This June, three American handcyclists will be competing in endurance cycling’s most grueling challenge, the Race Across America. André Kajlich, a double amputee from Edmonds, Washington, will be the first handcyclist to compete in the solo race. Doug Henry and David Baily, both former professional Motocross racers with paraplegia, will be racing as part of the four-person Legends of the Road team.

The RAAM dubs itself “The World’s Toughest Bicycle Race” and it has the stats to prove it: 3,000 miles across 12 states with 175,000 feet of total elevation gain. There are no stages in the RAAM. The clock starts when the riders leave Oceanside, California, and doesn’t stop until they reach the finish line in Annapolis, Maryland. Solo riders have a maximum of 12 days to complete the race, and teams have a maximum of nine days.

Doug Henry and David Baily will be looking to add their names to a select few handcyclists who have crossed the finish line in the team version of the race. In 2009, Vico Merklein, Patrick Doak, Carlos Moleda, and Dr. Hannes Koepen became the first handcyclists to complete the race as part of Team Can Be Venture. In 2012, Thomas Frühwirth and Manfred Putz upped the difficulty by completing the race as a two-person team. Until this year, no solo hand cyclist has attempted the RAAM.

For André Kajlich, to even qualify for the RAAM was a major accomplishment in an athletic career that includes Ironman World Championships, a US Paratriathlete of the Year award, and becoming the only wheelchair athlete to ever complete an Ultraman (double the distances of an Ironman). To be eligible to compete in the RAAM solo race, Kajlich had to complete a handcycle time trial of over 400 miles in 24 hours. He expects the actual race to be something else entirely.

“This is a serious level up from anything,” says Kajlich. “Some of that stuff [previous races] has been hard, but … if I were to just try to go 12 days on 90 minutes of sleep a night, even if I did nothing all day, it would probably be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and here we are trying to cover 3,000 miles in the same 12 days.”

To compete in a solo race as long and difficult as the RAAM on a handcycle is to break new ground for hand cycling as a sport. Kajlich understands that the attempt is something of a leap into the unknown. “It is definitely possible though,” he says. “I have no reservations about me, or any other hand cyclist being able to do this. If I didn’t truly believe that I probably wouldn’t try at all.”

Kajlich departs on the solo race on June 13, while Doug Henry and David Baily begin the team event on June 17. You can track their progress here.

To see Kajlich in action, here is a 2014 video of him becoming the first-ever wheelchair user to finish the Ultraman. He didn’t use his racing wheelchair because he said it would have given him an unfair advantage: