Long Distance Cycling - Sebring 24hr- Who else is going?

In what I can only classify as a severe case of brain failure, I have registered for Sebring on the 17th. I was looking forward to this since dropping out last year from heat exhaustion, but with a back injury that took me out before Texas and barely enough bike time to even count, I know that I am totally unprepared. I have ballooned to 198 pounds and had a smoking relapse, just quitting again last week (yeah smoking, that's smart).

Anyway I decided in my infinite wisdom that the only way to get back on track and make sure I don't pick up the ciggies again is to drive 15 hours to ride my bike for 24 hours, then drive home in time to catch a flight out on Tuesday for work. Shear genius I tell you! :lol:

So for anyone that is going, I will be the fat guy wheezing away on the nice Giant w/ rear disk wheel. Please be kind and save me some water at the rest stops. :lol:

Are you trying to go cold turkey or are you using patches or gum. As a former chewer I can sympathize. Nicotine is very addictive, after 6 months I was still fighting cravings. My weight also went up and I am only now really getting some control over it. Hang in there cause it is really worth quitting..

Sorry I guess that was pretty off topic, no I won't be there, but I hope to go to the Texas Time Trial next Oct.

I'll be there. Totally unprepared, scared to think about what it's gonna be like (never done more than a long century) and not sure what I was thinking when I signed up. Should be interesting.

I'll be there. Totally unprepared, scared to think about what it's gonna be like (never done more than a long century) and not sure what I was thinking when I signed up. Should be interesting.
It is a very flat course, good checkpoints and plenty of us in the back. I will be in a Sunburst (orange) Chevy HHR, come on over when you get there. If we are both going slow, maybe we can work together or at least encourage each other!

Wow, thanks! I'll be with a group for the 12-hour, but then just a few of us continuing for the 24=hour. Sorella Cycling (there will be about 10 of us) but I'm on a Bianchi, going slow but steady.

So who's leading down at the Sebring in the middle of the night? I've got my money on homeboy Dave Haase, 3 time RAAM'er, 2 time finisher. Go Dave!

So who's leading down at the Sebring in the middle of the night? I've got my money on homeboy Dave Haase, 3 time RAAM'er, 2 time finisher. Go Dave!


Dave DNF'd the UMCA 24-hour in September. I'm not sure what his problem was, but when I finished my second day loop, he and all the guys riding with him had packed it in. He's got quite the attitude/ego!!

Any Sebring 12/24 results posted anywhere?

Yes, I want to hear how Pedal Wench did!! :)

Ahhh, I didn't do great. I did good, not great. We had some logistical issues - most notably, lighting issues. I didn't realize how dark it would be on the racetrack at night, and our lights were woefully inadequate. We did great on the century, finished with over a 19 mph average, and I loved the 12-mile loops. When my lights were working, the race track loops were great, but they started fading around midnight. Creeping around the track trying not to run off the track wasn't fun. Plus, it was COLD! In Florida! What's up with that??? We quit right before the rain at around 4:45. Ended up with 257.7 miles, actual saddle time was about 15.75 hours. I'm addicted though, and I can't WAIT for next year. With good lights, I know we'll do amazing.

Good job pedal wench, you did way better than me. My experience this time was totally twilight zone material. I drove 1100 miles down on friday, leaving my house at 2 AM. Around South Carolina, 95 became saturated with Daytona 500 fans, many lacking in driving skills. Twice there were wrecks sufficient enough to close 95 for an hour or so. I finally got to my hotel at 11:30 pm.

At 9pm Friday night I made the very bad decision to get a chicken sandwich and baked potato at Wendy's. It was one of those things that as soon as I ate it I knew it was bad. I debated forcing myself to throw up, but I didn't. Instead, at 3AM it hit me. I had food poisoning. I was able to get to the track at 6AM and register (2 stops in the 20 minute drive). I then was not able to get out of the bathroom until after 7:15.

I realized that I was dehydrated, still sick and had no strength, so there was no way I could even make it to the first rest stop. So I got 0 miles and headed home, 1100 more miles. So to summarize, 2200 miles in 44 hours, food poisoning, and sheer disbelief that I got all of the way there and didn't even get the bike out of the vehicle.

That sucks! I know that long drives in the car have always been the spot where I fall down and start smoking again, and add the disappointment of the food poisoning and no riding. :( I hope that you did good and stayed away from the ciggies.

There is always the next 24 hour event. :o

I'll have to look into completing one of these myself... was the 12 mile course closed to traffic? is there charging stations available for lighting systems? I could easily just buy one more battery for my exiting system and as long as I have my charger then I could have light all night.

I don't know for sure about the Sebring, but on the UMCA 24-hour, no part of the route is closed to traffic. The logistics of that would be too difficult. There was also no "charging station" but the UMCA 24-hour headquarters were at a school which we had access too, so I would assume that there would be plug-in spots available.

I now use a Schmidt dynohub with a Cateye EL500 as a backup for my lighting system.


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Pedal Wench ... congratulations on your ride!! :) Well done!

When you get tired, it often feels colder than when you're fresh ... that's something to remember for future long distance events. It took me a while to figure that out, and as a result of finally realizing that, when I go to the PBP in August, I'm bringing a long-sleeved merino wool top rather than a sleeveless jersey!! :D

All sections on the 12-hour section were open to traffic, but on incredibly low-traffic roads. Just miles and miles of orange groves. The century ended on a busy road for about 5 miles. The 12-mile loops went back to the somewhat busy road for 3 miles (with a headwind, I swear it was 6!) then on really, really low-traffic roads around a lake and through more oranges back to the starting area. The roads were open, but so low traffic it wasn't an issue. At 6pm, they routed the 24-hour folks onto the racetrack. Ummm, obviously, there was no traffic there. Well, at one point, a truck was out there, I think to pick up the blinkies that had gotten run over or died. It was amazingly dark on the course, and poorly lit (random blinkies in the middle of the track, but they started dying and got run over, so it became harder and harder to figure out where to go.)

The pit area at night was in the actual racetrack pits. So there was A/C power available. My problem was the lack of reasoning skills that set in as the brain's glycogen stores deplete. I used up my first light, put on the second without thinking about starting the first one recharging. Ooops.

So sorry to hear about the food poisoning. No wonder the guy on the Giant with the rear disc wheel looked at me like I was an idiot when I asked if he was the bike forums guy!!!!