Written June 21, 1996 by Russell Dwarshuis
I rode the National 24 Hour challenge, June 15-16, 1996
Some background
Eight years ago I bought a Tour Easy (with large Zzipper fairing)
because I wanted to do a cross-continent tour and figured that If I
was going to spend big bucks on a bike it might as well be one with a
real advantage. I also wanted a bike that was faster than my upright Miyata.
I also wanted to find out just how many miles I could bicycle in 24 hours.
Again, a recumbent seemed a natural for that type of ride. After taking
delivery of the Tour Easy, I signed up for the National 24-hour challenge.
I read the rules and got a little concerned when I read that aero
handlebars were prohibited. I called up the organizers and was
disappointed to learn that recumbents weren't allowed, either.
Since I had already signed up, I rode my trusty-but-uncomfortable
Miyata anyway. I had been doing a little racing then but had no
experience on really long rides. I let my adrenaline get the best of me
and made the mistake of riding with a group that was stronger than I. I
quit after 13 hours and 205 miles. Since recumbents were prohibited, I
confined all subsequent long rides to when I was out on an extended tour
and had seen enough of the central plains of U.S.A. (a good excuse for
high-mileage days).
Recumbent bicycle racing
A few years ago I learned of recumbent bike racing and started taking
part in those. I observed that the fastest bikes had seat back angles
much more relaxed than the production recumbents made in North America
(they were home-made machines). I finally decided that I needed a
still-faster recumbent. When I learned that Zach Kaplan had a M5
lowracer frame for sale I bought it (after procrastinating for several
months, actually).
I also learned that the organizers of the National 24-hour challenge had
added a recumbent catagory for the first time this year. Inspired by Zach
Kaplan's ultra-marathon adventures aboard his fully-faired F86, I decided
to sign up.
Preperation and training
I had procrastinated too long and the M5 was assembled with only enough
time for about 500 miles of training on it (I did ride about 2000 miles
on other bikes so far this year, though). I didn't even have a front
derailluer on it until one week before the ride (I used a right-handed,
five digit shifter while waiting for a front derailleur). The M5 is
different enough from the Tour Easy that I'm still not completely used to
the pedalling dynamics (not to mention some crank overlap with the
front wheel!). I also hadn't gone on ANY rides longer than 65 miles, with
most of my "long" rides around 55 miles one or two days a week. At the
end of those rides my right knee would be a little sore. Part of this was
due to having the leg length adjustment a bit off on the M5.
I was worried that I'd have to quit early due to sore knees, but decided
to go for it anyway. I set my goal at 300 miles. My stratagy was to do
the first 100 miles in 7 hours, the 2nd in 8 hours, and the last in 9
hours. Even if I did have to quit early it would still be worth doing as
a learning experience. If I could break my own record of 205 miles, I'd
be happy.
I talked my brother into being my crew for the ride. Unfortunately he had
to work till 9pm on Friday and the ride started at 8am on Saturday. The
ride is in Kent County, Michigan, which is about 120 miles from where I
live. We didn't leave till 11pm Friday night and got to a hotel at 1am
Saturday. Pre race jitters made me wake up about 4 times in 6 hours,
always worried that I'd get to the race late, so I didn't sleep too well.
I even set the alarm clock back 15 minutes to make sure. It's a good
thing I did because I got to the race with barely enough time to sign up
and put the bike together. I rolled up to the end of the group starting
the ride just as they were announcing the official start of the race at
8am. I hadn't even eaten breakfast. Now I know how Zack K. felt at the
beginning of many of his rides ;)
The course has three loops: 115 miles (with 4 checkpoints) this loop is
ridden once and only once, then a 24 mile loop with two check points is
ridden as many times as possible before dusk. Finally, there's a six
mile night loop. The terrain is moderately hilly, with one short, steep
hill to keep things interesting on the daytime loops.
And they're off!!
