Crossing the US in less than 8 days....on a bicycle!

Christoph Strasser finished his race this morning and set another new record. This is a time trial so the clock starts when the racer begins and does not stop until the end. This means sleep time and other time off the bike has to be kept to a minimum.

3,022.36 miles with over 170,000 feet of mountain climbing.

7 days, 22 hours and 11 minutes. Average speed of 16.42 mph. This means that the time on the bike had to average 20 mph or greater for 3,000 miles.

Fortunately, he had some favorable weather this year with very little rain. There were some bad winds but he is a strong rider and toughed it out.

Speaking of sleep time, yesterday when a crew member spoke with the media, he stated that time off the bike so far was around 5 hours! Wow, this is in his 8th day on the bike! He had 3 breaks of 1 hour 15 minutes each and 4 breaks of 15-20 minutes each. That is it. Word has it that he is sleeping now.

 

That's insane! I couldn't even do that in my truck! And the sleep....... with the amount he got in 8 days, I would get in 1 night, its game over for me.

 

I caught my error this morning. When I typed the finish time, that was his finish time last year when he set a new record. This year he beat that again and the course was longer. So make that record at 7 days, 15 hours and 56 minutes. Awesome!

 

The riders have to have a light on the bike and this is to RAAM specs so no cheap thing will do the trick here. That way if they get out of contact with the follow vehicle, they can still see where they are going. However, the rider must have a follow vehicle at night at all times. He must be in the headlight path of the follow vehicle. So the only time the rider might be out of the path of the headlights on the follow vehicle would be perhaps coming down a mountain and in those hairpin curves. It is difficult to keep the rider in the headlight path and much depends upon the driver of the follow vehicle. In addition, the bike can go faster than the follow vehicle!

As for other vehicles on the road, in most areas where the route is the traffic is light at night which is a big help. But experience goes a long ways here.

 

One has to keep in mind that before the race, all police on the race route are contacted so they are aware and that helps for the most part. The last few years CA and AZ have balked and do not want a follow vehicle during the daylight hours; but 1 hour before and after sunset/sunrise there must be a follow vehicle.

When one digs into the race and finds the rules and how the race headquarters works with the police and highway departments, you can see where a lot of thought goes into the race and the route it takes. Also, remember that this started in 1982 so over 30 years of working with this has helped to make it as safe as possible. In the early years they rode on the Interstates in CA, AZ and NM. Today it is rare to have to follow the Interstate. One exception to this is how the Arizona authorities convinced the race to follow the Interstate coming into Flagstaff from the south. The reason is that the route through Sedona on Alternate 89 is a narrow road and there tends to be lots of vacationers along with a couple of really steep climbs. They thought it would be better to have them on the Interstate rather than that other road.

 

I suspect it would be like any athlete preparing for an event. One could even compare the Olympics. They want something badly so they prepare.

I think it was Bobby Knight who said, "Lots of teams want to win but few want to prepare to win." Or something like that. I also think perhaps there are plenty of sponsors to sweeten the pot for the rider. Just look at all the advertising that is usually on jerseys.

 

Part of that time would include bike repairs. I would imagine going through a set of tires or 2 or some other mechanical problems.. Pretty awesome testament to the stamina of the human spirit! Ride on!

Ray

 

Some it seems to take a long time to recover and others not so much. Naturally, the older riders take longer to recover and most say it can take 6 months to a year to fully recover. One thing one rider told me was he had a lot of trouble with caffeine. Naturally most of them take it in big doses during the race then after the race have caffeine withdrawal. I remember one year when after the race I hauled bikes and equipment back to San Francisco. It was about a week after his race finished when I got there and he complained a lot of withdrawal but otherwise was fine. Funny part is that he was not home when I got there so I called him. How would he arrive? By bicycle, of course.

 

You are partially correct Ray. But they all have spare bikes so if there is a problem, it is a really quick switch to the spare. They usually have 4 or more set of wheels and take along 10 or more spare tires and tubes. I remember one year when I was driving the follow vehicle and we got into Kansas before we had a flat tire (rare). The rider stopped but before he was stopped we knew what was wrong. By the time I got out (I was driving), one of the other crew was out of the van and getting a wheel off the roof rack. Total stop time for the rider was less than one minute.

You are right on about the testament to the stamina of the human spirit but I would add, the human body too. Most folks are unaware just what the limits to the body are. Well, do any of us know the limits? Records get broken in all sports year after year. But in this race, the speed record was set in, I think, 1986 and stood until 2013. Then it was broken again in 2014. Will it ever be broken again? I think so but it could be a long time before that happens.

 

It depends! Naturally with so much sweating there is not as much peeing. Yet, some do not get off for that but "wear" special gear to take care of that. As for the other part, one has to stop.

One of the big problems on this race for many, especially the rookies is diarrhea. I've seen lots of guys have to drop the second day because they spent so much time on the throne. It dehydrates them and most times they can't take in more else they get sick. No calories in is like not buying gas for the vehicle. You run out fast.