BAA Race Across America LIVE TRACKING LINKS
There are several links which can help you track our team in our effort to win the Race Across America.
- First the live tracking link and map is here: https://www.raamrace.org/live-tracking. You can see last year’s tracking map image to the left posted here. Click around on this page and you can filter results by category, leader board, and more. You will likely be able to see our current speed, average speed, etc. Remember that the actual tracking beacon is located in our follow car- which from time to time is pulled over and stopped or even zooming ahead to a future parking spot. Either way it will give you a good indication of where we are and what we are up to, and whether or not we are winning!
- Race Summary Reports are here: https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raamx/rcrank.php?s_N_category_group=2&s_N_Race_ID=1
- RAAM Website with more official information regarding this race and race coverage: https://www.raamrace.org/
RAAM (RACE ACROSS AMERICA)
What is the Race Across America (RAAM)? Race Across America is one of the most respected and longest running ultra-endurance events in the world. RAAM is seen as a pinnacle of athletic achievement not only in cycling circles but the greater sporting community as well. For 41 years, Race Across America (RAAM) has been challenging ultracyclists from around the globe to push their physical and mental limits to the farthest reaches. Starting in Oceanside, under one of the longest piers in California, RAAM spans over 3000 miles, climbs 175,000 feet, crosses 12 states, and finishes at City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland, the east coast sailing Mecca. The route travels west to east, traversing three major mountain ranges (Sierra, Rocky and Appalachian), crosses four of America’s longest rivers (Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio) and the Great Plains.
Also, passing through such iconic American landmarks as the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, Monument Valley, Great Plains, and Gettysburg.
BAA RAAM E-Bike Raffle
Support the BAA Racing Team in RAAM 2023! Limited tickets available!
You can help us in our race for 1st place. Enter our raffle to win an e-bike! Each raffle ticket purchased increases your chances of winning the e-bike. Tickets are only $20 a piece. The e-bike is worth between $2,000-$3,000 and was generously donated by Soul E-Bikes. It is a brand new e-bike and can cruise up to 30mph with a 45 mile range! So cool. Thanks for your support!
WIN THIS E-BIKE FOR ONLY $20!
Raffle Terms: Each ticket is $20. Can buy as many tickets as you want. Raffle drawing will take place June 1, 2023. We will go live on FaceBook (and likely Instagram) where we will conduct the drawing and announce the winner. Shipping inside the US is provided for any winner outside of AZ. All AZ participants must opt for local pick up.
BAA RAAM 2023
We are Arizona cyclists with a deep background in endurance sports, and endurance cycling. Our team has been specifically and carefully chosen from among the elite BAA Racing Squad. BAA Racing is a local Arizona cycling team, and one of the biggest teams in the western United States with over 350 members. BAA Racing is short for Bike Accident Attorneys. Our team captain is Ben Dodge. Ben is the founder of BAA, and the senior managing partner at Bike Accident Attorneys PLC.
2023! Our goals are simple: we intend to win, and our training has us firmly on track for a 1st place finish.
Meet the Team
Every single person on this team and crew has been hand selected.
Ben Dodge
Ben is 44 years old. 2016 Race Across the West SOLO Finisher. 2018 Race Across France 2 Man team 3rd place. 2019 Race Across America 2 Man team 2nd place. 2021 Race Across America 8 Person charity Team Finisher. 8X LOTOJA finisher. Multiple 500+ mile solo races and podiums, including Saints to Sinners, Salt to Saint, etc. 2018 Hells 500 w/Successful Everest on Mt Lemmon – 24 hrs. 8X Ironman 140.6 Finisher. Multiple 70.3 Ironman Finisher. Multiple UCI Gran Fondo World Championship Qualifier 2021-2021; Raced the 2021 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship in Bosnia. Raced the 2022 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship in Trento Italy.
Tom Liddell
41 years old. 2019 Race Across America 2 Man team 2nd place. 5X LOTOJA Finisher, and LOTOJA Podium. 2018 Hells 500 w/Successful Everest on Mt Lemmon – 24 hrs. Raced in the 24 hr Time Trial World Championships, 2019. Multiple 70.3 Ironman Finisher, and 70.3 Ironman World Championship Qualifier. Raced in the 2022 Ironamn 70.3 World Championships. UCI Gran Fondo World Championship Qualifier 2021.
Jaime Cancel
45 years old. 2014 Florida State Crit Champion. 2021 Race Across America 8 Person Charity Team finisher. LOTOJA Finisher. Multiple UCI Gran Fondo World Championship Qualifier 2021-2021; Raced the 2021 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship in Bosnia. AZ State Road Race Championship, 2nd place, 2022. Retired Army, 20+ years.
