Here are a few clips from what ended up as a 20 hour, 174 mile ride, which started at 8:30 am on 6/2, & ended at 4:30am, on 6/3/16. I had planned it as a 24 hr/200 mile ride, but the saying, “Ride till you puke” became my reality. It was still the most amazing and rewarding experience I’ve ever had riding a uni!
After watching the finished video, it makes me want to go out and try it again! Big thanks to those who made a donation to the “Make-A-Wish” foundation, a very worthy cause for children afflicted with life-threatening medical conditions.
Makes my personal best look soooooo small in comparison
I was thinking at the beginning of the video that borrowing a G36 may help to cover the 200 miles faster (so more rest in 24h). But it seems like you were well on time with only 25 miles left for 4 hours.
Next try, you should fall back to safe food (banana, sport gels et al.) in the last 6-8 hours to be on the safe side.
Thanks Siddhartha. Yes, I should’ve waited until after the ride to have the pizza. In fear of not eating and drinking enough during the ride, I’m sure I consumed too much and it just took its toll. This was also the first time I ever stayed awake 24 hours so that was probably also a factor. Next time I might try doing two 100 mile rides two days in a row, which would eliminate body clock issues and also night riding. I found that to be disorienting and my riding was much slower and tentative at night with the constant feeling that I might run into something at any moment!
Thanks guys. Been thinking about trying 200 miles again, but doing them in two days, one after the other, thereby eliminating the body clock issue and also night riding. I found that riding in the dark, even though I did have a light, made me feel very tentative, like I might hit something at any moment, which resulted in much slower riding as well.
I’d like to try it sometime before the end of June since the days are longest and I could knock out a century before it gets dark. Only thing is waking up the next day when I would normally be resting and recovering, knowing that I’d have to go out and do it again! But still think it’s very doable, especially now since the 174 served as a great “conditioner” for the full 200.
Definitely! Riding in the dark is also exhausting for your brain because you have to stay on maximum alert to react instantly to contours in the pavement that you aren’t aware of until the moment you ride over them- definitely not a situation you want to be in when trying to finish off 200 miles!
If you really don’t want to break your ride up into 2 days, you could always go to the Arctic, but that’s kind of far, and taking a 36 on a plane in times like these would probably be even more expensive.
Haha, that would be one way to do that, and I’m crazy enough to consider it just because it would be so unique! I know there were a couple guys who completed 5 centuries in 5 days, which is amazing. That would be a helluva challenge right there!
Terry have you ever thought about starting at midnight? You would be at your strongest. I’m not sure if it would make a big difference considering all the other factors involved. My two cents.
Just completed my 10th, and final century on 4.20.17. Also did it as a fundraiser for Make-a-wish foundation. With 4 of the 10 rides being longer than 100 miles, all ten add up to 1,158 miles. Total time on this one was 10:38. Was fighting a massive headwind on the last leg back, and it was so strong that I could barely keep moving, making it feel like my 36er weighed 100 pounds!
Also smacked my head pretty hard on the overhead concrete structure as I was riding through the Redondo pier parking lot. Luckily my helmet saved the day! It’s in the video and sounds like a gigantic egg shell cracking open!
Here’s the video of the ride, in condensed form of course:
@David: I’d used the “NNC Flatfish” since it came out. These were made several years back, in limited numbers, but is no longer made as far as I know. I believe the KH Zero - since replaced by the Fusion One - was inspired by the Flatfish. The Nimbus “Stadium” is another option for a saddle with a flatter profile.
