Volunteers Maintain Around-the-Clock Vigil : Cycling: Road conditions relayed, times recorded at Downey shop, which is communications headquarters for Race Across America.

As the number of incoming telephone calls increases at the Downey Cyclery, the headquarters of the Race Across America, Julie Degraffenreid goes to the back of her brother’s shop to wake up station supervisor Randy Evans.

Evans, of Placentia, will spend nearly 24 hours a day at the bicycle shop during the RAAM, a 2,922-mile trek from Irvine to Savannah, Ga. Evans took two weeks off from work and is managing a staff of 15 volunteers who record times and maintain communication between the timing stations, road officials and cyclists along the course.

The volunteers, so far, have helped the competitors in many ways. A timing station in Mexican Hat, N.M., for instance, was supposed to be at a Best Western Hotel. The hotel’s name had been changed, however, and volunteers alerted the riders and crews before anyone got lost.

Volunteers also have warned riders about unexpected road construction near Pagosa Springs, Colo.

Most of the incoming phone calls to RAAM headquarters are from officials at timing stations reporting times or from riders’ escorts finding out who is ahead of them and how far they are from the front of the pack.

“Sometimes we’ll get five or six calls in a couple of hours,” said Shawn Nelson, who worked at the headquarters Wednesday morning along with Evans and Degraffenreid. “But other times we’ll get five or six calls in 10 minutes.”

Nelson took calls Wednesday morning from the news media and fans who were following the race while Degraffenreid took calls from the field.

Racers’ times through timing stations and their positions in the pack are shown on a large television screen hooked up to the RAAM headquarters computer. The names of riders with penalties are recorded on paper taped to the wall, and a hand-drawn chart with each riders’ name and number leans next to the television. Three tables, covered with telephones, the computer terminal, paper and a fax machine, are clustered around the television.

Though all three of the volunteers at those tables Wednesday morning were cyclists, none could imagine themselves riding in a RAAM.

Said Nelson, who rides in criteriums and road races: “Eight straight days on the bike is a little much. Eight hours is pushing it.”

Evans is a member of the Orange County Wheelmen cycling club and is deeply involved in the organization and officiating of the RAAM and other races. But she does not compete at all.

Evans’ seat in the Downey Cyclery--despite its distance from the course--might be the best spot to view the race.

Evans enjoys hearing and repeating the stories from all over the course. “(Race director) John Marino called early and said it was the worst first day in the history of RAAM,” Evans said. “He said there was a 110-degree temperature through the Arizona desert. He called and said, ‘I’m sitting here in the cab of my van and I’m almost suffering heat stroke.’ ”