How Much Sleep Do RAW Racers Get?
Sleep management is one of the biggest challenges of RAW. This applies to everyone including racers, crew and race staff. The challenge for racers is balancing the need for sleep, which means time off the bike, against continuing to move down the road. This is critical because the clock doesn’t stop, even for sleeping. The solos at the front of the race sleep as little as 90 minutes a day. Just to finish within the time limit, racers can’t afford to sleep more than about 4 hours a day at the most. Teams have the advantage here and can continue racing 24 hours a day as racers rotate. While one sleeps, another races on down the road. Some racers hallucinate and this can make for some entertaining stories. Racers can be entirely awake and lucid and still hallucinate, or they can be so tired that reality shifts. Officials and crew are constantly paying attention to a racer’s condition and to safety. Safety is the top priority and officials and crews will stop a racer or crew for a sleep br
