Riding from
701km (433 miles) on a
bicycle in 24 hours
Earlier
this season I had completed two major long-distance bike rides: One from
Fargo to Minneapolis (440km) and one from
Fargo to Sioux City (536km). In both cases there was little wind. So
naturally I wondered just how far I might be able to ride with a good strong
tailwind blowing me downwind for 24 hours... If it was anything like the strong
wind I had in 2003 when riding up North from Fargo to
Winnipeg (400km), then a new record would certainly be possible.
Having
all but given up on the idea of breaking records this late in the year, you can
imagine how surprised I was when checking the weekend weather forecast on
Friday, September 17. The Yahoo weather page showed its telltale “windy” sign
for both Saturday and Sunday: Wind from the SSE with 25-35 mph and as a result
very warm temperatures would provide one more opportunity for a record
long-distance ride! From previous planned scenarios going North I recalled a
route similar to the
- Break the 700km
barrier.
- Cross the entire state of
(For US cross-state records, click here) - Qualify for the solo Race Across America (425
miles in 24 hrs).
(For details on how to qualify for RAAM, click here)
In
addition, I knew and had ridden the entire route before. Hwy 75 is a great road
with little traffic, broad shoulders and good surface most of the way.
Interstate 29 running largely parallel also simplifies transport and retrieval.
Transportation logistics of such a ride are not trivial. How do you get to the
starting point and back from the endpoint after the ride? How do you transport
your bike? So the preparations start way before the 24 hours.
|
|
|
Saturday, September 18, 2004
To get to the start, my plan was to take the
Greyhound bus down to
Back to the beginnings. The bus ride sort of set
the tone for the day to come – endless long straight-aways, sun and strong wind
(shaking the bus in gusts). This picture shows our bus at a reststop in
On the fund-raiser MS 150 bike
ride last month in
After a light dinner – you guessed it: Pasta for
the long distance rider, and light because it was merely 4 hours prior to the
beginning of the ride – we went to the nearby Falls park. Definitely worth a
visit. They illuminate the Falls until after 10:00pm, which provided a nice
photo opportunity.
An
additional logistical challenge was to get from
Sunday, September 19, 2004
I am not quite sure what the cab driver thought
about this, but he dropped me off at a closed gasstation in the middle of Rock
Rapids, leaving me to my adventure. I mounted the battery light and left all
the long cloth in the backpack – it was above 70F (20C) so it would be plenty
warm to ride. Having another 15 minutes to myself, I took a self-timed picture
and mentally prepared for the 24 hours ahead.
At
exactly 12:00am I took another picture of the city sign “Rock Rapids” and set
off. Right from the very beginning the wind was blowing at 10-15mph and pushed
me gently downwind. North of Rock Rapids Hwy 75 is very smooth, which is even
more important at night when you don’t see all the bumps like in daylight.
Being pushed by the wind felt great, and I thought: Well, you better enjoy
this, it will last for a while! After 15 minutes I reached the stateline
I
had taken a picture of this sign also on my Sioux
City ride 3 weeks earlier, so I knew where to look for it. It was unusally
warm: Both the absolute temperatures as well as the lack of any wind on my face
made me sweat profoundly – and that in the middle of the night. I drank at
least every 15 minutes to stay hydrated and hoped that the heat of the
afternoon would not be too difficult to bear later… It was also completely dark
out of town, with no moon and hardly any other man-made light. A clear sky of
brilliant stars was sparkling down – rarely have I seen the milkyway any better
than tonight. I experimented with turning off the headlight, but found it to be
too risky. Not that you miss the road or cars wouldn’t see you (I always turn
the light on when cars approach). But there is always a potential for some
pothole or roadkill appearing right in front of you. And the faster you go, the
more dangerous it would be to encounter any unseen obstacle.
Preparation
pays off: When the batteries of my head-light inevitably gave out, I had spare
batteries in my backpack to replace. Except it was so dark that I had to
continue riding until I found some farm-house or street light. At the next farm
I replaced the batteries just in time to get moving again when the farm dogs
started barking aggressively. It just felt so good to take off into the night
again, effortlessly cruising downwind and leaving the barking farmdogs behind,
heading for the calm and dark road ahead.
