By the end of the race, every rider has been transformed by their suffering. Some have found strength within themselves, and some have found weaknesses that they never other-
wise would have encountered. Each participant is left with a glimpse of themselves, stripped bare of their everyday concerns and thrust into
an elemental battle for survival.
“This race will find your weakness,” competitor Steve Born has said,

“and humble the shit out of you.” Yet no matter how challenging the experience, the race continues to have a magnetic, perhaps even mystical pull on its participants. For some riders, the Race Across America changed their lives. Yet some riders return to the race precisely because it didn’t change their lives. They still seek the catharsis they expected, and they continue to pursue it again and again.