I stuffed a big chunk of raisin bread and a few Power Bars in a fanny
pack (that I wore on my stomach; a stomach pack??) before I left. I
wolfed down most of that before the first check point as a substitute for
breakfast. I only had one water bottle, so I had to stop at a
convenience store to refill once even though I didn't really feel like
stopping. The first 30 miles were relatively hilly. I strived to
maintain an even power output up and down hills. As a result, I'd get
passed by upright bicyclists on the way up, then pass them on the way
down. I also drafted the one recumbent tandem on the ride for awhile
since they were going very close to my pace. After awhile I decided I
could go faster, so I passed them. They passed me when I had stopped at
the store, so I was going to see them later.
Traffic had really thinned out by then. I felt like picking up the pace
and pushing up my heart rate but then thought the better of it. I really
didn't want to drop out early again or blow my knees. Soon a pack of
about 10 riders passed me going a few miles an hour faster. One of them
made some stupid comments about my low racer being like a Coupe de Ville.
Hard to say if he was just being friendly or being a jerk. I sped up and
drafted them for awile. I had to push it up the hills pretty hard. I
blew by them going down hills and stayed to the left so that they could
pass me again (there was no motorized traffic in sight). I felt that this
was kind of disruptive to their pace line and I was pushing too hard up
the hills so I decided to slow down and ride with another recumbent rider
I met earlier that I saw up ahead. I rode with him to the first check
point.
My knee was just a tiny bit sore at the first check point at mile 33 or
so. I looked all over for my brother, but he was nowhere in sight. I sat
around for a few minutes chatting with an aquaintance who was directing
riders into the check point, and purposefully ate more of the free fruit
that was provided than I really wanted to. The oranges were delicious,
but I had had my heart set on sipping on a Coke. I was probably there
about 20 minutes, and the crowd was thinning out (remember, I started dead
last). I left so that I'd be able to meet my goal of 7 hours to the
1st century mark. Just as I was leaving I spotted my brother. He had
decided to park the truck under some shade instead of by all the other
crew's vehicles. He had bought some breakfast for me, but it was cold and
I was already full. I ate some scrambled eggs anyway and had some of that
coca-cola that I had been denied. Finally I got back on the road.
100 miles down, 200 to go
I continued to take it easy on the bike, got passed by a few riders and
passed a few others. I caught up with the recumbent tandem again and
drafted them awhile. At the next check point I didn't stay quite as
long, but I did dawdle about and take it easy. At both the 1st and 2nd
check points I saw some other recumbents leave as I was pulling in. I
finished my first 100 miles in around 7.5 hours so I wasn't exactly
flying. I was disappointed that I had sat around so long at the check
points and was taking longer than I wanted to for the first 100 miles.
I was going to meet my brother at the end of the first loop at 115 miles.
I really didn't feel like stopping because by now I wanted to make up some
time. I decided to go on to the 2nd loop when I didn't spot my crew
waiting for me (again.) I topped up my water bottle and got back on the
bike. I sped up a bit so I'd make up some time. I did stop at the end of
the 2nd loop for awhile to rest and eat some more. By the end of that
time there was only 15 minutes to go before the night loop opened up. I
had only done the 2nd loop once, though, so I felt that I should go do
another loop just for the challenge. The 1st and 2nd loop both went over
a short but steep hill. I remembered this hill from the first time I did
the race because I nearly had to get off and walk. This time it was no
problem.
Can that thing climb hills?
Most bicyclists have the misperception that "recumbents can't climb". I
think that recumbents climb only slightly slower than regular bikes
because they're heavier (if the bikes are loaded down with panniers, etc.
for touring then there is no difference). Most of this misperception
comes from the fact that recumbent riders don't push hard on hills
because there's no incentive to increase power output like there is on an
upright bike. On an upright the rider instantly puts out more power if
they get off of the saddle. Surprise, surprise, that's when they pass
the recumbent rider who has been maintaining the same level of exertion.
Upright riders also increase power output to avoid having to get out of
the saddle or even change gears. On a recumbent, you have to spin the
cranks up the hills so shifting isn't avoided like on a upright and hence
power output is more constant.
The aforementioned hill is steep enough that I ran out of low gears and
was forced to increase power output to nearly an anaroebic level. I
enjoyed the surprised look on one guy's face (who was trying to catch up).
He was just starting to close the gap as we got to the top of the hill,
then I proceeded to blast down the other side going about 10 miles an hour
faster than he was. Bye-bye! I hit 39 MPH down that hill (coasting).