Gary Raymond
59 years old. 40 years of competitive cycling. 11X Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim Finisher (47 Mile trail run in the grand canyon, 11,000′ of gain). 3X Lotoja Finisher. 3X Ironman 70.3 Finisher. 3X PBAA Cochise County Classic (252 miles) finisher. 3X Cochise County 165 mile Finisher. Loads of competitive 100 mile races. Local and State Crit Champion – too many years to note. Ragnar Trail Finisher.
Meet Our Incredible Crew
No way could anyone ever attempt this race without a crew. The crew is by far more important than the riders. We are proud of this crew. Each has been hand selected based on their personality and what they bring to the table. We have zero “quitters” in this group. Zero “whiners” in this group. Just champions. Legit champions. We are so pumped to race alongside and with the support of this amazing crew. Check out their short biographies below.
Bob Norvelle – CREW CHIEF
Family
- Married to Del Ann for 38 years, 4 wonderful kids and 2 granddaughters with 2 more on the way.
Cycling
- 8-man RAAM team in 2021 as a rider. Finished 3rd with 7 riders
- 24hr WTTC 2019 and 2021
- Lotoja (200-mile road race) finisher x3
- 24 hours in the Old Pueblo mtn bike race 2022, 5-person team
Crewing
- RAW 2016 (Ben Dodge solo)
- Saints to Sinners (Ben Dodge Solo) 2nd
- NCOM 1,000 mile (Chris Davies Solo)
- Race Across France 2018 (Ben Dodge and Jason Dupont) 3rd
- RAAM 2019 (Ben Dodge and Tom Liddell) 2nd
Miscellaneous
- Mechanic, Musician, Teacher and friend
- Enjoy cycling with my wife (she’s strong!), camping and hiking
I volunteered to help support Ben in 2016 when he signed up for Race Across the West (RAW), a 928 mile solo race. We really didn’t know what we were doing but managed to officially finish, plus I was hooked on the excitement/fatigue of ultracycling. I started joining other crews to see how these races should be done, and ended up learning a lot! I continued to crew for Ben in various challenges and we all got better along the way while forming bonds with the new friends we joined to accomplish epic feats. I had the opportunity to finally ride on an 8-man RAAM team of cancer survivors in 2021, which actually became a 7-man team due to pandemic travel restrictions. Had a great crew and masterful crew chief that got us into Annapolis in 3rd place. It’s a truly wondrous thing to see so many people, bikes, vehicles and countless moving parts come together like a well-oiled machine to make things possible that we could never accomplish alone.
Bob is the man! He has been at every major ultra cycling race of Ben’s life and was crew chief in almost every one of them. He is a legend. Kind and humble man. Good dude all the way around. Thank you Bob!!
Sean Delp
Sean is incredible and is our “5th Rider” on the team. He is part of our core BAA group back in AZ. He is training for RAAM just in case one of the other riders is unable to make the race due to injury, etc. He will serve as a critical crew member in charge of navigation unless he is called up to race on the team. Interesting fact about substitution of riders—it is absolutely not allowed during the race at all. So Sean will only substitute as a rider if one of the riders is unable to start the race. Once the race starts there will be no rider substitutions allowed. Sean is 48 years old. UCI Gran Fondo World Championship Qualifier 2021; Raced the 2021 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship in Bosnia. UCI Gran Fondo World Championship Qualifier 2022; Raced the 2022 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship in Trento, Italy. Rode from sea level to the top of Haleakala in Maui. Raced multiple triathlons, been to multiple crags around the country for rock climbing as well as traveling to many locations around the world for SCUBA diving. Enthusiast of learning and growing as a human. The introduction to kids as a step-father has been the absolute highlight of things experienced thus far.
Sonja Dodge
Meet Sonja, aka, The “SONGE”. This girl is here for it. Sonja is a 7x Ironman finisher, with multiple 70.3 and other races in-between. She is a musician, a lover of nature, animals, and a mom. She is a believer in the magic of hard work and believing limits are for….no one. She also happens to be the other half of Ben, and therefore has extensive crew experience for cycling races around the globe. She enjoys supporting her athletes in any capacity they need. According to her son, “Sonja is good at helping others and babysitting dogs”. Too bad there are no dogs at Race Across America! She’ll have to settle with helping her athletes instead. Let’s go Team BAA!
Jodi Delp
Jodi is a foundational member of the BAA racing team in Arizona. 49 years old. UCI Gran Fondo World Championship Qualifier 2021; Raced the 2021 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship in Bosnia. LOTOJA solo finisher and LOTOJA 3-5 person relay 1st place finisher. 1st place for multiple races with some of which include Tour of St. George (Spring and Fall) and Arizona State Championships. Multiple other podium finishes for road races. Has travelled around the world for SCUBA diving. Raised four amazing kids and has continued to find adventures and fulfillment in life. And she is the better half to Sean Delp… 😉
Kris Bachman
Adventure junkie, lover of all things related to running, challenge seeker. Boston marathon qualifier x 5, Hell on the Hill Maine Top 3 female, Antelope Island marathon top female finisher. RAAM crew captain 8-person team 2021. Wife and mom of three. Nurse practitioner, neuro intensive care nurse.