The
first couple of hours I made excellent progress. In Luverne when crossing
Interstate 90 I saw that my average speed was around 36km/h, which greatly
lifted my spirit. I expected the wind to strengthen during the day and hoped
for an overall average speed of 35km/h or higher. (To reach 700km I would have
to pedal 20 hours at 35km/h!) Town after little town was reached and left
behind in reverse order from my
Between
3-5 there was absolutely not a single vehicle on the road. It is very pieceful
and quiet out there at night. While I enjoyed riding at night – it was also
much cooler then during the day - I started to look forward to the hour of dawn
followed by sunrise. My last stop for this night was in
Not
long after this stop the sky turned blue and pink to the East just after
6:00am. Now in the middle of September the nights are as long as the days and
there is at least 3 hours less daylight for long rides. After many hours in the
dark you always look forward to the sunrise, so I often leaned my head right
while tucked down on the aero-bars to watch the dawn-lit sky, only occasionally
glancing at the road ahead. Then it happened: I heard an accelerating tapping
sound to my left very close nearby. I turned my head around to see what caused
the sound. Two deer were crossing the road right in front of my bike, perhaps
no more than 10 feet away! I just saw the tail ends of both of them disappear
off the road to the right. Before I could react it was already over. Still,
adrenaline shot up as I pondered what could have happened: A deer running into
your bike at high speeds will certainly take you down, potentially leaving me
laying on the road harldy visible to the sporadic traffic – a horrible thought.
I had often contemplated the danger of being hit by a deer at night, but I had
never gotten this close to actually being hit. As sudden as this had happened
and as scary as it was, it only lasted for an instant and I quickly got back to
my rhythm on the bike. Let’s hope for no more problems…
The
road was smooth, the wind was consistent and aside from a few hills I can
harldy imagine going any faster at night. At exactly 7:00am I reached
Ortonville [4] /
Today
I allowed myself only 20 minutes to maximize time spent riding. Better to have
many short stops throughout the day than to have fewer, longer stops. The next
section somewhat unexpectedly turned out to be the most frustrating of the
entire ride. There was very little wind, the road surface was worse than before
and the pancakes were again sitting in my stomach. (No more pancakes during
rides from now on…) Most importantly the lack of wind greatly concerned me. I
knew I had to be patient and pace myself. I felt like a sailor trapped in the
doldrums when sailing across the
I
assume the regional fluctuation in the wind was caused by the North-South
Continental Divide, which I was crossing near Ortonville. About an hour after
breakfast the wind returned, moderate at first, but then picking up strength
and allowing me to ride between 40-50km/h on the endless flat stretches of Hwy
75. The 300km mark rolled around at 9:47am, and combined with the now strong
wind I had renewed confidence that my goal was reachable.
It
got progressively hotter, and by the time I reached Whapeton [5] / Breckenridge, I needed to cool off. I
stopped at a local Taco Bell, washed myself and ordered an icecold drink.
It
was 11:30 at the end of my stop and the odometer read 340km – the halfway
point. I had serious doubts when thinking about going that same distance one
more time! But in terms of the time available in 24 hours it would be doable.
The riding was hotter and faster than before. The next 80km to Fargo/Moorhead
felt like a very familiar home stretch. I covered them under 2 hours.
The
400km mark rolled around at 1:04pm. Not long thereafter I arrived in
Fargo/Moorhead [6]. It felt odd to be midway
into a long ride and be so close to home. I could turn 1 mile to the West where
I had parked my car, drive home and could call it a day – a nice temptation.
But I had set my sights on a bigger goal and the wind continued to blow
unrelenting. I called Matt for a quick status check, stopped at a grocery store
to buy some bananas, and continued slowed down by several traffic lights on the
way to the Northern end of
When
I entered Hwy 75 after the last intersection in town, the downwind orgy
continued. I was doing 50km/h more often now. Many times I stood up from the
saddle to rest and enjoyed the wind just pushing me along and my speed only
slowly decreasing over time. The main concern now was the heat. With the full
sun, temperatures above 90F (32C) and the tailwind there was a serious chance
of overheating. The lukewarm gatorade didn’t help me to cool off anymore. About
50 km North of Moorhead in Hendrum I stopped at a gasstation. I ate icecream,
drank 1 liter of icecold water and poured water over my face and hair. That
helped to “keep my cool”.
