Transitioning from a very strong early season, Seattle ultra racer Chris Ragsdale is in Slovenia this week (staying near what looks like a vampire’s castle…) to compete in the the 1200km Dos Ras Extreme: The Race Around Slovenia. The race begins on May 12 at 19:00 local time in Postojna at the Hotel Kras. (Check out the link to the hotel: The building says “EPIC” on top of it!)
Dos Ras is notable in that ultra cycling legend Jure Robič (4/10/1965-9/24/2010) was Slovenian and this race is set in his home stomping grounds.
Chris’ first big race of the season was the Texas Hill Country 600km, where he had a strong second place finish (19:40) behind Slovenian Marko Baloh. The Slovenians definitely have a thing for ultra cycling events.
Chris is riding as part of a two-man team with Tim Case of Boulder, and representing Team RAAM. They are racing in honor of Jure Robič, and their crew chief is Jure’s former crew chief. Chris told me he thought it doesn’t get any better in terms of the support he and Tim will have for this race.
This is Chris’ first international competition, and his ambitious 2011 ultra schedule includes several other international events:
National 24 hour Challenge: June 18, Solo
Race Across Oregon: July 23/24, 4-man team
Tortour (Race around Switzerland): August 12-14, 4-man team
Paris Brest Paris: Aug 21-25 1200km, Solo
Lake Taupo Cycling Challenge (New Zealand): Nov 28, 4-man team
You can follow the race at the Dos Ras web site, though it looks like there may be some technical glitches happening…the course maps don’t appear yet; hopefully the promised gps links will work once the race is underway. The event web site also has a link to a Twitter feed you can follow.
Go Chris and Tim!