Rachel Martin
Introducing Rachel – the world’s most beloved hugger, adventure enthusiast, and successful entrepreneur! As the Founder/CEO of Forward Motion Events, Rachel leads her team with an unwavering optimism and a heartfelt dedication to philanthropy in Southern Maine. She is a passionate advocate of personal development and believes that the key to living a fulfilling life is through acts of kindness, generosity and contribution.
Aside from her impressive professional achievements, Rachel is also a devoted wife and proud mother to three amazing humans. She loves running, skiing (uphill and downhill!) She sits on the board of many non-profits and her favorite pastime is finding the silver lining and encouraging others to keep moving forward.
One of her biggest accomplishments is having crewed for RAAM not once, but twice already, and she’s gearing up for a third round in 2023! She was our co-chief on our 8 person RAAM team (One Mile) in 2021. Rachel is determined to set a new record for the most hugs given during RAAM 2023, which comes as no surprise given her reputation as the world’s best hugger.
Doreen Wagner
Doreen is a fitness professional whose primary goal is to empower individuals to reach their potential in mind, body and spirit. She is also a competitive cyclist and brand ambassador for Specialized Bicycle Components. We have had the privilege of seeing Doreen in action in 2021 where she was a crew member for us on our 8 person RAAM team (Team One Mile). She crushed it! She knows how to hustle and has absolutely zero quit in her. Doreen then went on in 2022 to race RAAM herself as a cyclist on an 8 person RAAM team with Monty Heath. We are lucky to have another talented and experienced athlete on our crew!
Laurel Zeibig
Hands downs one of the best crew members you can ever be blessed to have. Laurel is the essence of committed and has enough optimism for an army. She always knows how to show up 100% prepared and ready for battle. Laurel served on our 2019 BAA 2 man RAAM team. She was nothing short of incredible. Laurel resides in Utah. She is married to Karl Zeibig. Laurel is a foundational member of our UTAH BAA Racing Team. One of the things that makes Laurel so special, is that she doesn’t ride bikes- yet she knows better than anyone how to support them. Welcome back to the ultracycling party of the year Laurel! We can’t wait for those all nighters with you again. P.S. She just may have an internal GPS system that works better than any garmin device on the planet. Laurel is one of, if not the very, best navigators we have ever seen.
Larry Loewe
Larry is a freaking LEGEND. 79 years old and he rode his bike 365 days last year—every single day last year. No matter the weather, and no matter his health. He even postponed a surgery or two until after the year was complete so he could finish riding every day. Larry also served on our 2 man RAAM team crew in 2019. It is not uncommon for him to accumulate 20,000+ miles in a single year on his bicycle. Larry is a core member of BAA Racing and a good friend. Larry continues to live an unbelievably full life and inspires us all to be better. Once upon a time Larry was a very accomplished runner, and served our country in the United States Air Force. We are proud to have him back on our crew.
Michelle Torres
Michele Torres MD is a board certified Family Medicine physician with a career as a Hospitalist. She has also performed cosmetic procedures such as liposuction, botox and fillers. Originally from Puerto Rico, Michele was able to provide volunteer medical services during the most recent natural disasters affecting the island. Michele has two daughters who are both pursuing professional careers. Alexandra a museum curator and Gaby an accountant. Michele loves sneakers and has a collection of highly coveted kicks. She recently discovered the sport of cycling and in a short few years has accumulated over 35,000 miles and almost a million feet of elevation. Cycling has landed her all over the U.S. and Puerto Rico climbing mountains, gravel racing or joining friends for bike adventures.
Stevan Powell
Stevan is a local AZ cyclist and teammate on BAA Racing. He also served on our 2 man RAAM team in 2019. He is a wonderful human being with an incredible skills. There isn’t anything Stevan can’t fix. In 2019 we had some van troubles. Stevan was able to stay behind and get it fixed on his own, then meet back up with us in CO. Always full of jokes and sarcasm, you will find Stevan laughing and working hard at everything he does. He is the type of person who will always ensure the job gets done correctly. Welcome back to crew Stevan!
Carl van Leuven
Carl is married to Ruthann for 33+ years now. She is an unusually supportive human who has never uttered the phrase “don’t you own enough bikes already?” Carl started cycling in 2007 to avoid bi-polar medication, and fell in love with endurance/ultra distances. He works in predictive analytics, and always looks forward to the zen state achieved while flowing down the road for hundreds of miles at a time. When not cycling, Carl splits his time between hunting treasure & dragons with his 6 grandchildren and woodworking.