The
500km mark rolled around at 4:13pm. Only later did it occur to me that I took a
picture of the 300km mark while riding 30+km/h, the 400km mark with 40+km/h and
now the 500km mark with 50km/h. I was ahead of schedule. My legs still felt
reasonably well, my main pain point being sitting in the saddle. The thought of
riding another 200km or so was definitely a huge challenge, mental as well as
physical.
Many
more small towns passed by which I remembered from previous rides. One added
challenge was the last stretch towards Crookston, the longest stretch of Hwy 75
not going straight North, but North-East. The strong cross-wind made for slow
going. I watched the many combines and tractors working on the harvest and
kicking up huge clouds of dust I could see and smell when passing hundreds of
yards downwind.
This
spectacle would go on until way past sunset. With the weather forecast to
change to cold and rainy over the next couple of days it was a race against
time for the farmers to bring in their harvest. Just like I was racing against
time. More endless straight roads past brief stops for food and drinks in both Crookston
[7] and Warren [8].
I had no more appetite due to the heat, and was just interested in mineral
drinks and water – lots of water. Typically I would leave each town with the
two bottle holders filled and 1 additional bottle in my backpack.
Due
to me being ahead of schedule I could relax a bit more. I rode sitting upright
and just contemplated the vast open fields around me. After hours of listening
to my iPod I actually turned it off as I found it somewhat distracting. There
is a certain element of freedom in this wide-open environment which makes me
really enjoy this sport – despite all the physical discomfort after many hours
on the bike. Nobody here to tell you what to do or not to do, you set your own
rules, everything refreshingly simple and free.
Slowly
the sun was approaching the horizon and this time of the year it would be dark
before 8:00pm. The 600km mark rolled around at 7:37pm. Never had I gone this
far in a single day! Here are the 300 – 400 – 500 – 600km marks all in one
picture. Note the time of day and increasing speed as the day progressed!
I
noticed the little stub on my aero-bar where I had mounted both odometer and
the heavy headlight started to vibrate and come loose. I stopped, pulled out my
tools and tried to tighten the bolt. As I leaned over the bike at dusk I
wondered what passing cars would think of me in the middle of nowhere. But when
you’re prepared to rdie all night anyway what difference does it make where it
gets dark? I fiddled with it for several minutes but somehow failed to fix it.
So I just mounted odometer and light at different spots and kept going.
Now
that I was past 600km with still 4 hours left in the day I started to think
about the finish and how many miles would be left. Riding at night is always
psychologically challenging, and here I was back to the dark side after so many
hours in the early morning already. As I mentioned earlier, the harvest was
going on everywhere in full swing, which made for some interesting sights with
the big machines illuminating the fields between the dust-clouds carried away
by strong winds. So the miles continued to go by, with my main reference point
being my Breitling watch with its fluorescent dials. Instead of counting down
miles I was basically counting down minutes.
My
next – and last - big stop would be in Hallock [9],
only about 30km from the border. I vividly remember our stop from the group
ride to
After
680km
Just
15 minutes later Matt pulled up in my car. I was very happy to see Matt and
that everything had worked out as planned. There was only one more thing to do:
I still wanted to complete the 700km now that I was so close. Since we would
have to go out of our ways and lose some time to the repeated border crossings
had I wanted to continue North into
Matt,
I thank you for retrieving me this evening. You are the real hero behind the
scenes in this story. Needless to say that I was VERY happy when the above
picture was taken at 11:32pm, with the final tally of 701km (433 miles).
Not
long ago I was breaking new ground surpassing 400km and then 500km in a single
day, often wondering about my ultimate potential on the bike. Given that
conditions were so favorable as to allow me to reach 700km - strong, consistent
winds, fairly flat, straight roads, a well-known route with no surprises along
the way and relatively short cumulative rest time - I rest assured that I am pretty close to
whatever that personal limit may be. By many measures this was the ride of my
life.
Now
all I needed to do was eat, drink and sleep while Matt was steering the car
into the still raging wind. What a great adventure it was, crossing all of