This week has been quiet for Mike Ridgeway.
He has wrapped up lose ends, did some laundry and rode to work on his old, steel commuting bicycle to his Lancaster office.
The one thing he didn’t do was get much sleep.
“You can’t store sleep,” said Ridgeway.
He would, if he could. Ridgeway will spend next week in motion. Beginning Tuesday, Ridgeway and more than 200 other competitors will leave the boardwalk at Oceanside, Calif. and begin the Race Across America bicycle race.
Ridgeway, part of a four-man team, expects to finish Sunday on the boardwalk of Atlantic City, N.J.
In between, his Central Pennsylvania-based TeamEndeavor will cross the deserts, mountains and long, lonely flats of the continent. There will be a team member pedaling each of the 3,043 miles of the 15-state route.
Ridgeway, a local bicycling advocate, is the founder of Lancaster-based Dream Ride Projects. The organization coordinates charity bicycle rides and bicycle safety clinics. He flies to California today, after conducting a bicycle rodeo in Columbia this morning.
Ridgeway, 47, will be paired with another rider for the cross-country race. They will alternate half-hour spells on the bike with half-hour periods off the bike, over four hours.
When Ridgeway is not in the saddle, he will be riding in a following sports utility vehicle. They will not stop. Exchanges are made on the fly.
“We will always be in motion,” Ridgeway said.
When Ridgeway and teammate, Bob Ansell, of Greensburg, Pa., are not riding, they will be eating and trying to sleep in a following recreational vehicle. During those times, team leader Ray Peske, of Dauphin County, and Doug Palen, of Landing, N.J., will be taking turns.
Ridgeway said Friday that he expects to take his first turn on his bike Tuesday, at about 6 p.m. (9 p.m. eastern standard time), four hours into the race. Because the race starts slowly, with a parade from the coast, he expects they will be only 30-40 miles into the course by then.
You can follow the progress of the team online, at: http://www.teamendeavor.org/raam_map.asp. You can follow the progress of the race after it starts at: http://www-archive.raceacrossamerica.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1.
Unlike other bicycle races, the Race Across America doesn’t take overnight rest breaks. Solo riders, who left Oceanside on Sunday, rest for as little as four hours daily and ride as much as 350 miles a day over eight days. Solo riders average about 16 miles an hour over the course of the race. Teams, such as Ridgeway’s, will average 19-23 miles per hour.
The ultra-distance event has been called “the world’s toughest race.”
The race, which began in 1982 with four solo riders, will have its largest field of competitors this year. There will be 213 riders from 13 different countries.
“This is the most they have ever had. It will be pretty exciting being a part of that as rookies,” said Ridgeway.
Ridgeway has long watched the race from the sidelines, coordinating Time Station 54 in Georgetown, southern Lancaster County. The time station is the last check point before riders begin their final push to Atlantic City. He hopes to be the team rider when TeamEndeavor passes the time station on Sunday.
Information about Time Station 54, at Whitelock & Woerth, Route 896 in Bart Township, is at: http://www.timestation54.com.
