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Ok, so you missed Rob White’s 2015 Race Across America—the non-stop bicycle race across the continental United States which took place over the last 2 weeks. He did it alongside 3000 Miles to a Cure in order to raise money for brain cancer research.

I understand, though, things happen. Maybe your great aunt took you on a month-long motor-cycling adventure through Madagascar, or you finally decided to finish that Van Gogh puzzle you got for Christmas in 2011. Or maybe it was just that your internet went down, so you’ve been spending all your free time watching the Star Wars prequels on VHS.

Whatever the case, you’re in the right place.

Here’s the (almost) blow-by-blow recap:

Pre-race, Oceanside, CA:

Get to know racer Rob White with this video and blog post and watch this video to obtain a little taste of pre-race preparations from 3000 Miles to a Cure video intern Viviane Feldman.

RAAM Start/Day 1:

Rob started the race in Oceanside, CA at 1:19 PDT on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. Here is the video update from the day, which saw Rob brave a steep and stunningly beautiful descent down from the southern California mountains–and into the brutal desert heat.

RAAM Day 2, the Desert:

Rob’s second day of RAAM brought the desert heat, and his first state-line crossed: Arizona. Here are the sunrise and sunset video updates from the day. In the evening, he began climbing out of the desert through the Yarnell Grade, and up into Arizona’s wooded highlands. It also brought some of the first signs of sleep deprivation from Rob–one of the consistently torturous elements of RAAM.

RAAM Day 3:

The descent into the Navajo Nation and the crossing of Utah’s stunning Monument Valley marked Rob’s third day of RAAM.

RAAM Day 4, further than ever before: 

The Race Across the West (RAW) is a sister event to RAAM, which Rob completed in 2014. The event goes from Oceanside to Durango, CO. When Rob crossed through Durango in RAAM, he officially began setting a personal record for distance in one event with every pedal stroke. He also climbed Wolf Creek Pass, the highest point in the race. Here and here are the video updates from this milestone-heavy day.

RAAM Day 5:

After the physically and emotionally demanding climb up Wolf Creek Pass came the painful but beautiful ascent of Cuchara Pass. The difficulty of the ride through Cuchara was exacerbated for Rob because of lung issues he had at the high altitude. Right on Cuchara’s heels came the Great Plains of Colorado and Kansas. It was a more than ordinarily tough day for Rob on RAAM–but one concluded by a nice surprise.

RAAM Day 6:

The sixth day of RAAM was also Father’s Day–and Rob’s daughter and brother joined his crew along the route! The more oxygen-rich air of the plains began to soothe Rob’s lungs as he powered through Kansas.

RAAM Day 7, Missouri and Exhaustion:

Rob exited the plains of Kansas and entered the scenic rolling hills of Missouri. The day was also memorable because of a dubious milestone, though: Rob’s first time falling asleep on the bike.

RAAM Day 8: 

The Mississippi River is a major milestone for RAAM riders–both a sign post for the American East, and a reminder of the incredible distance they’ve covered since leaving the Pacific. Here is a video update from Rob’s 8th day, during which he crossed the great river into Illinois–but also continued to struggle from sleep-deprivation and general exhaustion.

RAAM Day 9: 

Rob did what he would later say was his best riding of the race on this day, moving quickly through much of Indiana and Ohio. But looming on the horizon was the steep and winding Appalachians.

RAAM Day 10:

Rob said before the race that the part of the course he was most afraid of was the Appalachians. Indeed, they would prove a harsh, but not hopeless, challenge.

RAAM Day 11:

Relatively severe physical injuries–including a pulled quad–became an increasing problem for Rob as he faced the last, mountainous, portion of the race, through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. But his determination to finish the race and to raise money for brain cancer research didn’t waver.

 

RAAM Day 12/Finish:

The last morning of Rob White’s 2015 Race Across America was his hardest–he broke his collarbone with under 100 miles to go until Annapolis (one of the injuries I alluded to above) and continued to struggle with extreme sleepiness and pain. Nonetheless, he finished the race. His dedication to the brain cancer research cause–and his perseverance during this last part of the race–overwhelm me.

He finished 9th overall.

If Rob’s effort inspired you, too, donate here or at 3000milestoacure.com: 100% of funds go to brain cancer research.

