Gran Fondo Fixies

The beauty of riding a bicycle is that it will carry you just about as far as your heart and body will take you.  At one point or another almost every cyclist has looked down at their odometer and wondered just how far that might be.  Riding a century (100 miles) is a worthy accomplishment for most of us.  This is the cyclist's marathon, and it usually takes a good bit of training and perserverence to accomplish.  When we get better we may try to ride centuries faster, but rarely do we look for longer rides.

A small percentage of cyclists do look beyond centuries.  We test our limits through longer rides like brevets, 24 hour races, 500 mile races, and 750 mile randonnees.  Then if we set our sights really high, we aim for the greatest endurance race in the world - the Race Across America.  It's a non-stop race from coast to coast, and without doubt the pinnacle event for any amateur endurance cyclist. 

Jeff Bauer and I (Kevin Kaiser) have decided to enter the 2008 Race Across America as a two person relay team.  We've both been riding for several years now and have been progressing steadily.  To make our RAAM effort special, we will probably enter the race on fixed gear bikes - thus the name Gran Fondo Fixies.  I believe this has never been attempted before.  We've done enough riding to know how difficult this will be, but we are confident that it is possible.   The fixed gear aspect of the race will be subject to the results of some tough benchmark training rides we are planning. 

Entering the Race Across America is no small undertaking.  A follow crew is required to enter the race and insure rider safety, so we'll need about 10 people to support us across the country.  Financially, it will be an enormous task to get this caravan rolling.  It's a long way from a vacation, but I'm sure that everyone involved will have a lot of fun. 

Kevin Kaiser