To Be Continued…

Three years ago I set my sights on a long-term goal to complete solo Race Across America (RAAM) in the year 2020. At the time I was a rookie ultracyclist who had qualified for solo RAAM on a whim at the 6-12-24 Hour World Time Trial Championships (WTTC) in 2017. I had no other real ultracycling experience and no idea of the journey I was about to undertake. Since that time, I won the 24 hour solo female division of the 6-12-24 Hour WTTC in 2018 and won Race Across the West outright in 2019. Assuming I could put together the funds and support crew, things were looking good for a successful outcome at RAAM 2020.

As the COVID pandemic shut down the world in early 2020, it was looking less likely that RAAM  would happen. I had spent the first few months of the year focusing all of my spare time and energy on training, fundraising, and administrative tasks to prepare for RAAM. The thought that I had possibly done all that work for a race that wouldn’t happen was devastating. By the time RAAM was officially cancelled in late March, I had talked myself into believing that it was for the best. With everything shut down and the economy crashing, it would have been extremely difficult to continue to prepare and fundraise anyway. I decided to look at the cancellation as a blessing in disguise, giving me another year to prepare for possibly the most challenging thing I will ever attempt in my life.

I was able to stay positive throughout most of the year and focused my training on some events later in the year, most notably a fun 4x relay at Hoodoo 500 in August and a 24 Hour World Record attempt in place of the cancelled 6-12-24 Hour WTTC. 

After my world record attempt, I knew I needed to get moving on putting together a new RAAM support crew and somehow try to finish raising the funds needed to race across the country. With surges in the pandemic resulting in further lockdowns around the world, it has not been looking promising that RAAM will happen in 2021, either. It became very difficult to stay motivated to put in the work for a race that might not happen. I’ve also been very hesitant to ask other people for their time and resources to support me. With strict restrictions on social distancing in California, fundraising events will be next to impossible.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with some friends and was asked what my plans were for 2021. I mentioned that I was theoretically supposed to do RAAM in June, but that I wasn’t too hopeful it would happen and therefore not very motivated to prepare. It was suggested that maybe I should just put it on hold until next year. I think that the was the first time I seriously considered rolling my registration over another year. I spent several weeks deliberately and discussing this option, as it was a decision I did not intend to take lightly.

Logically, I knew the best decision would be to postpone RAAM until 2022. Even if the race is able to happen in June, I am not confident that I would arrive at the start line adequately prepared and properly funded given the current circumstances. Going into my rookie attempt at solo RAAM with anything less than 100% commitment and preparation would be asking for a disastrous result. Emotionally, I had a very difficult time letting this reality sink in. I’ve been preparing for this race for so long. It’s heartbreaking to have to put it off yet another year. But I finally made it official last week and have deferred my RAAM registration until 2022.

I do hope that RAAM and RAW are able to go on as planned this year, even if I won’t be racing. If it does take place, I definitely plan to be at the start in Oceanside and may even look for a spot on a RAW support crew. I’m sure it will be somewhat difficult to watch the race as a crew member or spectator, but for now I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am confident that having an extra year to prepare will give me the best chance of a successful Race Across America.