Monthly Archives: December 2020

“With ultra-cycling you REALLY get to go places. It’s an adventure. You learn more about yourself, both body and mind.” Looking back over his life, Michael B. Shermer is proud of multiple things. He’s proud of his daughter, Devin Ziel Shermer, 13, and his wife, Kim Ziel Shermer. He’s proud of the 12 books he his written and the science publication, Skeptic Magazine he started. And he’s proud of Race Across AMerica, an event he co-created in 1982 originally known as The Great American Bike Race. And it is for this reason that Shermer has been inducted into the Ultra [...]

“Jure is best known for his domination of RAAM.” Robic was born in Jesenice, Slovenia on April 10, 1965 and met an untimely death at age 45. He was killed in a training accident on September 24, 2010 when he was hit by a car on a forest road in the mountains near Jesenice. But before his death, he left a strong and lasting imprint of the world of ultracycling. Robic originally took up ultracycling as a way to cope with the death of his mother in 1997. He entered the 1999 Crocodile Tour (a 10-day race across Australia) and [...]

“I’ve never really looked at losing my leg as a handicap, just more of an inconvenience. A lot of people have inconveniences.” What a fitting honor that this year’s Insight 2004 Race Across America is dedicated to two time Purple Heart recipient and retired US Marine corporal, Jim Penseyres (56) of Rainbow, CA. Jim’s story is truly an inspired one. In 1968, during the last month of his rotation in Vietnam, Jim stepped on a landmine and lost his left leg four inches below the knee. “Actually, I was very relieved that I wasn’t dead. After spending six months in [...]

In the old days, March 27 and November 30 held special meaning for Susan Notorangelo. Besides being birthdays of her husband, Lon Haldeman, and herself, those dates marked the beginning and end of their outdoor bicycle training. A pioneer in women’s long distance cycling, Notorangelo is honored as a founding member of the Ultracycling Hall of Fame. It was 30 years ago, 1975, when the St. Louis native, got her first cursory exposure to the sport of cycling. Having graduated from the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing that year, the 22-year old struck out in search of life and husband. [...]