We had the chance to speak to Alberto a few days after his epic Race Across America 2011.





How is your condition right now?
I ‘m in really bad condition right now my feet are swollen and have a lot of trauma, my neck is very weak but is getting better, I have a general feeling on my body like I had a head concussion, and my sight is a little blurry, the team of my fingers have no feeling either and have scrapes and scratches on my head and forehead do to the helmet holding my head with the neck brace.I also developed really bad saddle sores the last day of the race.


Are you happy with your performance?
I’m happy with the way the team work together and how we handle all the obstacles and adversities that were put in front of us.








What were the difficulties you had to face during the race?
We had the wrong shoes for the race and that was a problem, but we cut the front part of the shoes and that helped.
The other was a bad case of Shermer’s neck that stroked less than 1/3 into the race and had to deal with it by putting a back brace with a piece of metal made of the roof rack wheel holder attached to the helmet with duct tape and bungee cords to keep my head up.


How did you know about the results of your competitors?
My crew would get time splits from the TS along the way and also from the Internet.


Did you meet and speak to your competitors during/after the race?
I spoke to Gerhard Gulewitz one time during the 7th night of the race when I overtook him.


Did you ever lose track and how was it for you and your team?
I never lost my mind or had hallucination during the race, I attribute this to the fact that I did most of my training at night time and even during my regular everyday life I don’t get a lot of sleep.











You suffered from “Shermer’s Neck”, please tell us more about it. How did you get it fixed?
So Shermer’s neck is named after Michael Shermer who is one of the original 4 racers of RAAM and was the first to suffer such malady for the first time during the 83 RAAM.
Basically the feeling you have with Shermer’s neck is one that you can’t hold your head and you find yourself riding with your chin against your chest without the assistance of a homemade back/neck brace, is very uncomfortable and, my team estimates we lot at least 10 hours during the race just dealing with shermer’s neck.


How was the reaction of the locals when they saw you?
Trough every town that we went trough we received great support an all the locals appreciated are determination to continue fighting and competing, trough all of the adversities, still today I’m getting email from local cycling clubs and fans we made along the way showing me support and just letting me know that they were watching my progress and were rooting for me.


How was the cooperation with your team members? What were their tasks?
We had a very very small team of six, but I could easily say that that I had the best support crew of the entire race.
We had a night shift (tony-driver,Eugene-navigator, Ben-feeder.
Day shift, Jim-driver, Jose-navigator, Robert-feeder).
But there roles didn’t end there because when their shift was over they had go and buy any supplies and food that was needed for the crew on shift, the average rest time for the crew during the race was no more that 3 hours of sleep a day, so even the crew was really sleep deprived.
The fact that we didn’t have an RV and only had the two minivans made very difficult for the crew because they had to drive 3 to 4 hours ahead after their shift to find a motel and put themselves in position for their next shift.


What did you eat and drink during the race?
I stayed in a liquid diet for 8 ½ day of the race and what I mean for liquid is just drinking a high calorie sports drink called Spiz, I attribute my performance in a big part to this liquid diet.








When and how did you sleep?
So the sleeping came the first time after about 40 hours of continuous riding ,and I slept of 1 ½ hours that first time, after that I would sleep 1 ½ everyday from 4:30 am to 6 am , by the end of the race on days 8 and 9 I was adding a 5 min nap in the afternoon and that was very refreshing.


How was the performance of the NeilPryde Alize bikes?
My NeilPryde Alize bikes were excellent bike and put them through the ringer because crossing the Continental USA and never having any mechanicals at all Zero, was really remarkable. The only thing we would change on the bike was the wheels from Aero to climbing wheels during the race.


How were the weather conditions?
We cross a whole continent during the race and a pretty big one so the weather, the smell, the terrain and road surface changes as you go along. Going trough the desert wasn’t that hot about 98 to 100 degrees and we dealt with it by having my crew leapfrog (go ahead) of me and give water and spray me with water along the way, as you can imagine this could be a very tiring thing for them to do ,but we performed this task countless time during the race.
The point of the race that was the hottest was during the state of Kansas when the mercury rose to 110 degrees with 30 to 40 miles an hour wind and received sunburns to my legs.
Going through Illinois we hit some bad storms that we rode trough while other riders found shelter on the RV’s and we were able to make up some time during this storm. Climbing Wolf Creek pass the highest point of the race was cold, but never below freezing.


Did you ever feel insane or had hallucinations? If yes, what happened then?
No hallucination and never lost my mind during the race, I pretty much remember everything and was making decisions during the whole race.





What did you miss the most during the race?
I didn’t miss anything I was focus at the task at hand and told my family that I was disconnecting myself from everything and not to expect to hear from me until the finish.


Did you ever think of giving up? If yes, what did you do to come over it?
I never thought of giving up I prepared very hard for this for a year and quitting was not an option for me or the crew, we had to make it to Annapolis.


What went totally wrong? What would you do better next time?
My shoes were really bad and I have to work on this.
Also I have to work on my upper body strength and neck strength to prevent Shermer’s neck in the future, and also I have to work on getting better clothing.
But my preparation was good.
The Bikes I had were good.


Will you participate next year?
I’m already making plans for next year so yes I am participating. Hopefully I could get some more sponsors on top of the ones I had this year to help me in this endeavor.








What was the first thing you did after you finished the race?
I had a turkey sandwich (best I ever had in my life ,this thing tasted so good).


What are your plans for the near future? Any races/events?
I’m planning a few cross state record here in the USA and also competing in the ADK 500 mile race in the Upstate NY in the USA.


Is there anything you would like to say?
RAAM is the most rewarding and pure athletic event in the world where each individual and support crew is tested to maximum, there is no way to hide and who you really are comes out during this event, I found out during RAAM who my real friends were, and contrary other participants and crews that come out the other end fighting and disrupt, in our case my family got bigger by six individuals that started as friends and in Oceanside and became my family by the time we made it to Annapolis Maryland.
A really strong was for among us because we went through a lot together.
It’s really amazing what we as human could achieve when we work together as a team towards the same goal.
I should be back on the bike this weekend when the swell in my feet and saddle sores are better.













Please follow this link for more information:
Race Across America 2011