Visiting my website, I think you already know a few facts about me? In a few words - I've had some good results in ultra-cycling races, had a victory here and there, even set a few World Records, but I am still missing the one that brought me to ultra-cycling - the victory at RAAM. I would like to write an autobiography telling the real story of my six participations at the World's hardest cycling race -- the Race across America (RAAM). The book's working title is "Marko Baloh's RAAM" and it will tell my story from my first RAAM qualification in 2000 until last year's RAAM 2011. The race was not always kind to me, but I didn't give up (still haven't!) and came back again and again. It will not be just a race recap, but a story of perseverance, hard work and relentless belief in a dream, my dream of winning the World's hardest race.
If you think this is a tale worth telling and you would like to read it, you can help me by pledging your support in exchange for one or more of the incentives listed on my project's website on PLEASEFUND.US -- www.pleasefund.us/projects/marko-balohs-raam-the-book. Of course, there are books (to pre-order), but also T-shirts, cycling jerseys, DVDs, posters and even a TT bike, the one with which I set one of my 24h World Records. The project only gets financed if it is funded in full, meaning you will get your money back if the budget isn't met. I hope that at least people who would like to read his book will participate and lend me a helping hand. Thank you.
- After the service in the army I continued to work hard. My study at the University for Civil Engineering went according to plan only for the first year, after that my love for cycling took over. In cycling I was still elarning the ropes of racing, but I have been improving from race to race. Slowly I started to show the qualities of a great Time Trialist and a rider who likes to animate the races with long escapes (kind of Jacky Durand style). I liked it best if I went solo, but I didn't mind even if somebody has joined me (and that didn't mind also, as I was such a lousy sprinter).
I would like to ask you a favour, if you would like to help me with publishing my autography, i.e. a book about my RAAM races in the last 11 years in English language. Here is a deal: The project of financing my book has just started, if you are interested in reading my book you are welcome to help me publish it.
Some of you may already know that I am writting a book about the last 11 years of my life, more precisely about my ultra-cycling hobby. On my website I will publish sort of a prologue to this book, a short story about my pre-ultra cycling career (1985-2000).
Of course, the plan is as always budget related. Here you can see my ideal racing plan for season 2012, which will only happen if everything comes together perfectly. You can come to your own conslusion as to which races/projects are the nearest and therefore the cheapest, so as the money poures in (or doesn't for that matter), so the schedulle will change/addapt appropriately.
No, there were no official world records set this year and I haven't succeeded to win RAAM (yet). But my serious preparation for it and for the other races lead to me riding teh most kilometers in one season from the year 1985, when I started to write my cycling diary. From November 1st, 2010 until October 31st, 2011 I've cycled the most kilometers in one season - 30.000km!
The total mileage counting from the year 1985 stopped at 574.290km...
The races for 2011 are over and it is time to relax, recover & reflect on a long season behind us. It was a season of my return to RAAM and I've decided to put all my forces into trying to win the hardest race in the World. It was my fifth solo attempt at RAAM and until 2011 I »only« had a second and a third place in solo competitions (2006 & 2009), to go with my victory as member of a 2-person team in RAAM 2008.
A lot of things happened in the last 3 days, I will try to put at least a few of those on the “paper”. PBP is only held every 4 years, so it didn’t really feel right to leave it out of my celandar this year, even if it was only held 1 week after Tortour (1.000km with 13.000m of climbing). So, it was perfect excuse for me to do it in a real randonneuring way, meaning riding together with a bunch of friends, not exactly as fast as I would have liked if I was “racing”. The plan was simple: do a 400km, then sleep in a hotel, go to Brest and back, after another 430km sleep in the same hotel on the way back and finish it off with the last 400km. Well, not as simple I can tell you now. ;)
The 17th edition of Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) will be held next week, from August 21st to 25th, 2011. I did my frist PBP in 2007 and it was an unforgetable experience. My racing schedule is too full this year, but given that PBP is only held every 4 years I just couldn't have imagined it going on without me present.