Too bad there was a stop sign at the bottom... Recumbent's can't climb,
yeah, right. Rather than explain all this to the numerous riders who
asked that standard question, I just played along and said I'd probably
have to walk up _that_ hill. In short, the course was flat enough to make
the recumbent climbing debate a non-issue in my opinion.
Zoom
I stopped briefly at the end of the 2nd time around on the 2nd loop; just
long enough to find my brother and talk him into going to a pizza parlor
for some take out. At that point I had rode 163 miles. We decided that
he'd go get the pizza while I did 6-12 miles on the night course (one or
two laps). I still wanted to make up some time, so I got behind some fast
riders right away. We were going around 5 mph faster than everyone else,
it seemed. I pushed hard going up hills, then had to ride the brakes to
avoid flying right by them on the down hill. The low racer is so low to
the ground that riders behind me get very little draft. I let some of
them pass me and get on the wheel I had been on so that they wouldn't tire
prematurely.
I kind of regretted doing that for one rider since it turned out he was a
little squirrely and was weaving around a bit more than I liked. I was
afraid he was going to overlap wheels of the rider ahead of him and take
me down with him. A few laps went by, but each time I looked around at
the check point my brother was nowhere to be seen. The bunch of riders I
had been drafting pulled in at the check point at the same time a really
fast rider pulled out. I got on his wheel and drafted awhile. He had a
very fast cadence; must have been spinning over 120. This was in contrast
to a rider I drafted on loop two who was grinding along at about 50 rpm.
I could just about hear his knees grinding to little bits. At one point
the spinner grumbled something I couldn't understand. I asked him what he
said and got no reply. I figured mayby he didn't like me drafting him and
I was getting pretty hungry by then so I pulled in the next time we went
by the checkpoint. I rode about 24 miles since I had by brother go out
for the food and I figured he had to be back by now. I shouldn't have got
on this guy's wheel because he was too fast for me anyway.
Eat or bonk
My brother had passed me on the way back from the pizzaria and thought
that I saw him. He was wondering why I hadn't come in. The pizza was
cold but I ate it anyway. It's amazing how good a cold pizza can be after
nearly 200 miles and umpteen Power Bars. After enough Power Bars you feel
like the guy at the end of the movie
Soylent Green who was screaming IT'S
MADE FROM PEOPLE!! SOYLENT GREEN IS MADE FROM PEOPLE!!! (Go rent the
movie, you'll understand). They kind of lose their appeal and you wind up
eating them simply because you don't want to bonk.
Before starting the night loop again I gobbled down a few tablets of
ibuprofen to reduce the knee pain that was setting in. I had managed to
make up the lost time from the first loop and finished 200 miles right
around 15 hours. I slowed down since my knees got a little sore from
that hard effort behind the fast riders (or mayby it was just all those
miles and not enough training). I had beaten my old record and
felt that now these were all gravy or bonus miles. I was still feeling
alert and not too sore and decided I could ride till midnight without any
problems. Normally I stay up till 12 so I figured this wasn't a big deal.
12 rolled past, and I figured that well, once in awhile I stay up real
late and get to bed at 2am so I might as well keep going. 2am turned into
3am and I thought, well, I think I can keep going till the dawn's early
light. At one point I felt like going in at the check point to get some
more to eat. I foolishly ignored my cravings and suddenly got _really_
tired and hungry. Fortunately some fans of the race (who live on the
course) had a table set up with snacks for whoever cared to stop. They had
cookies and brownies; lots of sugar but a little short in the startch
department. They had hot coffee and Iced tea. I don't drink coffee but
wanted some caffine in me so I had the latter. I was getting cold and had
had enough sugar to last another 3 miles back to the checkpoint.
How many miles?
I stopped, got some warmer clothes on and walked around a bit. Much to my
surprise, I still wasn't overly tired. I went into the park's main
building where the ride organization was set up. I discovered that they
only had me recorded as having done the 2nd loop once! I was not certain
how they counted the "day" mileage so I asked them. The official must
have misunderstood my question to be a challenge of the "official"
records. She told me I was out of luck since any challenges to the day
total had to be done by midnight. I told them I didn't really care that
much since I was just out for a personal record and just wanted to know
what the total meant, but by then the organizer had overheard and insisted
that she wanted to have all my mileage count officially. It was really
slow that time of night for the race organizers, so they made an exception
to the 12 midnight challenge deadline for me and checked the checkpoint
records to straighten the error out. That was very nice of them!
