blackbird s.f. presents the...

Raid Californie-Orégon

01 September 2003


Ever since Seattle first proposed for a CMWC back in 2001, I've had this crazy idea lurking in the back of my head, and now that they have succeeded in their bid to host CMWC 2003, and the West Coast is coming together for a series of pre-events in LA, SF and Portland, I can finally put it into action.

Given the distance and time constraints in getting people from SF to Portland (approximately 700-750 miles/1150-1230 km by bike, 5 days), it's just not feasible to do a group ride. But while a group ride is out of the question, I'm still left with the knowledge that a solo rider can cover that distance well within those time constraints... Which is where the crazy idea comes in.

The idea?

A race. Point-to-point, choose your own route, fastest time wins. Period.

It's like a horrible auto wreck between a car driven by a French randonnée and one driven by an alleycat race. One part long-distance, self-supported fast touring, one part on-the-fly, all-out speed driven routing. A match made in heaven? A recipe for disaster?

Only one way to find out...


This event is also currently looking for sponsors of every possible description - if this is something you are interested in being apart of, please contact us!


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