panguitch rain started coming down and the riders worked against strong crosswinds. The weather cleared up as the riders entered Junction about 6 p.m. and tailwind pushed the riders up the Sevier valley to Elsinore.

Each racer had his own support vehicle and at this point "a brief map mishap separated the riders' support teams for a nerve-wracking 20 minutes. Luckily, common sense prevailed and the teams were soon reunited in Richfield. After a quick burger hand-off the riders made good time on a long flat stretch against a spectacular background of heat lightning."

North of Manti the wind changed again to crosswinds of 20-30 mph. "Just before midnight, the rain began and continued for the next 45 minutes, necessitating a hot chocolate transfusion in Sanpete County." As the riders climbed and then descended to Provo, the 300-mile mark, the weather cleared.

"Outside Provo the ride became quite challenging as it entered the Uintah Mountains, with the last 60 miles featuring a 4,500 feet gain in elevation. The steep climbing continued in predawn darkness to just before Kamas, with a welcome bit of downhill just as the sun came out. The sunlight brought back good spirits all around, and the riders continued to climb on Highway 150 through the Wasatch/Cache National Forest amidst gorgeous terrain brought to life by heavy rains and snowmelt."

"The same water turned out to be somewhat of a bane when, at mile 352.9, the riders were forced to stop due to a washed-out bridge."

The riders had planned to finish on the UT/WY state line on state highway 150. At 8:26 a.m. they were forced to stop seven miles before the Bald Mountain Pass, 32 miles from the UT/WY state line. Dan and Fred rode a total 352.9 miles in 19 hours 58 minutes, 17.674 mph.

Since Fred is the UMCA Records Chair and my client, I consulted with John Lee Ellis, President of the Board. There have been cases in the past where a rider has been forced to stop just short of the endpoint and the UMCA sanctioned the record. Ellis and I decided that a record attempt would be certified provided the record attempt meets the following conditions:

1. the rider(s) has completed at least 90% of the route, and
2. the road is closed due to an act of God, and
3. there is no reasonable detour, and
4. the uncompleted section of the route is of average or lesser difficulty than the rest of the route, and
5. the rider's average speed is used to extrapolate the finishing time for the entire route, and
6. even if the rider slowed significantly over the uncompleted part of the route, the rider's finishing time would be faster than any existing record.

Boethling and Crain had averaged 17.674 mph to the road closure. Had they ridden the final 32 miles at this speed they would have taken 1 hour 49 minutes. Therefore the official two-man relay record is 382.9 miles in 21 hours 47 minutes, 17.67 mph