Covering 10 States and 4,300 miles, the Trans Am Bike Race is a classic coast to coast race across the USA.
Congratulations to primalblends Ambassador, David Tschan for averaging 213 miles a day over 19 days and 14 hours in this grueling self-supported race to finish 3rd in the 2021 race edition.
The Trans Am Bike Race (TABR) is an annual, self-supported, ultra-distance cycling race across the United States. The route is about 4,300 miles (6,800 km) long and uses the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail that was developed by the Adventure Cycling Association for the Bikecentennial event in 1976.
The route runs from the Pacific coast in Astoria, Oregon to the Atlantic coast in Yorktown, Virginia, passing through ten states. The inaugural race was in 2014, which 25 people completed, the fastest of whom took less than 18 days.
Featured in the film Inspired to Ride, the Trans Am is part of a quickly growing subset of cyclists. Born out a desire to race on roads with techniques and ethics based in the world of ultra endurance bikepacking events such as the Tour Divide, the Trans Am stands as the middle ground between events like Race Across America and Tour Divide. One being a supported road race across the country and the other being a self supported off road race down the spine of the country. The race bears a little similarity to the European Transcontinental mostly by the similar style of conventional road bikes ridden in the event and its cross continent nature.
Because it is not a stage race, the clock never stops from the moment the riders leave the start to the moment that they reach the finish. That means it is essentially a long individual time trial. Riders must strategically choose how much time to devote to riding, resting, and refueling each day. Being self-supported or unsupported means that drafting is not allowed, receiving any form of support from other racers, friends, or family is not allowed; all food, accommodation, repairs, etc., must be purchased from commercial sources.
Follow David's adventures at www.instagram.com/t_s_d/
