...“Race Across America” (RAAM) 2013

Hamburg, 05 06 2013 – For the cycling team of the German IT security specialist gateprotect, the countdown is running towards the hardest bicycle race of the world, the “Race Across America”. RAAM’s 5,000-km tour leads across the USA, from the Pacific Ocean in the West to the Atlantic Ocean in the East. The athletes will have to ride day and night and overcome 30,000 meters of altitude. Part of the team “4Athletes powered by gateprotect” is gateprotect’s CEO Dr. Peter Smeets.

Together with three other athletes – one of them is the world-class triathlon pro Frank Vytrisal – gateprotect’s CEO Dr. Peter Smeets will face the track on Saturday, June 15, making a long-cherished personal dream come true. “RAAM places highest demands on the physical, mental, emotional and organizational capabilities of the entire team. We do not just want to ride along. We are set up absolutely professionally and prepared optimally. Our goal is to complete the race in six days and five nights. Maybe we will even make it to the podium in the end.”

Under the banner “gateprotect Across America”, besides the ambitious sporting goal, the race will also help to strengthen gateprotect’s presence in the North-American market, one of the key markets for the IT security specialist from Hamburg. Dr. Peter Smeets: “Thanks to our technologically advanced, user-friendly IT security solutions “made in Germany” and together with our partners, we have the power to make it to the top of the largest markets in the world.”

To achieve their ambitious goal, the athletes have prepared intensively during the past months. They have endured countless training units and two full-team training camps. Each of the cyclists has covered a distance of about 6,000 km on the bike since January 2013 and conducted performance checks repeatedly.

However, the RAAM cannot be mastered without an accompanying team: “We are glad to be backed by a motivated and dedicated team that will give us optimal support. Otherwise, we would not be able to handle such an undertaking”, Dr. Peter Smeets says.

In any respect, the RAAM is a challenge in terms of logistics, with the media team alone having to ship 300 kg of equipment to the USA. The high-tech race bikes are being checked, run-in and prepared for transportation. The “convoy of vehicles” consists of two motor homes, a pace car and the media car that have been equipped and branded.

At the end of the race, the high-tech race bike of Dr. Peter Smeets shall be auctioned to the highest bidder. Together with the amount of nearly 3,000 Euro that was raised during the CeBIT campaign, the proceeds will be spent to establish a youth project in Frankfurt, where a bicycle workshop shall be built.

The great adventure “Race Across America – gateprotect Across America” will start on Saturday, June 15, in Oceanside, California. If you want to follow the race live, you may do so on the website: http://www.raam.4athletes.com. On this site, there will also be live data on the position and speed of each athlete as well as the current part of the route.

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Download this press release under: http://www.gateprotect.com