🎥 RAAM PRE-RACE VIDEO IN SYDNEY

Race Across America is the toughest endurance race on the planet and Andrew, Lisa, Brendan, Jasper and Charlie just signed up for the experience of a lifetime.

2017, mid-January, sunrise at Manly Beach, I met 5 fully kitted riders for 12 hours of photos, and video at their only training session as a team before the race. The plan was simple grab some photos, ride footage and a sit down interview for a promotional video for Carlson Wagonlit Travel to show staff internally, as well as clients, suppliers and business partners.

Race Across America (RAAM) is a staggering 5,000 kilometer cycle race, coast to coast, across 13 states, with no stages, no stopping, and team of 8, 4 2 or solo cycle 24 hours a day and must finish in less then 9 days.

My first taste of filming cyclists was following the team from Manly to Palm Beach and back, with cameras mounted on the car. At the team BBQ that evening, I sat with each rider to chat about the upcoming race and their chosen charity ECPAT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1zrP8qGnC0

The goal for the CWT RAAM 2017 pre race video was to make people see these weren't professional athletes, they were regular people who had decided to do something extraordinary, even if none of them really knew much about what they were getting into, as well as ECPAT charity and the teams fundraising efforts.

“I watched the CWT RAAM trailer video in our CWT office that Tony made, listened to a speech by Andrew Jordan and instantly signed up to be a volunteer in the support crew.”

At the end of the evening, having spend the day with the riders, and chatting to them on and off camera, I decided I had to fly to California and follow the Team Endeavour across America and make a visual documentary of RAAM17.