Race Across America

Greetings from Washington, DC. (Aug 30-Sept 2nd)

One of the most incredible experiences I have had in my profession was to work with a team of extraordinary individuals who all came together for one event, one cause, and one bus.

I was so fortunate to be invited to join Team Xstrata as a volunteer Massage Therapist for Race Across America in support of The Children’s Wish Foundation.

Some background on Race Across America: The Race Across America (RAAM) is the mother of all endurance bike races. It’s 30% longer than the Tour de France and more grueling than any of the 24- or 48-hour sufferfests out there. Heck, in 1992 Outside Magazine ranked it “the world’s toughest sporting event.”

In over 4,800 kilometers—from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland—riders will experience extremes of weather, terrain, pain, doubt and every kind of logistical challenge imaginable as they endeavour to make it safely across the country as fast as they can. Over multiple mountain passes, across deserts, through the flats of Kansas and into the cities of the east, cyclists compete against the clock and themselves, racing 24 hours a day for five to eight days.

Teaming up with Registered Massage Therapist and Chiropractor, Melanie Stewart, we spent a total of 11 days maintaining the 8 riders and 12 crew's bodies and minds. Since the race is 24 hours, Melanie and I were giving massages approximately every 8 hours when there would be a change over in riders. Four riders would come off the road, tired, sore, hungry, and did I mention tired? And four new riders would be going out. The massages were very specific to the muscles the riders were using for cycling, the muscles that were compensating, and they were no longer than 20 minutes each. Lots of legs, low back, neck, and shoulders. It was a rewarding experience to bring some relief to the tired muscles of these riders working so hard each time they went out on the road.

I can honestly say that I can give an effective massage anywhere, and anytime! Melanie and I set up our treatment station in all sorts of locations and would get to work unphased--Wal-Mart parking lots, shoulders on the side of the road at 4am, generous business parking lots that enjoyed a front row seat to all the organized chaos of a change-over...literally anywhere!

Melanie and I were also considered part of the elite “bus crew” as we were riding on the bus each day with a transition master, 2 chefs and a hired bus driver to get ahead of the riders and set up for their arrival. The amount of work that each person put into this event is nothing short of amazing. It was a team I would gladly work with again. I have made some incredible friends and made some incredible connections through this event. It became so much more than I anticipated.

Team Xstrata successfully completed Race Across America in 6 days 9 hours and 42 minutes.

This incredible event was also raising money for The Children’s Wish Foundation. Team Xstrata took home the award for raising the most money for their charity out of all of the RAAM cycling teams.

It was more challenging than I thought to put my entire RAAM experience into this short post, so if you would like to learn more about our adventure, here is an incredible blog written by crew chief Anne Sasso who tracked the team and crew each day on the journey. http://www.xstrataraam.com/