The Huntsville adventure racer is back in training to take another crack at the world’s most grueling race, the Race Across America (RAAM).

Van den Bulk is working with trainer Andrew Urban to once again tackle the 3,000-mile endurance cycling race that takes competitors across the United States.

She was leading the women’s solo division during the 2007 event but she had to drop out just past the Springfield, Colorado checkpoint when she began finding it hard to breathe the thin air in the mountains.

She had covered 1,222.7 miles when she reached

Springfield with another 1,820.1 miles to go to the finish line in Atlantic City. She had been on the course for five days, 12 hours and 22 minutes when she reached the

Springfield checkpoint, 132 hours into the endurance race. It was the first time in her racing career she had failed to finish an event.

It is a setback van den Bulk has not forgotten easily.

“Last year I was not done yet. I need to finish this job. I still want to test my limits and only the best ultra cyclists can finish this extreme brutal race. I want to be one of them,” she said.

She said this is a race is very hard to finish and she is determined to complete it this time.

“This is the challenge. Preparing for RAAM is my lifestyle and I want to be the first Canadian women on the finish line. This is also something what is very important for me.”

Created in 1982, RAAM is now the longest running ultra-distance bicycle endurance competition in the world. This is not a stage race like the Tour de France, where each day a set distance is covered.

In RAAM the starting gun fires on the West Coast and the finishing line is over 3,000 miles away, on the other side of the continent.

The Tour de France is about 70 per cent of the distance of the Race Across America, but RAAM covers the course in about 40 per cent of the time.

Solo riders could complete the course in as little as eight days, while the fastest teams finish in less than six days. The solo competitors are the stars of RAAM, going on four hours or less of sleep a day, braving all weather conditions and the harshest terrain to be found in the United States. Very few people can actually finish within the allotted time of 12 days.

There is a new twist to the race this year. The race will begin at Oceanside, California as always, but will conclude in Annapolis, Maryland instead of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The race begins June 7 for most competitors.

Van den Bulk qualified for the 2007 event when she placed third at the 720 km Radmarathon European

Championships in Switzerland in 2006.

This qualification allows her to compete in RAAM for a three-year period.

Van den Bulk is looking for people who may want to serve on her support team during the race.

“They will get the experience of their lives. It will be the most adventure way to go across America. I can use help from people who would like to support me financially, as the race will cost me $40,000, or with their time. And I’m looking for a support vehicle, like a grand caravan-style to drive behind me on training rides, day and or night.”

She is asking anyone interested to give her a call at 789-8344 or 788-1383. You can also e-mail her at mbps@mbps.ca or visit van den Bulk’s web page at www.mbps.ca/raam.