Having been encouraged by that I went out and rode some more. I was
still on schedule to get to 300 by 8am. My senses were a little dulled
and my thinking was a little slow. My headlight was only 2.5 watts and
not terribly well focused. I had to concentrate to make sure I didn't
ride off the road or into one of the traffic barriers that was set up on
half the night course when I was being passed by someone. I had a rear
view mirror on my glasses, but it was hard to tell how far away they
were, how fast they were approaching, or sometimes if they were a bicycle
or a car. Upshift, downshift, pass someone, get passed by someone, eat
another power bar, drink more water. I felt like some sort of automaton
on a mission. The checkpoint was well lit, in contrast to the rest of
the loop. It beckoned me: come to the light! The people there were
great, cheering on all the riders and congratulating them by name (it was
on the mileage tag). After awhile they had memorized my name and cheered
"Yeah, Russell!" as I approached the check point. It was a reality check
every six miles.
cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep!
Then around 5:30 the birds woke up and started to chirp. I could barely
tell that horizon was starting to brighten. Only mayby half an hour
before sunrise! I'm one of those "night people" and very rarely see a
sunrise, and I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately my knees began to
really hurt. My speed had plummeted to about 12 mph with my heart rate
below 120. I was still mentally alert enough to keep going, but I just
had to stop and rest my poor knees awhile. I layed down in my truck, set
my alarm clock for 45 minutes and instantly fell asleep.
ZZZzzzzz....
I woke up just before my alarm started beeping. I had allowed myself
enough time to complete 300 miles if I averaged 12 miles an hour for
the rest of the ride. My
knees still hurt, so I gobbled down more ibuprofen. The sun had risen
and was a beautiful shade of red in the morning sky. I regretted having
miss the sunrise, but what the heck. I miss them all the other days of
the year, too. I went out on the course and was surprised how many more
riders there were out than compared to at 4am. I was still plodding
along, but at least my knees didn't hurt as bad. After half an hour the
ibuprofen seemed to kick in and the pain subsided a bit more. I was
still plodding, but at least people weren't flying by me like I was
parked anymore.
The home stretch
I picked up the pace for the last two laps, just to make sure I'd finish
my 300 miles in time. You never know when you'll get a flat tire, and I
didn't want a little chard of glass stopping me from going 300 miles in 24
hours. I rolled into the checkpoint for the last time at about 7:45am.
It was starting to warm up and I was overdressed by then and starting to
sweat. I was glad it was over. I'd finally reached a goal I had set so
long ago! Hurrah! I even got a medal for placing first in the recumbent
catagory.
The riding conditions had been nearly ideal. There was practically no
wind the whole day, it didn't get much above 80 degrees F and it wasn't
terribly humid. A new course record was set at 493 miles by someone a
hell of a lot faster than I'll ever be! Well, I could build a full
fairing, train a whole bunch more and maybe beat it (if the race
organizers could be talked into letting me ride). Mayby I COULD ride 500
miles then. Hmmm...
Ack! What am I thinking! Someone, please, talk me out of it!
Aches and pains
It's now a week after I started the ride and my knees are still a bit
sore, but they're on the mend. I was surprised after the ride to discover
that my buttocks were a little numb. They didn't hurt at all, it just
felt weird is all. I guess the nerve endings got squashed from being sat
on for nearly 24 hours straight. That got better in a day or so. I never
had any back, shoulder, neck, arm, crotch, arm or hand problems, though.
I don't know how many riders I saw that stood on the pedals while coasting
downhills to relieve pressure 'down there' or took their hands off the
handlebars and shook them to try to get some pain relief or sat up to get
some relief for their aching backs and necks. I recall the conversations
I overheard in the bathrooms about the various creams and ointments used
for relief from too much pressure on the crotch. Yechh. I'm surprised
there wasn't more recumbents on this ride because all these problems
disappear on a recumbent.
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