Carl has racked up some serious miles. He has completed the 1200km Gold Rush Randonnee in 2009; the Whitney Classic in 2012 & 2014; and survived the epic 2012 Tombstone 600k (where 1/3 the participants were hospitalized due to severe weather conditions).
Marty McDonell
Marty comes to our crew as a longtime friend of Gary Raymond. They went to high school together! He has five kids…Alex, Andrew, Ashley, Alli, and Alyssa. Married to Christine McDonell four kids… Leah, Matt, Kendall, and McKay and six grandkids Lincoln, Rowen, Colter, Elliott, Adeline, and Barret.
Marty began cycling began 42 years ago! He has done the Rosarito-Ensanada, multiple times; Honolulu Century finisher, multiple times; Haleiwa Metric century finisher, multiple times; Utah County century finisher; Tour of Big Bear finisher; Tour of Mesa finisher; Mesquite Metric centur; UCI Gran Fondo World Series, Logan Utah 2019 finisher; 1984 LA Olympics Road Cycling water boy for Team USA.
Misc: Loves riding with his wife Christine and with their kids that ride. Two of his most memorable rides was crossing the finish line with his daughter Alli (Utah County Century) and two spots behind his wife Christine (Tour of Big Bear).
David Robbins
40 years in the Marine Corp. Enough said! Dave is a total stud. Proud to have him with us.
Bryce Huso
Ben’s nephew. Completely adventurous and amazing young man. Happy to have him with us.
Gail Lamborn
Gail Lamborn is a Career Real Estate Broker since 1983. After selling her Real Estate Company in 2017, she has enjoyed traveling while still working in Jupiter, Florida.
Gail was on a 4 person RAAM crew in 2021 and a crew member for a solo rider in RAW in 2022. Grateful for her willingness to join our crew last minute and for all of her incredible experience.
Josh Hull
Self-proclaimed cycling addict! Josh started cycling about 1.5 years ago and fell in love with it. His sister is also currently employed for Ben Dodge. It’s a small world and we are grateful for Josh and his last minute ability to help fill in for our crew.
Meet Our Sponsors
We are grateful to our incredible Sponsors who have helped make this tremendous undertaking possible. We believe in the services and products provided by our sponsors. We have turned down potential sponsors because they did not provide services and/or products that we feel we could stand behind. With that in mind, take a look at the amazing sponsors we have partnered with for RAAM 2023.
Bike Accident Attorneys PLC
Our title sponsor is the law firm of Bike Accident Attorneys PLC. They are the primary inspiration for all we do. The BAA Racing is the official racing team for Bike Accident Attorneys (BAA). This law firm is entirely dedicated to representing only cyclists. Founded here in Arizona, they have dedicated themselves to the sole purpose of helping and protecting cyclists’ rights when they get injured. We hope you never need them. But if you ever get involved in a bicycle crash these are the best cycling litigation attorneys out there. They can help you in any state in the U.S. with their network of qualified bicycle lawyers.
PK Delp Structural Engineering
Structural engineers at the highest level. Promoting creative and efficient designs with collaboration and teamwork. We are grateful for their incredible support and the quality of their engineering services.
Halo Fire
Halo Fire works with clients to provide engineering advice and technical solutions for fire sprinkler installations. This involves a range of tasks, including coordinating teams, preparing documentation, and developing project plans. They have accumulated significant experience that when incorporated into their designs, saves money, reduces risk, and streamlines installation timelines. They work with a number of firms across the country to bring the best solutions to our in house design and installation projects.
Soul E-Bikes
Soul E-Bikes is home of the premium Fat Tire Beach Cruisers. They are based in Mesa, Arizona. Soul Beach Cruisers began in 2011 when the owner, Jim Decker saw a need for a performance cruiser. He set out to innovate with a strong aggressive bulletproof frame that was unique in the market. Jim equipped the cruiser with premium components for a low maintenance bike that you love to ride. They have donated the bike we are raffling off! It goes up to 45 MPH! You could win it for just $20! Scroll up and check out the BAA RAAM Raffle provided by Soul E-Bikes. Or click here to buy your raffle ticket.
Cyclologic
Cyclologic is your source for cycling analysis solutions. Whether you are an industry giant looking for tools to refine and develop your products, a bike retailer wanting education and materials to better serve your customers, or a local cyclist looking for a bike shop to call your own, Cyclologic is here for you.We have had a long standing relationship with Cyclologic, and our race fit/posture for every rider is dialed in thanks to the incredible expertise of Cyclologic.
Hawes House Bike Shop
Hawes House Bike Shop is a locally owned bike store in Mesa, Arizona specializing in bicycle sales, suspension service, bicycle repair, mountain bike rentals, road bike rentals and guided mountain bike tours. We’re here to service any of your bicycle needs.
