17 Days Coast to Coast
175 - 210 miles per day
San Diego, CA to Savannah, GA
June 9 to June 27, 2007
$2,995 for 30 or more riders
$3,495 less than 30 riders
This tour average 175-210 miles per day across the deserts, mountains and prairies of the southern United States. Full support is offered to keep everyone rolling efficiently across the country. Riders who complete each day within the time limits will also qualify for the Race Across America solo division.
Tom Rosenbauer's Elite Blog
George Metzler's Elite Blog
Richard Waugh's Elite Tour Blog
Byron Reiper's Elite Tour Blog
Sandiway Fong's Elite Tour Blog
Vernon Smith's Elite Tour Blog
Eric Hallam's Elite Tour Blog
Jeff Linder Report
This isn't your typical lemonade and cookie tour. The Elite is the most strenuous of any PAC Tour events offered this year. Riders are expected to maintain a 14 mph minimum average or stay within a 90 minute group spread per 100 miles (which ever is slowest). Riders behind this pace will be shuttled ahead until they are back on schedule.
Arrival (June 9, Saturday)
We will arrive in San Diego with riders from all corners of the world. After we assemble our bikes we can have a leisurely ride to the beach for photos in front of the Pacific Ocean. That evening we gather for a festive dinner before our adventure across America.
Day 1 (June 10, Sunday) San Diego, CA to El Centro, CA 128 miles
We depart the Pacific Ocean and begin climbing the first 50 miles. After crossing four mountain passes from 3,000 to 4,000 feet elevation we drop back down to sea level near the 100 mile mark. The desert will be 110 degrees at this time of year. The climbing today is almost 7,500 feet. With all the climbing and desert heat this day is a tough introduction to the Elite Tour.
Day 2 (June 11, Monday) El Centro to Gila Bend, AZ 178 miles
Today the good thing is the route will be mainly flat. The bad thing is that we ride across the burning desert all day. A 1,000 foot climb over Telegraph Pass near Yuma, Arizona is the main climbing for this section. With a little luck we could have good tailwinds the last half of the day.
Day 3 (June 12, Tuesday) Gila Bend to Globe, AZ 147 miles
The first half of the day we climb and descend several gentle grades in the desert. After lunch we begin climbing steeper grades gaining over 3,000 feet. The Pinal Mountains offer cooler temperatures and relief from the heat.
Day 4 (June 13, Wednesday) Globe to Springerville, AZ 148 miles
The first challenge of the day will be the steep climb out of the Salt River Canyon. Dozens of hairpin turns along the edge of the Canyon give us spectacular views across the valley. After departing the town of Show Low the route climbs to over 9,000 feet. The final 20 miles are a fast ride from the forests down into the ranches of the valley.
Day 5 (June 14, Thursday) Springerville to Socorro, NM 158 miles
Today we cross into New Mexico. The tall forests give way to small scrubby pine trees. Hills and cliffs of red rocks line the road as we climb to the Continental Divide at 8,000 feet near Pie Town. The wind will dictate if the ride across the range country is fast or not.
Day 6 (June 15, Friday) Socorro to Roswell, NM 167 miles
Another day of big rolling grades. There are several three to five mile climbs. Over the final 30 miles the road drops from the mountains into the prairie. By the time we reach Roswell the only thing alien to us will be the feeling of fresh legs.
Day 7 (June 16, Saturday) Roswell to Hereford, TX 165 miles
This is the flattest day of the tour. The scrubby vegetation changes to farm fields and cattle ranches as we enter Texas. It could be windy!
Day 8 (June 17, Sunday) Hereford to Elk City, OK 200 miles
We continue across the flat Texas Panhandle. In the afternoon we drop off the Caprock and begin to roll along the frontage road of Oklahoma's Route 66. The old remaining cement slabs offer a glimpse of highway travel 60 years ago.
Day 9 (June 18, Monday) Elk City to Ada, OK 216 miles
The scenery changes with more trees and rivers offering variety to the landscape. This is the longest day in miles but it will be interesting with many small towns and rolling hills.
Day 10 (June 19, Tuesday) Ada to Mena, AR 178 miles
This day will be remembered for the steep 15% grades of the Talimena Parkway. This Parkway follows the backbone ridge of the Quachita Mountains into Arkansas. 8,000 feet of climbing are packed into the final 50 miles of rollers.
Day 11 (June 20, Wednesday) Mena to Pine Bluff, AR 180 miles
Today is a recovery day from the steep climbing. We enter the dense pine forests of western Arkansas. Lumber and paper mills are the major landmarks today.