And maybe send Aunt Mae a thank you note, too.

 

For the entire gallery from our photography interns, click here.

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Today, Rob White crossed the Race Across America (RAAM) finish line in Annapolis, MD. Before the start of the non-stop 3000 mile bicycle race, I explored the question of who is Rob White? I thought that a RAAM racer story was a type of lifeboat tale–interesting because the listener could wonder about his or her own behavior in a similar situation. I still think RAAM holds interest for this reason. More and more as I’ve watched Rob race, though, I’ve begun to be haunted by a different question:

Who is RAAM?

For 11 days, Rob White slept next to nothing and hurt near unceasingly. This morning–his last morning of the race–he fell and broke his collarbone. 2 days ago, he pulled one of his quadriceps–a crucial muscle for every pedal stroke. Rob suffered through the last portion of the race in excruciating pain.

He said it took everything in him not to cry.

Throughout much of these last miles, it rained.

I don’t understand. I don’t understand the destruction of body and mind RAAM racers put themselves through willfully. I’ve tried and tried to understand this race through the lens of an American–a college kid from the comfortable middle class. But I think I’ve been looking at it all wrong. The Race Across America, I realize now, is an essentially Russian race. Its glorification of geographical vastness and suffering endured reminds me of Dostoevsky. Its way of peeling away racers’ pretensions, of turning their thoughts to God, screams of Tolstoy.

It is another Russian, though, who most embodied the spirit of RAAM: Ivan the Terrible. That 16th century Muscovite prince–the first tsar–was a great warrior (the conqueror of Kazan and Astrakhan) a reformer, and a devout Christian. He also killed his son and heir–supposedly with his own hands–and set a bloody precedent in Russian history by perpetrating its first great purge: the slaughter of the boyars by his black-cloaked secret police. Ivan, in many ways, was the progenitor of imperial Russia. He established many of the lasting traditions of the state–and shaped its despotic, brutal, but essentially spiritual character. (1)

His epithet, in Russian, is Grozny. The word does not just mean evil or bad, as the English translation would suggest. Instead, according to Vladimir Dahl, the 19th century Russian lexicographer, it has a more complex meaning. It means terrifying, but also awesome and magnificent. (2)

That is how I understand the race, now. RAAM the Grozny. Breaker of the strongest humans. Cruel and awe-inspiring. RAAM is capable of shaping the world for better, perhaps, but at great cost.

That is the race that Rob White finished today. He studied it, prepared for it, and, most importantly, did it with a good motivation: to raise money for brain cancer research through 3000 Miles to a Cure. He was cognizant of the suffering it would put him through–and dedicated his own willful suffering to those who endure pain without a choice. And Rob’s suffering during this grozny race did good. It inspired people and gave them hope:

And it raised money ($27,000 at the time of this posting) that will help cure brain cancer. Money that will help to heal someday those who cannot now be healed.

Rob faced RAAM Grozny with love and endurance.

It was terrible, but magnificent, too.

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Rob took a long nap (by his RAAM standards, at least) early this morning–one of my favorite parts about today was seeing him looking refreshed this morning. He practically sprung out his chair after a short time-station stop and hopped back on the bike.

He needed his rest, because today he began racing through the Appalachians of West Virginia–the part of the course he said he feared most before starting the race.

Tomorrow brings a little more of the mountains of West Virginia, and then the deceptively long final push through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and then Maryland again to the finish in Annapolis. With around 300 miles left, the end is almost in sight for Rob: but many grueling challenges (and many hours of cycling) remain in store for him.

Support Rob during his final push by donating (100% of donations go to funding brain cancer research) at 3000milestoacure.com.

 

 

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The people we call family–whether they share close genetic ties or not–are usually those who have experienced many of our most important moments. They have shared our joy and mourned our pain. A Race Across America attempt, with its many moments of triumph and pain, often draws family together to support their racer.

Rob has received wonderful support throughout the race from his extended family (especially from those impacted by brain cancer)–as well as from his nuclear one.

A brain cancer diagnosis calls for that same sort of family support–both emotionally and physically. Those who meet this call mourn the pain of their family member’s illness, and share in their joys and triumphs.

Help increase those joys and soften those pains. Donate today at 3000events.com. 100% of funds donated to 3000 Miles to a Cure fund brain cancer research.

 

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