Race Across America — with FedEx SenseAware

Photo from www.senseaware.tumblr.com

Have you ever heard of the 3000-mile Race Across America (RAAM) Bicycle Race? Have you ever watched it? The RAAM is known as the "World's Toughest Bicycle Race" and is one of the longest running sporting events in the world.  I'm always fascinated with events like this in our own country. I had heard of it but never really bonded with a team until this year. 

This year we tracked The Ohio CycleWorks bike team which was raising money for the Akron Children's Hospital. This team is sponsored by FedEx Custom Critical. They outfitted the team with SenseAware travel devices to provide near real-time GSP location and environmental conditions. 


This charity makes for a natural fit for SenseAware® because it allows healthcare providers to monitor critical shipments, the kind that can help save the lives of the very children that Ohio CycleWorks is riding to support. 


Have you ever heard of this tracking system? The tracking is web-based which allowed us to track the crews on their 3000-mile adventure. Below are the SenseAware devices that each rider had to wear.

Photo from www.senseaware.tumblr.com

We tracked them daily and were amazed at the conditions at which they traveled. We got to check their temperature and humidity levels, found out about the dry Kansas winds and no rest and no change of clothes day. Here is a snippet of their journey which you can go look at on tumblr www.senseaware.tumblr.com.

• Saturday June 16th they left Oceanside, CA at a temp of 81 degrees.
• Sunday June 17th in Wickeburg, AZ with 84.9 degrees.
• Monday June 18th at Highway 191 in Utah 77.9 degrees.
• Tuesday June 19th Bartlett, Kansas 91.6 degrees.
• Wednesday June 20th El Dorado Springs, Missouri 90 degrees.
• Thursday June 21st Bluff City, MO 91.4 degrees.
• Friday June 22nd Belpre, OH 92.4 degrees.
• The end! Annapolis, Maryland

Photo of their journey from www.senseaware.tumblr.com


For more information about the Ohio CycleWorks Charities or to donate to their cause, visit their website at http://ohiocycleworkscharities.org/

SenseAware is a new tracking and monitoring service powered by FedEx. This technology provides real-time data about their shipments. Customers can stay connected to their shipments by viewing these vital statistics-current location, temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity and light sensitivity. Of course some customers will need this more than others.

What a wonderful service for industries such as healthcare, life sciences, aerospace, the arts, financial institutions an more! High-value, highly sensitive products can now be shipped giving security to all parties involved.  I personally needed to mail a scrapbook full of family photos a few years back but chose not too because I was too stressed about something happening to the book along the way. The SenseAware technology would have given me peace of mind.

I received compensation from FedEx for covering the use of SenseAware® technology during the 2012 Race Across America. My ideas and opinions relayed in this blog post and any related Twitter discussions are the my own and are not provided by FedEx or its affiliates and subsidiaries.