Day 12 (June 21, Thursday) Pine Bluff to Batesville, MS 183 miles
We leave the forests and ride out on the flat delta region. Rice and cotton are the main crops here with an occasional catfish farms. We cross the Mississippi River and climb up the rolling bluffs leaving the river behind.
Day 13 (June 22, Friday) Batesville to Philadelphia, MS 166 miles
We return to the forests and hills in central Mississippi. Rural highways and farm roads make this a nice cycling day.
Day 14 (June 23, Saturday) Philadelphia to Camden, AL 155 miles
Any rider who has made it this far is looking forward to the finish. The terrain and mileage are easier than anything we have traveled so far.
Day 15 (June 24, Sunday) Camden to Eufaula, AL 160 miles
A good variety of rural roads through the forests make this an interesting day. The humid heat will be the biggest challenge of today.
Day 16 (June 25, Monday) Eufaula to Dublin, GA 159 miles
As we enter Georgia, the big rolling hills are suitable for small chainring climbing. The ride becomes flat as we cross more than half the state today.
Day 17 (June 26, Tuesday) Dublin to Tybee, GA 145 miles
Our last day of riding. The route is nearly pancake flat with a slight downhill to the Atlantic. We cross the historic city of Savannah then ride the final 15 miles to the beach, arriving by mid afternoon. That evening we celebrate the completion of the Elite Tour with an awards dinner.
Departure (June 27, Wednesday)
Schedule your departure for this day.
by veteran PAC Tour riders
Anna Robic and Lotta Myles
Elite Tour riders need to be durable and consistent to complete this tour across America. Riders are expected to average an minimum of 14 mph during the whole day. That might not seem too fast now...but with mountains, headwinds, fatigue and rest stops a 14 mph pace is quite respectable.
The following training guidelines are realistic to complete the Elite Tour. We realize riders have jobs and don't have time to ride over 30 hours per week. Riders should follow and adapt these guideline to fit with their lifestyle and other commitments.
1. Veterans have found it better to save up their limited training time and ride longer days (over 100 miles) two times per week with short fast one hour rides on their other training days.
2. Begin some of your training rides at sunrise. Ride in the heat, rain and wind and be used to a variety of weather conditions.
3. Participate in several fast weekend group events and be comfortable riding with others. Most PAC Tour participants ride in groups with 3-4 other riders.
4. Use the bike you will be riding on PAC Tour during your longer training events. Get your arm supports, shoes and saddle adjusted before the tour.
5. Know how to change a flat tire in less than seven minutes. Practice taking your wheels on and off your bike. Know how to patch a tube or install a new tube quickly. Carry the right type of pump and be familiar with how to use it.
6. Ride back to back long days over 200 miles as often as possible. Riding consecutive long, hard days in training is the key to feeling good on PAC Tour.
7. Be comfortable training 300-500 miles per week for the ten weeks before the tour. Get ready gradually...during PAC Tour you will ride 1,300 miles per week.
8. Train on your mountain bike by riding rough roads and loose gravel. By improving your bike handling skills "off road" you will be a better road bike cyclist.
9. Don't forget your speed...each workout should include some rolling hills to sprint up, some farm dogs that chase or some fast tail wind sections to help you push a big gear.
10. Ride 200 miles in less than 12 hours at least three times before the tour. Warning: this is a minimum standard. Most Elite PAC Tour riders can ride 200 miles in under ten hours.
11. Ride a three day weekend tour away from home of at least 500 miles. Ride 150 to 175 miles every day. Go to bed tired and wake up tired. This will be a good simulation of what PAC Tour will be like.
1. If you are using a liquid diet you should train while using this food. Use this diet for your multiday events. During the Elite Tour you can bring 2 containers of your favorite powder. You will be able to refill your powdered food in the morning and at mid day and in the evening. Ship additional containers to motels along the route.
2. PAC Tour will be supplying Hammer Gel, Perpetuem and Sustained Energy at four rest stops during the day.
Supplement your indoor bike training with running, skiing, weight lifting, rowing, swimming and staying active all winter.
If you have any training questions contact:
Lon or Susan
PAC Tour
P.O. Box 303
Sharon, WI 53585
262-736-2453
e-mail: info@pactour.com
The inaugural Elite Tour was held in May 1997. For some flavor of the ride see Seana Hogan's Journal on her "Elite PAC Tour: Mini-RAAM."
The 1998 edition was on the road at the same time as RAAM, timed to finish in the main pack. Those qualifying for RAAM were John Ashby, Richard Dalton, Phil Emery, Frank Karbarz, Emmy Klassen, Rich Kondzielaski, and David Roedel. This was one of the toughest PAC Tour trips ever. These riders truly earned their qualifying status after riding 2,000 miles with heat over 100 degrees.
