Andrea Clavadetscher won the 2001 Race Across America in 9d 0h 17m. When asked about his victory two days after crossing the finish line, he said that he raced with both his brain and his body - his brain had pushed his body to the limits. His body was "insulted, like he'd been raped, and needed rest now."

This was Clavadetscher's third RAAM. He was Rookie of the Year in 1998, finishing in 9d 7h 53m and taking sixth. The next year he finished fourth, in 8d 16h 52m. He says "it really is the hardest race on earth." When he was the leader for four days in 1999 he thought, it must be possible to win RAAM. But to do so, he must train his brain. He would win with his brain.

When I asked about how he trained for the 2001 race, he responded that he did a lot of meditation, deep breathing exercises, practiced yoga and did Tibetan exercises. He has a spiritual advisor and spent at least an hour a day practicing various forms of meditation.

Of course, he didn't just meditate his way to Pensacola. Since the first of the year, he rode 18,000 km including training in Majorca from March through May.

Clavi in the lead, day one John Hughes photo

Despite all this training, lead official Harold Trease said that Clavadetscher struggled at times. The route crosses the Mississippi River 2,500 miles into the race and the racer has to climb up to the bluff. Trease said "I struggled up it last year, and Andy was really beat up by the climb this year. And it only goes up 150 feet!"

Race Director Lon Haldeman said "Clavadetscher gave it his all - he was still hobbling around three days after he finished. I like a winner who is toast!"

Clavadetscher confirmed that he was spent. He had suffered from very bad saddle sores since the fifth day and had hematoma on the balls of his feet.

When I asked him about the course, he said it was okay, but he had a big critique. "The streets, especially in Mississippi would have been terrible on a mountain bike, and were not okay for a bike race, because of my saddle sores. This made me angry."

He started the race weighing 77 kilograms and lost seven kilos during the race. He consumed 8,000 calories a day, mainly Ensure and maltodextrin. He remembered a particularly low moment on the sixth day, when he was very tired and wanted something to eat. A friend had sent Linsertorte with the crew - their favorite cake - and they shared a sliver with him!

Taking time to brush his teeth Roland Korner photo

Clavadetscher dedicated the race to his father, who died last year. He had a picture of his father taped over his bunk in the RV. His father was always a fan, but never understood why Andrea was so close to his bike. His father was always afraid that Andrea would be abused by a team manager, he was also afraid that something terrible might happen at a RAAM.

Clavadetscher had puzzled over this before the race. "I'm not a masochist, why do I do this?", he asked his crew. "I don't like pain, I like to bike, to have fun, to laugh."

But he had had a dream for five years, to win RAAM. He told me "If you don't know your target, you shouldn't be surprised if you don't reach it. Stick to your target, go for it."

Trease said "Andy was very disciplined. He didn't need to stop just to change his socks or to pee 10 times an hour. He stayed on the bike." During the nine day crossing, he was off the bike a total of 27 hours and got 14 hours sleep. Trease noted that he took a 30 minute power nap in the afternoon, which seemed to really refresh him.

Before the race, Clavadetscher created a website (www.claviraam.com) where he recorded his thoughts and feelings. He asked people to send him energy during the race by sending e-mails. He received hundreds of e-mails - although it was quite an adventure for the crew to find Internet connections in Idaho!

Riding at night scared him; he couldn't see anything in the dark. That's when the crew read him the e-mails, to let him know that people were with him, sending him good thoughts.

Finally the dawn Roland Korner photo

Between Trinidad and Kim, CO, Clavadetscher was on a long road with dark clouds, lightening flashing, riding into a headwind. His spiritual teacher sent him an e-mail asking: why look at the end of the road? Look at what you are doing now! Don't be like Momo [a popular children's character] who is always fighting the thief of time. Clavadetscher was inspired that his teacher was with him.

As a boy he used to play soccer, but he always felt that this was not his favorite sport. He missed something but he didn't know what it was. When he was 14, a friend asked him to do a bike race. He felt immediately: "That's it! That is what I always wanted to do.

Clavadetscher was a pro cyclist for 17 years and won more than 50 races with over 250 top three finishes. He was on the Swiss National Team for 10 years. He was champion of Liechtenstein seven times and Swiss champion twice. Twice he won the international Schellenberg Rundfahrt, won an amateur six day race in Zurich and in 2000 won Paris-Bern, 576 km in 17h 54m. He said that could have raced the Tour of Switzerland, but he didn't because it would be too much like a job and he didn't like all the doping.

At the moment he has no other plans, but he doesn't want to race RAAM again. His dream came true - to win - he doesn't need more.

Clavadetscher, 40, lives in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, with his wife, Gerda, and son, Luca. He loves to be together with friends and his family; to go out, to eat in good restaurants, to drink good wine.