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PAC RAAM 1998 Riders Cross RAAM Finish Line |
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Jay Ambroson Lisa Antolino John Ashby ** Nancy Black Manfred Brockhaus Steve Burns Robert Cafarella Richard Dalton ** Phil Emery ** Don Friedlander Carol Friedlander Rebecca Haldeman Lon Haldeman Darren Hall Debby Henning Phillip Holcomb Aki Inoue Frank Karbarz ** Bill Kennedy Emmy Klassen ** John Koehler |
Rich Kondzielaski ** Arend-Jan Koning Michael Lau Leonard Meyer Greg Mihalik Troy Miller Paul Moore Ali Naveros Nicole Notorangelo Susan Notorangelo Andrew Otto Johathan Page Kurt Rieder Byron Rieper David Roedel ** Jim Rosa Richard Ruge Martin Sims Joe Smith Barb Vanderbeek Jeff Weible John Wharem |
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PAC RAAM 1998 Group Photo Point for another view |
PAC Tour veteran Steve Born wrote this about his finish in the 1998 Race Across AMerica:
"I was a sight at the finish. I looked like hell and I was so overcome with emotion that I was bawling my head off. I hadn't slept much in the last three days, I hadn't taken a shower in longer than that and I had lost 12 pounds so you can imagine how *fresh* I looked. I was so happy to see Lon and Susan and some of the PAC RAAM riders there; it really made my day. I only wish I had been more coherent. To have Lon there made me so happy as he's always been someone I have looked up to over the years. Both Lon and Susan have been such good friends and that they made the effort to be there at 6:00 AM was really nice."
For the first time since 1991 we started in Huntington Beach, California located just south of Los Angeles. We stayed at the Hilton Hotel on the Pacific Ocean, within walking distance of the beach and interesting downtown activities.
We wanted to make this Elite Tour a tough bike ride but also a fun tour. That is why we extended the riding days from 15 to 17 days. There will still be many very hard days to challenge the strongest riders.
Our new route used bits of Route 66 across California, Arizona and New Mexico. We took the newer sections of road here which are smooth with lots of history and great scenery. We then turned north into Colorado and cross the dreaded Wolf Creek Pass climbing over the Continental Divide at 11,000 feet. Continuing east into Kansas we stayed in Dodge City along the Chisholm Trail of cattle herding fame.
By the time we got to Missouri the hills start again. We traveled miles of twisting winding roads through the Ozark Mountains. In Sikeston, Missouri we ate at Lamberts Restaurant famous for their "Throwed Rolls". The waiters pitched hot buns across the room to people waiting to catch them.
We crossed the Mississippi River and were briefly in Illinois before heading into Kentucky. Our route merged with the PAC Tour Oregon Trail path on to Tennessee. This area has some really good riding on small roads and rolling hills. When we entered eastern Tennessee and north Georgia we are back in the mountains again. The roads looked like a combination of the Blue Ridge Parkway and back road West Virginia. Very intense riding but beautiful.
As we entered South Carolina we are back on our previous Southern Tour route through Greenwood and Orangeburg. This is still the best way to the ocean and Charleston. This Elite route avoided some of the desert heat from past years and offered many miles of new routes.
| 1999 Tour | Start in Los Angeles Area | ||
| Day | Date | Finish | Miles |
| 1 | Sun 13 Jun | 29 Palms, CA | 135 |
| 2 | Mon 14 Jun | Kingman, AZ | 195 |
| 3 | Tue 15 Jun | Flagstaff, AZ | 165 |
| 4 | Wed 16 Jun | Gallup, NM | 201 |
| 5 | Thur 17 Jun | Durango, CO | 187 |
| 6 | Fri 18 Jun | Alamosa, CO | 150 |
| 7 | Sat 19 Jun | Lamar, CO | 195 |
| 8 | Sun 20 Jun | Dodge City, KS | 179 |
| 9 | Mon 21 Jun | Winfield, KS | 197 |
| 10 | Tue 22 Jun | Carthage, MO | 179 |
| 11 | Wed 23 Jun | West Plains | 163 |
| 12 | Thur 24 Jun | Sikeston, IL | 170 |
| 13 | Fri 25 Jun | Franklin, TN | 207 |
| 14 | Sat 26 Jun | Cleveland, TN | 160 |
| 15 | Sun 27 Jun | Hartwell, GA | 177 |
| 16 | Mon 28 Jun | Orangeburg, SC | 177 |
| 17 | Tue 29 Jun | Charleston, SC | 106 |
| 5 days | 195-207 miles |
| 6 days | 165-194 miles |
| 6 days | 106-164 miles |